College budget need a little help...
- Thread starter Bottinelli
- Start date
saltyguppie
In Memoriam
Broke because you spend all your money on your tank is one thing and i think all of us here splurge from time to time.
But trying to come into the hobby with little money and having to ask in hopes of a freebie is another.
But trying to come into the hobby with little money and having to ask in hopes of a freebie is another.
JUICE!
Premium Member
isn't that why we are all in a reef club? So we can ask our fellow reefers for help when we need it, and help other reefers when we can?
I am working on a 220G at home, and this is the very first tank that I have spent a good deal of money on.
I can prove that you can keep healthy happy critters on a "military budget" which I imagine is about on par with a "college budget"
I'm sure that you'll find a ton of information to help you on your way.
what size tank? My 75G ran with a 20/30 whisper hang on filter(no bio wheels or anything....just carbon and filter floss......and a remora pro hang on skimmer + 3 powerheads
I looked at Mitch's tank last night and the only thing store bought is the pumps and skimmer. He got rock and sand from tampa for cheap(no shipping charges) Modded some maxi jets.....built his own sump and internal overflow in the tank....the corals are pieces of trades here and there......and It's THE most attractive 75G set up that I have ever seen.
Now he had to fight with gorilla crabs, and fight algae.......dip rock, etc.....but these are all things that we have to fight even when buying top of the line equipment.
I've got a skimmer or two....one hang on and one in sump, but both need a little gluing, or minor fixing, but will function fine.
I had NO money when I got into the hobby.....now, over 10 years later, I have a bit of extra cash....but to be honest, my corals looked just as good in my jerry rigged tank as in my new display......but my equipment is looking much nicer these days.....
Before....I had what I needed to make it work.....now I'm hitting up my long time "wish list"
somewhere along the line, it was construed that you had to have a lot of money to have a nice (reef) tank. That just isn't true. You only have to have money is you want all the bells and whistles....or want to build and stock a tank quickly. If you take your time, you can build an amazing tank $20 or $40 at a time.
In my opinion.....money can substituted for knowledge, patience, and a bit of hard work.
I am working on a 220G at home, and this is the very first tank that I have spent a good deal of money on.
I can prove that you can keep healthy happy critters on a "military budget" which I imagine is about on par with a "college budget"
I'm sure that you'll find a ton of information to help you on your way.
what size tank? My 75G ran with a 20/30 whisper hang on filter(no bio wheels or anything....just carbon and filter floss......and a remora pro hang on skimmer + 3 powerheads
I looked at Mitch's tank last night and the only thing store bought is the pumps and skimmer. He got rock and sand from tampa for cheap(no shipping charges) Modded some maxi jets.....built his own sump and internal overflow in the tank....the corals are pieces of trades here and there......and It's THE most attractive 75G set up that I have ever seen.
Now he had to fight with gorilla crabs, and fight algae.......dip rock, etc.....but these are all things that we have to fight even when buying top of the line equipment.
I've got a skimmer or two....one hang on and one in sump, but both need a little gluing, or minor fixing, but will function fine.
I had NO money when I got into the hobby.....now, over 10 years later, I have a bit of extra cash....but to be honest, my corals looked just as good in my jerry rigged tank as in my new display......but my equipment is looking much nicer these days.....
Before....I had what I needed to make it work.....now I'm hitting up my long time "wish list"
somewhere along the line, it was construed that you had to have a lot of money to have a nice (reef) tank. That just isn't true. You only have to have money is you want all the bells and whistles....or want to build and stock a tank quickly. If you take your time, you can build an amazing tank $20 or $40 at a time.
In my opinion.....money can substituted for knowledge, patience, and a bit of hard work.
Definately have to agree, not many people ever start in this hobby with alot of money to buy all nice new equipment, it is a slow process. For those who were able to do their first reef setup with top of the line new equipment, congrats you were very lucky. It has taken me years in this hobby to finally do a reef setup with mostly new good equipment and really iinvest in the tank. I am glad my skimmer will be going to a hobbiest who needs some help.
Outstanding points...and I want to thank Juice for his oh too kind words....I have to admit that I pretty well put the new tank together for not much more than a bunch of effort....Actually Don, I even got the pumps and skimmer second-hand....I did buy the PVC for my plumbing, and the little tank for the fuge from the store.....otherwise there is nothing that I actually went out and bought in the entire system...
flasher1
New member
My tank is quite bare at the moment but I can tell you for a fact that you can be successful on a college budget. I have been at UCF out of my own pocket for 3 years now and have had a tank for at least 2 years. I just recently got some real nice stuff from atlantis but that was my splurge for a while. I wanted to get more, but it was out of my budget. In a few months, when things grow out I will be looking to trade for stuff.
THAT is what this hobby can be about....OUTSTANDING attitude and I would be happy to see what I might have to swap with any of y'all when my stuff grows out too....
I'm not even in college, but I suddenly had to go out and spring for a MH bulb....quite unexpectedly, and I gotta admit, it was a bit of a hardship....but I found the money and dealt with it....That's the roots from whence I see this whole rigger-marole (or how ever it's spelled) coming from....
I'm not even in college, but I suddenly had to go out and spring for a MH bulb....quite unexpectedly, and I gotta admit, it was a bit of a hardship....but I found the money and dealt with it....That's the roots from whence I see this whole rigger-marole (or how ever it's spelled) coming from....
hexedagain
New member
OK, nobody laugh, but I have a sea clown ( I mean clone ) skimmer you can have. You just need the maxijet to feed it.
This ran on my 58g for about a year, and steadily pulled junk out of it.
This ran on my 58g for about a year, and steadily pulled junk out of it.
I actually tried to put this post in here yesterday, but stuff got wild....I saw a DIY thread once in which a person made a VERY viable protein skimmer from a couple of 2 Liter bottles, a power head and some tygon....I dare anybody to challenge it, as you will realize, if you take the time to look, that the neck of a bottle is a tapered, progressive neck. If the second bottle bottom were cut off and cut out to fit around the neck of the fires, then the neck of the second cut and glued inside the bottom with the hole and there you have your lift off neck.
A bit of tygon would come from the outlet of the PH, glued and siliconed in through the side, with a little airline opening into the extreme inlet to the volute of the PH it will act as a venturi from He77....the tapering neck is the most effective neck shape....one could even go farther, taking a second PH, modded to venturi and seal it into the side two levels for a recirc mod....
Obviously there would be a bit of fiddling, and maybe you would have to drink a couple of extra bottles of soda to work out heights, etc....
MIKE ALERS
New member
i think its pretty cool that u are actually setting up a tank while in college...theres other things u could be doing with your spare money like partying and drinking hard like i did.....uummm come to think about i never went to college.i barely made it thru high school...
but seriously i dont have much but if u need any help just holla.btw i got kenya trees,xenia and a couple of paly's i can donate.
but seriously i dont have much but if u need any help just holla.btw i got kenya trees,xenia and a couple of paly's i can donate.Similar threads
