Need Help, Ballpark Figure

[rickrickrick19]

Bought a 90 gallon tank a few years back. Wasn't able to get it going as quickly as I wanted to, but now am ready to get it started. Place I bought the tank from closed a month ago and I wasn't able to get an estimate from them. I don't know much about cost for all the equipment I'm going to need and I don't want to go to a new store without having an idea of what I should be spending. If anyone can help with a ballpark number for getting pumps/filters/etc to get the tank up and ready. Thanks

 

[CStrickland]

if that's all you have, I don't think you'll be able to get under $1,000. Most of the time you'll spend more at a local fish store (LFS) than you will online, but it can be a valuable investment to build a relationship with them. This hobby is one of those things where you can get rid of a lot of extra cash if you want, but you can build a nice tank for not too much if you are patient for sales / used stuff, and research carefully before you buy.

Did you have a budget in mind?

 

[thegrun]

If you are on a tight budget consider buying used equipment. If you buy quality used equipment you should be able to save at least 50% of the retail cost.

 

[tzylak]

Read the Stickies, read product reports, read the RC DIY section.
I purchased a Corraline65 skimmer because it was cheap. Well, it is cheap but I am happy with it for over a year now.
In my case the monthly $30-50 increase in electricity bill was a surprise. . . Oh well. . . .
Still, reefing requires passion (obsession? insanity?) and that usually means spending. Pay the rent, bills, food and wage between going to the movies or getting a water test kit, etc.
Have fun

 

[Sk8r]

You need:
a 30 gallon sump, divided.
REturn pump, ca 1200 gph.
skimmer for a 300 gallon tank
lights specific to type of thing you want to keep
test kits, at least nitrate, ammonia strips; then alkalinity test.
sand, aragonite, 100 lbs.
live rock (one good one); conditioned live rock, 150 to 300 lbs.
Salt mix---buy the barrel, it's cheaper.
Ro/di filter (or prepare to carry a lot of bought water).
mixing buckets.
heater---spendy as you can get: a bad one can burn your house down,

 

[Marchillo]

You need:
a 30 gallon sump, divided.
REturn pump, ca 1200 gph.
skimmer for a 300 gallon tank
lights specific to type of thing you want to keep
test kits, at least nitrate, ammonia strips; then alkalinity test.
sand, aragonite, 100 lbs.
live rock (one good one); conditioned live rock, 150 to 300 lbs.
Salt mix---buy the barrel, it's cheaper.
Ro/di filter (or prepare to carry a lot of bought water).
mixing buckets.
heater---spendy as you can get: a bad one can burn your house down,

All that Rock and a skimmer that big for a 90G tank? Wow

 

[Mark9]

You need:
a 30 gallon sump, divided.
REturn pump, ca 1200 gph.
skimmer for a 300 gallon tank
lights specific to type of thing you want to keep
test kits, at least nitrate, ammonia strips; then alkalinity test.
sand, aragonite, 100 lbs.
live rock (one good one); conditioned live rock, 150 to 300 lbs.
Salt mix---buy the barrel, it's cheaper.
Ro/di filter (or prepare to carry a lot of bought water).
mixing buckets.
heater---spendy as you can get: a bad one can burn your house down,

The OP has a 90 gallon tank, he needs to buy an appropriate sized skimmer, not one for a 300 gallon tank. And 300 pounds of rock is way too much, did you read the post?

Ed:---sorry, I was dealing with a 150 earlier, and misremembered the size. 100-180 lbs.

 

[CStrickland]

I wouldn't put less than 60 pounds of rock in a 90, but it really depends on how the tank is stocked. Which is the most important thing for OP to consider. Like sk8ter mentioned, your lights depend on what you want in the tank, same for all the equipment really.

You don't need sand unless your fish do
You don't need fancy lights unless your coral do
You don't need a sump unless you do (because you want to put sump-things in it)

There's not really a right answer for what a reef tank needs b/c it's about what the critters you put in it need. You can run a low population fish only (fowlr) tank with a $12 light, a canister filter and tap water, but you won't be selling any sps frags out of it. Most of us have had good luck with rodi, a decent skimmer, decent lights, some rock, decent heater, and good tests. Higher quality toys (esp tests if you know how to read them) can make it easier but they don't make the reefer.

PS welcome to the forum!

 

[Luke Schnabel]

I would set up an account with Bulk Reef Supply. They seem to have the absolute best site for buying stuff for your tank.
I suggest this....
BRS 4 Stage RO/DI ~$150
Instant Ocean 200gallon mix ~$50
Refractometer ~45
1000gph or more return pump ~$80-150
Wave makers x2 (depending on your budget) $60-400 EACH
Lights LED $200-600$ each
Sand.. You DONT want extra fine
Dry DEAD Rock... 100lbs
Live rock.... A few pieces will do
PVC plumbing ~100$
Skimmer 150 gallon rated or more. ~$300-500
30gallon breeder tank for sump.
Random accessory budget $300

Honestly to do it right the first time your going to drop $2,000 or more... Depending on what you buy you could have $2,000 in lights alone. But go to bulk reef supply and look everything up and compare it with your budget. Also Bulk Reef Supply has a great video series for starting a new tank called "52 weeks of reefing"

 

[Luke Schnabel]

You want to run a sump becuas all your filtration can happen down there. Plus adding macro algae to the sump is huge in keeping nitrates down.

 

[3dees]

it depends on how high tech you want to go. most of the above answers are good, but a few are just one persons opinion. a sump is best but by no means a must. my 120 gal. softie/lps reef is sumpless. I have a Reef Octopus HOB skimmer that's nowhere near 300 gals. rated. you will find many skimmerless tanks that are doing fine. I dose nothing and even manually top off my tank every morning. two years and so far everything is fine. all that fancy expensive equipment is great if you can afford it, but you can do a lot with a smaller budget. many people are hesitant to go sw because they hear how hard and expensive it is. took me years to finally try discus for the same reasons. it wasn't hard. just a lot of maintenance. I do far less maintenance on my reef then I did with my wild discus tank. I wouldn't say to buy cheap equipment. it's just that you can have a tank for far less than you think. now if you want exotic fish and/or coral, that's a different story.

 

[Shawn O]

You can get by with a few of these cheap lights from china @ $85 each:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/165W-LED-Aq...-Power-Draw-/380970235935?hash=item58b398781f

No fancy options and not programmable but puts out light.

 

[dbk111]

If you need to ask you cant afford to drive it....

HAHA

 

[jayball]

Keep in mind the sand and rock requirement is variable. I have ~60 lbs of pukani dry rock in my 90 and it takes up plenty of space. If I went with dense live rock like the terrestrial mined rock or Fiji I would have needed much more.

3-4 20 lb bags of sand will get you somewhere between 1.5 and 2 inches of sandbed depending on how much rock you have on the base. (I would start with 3 and add more to taste)

 

[g_langley]

Used equipment can be a very good option, so long as it's a only a couple of years old, older than that and things start to pack-up or needs bits replacing, IME.