New set-up.... Help me do this right!

[usaxxxshark]

Several years ago I had a reef aquarium when I lived in Dallas that I pieced together with limited success. I relocated to Columbus, OH and sold the equipment. I'm ready to jump back into the hobby, but want to do it right this time. While I'm not made of money, I am looking to spend what I need to in order to have a great setup that is reef ready (I'd like to have it all in there!).
 
I'm not sure exactly what I will need to "do it right", and am looking for ideas. Here is a list that I put together, but I'm really not sure if it is what I need, and if it is if it is the best brand, or if I am missing anything. Would appreciate thoughts and ideas.
 
 




Item



Description



Price



Sub-TTL







Tank



All Glass pre-drilled Aquarium 210 Gallon Tank Black 72 X 24 X 29



 



 



$ 900.00



$ 900.00







 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 







Sump



Refugium/Sump HD 48 PRO Sump by AE Tech



 



 



 



 



$ 800.00



$ 1,700.00







 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 







Protein Skimmer



In sump Protein Skimmer



 



 



 



 



 



$ 300.00



$ 2,000.00





 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 

 


 



 





RO/DI System



SpectraPure® MaxCap RO/DI System, 90gpd w/ Pressure Gauge & Purity Monitor



$ 350.00



$ 2,350.00







 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 







Lighting



AquaticLife HID Lighting System - 3-150W HID, 4-T5 HO and 6 Lunar - 72 in.



$ 1,200.00



$ 3,550.00







 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 







Heater



JBJ T3-1000 True Temp Heating System 1000W



 



 



 



$ 200.00



$ 3,750.00







 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 







Wavemaker



Wavemaker and 4 power heads



 



 



 



 



$ 300.00



$ 4,050.00







 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 







Calcium Reactor



AquaC RX-1 Calcium Reactor



 



 



 



 



 



$ 400.00



$ 4,450.00





 

td>
 


 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 





Ozonizer



Red Sea AquaZone Deluxe ozonizer



 



 



 



 



$ 400.00



$ 4,850.00







 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 







Sand



3" bed of sand



 



 



 



 



 



 



$ 300.00



$ 5,150.00







 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 







Live Rock



200 lbs of Live Rock @ $3.99 per pound (local seller)



 



 



 



 



$ 800.00



$ 5,950.00







 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 







Total Cost



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



$ 5,950.00



 
I'm in no hurry to complete this, but when it is done, I really want that WOW factor of color, variety and purity of water. Am I way off here in either equipment or price?
 
Thanks in advance for your input and ideas!

 

[al mc]

If you are up for a DIY project i would make my own sump and save several hundread dollars as well as being able to make the various chambers the exact size you want. Personally i would dump the ozonizator in favor of more bucks on a skimmer. I believe they are the most important piece of equipment in SWF keeoing. I know there are people who have tanks that do not use them but when I see the crap mine pull out of the water i am convinced they are necessary in my systems.

 

[2quills]

Agreed, I would drop the ozonizer, it isn't necissary. You could DIY your own sump/refugium system for a fraction of the cost that you have listed up there on the low end.
 
Are you aware that to run a calcium reactor you'll need to run o2 on it? You could save some money innitially by manually testing and dosing.
 
If you are looking for the WOW factor for colors to pop you may want to look into incorporating some LED's.
 
I would also take the money that you save on some of the unnecissary equipment up front and purchase a good protien skimmer. $300 is not a good protien skimmer for a tank of that size if you're talking about brand new.

 

[acrylic51]

Agree forget the Ca Reactor and Ozonizer to start off with and there's free money to put elsewhere. DIY on the sump. You could custom build your own sump less than 1/2 that if your up to the challenge, and use the extra cash towards your skimmer budget. I'd also opt for a different lighting system.....IceCap ballast, LumenBright reflectors. Might be a few bucks more, but guarantee a DIY setup of that sort would blow the above mentioned system out of the park. AirWaterIce RO/DI unit. $350.00 might be pushing it for the SpectraPure unit.....haven't checked prices lately, but I'm sure the AirWaterIce would be cheaper. Go dry sand and you only need a small bit of actual LS to seed the dry sand and would save you money again. By base rock and some quality LR and seed the base rock as well, and could save money there to use elsewhere. Your budget for PH's and wavemaker are way under....Spend the money once. On that size tank I'd look at either Vortechs or Tunzes. Honestly I'm always adventurous and would drill the tank myself; and run a CL for my intake flow with something like the OM and a combinations of omni nozzles or revs, to get my flow.