Trying to figure out what I need to get started

[Shane and John]

I just read thru this thread..I want an update as well!! You are very lucky to have gotten the guidence that Mark has provided to you..I went a whole different way..I followed lfs recomendations and bought poor quality equiptment.Then when i finally found Reef Frontiers and got Quality advise, i had to completely Re Buy the necessary equiptment to get a well established Reef..Big Props to you Mark..

 

[raprgz@comcast.]

Currently I have all the boxed parts in my garage awaiting me to finish rebuilding my office. I still havent purchased an overflow box but I am probably 2 - 3weeks away from starting to assemble everything in its permanent home.

I have been rebuilding my home office for the last couple of weeks (outside of work) and the tank is going to reside in that room after I have it completed.

I still havent pulled the trigger for the lighting as I cant find any specific information towards either one being better thant he other or even if they are good enough for what I am trying to accomplish but until I am closer to setting everything up I am not too worried.

as I say measure twice, cut once; have patience and do it right the first time or keep paying for your mistakes.

 

[bigblue141]

For your lighting it all depends on what you want to grow in your tank. One thing I would recommend is DO NOT SKIMP on the QUALITY of your lighting.

Although the oversea's pricing is attractive, you can get much higher quality lighting fixtures/setup's if you go with name brand stuff.

If you have a canopy for your set up already, you should look at retro kits as they come in really good quality, plus you don't have to pay for the light fixture you're going to hide under your canopy.

If you're looking at getting Halide's, you may also want to look into going with all LED lighting as well. It's new to the market and a little pricey upfront, but your power bill will be lower and there's no replacing light bulbs every year.

Have you looked into getting a 55 or so that you could use as a sump/fuge underneath your tank?

 

[raprgz@comcast.]

Im a cutting edge type of guy.. now that you have mentioned LED based lighting I will probably look into it alot more I am totally interested in another DIY or retro project and I am more than willing to componsate it with initial cost.. do you have a recommendation for vendors?

so far I dont know exactly what I want to grow in my tank, I know that I want to grow some reefs, leathers and such and have fish.. thats about it.. I should probably start looking into what I would like to have live their new home and prepare to build the most ideal habitat.. but I figured once I got the tank up and stabalizing I would have plenty of time to work that out.

I have been looking to buy a 55gal acrylic tank off of craigslist instead of using the 20gal that I had before.. I have also been looking into simply building a custom acrylic tank below that will be a home for all of the different chambers that I will need.. Im not really interested in shelling out $200 for one especually when I am seeing alot of them on CL for like $50.00 (cost of acrylic to build a 55 from tap plastics is about $150)... Im sure I will be able to acquire what I want before I start my final assembly of pieces.. I also want to maximize my liquids and leave the potential to expand with UV reactors and auto topoffs and such as time and stability permit/ require.

 

[bigblue141]

dolphinlvr has a 180 build thread and He just got in some sick LED lighting. I'd recommend him as he's already done all the research. =D

 

[jrgilles]

+1 for SWC skimmers

I just bought a SWC 160 cone. cheap, small foot print, amazing power