# How much would a 10 gallon cost for a year?



## fishloverzj (May 3, 2010)

I'm thinking about shifting a to galloin to a coral only tank. How much would it cost?


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## SilverThorn (Jul 22, 2010)

well it depends....you can get a tank cheep enough substrate isn't all that expensive you need a good sand bed or you can go bare bottom, you need Live rock for the coral to attach to & where I am that's about 5.50$ a lb at 1 lb per gal but what coral are you keeping that will determine lighting type pc or mh lighting lighting can be pricey also filtration if you want to go high end even more so. Corals can geet expensive as well. Some lower light softies like mushrooms pulsing xenia(sp) & some others aren't that expensive or you may try frag swaps.


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## fishloverzj (May 3, 2010)

I meant general upkeep, if I was to change the water bi-weekly. I have no clue what corals to get, so exclude the food.


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## kay-bee (Dec 6, 2006)

Depends on variables.

Assuming the aquarium is fully set up and stocked with what you want, items that you may need to replace/replenish/re-acquire throughout the year:

- Fish food, but that's a given. Small tank=small quantity of small fish (perhaps even a single fish), so that tab will most likely be small.

- Salt mix. With a 10gal tank, a 5gal bucket of salt mix should easily last the year, but it depends on how often water changes are and how much is changed out. A 5gal bucket of Oceanic salt mix can create 150-200gal of saltwater.

- RO/DI unit components, particularly the pre-sediment, carbon stages and DI resin (probably at the 6-9 month mark). Not a factor if you're not using RO/DI water.

- Light bulbs. Bulbs geared toward supporting photosynthetic life may require replacement more frequently than (depending on the type of bulb 6-12 months). 

- Supplements for corals. With such a small tank supplments are probably not required, biweekly water changes should suffice. Lots of stony corals may demand near daily supplements.

- Test Kits. Depends on how frequent you test and how many parameters you test for. More testing required for Reef set ups.

With a FO/FOWLR set up, after the INITIAL set up, expenses throughout the year can be quite low. Going reef will add to the yearly expense, but a smaller tank reduces those expenses. Hard to put a price tag on it, though because of the variables involved.

Keep in mind, a 10gal Reef tank will be more challenging than a larger tank. More challenges may equate to mistakes or corrections which may add to costs.


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