Affordable Tips for Starting a Saltwater Fish Tank

If you are new to saltwater fish tank then you may have already figured out that it is an expensive hobby. Starting with the tank you probably already have a lot of your money tied up in this hobby. There are a few ways that I have learned over the years that can save you some of your hard earned money.

If you are crafty at all, I would look into building your own stand and canopy. This alone can save you big time as stands tend to get expensive when you look at some of the more exotic woods.  Oak is usually the preferred wood used in stand designs and is usually stocked at your local supply store.

www.madhattersreef.com

Lighting is one of the most expensive things you will have to invest in if you plan on keeping corals. A good lighting setup can range from $ 300 and up. One simple trick I learned is building my own lighting setup. I purchased a quality ballist from my local fish store for around $ 129 and then I went to my local discount home supply store and purchased two cheap lighting fixtures for about $ 15 each. I then removed the ballist and replaced it with the one I purchased at the fish store. Of course, the bulbs for this type of setup will still be expensive but the overall fixture cost me about $ 250 with bulbs. I now have a 400 watt setup that would normally run around $ 500 with bulbs.

If you plan on keeping live rock in your saltwater fish tank, there is a simple trick to creating more live rock. Most fish stores will also sell dead rock. They usually keep it on a back shelf somewhere but make sure you ask someone because you can usually buy it for around.25 cents a pound. Then you can build a layer of dead rock at the bottom of your tank and place the live rock right on top. This will hide the dead rock and at the same time raise your overall rock height so that it appears like you have more of a reef style setup.

The dead rock will not be dead for long and you will notice over time how things have spread onto the dead rock.

One of the biggest benefits of having live rock in the tank is that it will also serve as a biological filter in combination with a good 2 – 3 inch deep sand bed. I have had great success by only using live rock, live sand and a protein skimmer along with a cheap filter that holds the blue foss pad to capture larger particles. Keep in mind that success does not happen overnight. This hobby requires a certain amount of patients. Take your time and before too long you will have a beautiful saltwater fish tank.

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