DeerHunter73 said:
Problem is I don't have that kind of money right now.
DeerHunter.
Like I said before, the issue here is always the money. Thats why I mentioned maybe you want to start small.
Anyway. You don't have to rush everything. Make use of what you have now. You're setup is good enough for an "all fish" saltwater tank.
Here is the plan.
All fish first....(fish is good already to watch also while curing your tank. start with hardy fishes then always check your water param)
4 inch of sand.... that is good enough for this purpose.
Salt... you said you have instant ocean.... good.(instant ocean)
2 powerheads... good. maybe you can add more. (maxijets)
2 top water filters.... this is good, specially if you want to polish your tank. You can use those filter w/ activated carbon for brief period of time.
Wet and Dry.... Im not sure about this one. What brand? Maybe you can remove the bio balls ans still use it as a sump.
In sump skimmer.... What brand of skimmer?
A strip of light. Well you can still use this one. I bet its a NO. (normal output). For fish only tank, this is no problem. You can even still use the same light while curing your rocks (if you decided to buy in the future)
So there is no hurry. The slower I think is better. You give them time to cure and adjust without shock to you and to the inhabitants.
And while saving money for the next buy... you can prioritise what to buy.
1) Salifert testing kit. You really need something to test your water.
2) Base rocks. This is cheaper than live rocks. This will serve as a base for future liverocks. Or you can also do what others do. Use PVC plumbing plastics as your base rock. Paint it black so it wont show too much and drill it with so many holes, so you can use this to zip-tie it to your rocks. Some even drill their rockwork so they can insert it to their PVC's
3) As time goes buy. You can buy/add live rock. Then you can arrange it to your liking even before you buy any corals.
4) You need to choose if you want to buy a large pump and then close loop it to your tank or several small power heads then use an electronic wavemaker (red sea, natural wave) or those hardware version (sea swirl, ocean current). If i can afford one I will choose sea swirls... You can also use SCWD (cheaper alternative). And I have one but I prefer those electronic ones.
5)And when everything is stable and params are all correct. Then you can go to the next level... which is lighting. First you need to know what to keep. Are you going to do "SOFTIES" or "SPS" or "MIXED". Its realy up to you.
You can start with softies. If this is the case, you can do "VHO" setup. You can do 2 50/50 VHO setup or if budget permits go with 4 with additional 2 actinics. If you can seperate the ballast so you can do dusk/dawn setup. Icecap electrnic ballast is the choise but Workhorse 7 is really popular. I have one and its really a cheap alternative than icecap without sacrificing quality.
Like you said before, you just need some mild reef to have some decent display. I think having Softies and LPS is more than enough to satisfy "mild reef" category.
Then later on you can invest on a MH. You can buy one and set it up on the center so you can arrange your corals in such a way that light demanding corals wii be positioned on the center and softies on the side.
Then upgrade to another one to make it both sides will have MH.
Take your time... Good luck
Like the saying goes...
"Do it once.... Do it right."
