$5,500 budget ...

[Valentini89]

I'm working on my 150g tank, and am about 4 weeks away from ordering the tank, stand, and canopy which will cost right under $2000. I've already spent over $1200 on sump, return pump, flow pumps, protein skimmer, refugium light, inkbird.. I still have $600-700 live rock, 140lbs of live sand, LED lighting for the DT, heater(s), ATO and container, and possibly doser. So I'm looking at approximately $5100 complete give or take a few on a 150 tall. This is honestly the first time I've added it all up.

 

[Lsufan]

I agree that $5,500 is a nice budget. I setup my 5’ by 2’ by 2’ 150 gallon up for right around $2,000 but I did a diy stand & sump, bought the tank used for $350 & I already had the lights. Even a new tank & lights would have put me at around $4,000. I know that really doesn’t help u much but it shows $5,500 is a good budget.

First thing I would do before making any purchases is figure out what u are going to want to do with the tank. Mainly if u are going to want corals & if so what type of corals. This will affect your fish list. If u want specific fish that aren’t reef safe then u have to decide if that is what u want or u may want corals one day. Also, buy quality the first time around. By doing it this way u will not end up having to buy things twice. Your budget is definitely doable but not if u end up having to buy things twice because u change your mind on what u want to do with the tank or from buying bad quality equipment.

As far as the tank itself. If u aren’t going to start with something small I would start out with a 120 gallon. The price wouldn’t be all that different from setting up a 75 to 100 gallon tank & having the 24” front to back is well worth it imo. I know for my main dt having the 24” depth is a must & makes aquascaping so much easier & gives u way more options on the aquascape. U can find a nice 120 gallon tank for less then $1,000.

Tank size & if u want corals will be the biggest factors on what fish u can keep. So I would figure out what is most important for u then go from there. Once u get that figured out we will be able to get more specific & u can really start to see what u will be able to do with your budget

 

[pdt7361]

If I were to ever buy a kit aquatium...something like the Red Sea where u am not piecing it all together...I would go with the Waterbox Platinum series 135.4g tank. These guys seem to make beautiful tanks that everyone loves, and they are cheaper than Red Sea.

That being said though, around here I can buy a new 150g with stand for well under $1000. I'd then buy all of the components to meet my stocking requirements and come in well under $5500.

I'd buy an oversized DC skimmer, combo LED and T5 lighting, an Ecotech Vectra L1, and 2 MP40s. A nice Tunze ATO, and decent doser, 2 media reactors, and a quality sump/refug...whatever is the biggest that would fit in my space (whether under the cabinet or on a separate shelf/stand).

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

 

[Tastee]

I’m 6 months into the hobby, and my tank currently owes me about A$7,500. I am quite enviously of you USA based reefers - US$5,500 stretches a lot further than A$5,500 due to the markups etc we have to pay!

Good luck with the new setup. My only advice is don’t skimp on the quality of the mechanical items and consider a controller to alert you to problems.