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When they said saltwater was expensive they were not lying!

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aquarium
1K views 20 replies 18 participants last post by  pipermacwills 
#1 ·
With freshwater you can kinda skimp on certain things. Its not recomended but you can.
With salt water on the other hand GEEEEZ you CANT skimp because if you do you should just empty the whole thing and forget about it.

Have any of you bought something pricy and then a few days or weeks down the road you realized it was not going to work and you lost money off of it?

I have learned to keep receipts now......:angry:
And from the newbie here to all you other newbies. When the proficient aquarium folks tell you to do your research make sure its more then 2 weeks of research.....make it months of research........
 
#2 ·
just dont go to the lfs and be like..so what do i need...:funny: i just started the hobby too and have probably read a dozen or so books and there is no telling how many online articles...and then there is trt....which is probably the most useful. but i will say i am a very fast learner and need to know why things are the way they are, and why they work...with me just because doesnt cut it..lol i need the science and technical aspect.
 
#3 ·
for example...i am not going to go to bed until like 8am...so ill be researching until then...the reason for this is when i go back to work tomorrow i work 7pm-7am 12hr shifts for the next 7 days :doh:. and im in the airforce and refeul aircraft...so all i do is sit around and wait for an aircraft to be refueled...and im at a slow base...so, ill probably be at a computer...looking things up...:lol:
 
#4 ·
I am sure everyone thats been in the hobby any time at all has a closet full of stuff that someone convinced them they had to have, but turned out to not live up to it's promise or was not worth the powder to blow it up. Thats one of the reasons for forums like this, to share what works and hopefully steer begininers away from the junk
 
#6 ·
Best advice I can give you is plan, ask here first, research, refine the plan, ask here again, research, then buy the right choice one time. Think what you want your tank to look like and what livestock you want to keep then build to the needs of the livestock. If you don't know what livestock you want how can you create the right enviornment for it? Be patient, ask a lot of questions, avoid the mistakes we can help you avoid.
 
#9 ·
Yep, I've done that before as well. I have a chiller, a number of PC lighting setups, and buckets full of pumps/heaters sitting around, some of them because I was trying to cheap out, some of them due to following bad advice, and sometimes just to have spares. And none of it was really cheap! ;)
 
#10 ·
You're right about saying "Make it months of research"!

I've been researching for atleast a year, and I still do to this day.
I think most of us still research even when we have our tanks and think we know everything.
You CAN NOT know everything about the saltwater hobby.
That's why I'm so interested.
It never gets boring! :D
 
#12 ·
I have a couple PC lighting fixtures, a skimmer, pumps and powerheads, and even a few more tanks all over the place in my shed. ;)

As Seamore said, it is best to research and ask all of your questions before you buy then buy once. It may seem expensive at first, but not buying multiple items you don't need will save you money in the long run.
 
#16 ·
With anything, it's only as expensive as you make it. A nice salt setup could be put together for just about the same price as a fresh.
What you talkin' 'bout Willis? I can put a brand new 55 gallon freshwater tank, fully stocked, together for under 300 dollars. You can't even come close to getting it set up - properly - for saltwater for that and it still be new.
 
#14 ·
Actually what I have noticed alot is that when buying alot of the items for the business its not acutally that expensive of a hobby. Most LFS and other places take advantage of that fear. When in reality alot of the items for saltwater are actually not that bad priced before the lfs put there markup on it. That even goes for fish and corals as well. Trust me I know.
 
#19 ·
Freshwater is only boring if you let it become boring. You can make it as challenging as you want. I got into saltwater from freshwater mainly for the variety of colors that you see in SW fish that you simply don't see in Freshwater fish. And, colors of plants in FW versus coral colors in SW.
 
#21 ·
I got into saltwater from freshwater because of the colors and personalities of the fish. I wasn't going to touch corals or anything. I do have a bunch of useless equipment that the lfs insisted that I needed. You know it doesn't work so you can't even give it away. This forum has been the BEST source of info for me in the past few years. I have had my tank for 2 years and the advice and blogs here have really helped. I have the same books and magazines - it's sharing the info between people who live it that really helps.
 
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