Cheap Ways To Setup New Freshwater Tank

[Murrayjane]

THIS IS GENERAL ADVICE ON HOW YOU CAN SAVE MONEY WITH SETTING UP YOUR NEW FISH TANK


I recently needed to purchase a new tank for my pair of Firemouth cichlids. I needed to make cost effective purchases with the hope that the tank will still look nice (presentable).

Below are a list of ideas that may be of great interest to a new or even experienced fish keeper. These ideas are inexpensive and allow your tank to look decent.

1. The first unavoidable cost will be your tank. Prices of course will vary on the desired size and shape of your tank. For my Firemouth's, I chose to purchase a standard 29 gallon tank. It was on sale at PETCO for only $30. If you are interested in purchasing or have already purchased a much larger tank, then the following information will be of GREAT USE.

2. The second purchase will be your aquarium stand. My advice is this: If you can't afford a durable aquarium stand, then simply purchase cinder blocks and a material that you can place over them. Each cinder block will cost less than one dollar. (you can get cinder blocks at Home Depot and most hardware retail stores) I purchased six blocks for my 29 gallon. This cost me just over $5. The material I used to cover it was an already owned inexpensive thin blanket. It actually looks pretty good. Congratulations you now purchased an aquarium stand for practically nothing.

3. The third purchase will be aquarium filter. Unfortunately, this is yet another unavoidable purchase that will cost the same standard amount of money. I picked a Penguin 30-50 gallon filter (for that extra filtration) for $26

4. Now, next comes your substrate. Instead of wasting money on gravel or sand from fish retail stores. I advise going to Home Depot (or another similar hardware distribution center) and purchase Quikrete Sand or Quikrete Gravel. (Home Depot generally has both). A 50lb bag costs about $5 for either sand or gravel. If like me, you decide on getting the gravel (easier to clean) be SURE to continuously wash out all of the dirt from the gravel bag. Use a bucket and keep pouring water and stir the gravel until the water is completely clear. It may be tedious, but this will save you tremendously if you have a large tank. The gravel itself looks pretty good (although colors will vary in each store). I have a mixed black, gray, and white coloration. This is probably the best way to save money as gravel is very overpriced in all fish retail stores.

5. Rocks/Plants/Decoration - Finally, having only spent around $70 total I have an up and running 29 gallon tank. Although this may still sound quite expensive to some, in the aquarium hobby, its not bad at all. When it comes to getting rocks and plants, I advise acquiring rocks yourself. Provided that they are aquarium friendly (found by a river/lake), simply drench the rocks in bleach and leave them in boiling water. Rewash them and thats it! With plants I advise buying them small, potting them in the tank and periodically add positive bacteria (Micro-libe) to help the tank and plants stay clean and healthy. If for whatever reason you cannot acquire rocks or plants, I advise buying small clay pots and break them into large pieces. It's not the prettiest method, but it will provide plenty of shelter for your fish.

Extra costs - this will vary, you might need a heater, an aquarium hood, aquarium lights, etc... This is all dependent upon what sort of fish you have and your room temperature climate.

So to recap - Aquarium stands, gravel, and decor can be essentially free methods with a tank setup. Hope this saves fish keepers some money!

If you have any further ideas to help save money on a setup or equipment please be so kind to share

 

[garyspence84]

Great thread!

Would be good if it was pinned

Edit: you can also buy large bags of pond safe rocks from most garden shops for around £5 for 12kg. And they look every bit as good as the mega expensive ones you get in pet shops.

 

[Gvilleguy]

Nice advice to save money. It all adds up VERY quickly (tank, stand, gravel, ornaments, filter, heater, hood, light, net). Two comments:

1. Tank backdrop...makes your fish feel a little less exposed, and can hide tubes and wires...poster board from your local drug/big box store. Tape it to the glass and your're covered. And it looks good.

2. Rinsing sand / gravel: if you have a yard with grass, you can fill a large bucket with the sand or gravel, then clip a garden hose inside the bucket with enough water trickling to circulate the contents without washing it over the edge. Just relocate the bucket every once in a while to water a different spot in the yard and stir up the contents with your hand when you move it.

 

[sadguppy]

Hmm, good start but....there's nothing on here about eBay, gumtree etc... Second hand is by far the easiest way to get a bargain but you have to be careful and know what you're looking for. If you're buying a tank, ask to see it full of water so you know it doesn't leak. Ask to see pumps in action.

