thinking of starting over....

[clamgal]

Its been 2 years since I took down my tank, and it is still in the exact same spot - EMPTY :-( I walk by everyday at least ten times. My husband told me last week, "You need to set it up again." I guess he noticed that I miss it. I'm a little hesitant, because it's not cheap and I thought that maybe if I set it up as a fish only tank, it may be cheaper? I need some input from those that have fish only tanks. Does it really make a $$ difference?
Any info would help.
Thanks,
Adriana

[Kristy]

Come on Adriana, you know you want to!! :)

I would say that our fish only (with live rock) is definitely cheaper than our reef tank. And it's not even totally "fish ONLY." I had to put some coral in our FOWLR just to give more color and visual interest, but limited it to cheap softies like pulsing Xenia, mushrooms, kenya trees, and some hearty Palys. It is cheaper than our reef tank in several ways: no expensive coral temptations, no need for 2-part or supplements, cheaper lighting and the bulbs can last longer. Once it's set up it's just the salt and whatever we are feeding.

[clamgal]

I know I do :-) , but with a limited budget. What kind of filtering do you use - live rock, refugium...?

[allan]

Two years? I've still got those sun corals from your tank tear down.

[Europhyllia]

macro algae is nice (and cheap)

[Big_Pun]

go old school true and tried, bio ball sump, and a skimmer! it's been used for years and it's cheap, LA fish guy in YouTube has great shows on how to clean them when and how. I got 2 skimmers forsale if interested we can work a deal.

[clamgal]

A year and a half, Allan. It seems longer - sorry ;-) I'm really happy the sun corals are doing well!