Cost Cutting And Tank Placement Prt2

so you have answered some of the questions here and were totally confused.
So youve decided to create your own tank This is a good place to start having a lot of questions that you need to ask yourself to start out with.

alright so you decided to setup the tank. Now you need to figure out where to put this tank!
weight is going to be a major factor on where you put it look at it this way a 100 gallon tank weighs about 100# give or take estimate. Now once you add water to the tank its going to weigh 900# water weighs 8# for one gallon of water!!! If your floors are weak your going to need to beef up the floors where the tank is going to be. Now once you start to add the sand and the rock to the tank you can see the weight of the tank is going to increase!!!!
next make sure where you want to put the tank is a level surface if its un-level it can create tension in the tank and eventually it can bust the seams out of the tank. there are ways to level slight imperfections but for large ones you will need to select a different place for the tank.
you want to chose a place out of the sunlight. Even though we put lights on out tank to mimic the real sun. the real sun coming through windows can and will cause algae problems in the tank.

Next thing you will want to do is test fill the tank.
There are a number of things that can go wrong with the tank from manufacturing all the way down to shipping that can cause the tank seams to be weakened. So a Test fill somewhere the water wont cause problems just in case will keep you from ruining your hardwood floors or carpeting. A test fill of about 24-48 hours is recommended.

So know we have the tank a place to put the tank lets talk about ways to cut costs on setting up a tank. As we all know and you as a new hobbyist will know its not cheap.

before we go on did you remember you QT or hospital tank not sure what these are read up more here to see what these are and how to set them up and the way they help. here. Thanks Beth




Everything can be done a little bit at a time. You dont have to buy everything at one time for your new tank.
Lets talk about money saving options available to us hobbyists.
lets talk about some of the most expensive items

Live Rock at 1 to 1-1/2 pounds of rock per gallon this can be very expensive!!!!! for a 55 gallon tank your looking at about 82 pounds of live rock recommended for it. @ $6 a pound that would be almost $500 bucks. a little expensive huh. well there are different ways that you can cut that cost by alot.
1) You can buy the rock online Right now Saltwaterfish.com has Ultra Premium Fiji Live Rock 45-50lbs for a sale price of 199.99 with a $20 store credit Saltwaterfish.com's live rock page this price includes shipping. *as of 12/12/07 and subject to change. This option will need to be cured as there is die off during shipping.read more about live rock here Here Tanks to Mudplayer using this type of rock has many benifits including a more diverse amount of life in the rock.
this is one way to save money.

2) another way to save money is to buy base rock and seed it with Live rock doing it will take time though the life in the rock will slowly move from the Live rock to the base rock in time it will look the same as regular live rock. the price of base rock varies by market but is usually about 1/2 the price of regular Live Rock. this rock is usually devoid of any life other than the bacterial buildup that helps maintain water quality

3) Dry base rock is another cost cutter. This rock is sold completely dry with absolutely no life in or on it. it will take a lot more time to build up the bacterial levels needed for water quality, This option will also look just like all other live rock in time. with all the benifits of it. This type of rock will need to be seeded as well with Live Rock.

4) make you your own rock this is the cheapest way to fill a tank with rock but its also the most work needed to make it and its time consuming. Here is a link to where you can read a little more about it.

Live sand

1)why pay for a complete live sand to be added to the tank the bottom layers will die off anyway so all you need is enough for the top 1 inch or 2 for the tank. there are different type of sand beds. some people like this setup for cleaning but its usually done in frag or propagation tanks. its a less natural looking IMO.
a) some people go with out any sand at all called a bare bottom tank
b) SSB=shallow sand bed this is a sand bed usually around 2-3 inches. this type of setup is a bit tricky to get right to deep and it can cause problems easy if disturbed
C) DSB 4-6 inches of sand this type creates a oxygen deprived area in the sand bed for nitrates to be change into nitrogen gasses that then escape the tank.

2)dry base sand this option is very viable some home improvement stores sell sand suitable for this but if you are in doubt of which to use buy argonite sand for saltwater tanks. it will cost around $30-40 for a 50# bag of sand. then you can top it off with live sand or even a few cups of sand from friends tanks to seed the dead sand. The live rock that you put into the tank will also help seed the sand as micro-organisms migrate to the sand. to find out how much sand you will need to create a certain sand bed depth go here Saltwaterfish.coms liverock and Live sand page with sand calculator just enter the information and it will tell you an estimate of sand you will need.


The next issue will go over how to put everything together to this point. all of these links are from Members of this site and more information can be found by using the Search link at the top of the forums and as always you can ask any questions to our members here and get real advice. Please remember that its only advice and the final decision is up to you for your tank.

Mike