Tanks, particularly very big and difficult to move ones, lose most of their value as soon as they leave the shop. If you no longer want a tank and you need the space then of course you'll take less than it's worth, I've seen 8ft set ups on gumtree cheaper than what I bought my 200l for new!

Better still, try freecycle, which is free! I got my Fluval edge from there with bits and bobs including heater, rocks etc for nothing. I dont use it any longer and am now passing it on to a friend.

Re: livestock, local breeders will also sell fish much cheaper than you can get from your LFS. Someone with an unexpected batch of little bristlenoses will want to move them on for very little or nothing, compared to £5 in Maidenhead Aquatics for example. Never pay for livebearers, someone somewhere will have some fry they won't mind parting with I can assure you!

The biggest caveat to this is of course that It's not cheap to run a tank. Electricity costs for lights, filters and heating, and if you're on a meter, water costs can't be forgotten. Things happen that you're not expecting, fish will need medicating, stock will die, plants will need replacing.... If you're living on a shoestring, perhaps this is not the hobby for you.

 

[Murrayjane]

Great suggestions sadguppy. You must always prepare for the unexpected with this hobby. Although the costs of having a freshwater tank is not even remotely close to the costs of having a saltwater tank, one must be prepared to make sacrifices to his/her wallet. That is why we have this thread, to help lower the costs to the wallet

There are obviously things that are unavoidable costs, but many things that are essential to a tank don't have to cost the exceptional amount that they go for.

Buying used items can be very cost beneficial, but some problems can arise when buying second hand equipment. Be sure to research both the product and the seller before making a purchase.

For instance, some sellers will try to sell a combination of things (for example): a 30 gallon tank with a filter, heater, gravel, hood with lights etc [DELUXE PACKAGE] for only $50... but when you receive this package deal, you may find that there is cracked aquarium glass under the gravel, the heater doesn't work along with your aquarium lights etc. This can become incredibly difficult to reship back to the distributor along with wasting a lot of time and inconvenience. (So be careful)

 

[Gvilleguy]

At least for the small aquarium market (up to about 30 gallons??), I prefer to buy new tank, and a new filter. You can usually find good deals on new glass. Other stuff I don't mind used.

 

[sadguppy]

I bought two of my tanks with filters and two external filters second hand, no problems here. Certainly no-one trying seriously to save money should consider buying new, like a car!

You should always go for local pick up to avoid problems. Buying from eBay is usually reliable and if a tank is not watertight and the threat of bad feedback isn't enough to get the seller to refund then PayPal can get your money back.

Oh, and I have to point out, you should never boil rocks, ever. They may explode If you are not 100% sure your rocks are aquarium safe and won't alter the ph or leech toxins etc into the water then my advice is don't use them - buy some from a retailer instead. Some things are not worth scrimping on. Same with wood.

Also I would have thought that it's potentially dangerous buying gravel that's not specifically for aquariums and could be very sharp and injure any bottom dwellers. As a cheap alternative, own brand cat litter is effective and looks alright. I have this in one of my tanks and it cost about £2! But boy, does it need to be washed well before hand.

 

[Murrayjane]

I bought two of my tanks with filters and two external filters second hand, no problems here. Certainly no-one trying seriously to save money should consider buying new, like a car!

You should always go for local pick up to avoid problems. Buying from eBay is usually reliable and if a tank is not watertight and the threat of bad feedback isn't enough to get the seller to refund then PayPal can get your money back.

Oh, and I have to point out, you should never boil rocks, ever. They may explode If you are not 100% sure your rocks are aquarium safe and won't alter the ph or leech toxins etc into the water then my advice is don't use them - buy some from a retailer instead. Some things are not worth scrimping on. Same with wood.

Also I would have thought that it's potentially dangerous buying gravel that's not specifically for aquariums and could be very sharp and injure any bottom dwellers. As a cheap alternative, own brand cat litter is effective and looks alright. I have this in one of my tanks and it cost about £2! But boy, does it need to be washed well before hand.

I personally have never had a rock explode on me (FORTUNATELY!) but I will take your word for it. Hot (not boiling) works fine too! As for the Quikrete gravel, it isn't as circular as retailed aquarium gravel, but I would not go so far to say that they are sharp either. My firemouth's seem to be doing very well with it. I think if you had a skittish fish that violently rammed itself into the gravel, it could be injury prone, but that would be possible with any gravel.

 

[Flute]

Playsand is also cheap as nails (£2.99 on Argos for 15kg), and looks really lovely. Takes a while to clean through, but it's a fantastic cheap alternative to expensive aquarium sands

 

[Charles15]

Great advice! Thank you so much!

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