Thinking about a new hobby...

I have 180 gallons so smaller will for sure be cheaper. Also if you keep a reef with less light demanding corals you won't need the expensive bulbs. That's one of the biggest costs. You're getting a good rate on electricity there and a moderate climate so it shouldn't be that bad. I say go for it. It's a lot of fun but warning: it's addictive.

 

I'm in TN, unfortunately.

5th Day Creations in Chattanooga had some nice corals, last time I was there.

 

i have a 10 g nano and im close to the 300 mark on setting up my monthly costs are like 50 bucks its not a cheap hobby and im an impatient person but if i can make a 10 work u can make a 135 work welcome to 3 reef

 

Thanks for the encouragement, but $50 per month for a 10g tank? Wow!

 

Welcome fellow Tennessean! You've already gotten a lot of answers to your other questions, so I'll tackle this one! As ZachB already mentioned, 5th Day Creations is a great store (East Ridge, right off I-75 close to the GA order). They actually helped me set up my system and I'm a frequent visitor! Bermuda Triangle also has some nice fish, not so much in the coral dept (at least that's my opinion). I tend to stay away from the "chains" except to buy frozen food.

I'll ask my son - I don't know the store names, but he's been to a few saltwater stores in Knoxville that he liked.

 

That's great, thanks for the advice. I've actually visited 5th day and Bermuda recently. They guy at 5th day was extremely helpful, but the store seemed to be in a bit of dismay when I visited. Bermuda was a nice store with friendly folks as well.

I have not visited any stores in Knoxville and would love to hear what your son thinks. I have heard that there's a really nice shop there (huge too from what I've heard), but I don't know the name of it. I'll look forward to hearing back from you. Thanks!

 

There is NO reason to spend $600-$1200 for live rock. Thats just OUTRAGEOUS in my honest opinion. To give you an idea, I'm setting up a 65 gallon right now. At 1.5 lb of rock per gallon I need 97.5lbs of rock. Instead of spending $500-$900 for live rock, I ordered 80lbs of base rock from www.marinedepot.com at less than $200, and I'll seed the base rock with a few pieces of live rock from another well established tank. The base rock will become "live" in a few months and I just saved at least $300 that I can put towards better lighting and protein skimmer.

Oh, and welcome to 3reef ;D

 

Thanks! My local shop sells live rock for $12.99 per pound. If you do the math on a 135g tank at 1.5#'s per gal, thats $2,630!!! Yea, I think if I get to build an aquarium it's going to have to be base rock "seeded" with live rock!

 

im also thinking of converting my 125 cyphotilapia tank into salt water but also concerned about price.

it has a 30 gallon sump in there already and just regular t8 marineglow and powerglo.

will it be a lot cheaper to do saltwater tank with no coral and just live rocks and livestocks? or will i still need high output t5 lights?

i know i will need protein skimmer, but any other things i will need to do
a basic saltwater tank?

sorry dont mean to hijack, i was reading this and i thought
might as well post questions here since its for beginner.

 

Its rewarding and very enjoyable. I wouldn't worry about how much it all costs. But for an example, I am about $2500 into my 30 gallon, but most of that cost is wrapped up in mistakes I made from trying to move too fast and making bad decisions..