Reefing On a Budget: Part Two

In part one of this series we discussed a plethora of ways in which you can save money in the reef keeping hobby. Today, we are going to explore a few under the radar methods that allow you to keep a reef aquarium on a budget. While helping reefers save money is our ultimate goal within this piece, we would never want to compromise the quality and stability of your system. Regardless of your experience with keeping aquariums, I’m sure that we would all be happy to take some steps to make certain that our beloved hobby becomes more financially sustainable. Something to keep in mind is that hobbyists alike are always welcome to source free advice from our customer care team should they require any recommendations or have any questions.

In part two, we are going to touch on some more detailed and under the radar ways to save money in the reefing hobby. We will first mention the importance of selective livestock buying along with a few of the best places to source free advice and information. Then, we will discuss how shopping online can save you both money and time. Finally, we will mention a way to generate some revenue directly from your reef aquarium.

Having beautiful livestock is one of the main reasons why many of us enjoy keeping a reef aquarium. That being said, with how sensitive reef environments can be, it is crucial to make sure any fish you introduce to your system has been properly quarantined to ensure that it is disease and parasite free. If you can locate a good source to purchase your livestock pre-quarantined, it will be worth paying a premium for since you would not need to purchase your own quarantine system. It is beneficial to follow a similar routine when it comes to coral. Even if you purchase the coral pre-quarantined, it is necessary to both dip and fully inspect a frag before adding it to your own system. If even just one pest is allowed into your system, they can take over your entire tank in a matter of weeks and cause you some major headaches. Similarly, allowing just one fish into your system that has a disease or a parasite can cause a loss of all your livestock and even a total tank crash. Selecting properly quarantined fish and corals will not only help keep your tank on a budget but, it can also prevent a possible catastrophe.

Information is Knowledge:

It goes without saying that one of the best ways to grow in the aquarium hobby while saving money is to do as much research as possible. In the age of the internet, it has never been easy to source and decipher important information on reef keeping. Some of our favorite places to gather free resources are through forums such as Reef2Reef and Nano-Reef in addition to listening to videos on our and many other helpful YouTube channels. In most industries, knowledge is power and that is very much so the case when it comes to reef keeping. If you can learn as much as you can about keeping a successful reef tank then, you will know what to look for should you run into any future problems. Being able to uncover issues before they happen will allow you to address them while saving time, money, and frustration. Some other good places to source reef keeping information is through your local fish store and by contacting us here at Marine Depot. Building your knowledge base in keeping coral systems will allow you to both improve the performance of your tank while sticking to a budget.