last question for now about a 100gallon

F

firefighter78

I have a friend that has a 100gallon tank that he said he will give me. it is just the tank ONLY. NO lights, stand or filters etc etc etc etc. what is a round about cost to get everything EXCEPT the stand? I have a friend I was a firefighter with who does wood work on his days off and could make me a nice stand with a canopy for the top for only materials and no labor as long as I help.
 
Really depends on allot.. :) What's your plan? What are you going to put in it? Fish only or fish and coral? (Thinking of lighting here. Fish light cheaper than coral light.)Are you going to want sand and rock in it? (Can cost allot depending what you want.)Is it already drilled for an overflow system to go into a sump? (If so you need a sump, skimmer, heater, pluming and return pump. If not you need an HOB filter and HOB skimmer.)Sounds like you got the stand/canopy figured out. 
 
@Firefighter, when I first started, I went really slow and am happy I did. I waited 3 months to add my first fish (2 clownfish). And 6 months before I added anything else. (My first tank was 180 gallons + 55 gallon sump). Basically, I recommend:4 inches of sand from bottom glass.Roughly 50lbs of live rock.Minimal lighting at first. The reason is once you add the live rock there will be a nitrate cycle.If you have heavy lighting you will have a heavy algae bloom.Some people advocate just overskimming but, overskimming strips water of nutrients.If you wait to add live stock until the nitrogen cycle has finished (become balanced) your tank will become more stable (at least that was the old theory). The other benefit is my live rock came with a mantis shrimp and several aggressive rock crabs... (Not things you want in an aquarium). By waiting I basically starved them out - one of them lasted longer than I hoped and it got a few fish :'(-point being untreated live rock can have predators - better to wait them out.After 6 months, I also had a very very health pod colony in the tank.Finally, of you decide it is not for you, you haven't invested that much money!
 
Saltwater tanks are surprisingly expensive.  Doing stuff on the cheap like buying used equipment, cheap fish, basic food, and electric - be prepared to spend $1000 buck for your first year.
 
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