getting a 75g

ok so my dad came home yesterday and said one of his friends had a 75g they might give away so i might get it

as most of you know i'm only 17 with no job and my parents dont seam to get this hobby (argue with me when i go get a $2 water test)

what would i be looking price wise for this tank with equpiment ps stump and so on? ( i wanna start saving now)

 

Base rock: ~120lbs for a reef tank $360
Sand: 1.5" base aragonite $120
Sump: 20g long $40
Heater: $40 (for a good one)
Overflow: $100
PH for OF: $75
Skimmer: $300 (for a good one)
PH for skimmer: $100
Lighting: $400 minimum IMO to do it right (something along the lines of an NEP 6x54W T5)

Total: ~$1500

Plus the stand. You can get a prefab for about $200 with no canopy ($150 for the canopy).

BTW, all these prices are off the top of my head, but they are still a good representation of what you are getting into if you want to do it right and not buy junk. Good luck.

EDIT: Forgot flow: Two Koralia 4s: $90 (off eBay)....with about 500GPH from your return that would give you about 40x turnover in your system

Total: ~$1600

 

Excellent answer right there. This is definately not a cheap hobby. Some of the stuff you might spend less, and some more. I would figure about $1500-$2000 grand for a reef. I have about $1200 to $1400 in my 40 gallon and its not like everything is top notch by a longshot. Take off about five to six hundred if its going to be fish only.

 

I have a 55 and have probably spent about that including livestock. One way to save money is to buy stuff off Ebay or craigslist, that's where I got my skimmer. I feel that some of the those prices are high, like $120 for the sand? I bought a 40lb bag of it for $20. Anyways, it's expensive, so you might want to start thinking about getting a job.

 

You can look on local forums and find stuff pretty cheap as people are always up grading or tearing tanks down. That is the cheapest way to get rock for a tank is to buy someones rock when they tear one down and then nuke the rock so your not putting their problems in your tank.

 

Well,the best way to do it is convince someone else to give you more free stuff GL with that though...

 

just an update dad has'nt talked about the tank as yet still did'nt get it but figured out that sand is'nt a problem because i go to the keys all the time and could get good sand from there

and found a someone who is upgrading to a bigger tank and does'nt like their lr and i'm getting it within the next month

 

thats good, that should save you some money

 

Excellent on both points. However, research the laws about removing sand from the keys. It may not be legal and I don't want you getting in trouble. I would definitely snag the LR from your friend. Even if you do not need it right now. You could store it for later if need be.

 

Google DIY live rock and start making it tomorrow (it has a 3 month curing period) That will save you like $300+ Keep watching craigslist for lights or other equipment.


If you are patient, You can have a 75 FOWLR in about 6 months (cycling and LR curing) for around $200.



DIY Live rock $30
Salt $50
One raw shrimp .50
10 pounds of base Live rock $40 (to seed your DIY stuff)
Sand $30 (go to home depot and have them order a pallet of Carib Play sand its the only play sand I can fins that comes from the beach)
Wood and cinder Blocks for a stand $40
Powerheads of craigslist or ebay $20
Shoplights from HD $8 (wont be good for corals but you will be able to see your fish)


Total: $218

That is with-out live stock and with a lot of hard work, and a half a year of down time.