Help Setting up My first aquarium

[GruBBs]

I have been working on setting up my tank now for a while, I am a jack of all trades so I built a 4'5" x 3'4" x 2' stand using 2x4 construction and trimed it out to match my home. I am on a low budget so been researching diy sump refugiums . I got a used glass 55gallon (4'x18"x12")free from a friend. he used it for a reptile and the silicone was dry and cracking and falling off in one corner. I ordered reef safe silicone online. also bought a razor blade scrapper and acetone and plan to clean and reseal it. looking now for insight and ideas on the sump design and display tank. I am considering buying a 75 gallon reef ready from my local fish store. I like orbit marine led price and features but worried not enough to grow so considering t5 along with the led.. also any suggestions welcome remember im new.

[thegrun]

Welcome to Reef Central! If you like DIY projects consider building your own LED lighting system. If you have basic wiring and soldering skills, it is simple to build a high quality LED system at a fraction of what you would spend purchasing a manufactured system. There are some excellent treads describing how to build your own in the Reef Central DIY forum. Re-siliconing a glass tank is more of an art form than a science. I've done it in the past but my end results always made me nervous. It's a lot easier (at least for me) to work with acrylic since it works a lot like wood.

[oh207]

Perhaps use the 55g as a sump and get the 75g reef ready for DT. I wish I had gone with a bigger tank to start. Is the cabinet 4'5" tall or long? If thats the length, then you have a few options, you can even get a 110g, or 120g :-)

[Pokahpolice]

Sounds like you're comfortable building things so I would steer you against a reef ready tank because they are way over priced IMHO. I would pick up a used 75 gallon on CL. They area dime a dozen and will save you hundreds from buying new. A glass drill bit is about $15, watch a youtube video on how easy it is to drill. Just make sure the glass isn't tempered. Then there are a ton of options on overflows. I always just make them out of glass. Cutting glass is super easy but Lowes or HD will do it for free. Getting a tank reef ready isn't hard and will save you a ton of money that can be spent on other essential equipment.

I'm a DIY kind of guy as well and everything I can build rather than buy I usually do. Tanks are expensive, but they don't have to be.