55 Reef on a Budget

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7661752#post7661752 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Criminal#58369
Im going to try and do what you did, cept im going to use my 65 gallon tank :D
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Cool! keep us posted.



Well 2 nights in a row Mr. Eeel ended up in the sump! :D I have an eggcrate box over the overflow bulkhead, it's not super tight so he must squeeeeeeze through. I'll have to work on this today, the wife doesn't like the idea of him creeping around at night in our bedroom. :eek1:
 
On Monday I got my DIY rock out of the river and put it in some SW. I'll leave it there for a week :dance: then finally I can get something in the tank.

Now with Mr escape artist. I had to change the eggcrate box because he was getting under it.
This is what I came up with:

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Dont mind the eggcrate, I didn't want to take it out until I got this to work. IT IS SOOOOOOOO quite!:sleep: . I used a 1/4" bit with a point to make the hole and a 7/16" cement bit to bevel out the holes.

DSC02995.jpg
 
Hey adnup. Man what an awesome post this has been. I just stumbled on it when I was searching for 55 gallon 2X4 tank stands and have just finished reading the last 5 pages. I have been trying to do the exact same thing as far as keeping the price down to a "minimum" :) and doing as much DIY as possible. At first I was just going to break down and get the premade stand and tank from the LFS but after some reading, it looks way too easy (as long as it's planned right) to build on my own. Looks great and look forward to seeing more...

Question for ya: did you get the tank from a LFS or from somewhere else? I must have missed that as I'm sure you mentioned it. Great post and it really is awesome to see as I'm a newbie trying to be as frugal as possibly without skimping on the important stuff (lights, skimmer, etc). Thanks for the inspiration.

Adam
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7683421#post7683421 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by divecj5
Question for ya: did you get the tank from a LFS or from somewhere else? I must have missed that as I'm sure you mentioned it. Great post and it really is awesome to see as I'm a newbie trying to be as frugal as possibly without skimping on the important stuff (lights, skimmer, etc). Thanks for the inspiration.

Adam
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Thanks Adam :D I was hoping to help as well as learn also........

I got the tank off a fellow RC member. your local reef club forums are a great source for anything you may need without the shipping costs....I also just got another 55 gal for free(I used it for a reptile)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7655117#post7655117 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reefrubble
Paul , where did you get the sponge? Ted
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Thanks for the heads up Ted.

FYI - Seems I was unaware that if a sponge makes contact with air it will ssssslllllllooooooowwwwwlllllyyyy die and poison your tank.

Other than that I've had a hard time finding some Luan to match the stand, finally picked some up yesterday. So I should make that soon.

Also ;) I feed the eel again today, I'll have to get pics, that was so cool. I came right up and ate out of my (nervous) hand. :D
 
Thats a really nice stand, ever thought about a business?

How much did it cost you to make, and how much labor did you put into it?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7703589#post7703589 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by only4fudge
Thats a really nice stand, ever thought about a business?

How much did it cost you to make, and how much labor did you put into it?
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Thanks - I just made another one for a reptile tank. No business aspirations tho. I guess it cost me @$40
 
I finally got the canopy done! Well almost But :bounce1: :dance: :bounce3: anyway.....
Here are some pics. I gutted the lights out a PC that I had. The wood and hardware for the canopy cost $24. I still have to fill the nail holes, sand and fine tune some stuff but the ghetto setup I had before had to go.

Building the canopy
DSC02997.jpg


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What left of the PC's
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Finished and on the tank
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Thanks Travis!

I'm going nuts waiting for this DIY rock to cure!:hmm4:
The tank has a ton of coraline algee growing on the glass and rubble rock I have in there. I think I'll start working on a DIY skimmer soon.
 
$20 tank
$17 new top trim
$20 ish for 2by's
$20 ish for pine and luan
$10 pvs, valve etc...
$75 for power compact lights (good deal I couldn't pass up)
$0 sump - I had it, could have used a rubbermaid tote for @ $5
$0 Mag 9.5 - I had it, could have used a smaller mag or gen-x @$50
$24 for the canopy

So thats around $166. I must be missing something, my last total was around that. So figure its about $190 :bum:
 
Wow I have a 29gal that at last count was about $600.
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Oh and the tang will be in a new tank soon.
 
Meco65, don't feel bad. The average tank costs the average aquarist about $35-$50 per gallon. At that rate, your 29g should cost you $1015-$1450. I've spent about the same amount of money as you on my 29g

Adnup, it looks like you are doing this quite cheap. You will probably beat me in price in the end. But mine will look better ;) Just kidding.

Adnup's 55g - $166 (~$3.02/gallon)
Travis's 75g - $352 (~$4.69/gallon)
 
I plan on making a skimmer soon, I'm going to try and keep it under $100.

I think I'm going to use this <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7620656187&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1" target="_blank">tubing</a> and an Ocean runner or Sedra pump. I'll keep my eyes open for sales or other good buys..... Any thought on this acrylic tubing?

Still waiting for this darn DIY rock to cure or "kure" I forget which I'm waiting for , Travis :D
 
Adnup,

Can you give more details on how you made the doors? I know you used the pocket hole jig. But did you cut groves in the inside of the door frame for the laun to fit into? If so, how did you cut the groves? A router or did you use a table saw?

I am just trying to figure out how you attached the laun to the door frame and made it look so nice. (-:

Cheers,
Chris
 
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