Let's hear about your salt water aquariums

[myrdale]

I do not have the first clue about the cost associated with these, but I have seen a couple that were extremely nice, and one that was a cesspool.

I should imagine there is a wealth of knowledge on YouTube for setup and maintaining.

[riverwed070707]

What happened to TH? I used to like Shaggy (maybe 5 years ago), not sure what happened to her as well. Come back and post you 2 (if you're still out there).

We had some posts that got a little political/controversial and he said he was leaving. We definitely had some conflicting political views but I appreciated having a real estate buddy since that's a fairly unpopular topic here and he was always a great resource.

[Leo]

I just started this hobby with a smaller tank few months ago. My dream tank would cost about $20,000. I like the look of something like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJJNKuzoqO0&t=269s but maybe bigger than that.

Fish only tank is cheaper than reef. Reef includes corals and other living organisms like invertebrates such as Anemone, shrimps, clams, etc. Corals are expensive, one small coral is about $50-100 and it takes years for them to grow, and you have to buy few hundreds depending on the size of your tank.

It is really hard, besides maintenance like keeping your pH, salinity, temperature stable, you have to make sure that other water parameters like nitrates, phospates, alkalinity, calcium and magnesium are stable as well, mostly for the corals, and in order to do that, you have to add additives. Most reef tank have expensive equipment to automate dosing, cleaning, and water top off for evaporation, etc. Without using those expensive equipment, chance of success is very low because like I said, the key is stability. For example, evaporating water makes water salinity higher so an auto top-off equipment helps with that.

Maybe someday for our first home. My dream 140 gallons tank alone with stand is about $3,500 https://www.redseafish.com/aquarium-systems/reefer/red-sea-reefer-peninsula-systems. Dosing and monitoring equipment alone would run for maybe few thousand dollars like this https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/tride...e-systems.html then you add lighting for maybe close to $2,000 and other equipment such as protein skimmer, wavemakers, cost of food, additives, carbon and filter, cost of corals, fish, etc so yeah, definitely more than $20,000 for a 150 gallon reef tank and it would take years to have a mature and beautiful tank.

[Leo]

like many hobbies, it's going to be a money pit, you just have to decide whether it's worth it for you. And unless you're rich and can afford to have people set up and maintain it for you, you should also enjoy doing maintenance and upkeep, otherwise it's just going to be a burden. SO you have to enjoy the hobby as a whole.

For me, aquariums are something I'd look at a few times, think"cool", then ignore after. So owning one would just be a hassle. Maintaining salt level, temperature, PH level, O2 level, feeding the fish, cleaning their ****, etc. screw that. If I had a pet to blow money on, I'd much rather have one that's bit more interactive like a dog or cat. But truth be told, I have higher priorities in life right now than taking care of fish or a dog.

You want something to view at home that is low maintenance? Set a htdtv into the wall and play HD videos of whatever you want to view, whether it be fish, nature, mountains, a fireplace, whatever. they have 4k blu-rays that are super lifelike. Hell, they even have these types of videos on youtube. Play a 2 hour 4k video with sound of fish swimming around on loop if you choose. I'm pretty sure you'll get bored of it. At least this way, you can just change the channel.

I don't think you only get the satisfaction for having something to look at. It is a hobby and it is expensive but there's more to it. First, growing corals from the size of your pinky to size of your head is satisfying, it's like gardening. Second, designing your tank is fun, you get to choose which colors to play with, which placements of different corals, which fish to put in your tank, etc. Third, I feel like the end goal is very satisfying in which you want a very mature ocean like tank and being able to simulate an ocean in a small box in your living room where you have organisms with symbiotic relationships like clownfish and anemone, etc. It is hard work and would take years but I think that's really the point of the hobby.