[steelyphish]

I'm glad to see there are some people here in Florida! I'm in Jacksonville myself and I'm looking to start my first Saltwater setup... I had a freshwater setup when I was younger that I kept myself and am looking for something to captivate me almost as much as a real reef does!

I've got a first question though... I want to start with a 25-30 Aquapod/Nanocube, and I need to know about how much the total cost is going to be for startup and what extra equipment I'm going to need...

[pyromaniac398]

Welcome to RB nice to see another Florida person Well this hobby is expensive, period. Even smaller tanks are more expensive than you think. And in this hobby always buy the biggest tank you can afford because you will always want bigger ( at least i do )

[steelyphish]

If I could afford it, a guy here in Jax is selling a used 150 gallon tank with stand, sump, powerhead, protein skimmer, and flouescent lighting... He only wants 300 for all of it but I don't really have the place for it yet and I'm a little leary about buying used aquariums and equipment...

[grahame1963]

Welcome, i regisered today and i live in Safety harbor, FL.

Good luck mate!!!!

[pyromaniac398]

ya i can understand that. I have a 50g because its all i can afford and have the space for right now . As soon as i can afford a bigger one I will though ill prolly go to 90g next

[mattpenn]

i live in jacksonville to if you know someone here selling a 150g for 300 you need to look at that see what shape its in just my filter cost 300 welcome to RB.

[Danakor]

buy what you can afford not what you want.....thats my motto and i stick to it. BTW welcome to RB, I live on the Fl/GA border. Thats a great deal on the tank but if you can't afford it or don't have the room then by all means don't buy it. We won't go into how expensive this hobby is simply because you can actually get away doing it rather cheap unless you over complicate it.

Used equipment is fine so long as you don't mind doing some extra work to make it like new.

[rstroede]

Welcome to RB. Yes, cost is one other reason why I buy only one fish or coral every month. This way I spead the cost out and I also make sure that my tank has a complete cycle and stabled down before I put anything new in.

[steelyphish]

Thanks for the welcome and all the tips guys! I truely appreciate it! I go back to work this Monday (I've been out for a month on worker's comp) so it'll be ALOT easier to get the money to start up my own reef!