Reef tank at low cost

A complete reef tank for $284.00

A complete reef tank for $284.00

According to many, to have a reef tank can be expensive. This article will show you that it is possible to setup a fish only salt water aquarium of a reef tank without breaking your bank.

Yes, it does not have to cost that much and once setup, it does not need to need heavy maintenance. All it need is to be setup properly.

Budget for a 15 gallon reef tank : -An old fluval 304 canister (look on ebay or on a forum for great price) -1.7 lbs of Tri Base Pelletized Carbon (about $18.00) -10.5 lbs of ph adjustment rock (about $60.00) -1/2lbs of Sea Lab Trace Element bloc #28 (about $15.00) -8oz of Metal Gone Salt Water (about $20.00) -1 bottle of Chloradsorb (about $35.00) -1 dose of Right Now Bacteria for 25 gallon (about $6.00) -A 15 gallon tank (about $30.00) -5lbs of Live Rock (about $30.00) -Salt (about 50.00 for the year) -1 fish (about $20.00)

Total : $284.00

I did not mention the lamp in all this because depending on what you want, it can cost you from $50.00 to over $350.00. If what you want is to grow sort corals, a good old (and cheap) power compact light will do the job but if hard corals are what you want, maybe you should think about a Metal Halide or any other equivalent.

So, for only $214.00 you have everything you need to setup a small reef tank. What’s great about this is that it will only cost you about $70.00 to $100.00 per other years.

If you want to cut the cost a little, you can try to find some Live Rock on a forum (sometime people have some to give away).

Is it still that expensive?

Here is how to set-up the tank : 1- Rinse the carbon and put it in a bucket with water and an air pump to give o2 to the carbon. Live it in that bucket for a good 3 to 4 days.

2- Open your fluval and remove everything in it. All you need is the canister (and the pump in it).

3- 3-After 3 to 4 days, add the carbon, ph adjustment rock and about 1 oz of Metal gone to the canister.

4- Hook the canister to your tank and make sure to place the return pipe 2 inches above the water surface.

5- Mix salt to water

6- Plug your filter

You now have a tank with only water an a filter.

7- Place you live rock in your tank

8- Add one nugget of sea lab trace element block in your tank

Your tank is now ready to go! It’s now time to start the tank.


9- Acclimate your fish

10-Five (5) minutes before you add your fish, add Right Now Bacteria

10-The first 24 hours the tank will cloud up. By the next day you will have the entire TOTALLY AEROBIC NITROGEN and PHOSPHORUS CYCLE! Also, for the next month (let’s say years)


Now you might wonder what are that Right Now Bacteria and all other supply involved in this set-up. For that, I invite you to visit Mad Captain’s Aquarium where you can get all the supply and find all the answer you need about this system and some more info about the protocol to follow.

regards,