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Cost Of Setting Up A Fish Tank

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There are a few things to consider when trying to work out the cost of setting up a fish tank. A Goldfish tank will be the cheapest option and this could be done for a relatively small amount of money. A Tropical freshwater tank will be more expensive than a goldfish tank because it will generally need to be heated, and the fish are slightly more expensive. A Saltwater Marine Tank would be the next step up costing quite a lot more. Then finally you have the saltwater Reef tank. 
A Goldfish tank can be purchased for very little and the running costs will be the cheapest out of all the set ups. Electricity costs will be low for the tank lighting and filtration. Of course there are many different types of filter and lighting that will use varying amount of electricity. 

Tropical tanks generally need heated water for most fish species. And this is where the cost can start to be noticed on the electricity bill. The water will need to be heated between 25 and 27 degrees. 

Saltwater marine tanks start to cost quite a lot more than it's freshwater equivalent. A proper Marine tank will have a sump housed inside a custom built cabinet under the main aquarium. The sump is effectively another tank where all the equipment is housed, and in Marine tank there is a lot of equipment that can be purchased depending on set up requirements. A Marine tank will typically have a protein skimmer that can cost as much as setting up a goldfish tank alone, then the salt will need to be purchased to make up the saltwater, and for future water changes. Lighting for marine tanks can become quite expensive depending on what you go for. The water will need to be heated just like a tropical tank. Then you will have to think about powerheads, a pump to return the water back up from the sump. The fish that will live in the Marine tank are a lot more expensive that freshwater fish.

Then you have the Reef tank which is by far the most expensive. A reef tank will contain expensive fish and corals so the set up needs to be quite good, and the electricity expense will be noticeable. You will need quality lighting to keep corals alive and these are typically LED and can run into the hundreds of pounds depending on tank size. A good size protein skimmer will be needed to keep water parameters in top condition. Most reefers have 2 heaters because if one stops working they don't want to lose hundreds of pounds / dollars worth of corals and fish. Next  good powerheads will be needed to control water flow over corals, and a water pump will be needed to return water from the sump back into the main tank. 

To put things in perspective if you were buying everything from new, a good goldfish tank set up could be done for 80 quid / dollars. A tropical tank will set you back a further 15 pounds / dollars for the heater, plus the fish are slightly more expensive. A Good Marine tank set up from new will cost around 600 dollars / pounds. And a good reef aquarium will set you back at least a couple of hundred more because you will want some serious lighting for corals, plus a range of additional items that can be purchased like sand filters, reactors, ozone, trace element automatic dosing, freshwater auto top ups for the evaporated freshwater (when water evaporates from a saltwater tank it is freshwater that evaporates.

There is no set answer for this question but hopefully this makes things a little clearer. A 6 Ft Reef Tank from new with full installation, high quality lights, protein skimmer, reactor, top of the line powerheads will cost around the 5k mark. If you got one second hand it could be fraction of the cost but you will have no guarantee on the equipment.

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