louie07
01/14/2014, 11:39 PM
Well, here we are. Putting together my fourth tank (granted, many of the others were only temporary). My reefing career started out when I purchased a used 40 gallon setup off of craigslist. Quickly, I decided I wanted MORE. So, I put together a 125 gallon. Built the light system, got the tank drilled, the whole shebang. However with school and work, I wasn't able to keep up, so I sold it all off and have had my nano cube ever since. Now that I've moved to the Bay Area for college, I wanted something bigger again. However, this time I decided I would be spending WAY less money, and be building it WAY smarter (Reefing is one of those learn from your mistakes things, isn't it?). Anyways, lets get started.
First off, I needed a tank. Well, this is a funny story, talking about learning from your mistakes. I got a 75 gallon acrylic tank off of craigslist for $75. It was in decent shape, however I decided that I wanted to buff it (it didn't need it, but I figured better to do it with it empty). Very quickly I changed my mind about owning my first acrylic tank, so that one is sitting empty in the back yard half-way through the buffing process.
Next, I searched for another tank. I lucked out, finding a 90 gallon reef ready tank with stand on craigslist for $80. Score! The only thing wrong was a small leak that I sealed up, and it's now good as new. Most of the equipment that I've purchased has been used, along with the live rock. All in all I think I've spent maybe $600-$800 to get to where I am at, and I'd say that's pretty damn good.
Today I started putting it all together- landscaped the tank, put the sand in, began to plumb, etc. The lighting I decided to go with is definitely on the cheap side, however I decided to test out these cheaper lights and see how well they work. I have stunner strips on my nano cube which have done fine, so maybe some higher-powered cheap LEDs will too. It's always fun to experiment :)
Anywho, I'll shut up and post some pics now :bigeyes:
First off, I needed a tank. Well, this is a funny story, talking about learning from your mistakes. I got a 75 gallon acrylic tank off of craigslist for $75. It was in decent shape, however I decided that I wanted to buff it (it didn't need it, but I figured better to do it with it empty). Very quickly I changed my mind about owning my first acrylic tank, so that one is sitting empty in the back yard half-way through the buffing process.
Next, I searched for another tank. I lucked out, finding a 90 gallon reef ready tank with stand on craigslist for $80. Score! The only thing wrong was a small leak that I sealed up, and it's now good as new. Most of the equipment that I've purchased has been used, along with the live rock. All in all I think I've spent maybe $600-$800 to get to where I am at, and I'd say that's pretty damn good.
Today I started putting it all together- landscaped the tank, put the sand in, began to plumb, etc. The lighting I decided to go with is definitely on the cheap side, however I decided to test out these cheaper lights and see how well they work. I have stunner strips on my nano cube which have done fine, so maybe some higher-powered cheap LEDs will too. It's always fun to experiment :)
Anywho, I'll shut up and post some pics now :bigeyes: