Putting together my first Reef Aquarium

[David Ilan]

Howdy Reef Central,

I've been reading posts on here and researching this hobby for well over a year now and am seriously considering putting together my first system. My neighbor has this Marineland 120 gallon available and am looking at it today.

http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/for/5129394491.html

Does this seem like a good place to start or should I start with a new tank? I have plenty of space in my home, so I could probably go larger if my budget permits. I want this system to be as clean as possible, so I'd like to have as large a sump and refugium as space allows. I am an extremely patient person and want to do this right. Any advice would be welcome.

Kind Regards,

David

 

[Ron Reefman]

That tank is OK. Seems a bit pricey at $700, but maybe it the fact that you are in Chicago and I'm in SW Florida! Too bad it doesn't have the sump and other hardware you'll want, but it's a good start. When I moved up from a 75g to the system I have now, it took me well over a year to buy everything I wanted. I just wasn't willing to pay through the nose for all new so I shopped Craigslist and joined a local club. I ended up with a 2 tank system, 180g reef and 75g hexagon FOWLR and a 180g sump/refugium. All together I had less than $3000 in it at the start up.

 

[heathlindner25]

for everything including sump and skimmer it sounds like a great deal...

 

[David Ilan]

Ron and Heath,

Thank you for the swift replies. I inspected the system today. He was offering me the tank and stand for $650, a decent Diablo protein skimmer for $150 and an MP40 power head for $200. Still no sump. So I'd need to find a decent source for a large sump to fit under the cabinet. I've priced out the rest of my remaining supplies including two radion G3's at around an additional $2500 off bulkreefsupply. All said and done I'll be growing coralline at $3,500. Perhaps I should keep looking until I find a setup that includes a little more.

 

[Shawn O]

Something like a 40B from petco, a tube of aquarium silicone and some glass baffles would make a good DIY sump. Pretty much any tank you can fit inside the stand will work.