Anyone into reef aquariums?

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myfirsthome_IHB

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Hey guys, I'm an avid "reefer". Anyone else here into saltwater or freshwater aquariums? I have a website to showcase people's aquariums so check it out! My Reef Garden - Aquarium blogs, profiles, etc

Here's my old reef-tank before I left OC and moved into an apartment with a 25gallon aquarium size limit :( Now that i'm moving into my own place, it's too bad i'll have a mortgage limiting my aquarium budget.

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Nemo! haha :)

I've never owned a fish in my life, but I've always thought these aquariums could be one of the most beautiful things one can have in their home. The colors are striking and I'd love to have one when I buy my own home, but I don't know anything about these at all. What's the maintenance cost (in time and dollars) for one of these things?
 
i used to have a 120 gallon reef, it's was tons of fun, but often times pricey. For my next house, I want a place where I can put my fish tank against another room since a good reef tank sometimes requires 1 or 2 additional tanks.

--frebay

www.vufromcompton.com
 
price really depends on what kind of setup you're running. i've seen 2.5 gallon "pico" tanks that probably cost $100 to setup. then i've seen 300+ gallon tanks that could have easily cost $100k in equipment and livestock (yes, there are designer corals and fish in the trade). the tank in the photo above cost me about $100 a month to maintain in salt water, supplements, fish food, coral food, and electricity (metal halide bulbs suck a lot of juice!). setting up the tank is another story... one thing that i did to help offset the cost of my addiction and help save the wild reefs was aquaculture - propagating coral "fragments" to sell to fellow hobbyists.

in the end, it's actually quite easy to maintain a fish-only aquarium once you get the basics... it's all about consistency. a 2 week vacation could easily kill an entire tank. corals on the other hand are a bit more difficult. for any who are interested, a great resource is www.reefcentral.com. it's easily the busiest message board on the web for saltwater aquarium hobbyists.
 
I once walked into an open house wherein one entire wall between the office and dining room was a saltwater aquarium. It was beautiful.
 
that is my dream!!! too bad camden place is 3 stories. a larger aquarium would probably be safest on the ground-level. maybe when i get married and give the roommates the boot, the downstairs bedroom can be converted into a fish room/study. :)
 
My son had a lovely aquarium. The fish and snails and crabs and swaying corals and starfish were actually more interesting to watch than the cats.

But it was a lot of work. He's getting divorced, so sold the tank.
 
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