I have been wanting to get a saltwater/reef tank since i was a kid, just 4 or 5 years old, but my family was never able to afford it and I haven't been able to either since I've been on my own. I recently moved and got a huge payraise at work and now can afford to start a tank. My build will be slow, as I am still putting alot of money away for the future, and only saving a little out of each check to put towards my reef, but it officially started last weekend when I picked up a used 125 gallon tank+stand. The stand is homemade, and was setup for fresh water, so there wasn't room under it for a sump. My solution was to buy a separate stand that sits lower to hold my sumprather than putting it under the main tank. Today I got the sump (although i still need to get baffles cut and put into place) and the stand for it, from the petco $/gallon sale for a total of $107.
Current equipment:
125g and stand
40B and stand
Planned equipment to complete build:
Baffles cut for 40B to turn into sump
Eshopps PF-1000 overflow box
3x Prime HD LED lights
2x Vortech MP40 powerheads
planning on a Jebao DCP-13000 return pump (I'm sure it's overkill but I'd rather have too much and tune it back
Reef Octopus skimmer (although I'm not sure which model would be best yet)
I also haven't 100% decided on heaters yet.
I'm going to start with 100 lbs of rock, and go from there and I haven't picked out sand or figured out how much sand I want yet. Plan will be dry rock and sand.
Picture is of the setup as of right now
The stand isn't the pretties but is very sturdy, and the sump next to the tank isn't ideal, but I can deal with it until I move and buy a new stand (moving in probably 2 years)
Current equipment:
125g and stand
40B and stand
Planned equipment to complete build:
Baffles cut for 40B to turn into sump
Eshopps PF-1000 overflow box
3x Prime HD LED lights
2x Vortech MP40 powerheads
planning on a Jebao DCP-13000 return pump (I'm sure it's overkill but I'd rather have too much and tune it back
Reef Octopus skimmer (although I'm not sure which model would be best yet)
I also haven't 100% decided on heaters yet.
I'm going to start with 100 lbs of rock, and go from there and I haven't picked out sand or figured out how much sand I want yet. Plan will be dry rock and sand.
Picture is of the setup as of right now
The stand isn't the pretties but is very sturdy, and the sump next to the tank isn't ideal, but I can deal with it until I move and buy a new stand (moving in probably 2 years)