setting up a new 210 gallon for my lounge

[topaz330]

i'm setting up a 210 gallon to go in the middle of my downstairs bar. it has to be viewable 360 degrees. now i have a guy that quoted me approx 7500 installed with the rock, sand, water etc. basically all setup to go minus fish. the only specifics i know is that he's using a aga 210g that he's charging 767 for, current t5 for 465 plus 180 for the bulbs, 449 for a 40g sump, 535 for a pump that he claims is needed because of the height its pumping from 280 for 8 bags of sand, 1200 for 200lbs live rock, 800 to get a glass cutter to cut holes in all 4 corners, and the rest is all the misc plumbing, salt, bulk heads etc. seems to me just by looking at the rock, light, and sand i'm getting overcharged a bit. i told him this site charges approx 4 a lb for rocks and he claims he is charging 6 because his rocks are bigger in size to build the caves etc... what do you guys think?

 

[natclanwy]

The rock is somewhat reasonable the sand is high if its 160lbs of sand and reasonable if its 240. The prices that stand out to me though are the pump and cutting the glass, I just bought a reeflo dart that unless your sump is going to be on a different floor of your house would be more than adequete for about $300 and $800 to cut four holes is outragous. Glass shop here charges $20 a hole and you provide the bit about $15.
Reguardless of the price be sure you research every component and make sure you are getting what you pay for and it is going to be adequete for your needs and for the needs of whatever livestock you are planning on keeping. Nothing worse than forking out that kind of money only to find out you need to replace a component because it won't do what you need it to.

 

[oceansidefish]

I think you are getting ripped on the sump.... A 40g sump for that size tank is not big enough.... I would get a 75g regular tank at a min and put baffles in it for a sump...Go with as big of a sump as you can get under the sand. Most places will give you a deal if you ask when buying that much LR... I would tell him to match it or at least give it to you for 5 bucks a pound... I would haggle a little more or get another quote

 

[topaz330]

so 40gall sump isn't enough? also as far as drilling the hole in the tanks i'm just a bit nervious because of the fact the glass is tempered. is that my only option to make the tank viewable 360? the sand is 160lbs i think. he said 8bags and i recall it was 20lbs a bag

 

[deejeff442]

does this tank come with a stand and canopy?
i also have the reeflo pump 2300 gph $230 on the bay .
is there a skimmer ?if not add another $350.
you can buy a predrilled tank for cheap on c-list.
i got my 225 there for $300.
definitly get at least a 75 gallon sump.***** $200
i pay $4.50 a lb for rock that is 12-16 inch pieces and loded with life.
but rock is all over the board in price.
you can get alot of the stuff here at swf.com for alot less cash.
just call them and ask for what size rock you want,also you want some small pieces for the sump.
so ordering the regular premium here is good ,put the big pieces in the dt and the small in the sump.
you would still need 3 or 4 koralia pumps in the tank.
i set up my 225 with a 120 sump with a 1175 watt light system
octo skimmer everything for around $4000
just got to shop around

 

[eric b 125]

i think that it would be smart for you to shop around a bit. that dude is trying to get over on you, IMO. the reason i say this is because of the drilling tempered glass. tempered glass cannot be drilled. the glass has to be drilled before it is put through the tempering process. if you want the tank to have a 360* viewing angle are you installing a center overflow? many times, only the bottom pane of glass is tempered, with the sides just being thick glass. if you wanted to drill any of the 4 sides of the tank, you could go to glass-holes.com and they sell bits that are specifically designed for drilling tanks. they also sell complete overflow kits.

 

[jdl]

you can get 40lb bags of sand for $26 and free shipping.

 

[fishkid13]

Hello we need pictures!

 

[oceansidefish]

You really only need one or two bags of live sand as well. The rest can all be dry sand. That generally will save you quite a bit of dough, you are also going to want to buy yourself a nice RO/DI system for water changes.

 

[premilove]

1200 for LR is a rip off. you can get 200 lbs easily locally or from other forums in our area. there are ppl selling LR for 2 bucks a pound on another forum based off of NYC

 

[life~reefer]

I think he is trying to trick you so he can make more money. Glad you came here! My LFS drills glass for free although I do have an outstanding LFS! Check the LFS on that! Good Luck and if I was you I would ditch this guy. He obviously is not trying to give you the best deal!