My $10/Gallon build

So I've made reference to my current 220 gallon build on a bunch of other threads and thought it was about time to start a build thread of my own. A little background on the project. Before I moved into my new house, I had 150 which was very nice, and in particular I had a Nasso tang that i was in love with. I built a 60 cube in the new house and have been very happy with it, but it is not large enough for tangs. My wife gave me the go ahead to build a large system but it had to be on a budget. We both enjoy going on Craigslist adventures and thought that would be a good way to do the build. I set my goal to be a price point of about $10 per gallon of display tank. With this in mind the total cost before live stock needs to be $2,200. I also wanted the system to be in an area where I will see it all the time (i.e. not in the basement) and it therefore needs to be quiet. With those parameters in mind..... here goes the build!

 

So the start was doing research and searching Craigslist for a suitable tank. I took much inspiration from Toddsails build thread so you will see many similarities if you follow his. (highly recommended ) My first find was a 220 gallon, 6 ft long Oceanic tank with Starphire glass that leaked! Road trip to NY and I had my project started.

 

View attachment 67321 So the start was doing research and searching Craigslist for a suitable tank. I took much inspiration from Toddsails build thread so you will see many similarities if you follow his. (highly recommended ) My first find was a 220 gallon, 6 ft long Oceanic tank with Starphire glass that leaked! Road trip to NY and I had my project started.

 

Trying to insert an image here!

 

So $300 later i was the proud owner of a leaking tank! It was brought home and placed in the garage. All the silicone was stripped out, and all residue was cleaned with nail polish remover so that I had a pristine surface to work with. The tank was completely re siliconed and then leak tested after allowing 10 days drying time.

 

In the mean time, I found another 220 gallon tank on Craigslist for $100 !!! Go figure. This one also leaked but had a stand. The other positive was that it was 7ft long and only 24 inches deep which i liked. I was not the proud owner of two large tanks! Another strip job, re-seal and leak test. Now I had a decision as to which tank to keep and which one to sell. I decided to keep the 7 ft tank so that I had more swimming length for tangs and that is would be easier to work in. It also had a stand that could be re finished. The glass is not as nice but I think it will be OK. Hope i made the right decision here! So up on Craigslist goes the 6 ft tank. Waiting for a sale so I can buy more stuff!

 

While waiting for someone to buy the extra 220, I found someone who was getting rid of a "few items" to make room for his 540 Gallon build. (!!!!!) $200 later i had a 125 gal with stand, a 90 gal and a 30 gal tank along with a 48" 4 bulb T5, 2 WP 25's, a mag 7 pump and a few other misc items. Now I have the makings of a sump!!

 

Nice scores diener! Love Todd's build and will be interesting to see how yours comes along. Following!!

 

My first follower! Thank you. Many more great scores to report. I ll update as soon as i can.