Questions about setting up a budget aquarium.

[Mississippi fish guy]

Before I get to the questions I have me and my brother have already found that if we buy fish from dans fish then it will be 100 dollars not including shipping or tax. We are trying to set this tank up while spending as little as possible since my brother’s monthly allowance is 10 dollars.

here are the questions.

1. If you spend enough money on fish when buying from dans fish is there a point where you get free shipping? If so what is that amount?

2. He plans to get a school of corydoras for the bottom part of the tank and he will probably use bdbs. I will already have some but do plants grow and does valisneria propogate well in the fine grain or would we need the medium grain?

2. I have some julii corys that I plan to breed. Would these work with a samurai gourami and 8-12 CPDs? If so how many?

3. What is a good budget light for a 20 long? We were considering the aquaneat light from Amazon since it is cheap but if you have other budget ideas that would be good.

4. What are some cheap and easy to grow plants that can be propagated easily and fairly quickly? He doesn’t have the money to buy a lot of plants so I figured it would work better to propagate what we could ourselves.

5. Are CPDs easy to breed? I plan to breed some of his to try and save him money on buying them.

6. what is some other advice on setting up a budget aquarium?

[Justnotrook]

I usually spend $200+ on my aquariums, but I do set up budget ones sometimes. First of all, for a good light for the 20 gallon I would go with nicrew or hygger. I don’t know about Dan’s fish, so I can’t answer that one. Valisneria usually grows well in most of the substrates I use, but I primarily prefer fluval stratum for growing them. But on a budget, since fluval stratum can get expensive, I would probably just get some top soil. I would say that the julii corydoras would work in a tank like that, and usually I would put a maximum of five. For some cheap, easy to propagate plants, I would recommend crypts and alternantheria. Not to mention pearlweed and Anubias barteri and nana. CPD’s can be easy or hard to breed. Usually for me they are pretty easy. If you want to really go on a budget do a walstad method tank, saving you money on filters.

[AllFishNoBrakes]

On 9/28/2024 at 6:06 PM, Mississippi fish guy said:

1. If you spend enough money on fish when buying from dans fish is there a point where you get free shipping? If so what is that amount?

To the best of my knowledge, no. Water is heavy, and fish need to ship fast. Those two things equals money. 
 

On 9/28/2024 at 6:06 PM, Mississippi fish guy said:

3. What is a good budget light for a 20 long? We were considering the aquaneat light from Amazon since it is cheap but if you have other budget ideas that would be good.

I have 14 tanks, and half of them have Aquaneats. It used to be as many as 11 of 14 tanks had Aquaneats. Over the years, I have upgraded some lights and done some different things, but I hang on to the Aquaneats. They’re the tried and true for me. I haven’t had a single one go out, and some of them have been running for 4 years. I personally like the color they give off, and they grow plants well. At least in my experience. 
 

When I first started all my tanks, they were basically all budget tanks. Over the years I have upgraded a lot of things, but I didn’t have to. I wanted to. My typical set up was:

-Tank (obviously)

-Heater

-Substrate (I prefer gravel)

-Sponge Filter

-AquaNeat Light

-Hardscape (I really like Dragonstone and Spiderwood so I use it in most if not all my tanks)

-Plants that do well in my water/plants that propagated in my water went into the new tank. 
 

Tanks don’t have to be expensive. They can be, but don’t have to be. 

[DavinCantu]

On 9/29/2024 at 9:26 AM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

To the best of my knowledge, no. Water is heavy, and fish need to ship fast. Those two things equals money. 
 

I have 14 tanks, and half of them have Aquaneats. It used to be as many as 11 of 14 tanks had Aquaneats. Over the years, I have upgraded some lights and done some different things, but I hang on to the Aquaneats. They’re the tried and true for me. I haven’t had a single one go out, and some of them have been running for 4 years. I personally like the color they give off, and they grow plants well. At least in my experience. 
 

When I first started all my tanks, they were basically all budget tanks. Over the years I have upgraded a lot of things, but I didn’t have to. I wanted to. My typical set up was:

-Tank (obviously)

-Heater

-Substrate (I prefer gravel)

-Sponge Filter

-AquaNeat Light

-Hardscape (I really like Dragonstone and Spiderwood so I use it in most if not all my tanks)

-Plants that do well in my water/plants that propagated in my water went into the new tank. 
 

Tanks don’t have to be expensive. They can be, but don’t have to be. 

Thank you so much.

[Guppysnail]

I use the cheap hygger lights on Amazon. Not the more expensive hygger one.  I have 26 of them my plants do great. 
 

CPD are about as easy as egg scatterers come to breed and raise fry. Once your set up give me a shout I’ll walk you through setup and fry rearing using household items and a bottle of sera micron.  
I’ve bred and sold hundreds of CPD

[Mississippi fish guy]

On 10/10/2024 at 11:08 AM, Guppysnail said:

CPD are about as easy as egg scatterers come to breed and raise fry. Once your set up give me a shout I’ll walk you through setup and fry rearing using household items and a bottle of sera micron.  
I’ve bred and sold hundreds of CPD

He decided that CPDs were too expensive after all and now plans on black phantom tetras and a pair of apistos. 

[Tony s]

On 10/10/2024 at 1:47 PM, Mississippi fish guy said:

He decided that CPDs were too expensive after all and now plans on black phantom tetras and a pair of apistos

😁 Yes, little brothers! I have 2, they can change their mind at the drop of a hat. (big brothers too). Let him enjoy the planning. In some ways it's the most fun of everything here.😁

[johnnyxxl]

Cherry barbs are nice small fish.   Check out MD on YouTube for budget stuff. His early stuff was all modified and top soil planted tanks using random lights. 

[smm333]

I have had luck with val growing and spreading in sand, but some plants struggle in it. I like pea gravel from Home Depot. It's ridiculously cheap and looks nice and natural.

Check for local fish clubs- like on facebook- and places like offer up for plants. I remember trying to get started and how awful it was cost wise. Now I have a bunch and I'm happy to share with people on sites when they ask. I think lots of people would be happy to unload their trimmings or excess babies for free or cheap!

Cheap Hygger lights on Amazon are great for planted tanks.

Edited 37 minutes ago by smm333
Spelling

[Sora]

On 9/28/2024 at 11:56 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

Tanks don’t have to be expensive. They can be, but don’t have to be. 

I have found that there are a lot of people selling used tanks on Facebook marketplace for pretty cheap, I would check that out if you don't want to get a new tank.

[Retrophyllum_minus]

On 9/28/2024 at 8:06 PM, Mississippi fish guy said:

is there a point where you get free shipping

I don't know. I've spent $500 and still paid shipping. So probably not. 

[knee]

On 9/28/2024 at 5:06 PM, Mississippi fish guy said:

3. What is a good budget light for a 20 long? We were considering the aquaneat light from Amazon since it is cheap but if you have other budget ideas that would be good.

Just want  to add that CFL bulbs are cheaper and can grow plants really well. The only issue is the color, they either have a yellow or blue hue to it depending on what you're gonna get. I used the 5000k daylight cfl bulbs from home depot and didn't have issues with the color. This will only be cheaper if you already have a place to plug the light bulbs in. These were very popular in the planted tank community before the new companies came out with their affordable LED lights.

[smm333]

Another idea if you can't get fish locally is to get them from someplace that takes the pay in 4 option like klarna or PayPal pay in 4. I get stuff that way so I can make a big enough order to get free shipping but it doesn't hit the bank account all at once. I usually go with flip aquatics because they have super healthy fish & shrimp and I've had excellent luck with them. They also have an adoption fish section that is a bargain if you aren't picky on fish!