375 Gallon Budget Build for $3750

thaveteran · May 5, 2020

Back in November of 2019 I picked up a 375 gallon (I think it's really 350 gallons) peninsula tank off Craigslist for $800. The goal is to set this monster up for a total out of pocket cost of $3750. Of course I get to cheat some because I currently have a 210 gallon aquarium however, most of the equipment would be undersized so it can't be carried over. I consider myself the king of budget builds (mainly because I only care about what's in the tank and not the equipment behind it) so just maybe I'll be able to make this happen.

So far I've picked up an additional 4 hydra 52's for $450 to go with the 5 I already own and over a 100 lbs of Haitian rock for $400. All in I'm at $1650 so far.

Side note: I'm not including travel costs as some of these items are hours away from me and there is an expense to picking them up. I usually offset the costs by selling coral in the areas I'm heading/passing through or I plan to pick the items up when I'm already scheduled to be in the area.

(210 Gallon)

Remaining balance: $2250

Arricefe · May 6, 2020

Good Luck!

thaveteran · May 8, 2020

Finally got the tank stand built and the aquascape done. Roughly $125 on stand materials but that number will go up once I skin it.

Remaining balance: $2125

thaveteran · May 11, 2020

Took a short ride and picked up a Reef Octopus 5000 protein skimmer for $200 and even got a sump for free.

Remaining balance: $1925

dreamcatcherr9 · May 11, 2020

What state are you in? In case there are any fellow members who want to contribute to your cause!?

Any thoughts on your end came (live stock you’d like to keep)?

ShepherdReefer · May 11, 2020

Super cool.

Oscar’s25Gal · May 11, 2020

This will be great! Following along! Also, how many gal is the sump you are going to use?

najer · May 11, 2020

Nice, following.

thaveteran · May 11, 2020

dreamcatcherr9 said:
What state are you in? In case there are any fellow members who want to contribute to your cause!?

Any thoughts on your end came (live stock you’d like to keep)?

I'm in Florida, as for the end game...Like my 210 gallon this tank will be SPS dominant. I'll take my favorite pieces from it like Hung's Rainbow, Fox Flame, Vivid's Rainbow, Beach Bum, WWC what the heck and etc. but what I'm looking forward to most is getting some of the fish I once had like Crosshatch triggers, Masked Swallowtail Angels, a ton of anthias, Heniochus, etc. I'll probably do about 50 fish and pick up a few high end acros to add to what I already own.

Oscar’s25Gal said:
This will be great! Following along! Also, how many gal is the sump you are going to use?

I'm not sure what the sump size is. I was going to build a sump from an old 180 gallon but I was having a hard time locating one. So when I was offered a free sump I couldn't pass it up. It's probably about 50 gallons or so. I will try to make up for the lost water volume by adding some biological filtration, maybe those bricks/plates manufactured by Brightwell or MarinePure.