Is it cheaper to build a 55 gallon fish tank yourself or buy a set?

If you buy a set you get minimum quality equipment that may not be designed for the kind of fish you want to keep. It will be cheaper but it will be cheap. Some of the kit you may not even want to use so very soon you will be replacing the cheap light, the cheap heater that stuck and fried your fish, and replacing the cheap filter that leaked water all over your floor.

It will cost more, but it makes perfect sense to pick the right heater, the right light, the right filter from the start. If you buy the kit and then find yourself replacing stuff, it is a false savings.

As to building an aquarium, did you mean buying glass and glue and constructing a tank from pieces? I didn't think that was what you meant, but tank building takes practice. Unless you have a way to buy the glass in bulk, it will cost you more for the glass to build a 55 gallon tank than buying a brand new tank already made. The companies that make aquariums have semi's full of glass arriving all the time to their factory. They get the glass for way less than you can at retail.

I don't know about buying the whole set, but it is almost always cheaper to buy a commercially made 55-gallon tank than to build it yourself.

I personally have had good experiences with two different kits, one 5 gallon and another 16 gallon, but I think Dan M has some good tips. You should check out your local Craigslist, see who's selling aquariums. I was able to get my 16 gallon aquarium for 40 dollars when the original kit was 130 dollars to buy new. I had to scrub it out a little and replace the light bulb, but all in all it was a great purchase. Hopefully you get the same opportunity. Good luck!

BUY A SET

BUY !!!!