So as time goes on im sure i'll be adding more and more to this thread. With that said i'll dive right into my set up where it started up to where it is now. The thing that makes my set-up stand out from most others in my mind is the fact that i started with a budget of 0, and have done everything possible to get my tank running on the lowest of budgets. Everything i have has beenn scrounged gifted or purchased well below a used market value.
The tank- a 58g reef ready tub. Was given to me by a former coworker in exchange for helping him with one of his tanks. The 58 had only been running for 2 months before he decided he was not a fan of it. the tank looked almost brand new with only 1 visible scratch on the side glass.
Stand- after letting the tank sit in my living room on a dolly for around a week i decided it was time to get it off the ground and start working on setting it up.
i had a friend of mine who was building a new deck and told me i could have any scrap left over to build a stand which i gladly took and had no problem building a 3 1//2 ft tall stand frame (still to be covered eventually)
Plumbing and filtration- this is still a problem area for me that im continuing to upgrade. to get the tank running however i found a 20g wet-dry on craigslist for free that had a small crack at the top. a cheap acrylic wet dry is far from what i need but to get the tank running it was fine. all the plumbing parts were a gift from my former boss to get everything running including the mag 9.5 return pump that was brand new in the box and had been sitting at his house for 3 years. as it stands right now the wetdry has carbon a sponge and bio balls filling it, and an old Sea Life Systems skimmer i had laying around the house for years
Lighting- this is where an evolution has already taken place so to speak hahaha. It started off with 1 twin 36' hagen ho t5. then i got 2 broken hagen 36' twin t5's and between the 2 i was able to get one working. so for a time i had 2 twin 36' ho t5's then a friend of mine sold me a 150w coallife clamped metal halide with ballast and bulb for 50 bucks. so i removed one of my t5's and now im up to the 150w MH and a 36' twin t5 with an atenic and a 10k bulb.
Rock and substrate- the rock was the first thing i actually had to spend money on. yet still wasent near what it should have been. Another friend from a forum sold me around 80lbs of live rock and a 5g bucket of used livesand for 25 dollars. more than enough to get me ready.
Live stock- where it sits right now i have spent a total of $75 on all of my livestock some bought outright some traded and some gifted to me from friends. Right now it has.
Fish
1. 1 Starry Blenny
2. 3 Blue Green Chromis
3. 1 clownfish
4. 1 Melanurus Wrasse
5. 3 peppermint shrimp
6. 2 Bangui Cardinals
7. hand full of snails and hermits
Corals
1. med. rock of green mushrooms
2. med. sized colony of eagle eye zoas
3. 2-2headed frogspawns
4. 1 lg. finger leather
5. 1 med. random leather not sure what kind.
6. 1 sm. colony of pink zoa's (not sure what kind but they were free)
7. sm. peice of green star polyps
8. 2 sm. red mushrooms
9. some kind of Aussie Acan Lord (forgot what kind)
10. random frag of "fleshie acan" (another freebie that i dont know what kind it is)
11. med. Maxima Clam
12. good sized christmas tree favia
13. frag of green and brown favia
14. another tiny leather that popped up growing on a snail shell
And thats where i sit as of right now. i think my total build tally comes to around 150-200 bucks, however im far from done...
Pics are coming soon, i need to resize them. Evidently my phone takes pics that are too big for the forum hahah
The tank- a 58g reef ready tub. Was given to me by a former coworker in exchange for helping him with one of his tanks. The 58 had only been running for 2 months before he decided he was not a fan of it. the tank looked almost brand new with only 1 visible scratch on the side glass.
Stand- after letting the tank sit in my living room on a dolly for around a week i decided it was time to get it off the ground and start working on setting it up.
i had a friend of mine who was building a new deck and told me i could have any scrap left over to build a stand which i gladly took and had no problem building a 3 1//2 ft tall stand frame (still to be covered eventually)
Plumbing and filtration- this is still a problem area for me that im continuing to upgrade. to get the tank running however i found a 20g wet-dry on craigslist for free that had a small crack at the top. a cheap acrylic wet dry is far from what i need but to get the tank running it was fine. all the plumbing parts were a gift from my former boss to get everything running including the mag 9.5 return pump that was brand new in the box and had been sitting at his house for 3 years. as it stands right now the wetdry has carbon a sponge and bio balls filling it, and an old Sea Life Systems skimmer i had laying around the house for years
Lighting- this is where an evolution has already taken place so to speak hahaha. It started off with 1 twin 36' hagen ho t5. then i got 2 broken hagen 36' twin t5's and between the 2 i was able to get one working. so for a time i had 2 twin 36' ho t5's then a friend of mine sold me a 150w coallife clamped metal halide with ballast and bulb for 50 bucks. so i removed one of my t5's and now im up to the 150w MH and a 36' twin t5 with an atenic and a 10k bulb.
Rock and substrate- the rock was the first thing i actually had to spend money on. yet still wasent near what it should have been. Another friend from a forum sold me around 80lbs of live rock and a 5g bucket of used livesand for 25 dollars. more than enough to get me ready.
Live stock- where it sits right now i have spent a total of $75 on all of my livestock some bought outright some traded and some gifted to me from friends. Right now it has.
Fish
1. 1 Starry Blenny
2. 3 Blue Green Chromis
3. 1 clownfish
4. 1 Melanurus Wrasse
5. 3 peppermint shrimp
6. 2 Bangui Cardinals
7. hand full of snails and hermits
Corals
1. med. rock of green mushrooms
2. med. sized colony of eagle eye zoas
3. 2-2headed frogspawns
4. 1 lg. finger leather
5. 1 med. random leather not sure what kind.
6. 1 sm. colony of pink zoa's (not sure what kind but they were free)
7. sm. peice of green star polyps
8. 2 sm. red mushrooms
9. some kind of Aussie Acan Lord (forgot what kind)
10. random frag of "fleshie acan" (another freebie that i dont know what kind it is)
11. med. Maxima Clam
12. good sized christmas tree favia
13. frag of green and brown favia
14. another tiny leather that popped up growing on a snail shell
And thats where i sit as of right now. i think my total build tally comes to around 150-200 bucks, however im far from done...
Pics are coming soon, i need to resize them. Evidently my phone takes pics that are too big for the forum hahah