rking77573
New member
I'm going to go against the grain on this and while I will certainly take some heat for my choices, and will likely deserve it at least part of the time, I think it will be a fun project anyway. What can I say? I must be a glutton for punishment! I have a unique opportunity to attempt to build a thriving large reef tank without using any of the "leading name brand" equipment.
Let me say in advance that I don't have a problem with any of these manufacturers. They are the industry leaders for a reason after all. I would just like to go through the process and build my tank without spending thousands on a skimmer or hundreds on a return pump. All of the equipment that I use in the build will be a great steal on a nice piece of used equipment or something that is readily available to anyone for a reasonable price. I will probably even have a backup part for a few of the more necessary pieces in case my "cheap piece of @#$ " breaks. I will acknowledge in advance that some of the choices that I make for equipment will not work out and that will be a good learning experience for anyone else following along as well. However, some of the pieces will undoubtedly work as well or better than I expect. I look forward to everyones input whether it be constructive or mindless heckling throughout this process and I cant wait to get started. I will also be documenting the actual prices (without sales tax) of everything that I buy. My goal is to get this tank up and running for under $1800.00 without livestock. Now I have a couple of advantages here that not everyone will have, but I'm working with what Ive got. I am a home builder and therefore have access to some (not all) of my building materials and all of my trade partners' expert advice, though nothing I do will be beyond the scope of your average handyman's abilities. I will be purchasing most of my finish materials for the stand/wall and plumbing like anyone else, but I will be fishing in my "trash" piles on my job sites for good lumber etc that my folks are throwing away. You can possibly do this too if you visit your local new home development and just ask the builders if they mind. Some companies have a policy preventing them from allowing you to salvage, but not all.
I recently bought one of my inventory homes with the intention of installing my tank in between the dining area and the family room. This will require the relocation of a post and the deletion of a pony wall, but as this is a truss home I will have no load bearing issues. Because I will not have a fish room, all of my equipment will need to fit underneath the tank and I will be building a stand/cabinet out of 2x material from the job and cabinet grade plywood from my local home depot. The 210 gallon aquarium was generously donated to my by a friend (Thanks Travis!) so I am starting off ahead of the game in that I have the tank and didn't have to spend any money. The tank has a single overflow box in 1 corner with a 1 1/4" drain installed. This will be one of the determining factors in my equipment selection. I was passing by on of our many LFS recently and came across some of their old display tanks being sold for $5 each, so I picked up 2 of them to use for a sump and refugium. I'm absolutely in love with melev's sump designs and may upgrade eventually, but I'd like to try to make these work for the purposes of my project. I bought 2 bulkheads at another LFS for 12.99 each and 2 Koralia 4's for 64.99 each as well. The only other part of my project that has begun is the making of my DIY rock formations. I've spent $44 so far on Portland Cement and Salt. I've only made one formation so far (I LOVE to procrastinate sometimes) but will have enough left over for the other major formation I have planned. I will seed this with the live rock being held for me at a friends house while I work on this. Because of the small drain size in the overflow, I believe I will use a smallish 1300gph pump with DIY eductors in order to control flow through the sump and water movement in the tank. It isn't a "pressure rated" pump but I've seen the same setup working on a friends tank for quite some time and it works very well.
I've lost my train of thought now so I'll recap my expenditures so far and come back in a bit to post what I have planned.
Tank: FREE (gotta love it)
Sump: $5
Refugium: $5
Bulkheads: $25.98
Koralias: $129.98
Rockwork: $44
Total: $209.96 so far.
Let me say in advance that I don't have a problem with any of these manufacturers. They are the industry leaders for a reason after all. I would just like to go through the process and build my tank without spending thousands on a skimmer or hundreds on a return pump. All of the equipment that I use in the build will be a great steal on a nice piece of used equipment or something that is readily available to anyone for a reasonable price. I will probably even have a backup part for a few of the more necessary pieces in case my "cheap piece of @#$ " breaks. I will acknowledge in advance that some of the choices that I make for equipment will not work out and that will be a good learning experience for anyone else following along as well. However, some of the pieces will undoubtedly work as well or better than I expect. I look forward to everyones input whether it be constructive or mindless heckling throughout this process and I cant wait to get started. I will also be documenting the actual prices (without sales tax) of everything that I buy. My goal is to get this tank up and running for under $1800.00 without livestock. Now I have a couple of advantages here that not everyone will have, but I'm working with what Ive got. I am a home builder and therefore have access to some (not all) of my building materials and all of my trade partners' expert advice, though nothing I do will be beyond the scope of your average handyman's abilities. I will be purchasing most of my finish materials for the stand/wall and plumbing like anyone else, but I will be fishing in my "trash" piles on my job sites for good lumber etc that my folks are throwing away. You can possibly do this too if you visit your local new home development and just ask the builders if they mind. Some companies have a policy preventing them from allowing you to salvage, but not all.
I recently bought one of my inventory homes with the intention of installing my tank in between the dining area and the family room. This will require the relocation of a post and the deletion of a pony wall, but as this is a truss home I will have no load bearing issues. Because I will not have a fish room, all of my equipment will need to fit underneath the tank and I will be building a stand/cabinet out of 2x material from the job and cabinet grade plywood from my local home depot. The 210 gallon aquarium was generously donated to my by a friend (Thanks Travis!) so I am starting off ahead of the game in that I have the tank and didn't have to spend any money. The tank has a single overflow box in 1 corner with a 1 1/4" drain installed. This will be one of the determining factors in my equipment selection. I was passing by on of our many LFS recently and came across some of their old display tanks being sold for $5 each, so I picked up 2 of them to use for a sump and refugium. I'm absolutely in love with melev's sump designs and may upgrade eventually, but I'd like to try to make these work for the purposes of my project. I bought 2 bulkheads at another LFS for 12.99 each and 2 Koralia 4's for 64.99 each as well. The only other part of my project that has begun is the making of my DIY rock formations. I've spent $44 so far on Portland Cement and Salt. I've only made one formation so far (I LOVE to procrastinate sometimes) but will have enough left over for the other major formation I have planned. I will seed this with the live rock being held for me at a friends house while I work on this. Because of the small drain size in the overflow, I believe I will use a smallish 1300gph pump with DIY eductors in order to control flow through the sump and water movement in the tank. It isn't a "pressure rated" pump but I've seen the same setup working on a friends tank for quite some time and it works very well.
I've lost my train of thought now so I'll recap my expenditures so far and come back in a bit to post what I have planned.
Tank: FREE (gotta love it)
Sump: $5
Refugium: $5
Bulkheads: $25.98
Koralias: $129.98
Rockwork: $44
Total: $209.96 so far.
