80G setup & costs

[blue300zx]

Can someone please help me... I have dabbeled in salt for a little bit w/ a 30G w/ 2 percs, 1 Coral Beauty and 1 BTA under 180W PC lighting... I bought all of it from a friend...so i am not really knowledgeable on the costs and setup.
Please help me...
I Was given an 80G by my parents... I am wanting to go for a FOWLR tank...i am on a budget (i know...Budget and SW dont mix... LOL) but i am just wanting to go easy fish and setup for mow..once i get my feet wet i am going to go Reef (long time from now). I am just looking for suggestions and ideas on equipment and what to stock in it.

Criticism is welcome !!!
Thanks

P.S. The 80G is NOT reef ready !!

 

[buckster71]

Do most of the work yourself. You can save a ton of money doing everything yourself.
you can build your own filtration for pennies on the dollar
you can build your lighting priced decently.
most of your controls and hardware can be inexpensive that the local building centers
Try to make your biggest expense as Live Rock. If you buy it from the LFS, it can cost you a small fortunte.
My 72 bow costed me upwards of about 4500 after I was finished...well actually after the mob (LFS) was done working me over with hammers and bats...

as it was my first and I learned everything too late.
There are also alot of discount online distributers as well. Especially finding supplies 1/2 to 1/4 of the cost of your LFS.
Be selective and investigate first. It gets too addicting and expensive to buy every shinny trinket you find.

 

[dstoneburg]

Be smart with liverock and you can save alot of money. You can do two things that is more or less thrifty shopping. You can either make DIY LR(Which is great, make the exact shapes you want) and then add a few peices covered with coraline. Or use baserock(more expensive then DIY) And also add a few peices of LR.

 

[maxalmon]

Shop around and look for good deaks either on craigslist or in the newspaper.
You can always find 10-20g setups for a few bucks, most of the time they have a heater and or pumps etc.....
.
Live Sand, make sure its aragonite based calcium based, you can save yourself a lot of money by purchasing dry sand thats not live. Take a small amount of sand, pour some vinegar over it, if it bubbles and fizes, then it's a calcium based sand and good to use, depending on your location, sometimes the local super-hardware stores carry 50lb bags for just a few bucks, just make sure it calcium based, not silica based. Use this dead sand in your tank and then get handful of LS from a friend or sometimes the LFS will sell you some, use this handfull of LS to seed the sand....The reason you want calcium based sand is that it has a buffering action on your pH, the silica sand doesn't.
.
Check around for deals on real LR, the DIY stuff looks good and it's cheap to make but in no way will it ever offer the biological surface area or buffering action of real live rock. If you have to splurge on one single item in the tank, save up for the real LR, even if you only have enough for 50lbs, you can always add more later....Hope this helps

 

[blue300zx]

Originally Posted by maxalmon
Shop around and look for good deaks either on craigslist or in the newspaper.
You can always find 10-20g setups for a few bucks, most of the time they have a heater and or pumps etc.....
.
Live Sand, make sure its aragonite based calcium based, you can save yourself a lot of money by purchasing dry sand thats not live. Take a small amount of sand, pour some vinegar over it, if it bubbles and fizes, then it's a calcium based sand and good to use, depending on your location, sometimes the local super-hardware stores carry 50lb bags for just a few bucks, just make sure it calcium based, not silica based. Use this dead sand in your tank and then get handful of LS from a friend or sometimes the LFS will sell you some, use this handfull of LS to seed the sand....The reason you want calcium based sand is that it has a buffering action on your pH, the silica sand doesn't.
.
Check around for deals on real LR, the DIY stuff looks good and it's cheap to make but in no way will it ever offer the biological surface area or buffering action of real live rock. If you have to splurge on one single item in the tank, save up for the real LR, even if you only have enough for 50lbs, you can always add more later....Hope this helps

WOW...thanks so much !!! I never thought you could do that with the sand !!! that will save a lot !! What types of Pumps/Filtration do you recommend ??? It is not a reef ready tank...and i know the the Filters with the Bio-Wheels are good...but i had a problem with my BTA in my old tank migrating to it and getting stuck...so what about a canister Filter ??

 

[michaeltx]

well with a properly setup tank there is no need for power filters the rock and sand with good flow is your filter. I use a power filter on my tank to increase surface agitation and a plce to run carbon when I didnt have a sump setup.
thats another idead to look into even though your tank isnt drilled you can still have a sump setup with a overflow box that will carry the water down to the sump.
there are many ways to save money from the sand idea above to even buying base rock and then adding alittle bit of LR and it will seed the dry base just like the live sand seeds the dry sand.
Mike

 

[nietzsche]

for live rock look into marco rocks, half the cost for me and just as good

 

[blue300zx]

Is there any way that i can put a refrigium or a sump on a non-reef ready tank ??? I dont want to run any of those "Hang-on-Back" filters

.
Thanks

 

[michaeltx]

yes they do make overflow boxes that are gravity feed to a tank below your main tank or a prebuilt sump. just doa search for CPR overflows there are several different brands though. what it does it changes the non-reef ready tank into a reef ready type tank without having to drill the tank.
Mike

 

[blue300zx]

Originally Posted by MichaelTX
yes they do make overflow boxes that are gravity feed to a tank below your main tank or a prebuilt sump. just doa search for CPR overflows there are several different brands though. what it does it changes the non-reef ready tank into a reef ready type tank without having to drill the tank.
Mike

Exactly what i was looking for... Thanks Mike !!!