Joey Mig
Active Member
Hello , I am new to saltwater but have had various small freshwater tanks over the years. And after much thought , about 30 years worth , and a little research (read as watching youtube and reading a few articles) I finally decided to try and set up a marine aquarium. I have limited space and my first thought was to use a 20 gal tank i had in my storage room for several years. I took a trip to a local big box pet store with the goal of starting to pick up some basic items like a heater and hang on back filter. After the shell shock of not pricing these items for 10 plus years I went home and pulled out my tank to check it over. Turns out it was a 10 gal, and I did not want to start that small. Ran back up to the same store and priced a 20 gal tank , a 70 gal hang on back filter and a 100 watt heater...would have ended up about $100. I was wandering around the store trying to make a decision when i came across a Marineland 38 curve tank with heater , filter and some little bitty hidden led lights. $97 couldn't pass it up. Even better when I gave them the rewards card we had , it dropped it down to $71. I am on a very small budget for this so I was excited and went over to a lfs that I had noticed before and started looking at live sand. After a conversation with the owner of the shop about the various types he had in stock, ended up buying 40lbs of Caribsea arag-alive black Hawaiian reef sand. Got that and the tank back to the house and opened the box up to check out the tank and found it was cracked on the bottom. Took it back to the store and they didn’t have another one in stock. The manager was very nice and called around and found that the store in the next town had one. He refunded the money told me to take my receipt and they would match the price. We drove the 35 miles to the store and the manager there would not honor the price stating it was a clearance item at our store and at their store the tank kit was $189, marked down to 142 with the reward card. After a 15-minute discussion with the manager we left and as we were driving back contacted the original store. That manager told us to go back and buy it and he would refund us the difference to make it the price we originally paid. After turning around, getting it and getting back to the local store the manager stated he had already contacted the other store and spoke to that manager , and because of the hassel refund $133 back so I got the tank for $21.
It is now two weeks later and I just got 40lbs of Nature's Ocean 12-Inch Coral Base Rocks, 2 Sunsun 530gph wavemaker pumps and a hydrometer. I do not plan on getting a RODI system yet, so my next step is to get 40 gal of premixed water and a piece or 2 of live rock from another lfs I found. I plan on starting with just fish (one or two) until I can get better lights , another hob filter and a protein skimmer, at that point I want to try some coral. Wow I just realized how long and rambling this is but hey that is who I am. I look forward to bugging y’all with questions.
It is now two weeks later and I just got 40lbs of Nature's Ocean 12-Inch Coral Base Rocks, 2 Sunsun 530gph wavemaker pumps and a hydrometer. I do not plan on getting a RODI system yet, so my next step is to get 40 gal of premixed water and a piece or 2 of live rock from another lfs I found. I plan on starting with just fish (one or two) until I can get better lights , another hob filter and a protein skimmer, at that point I want to try some coral. Wow I just realized how long and rambling this is but hey that is who I am. I look forward to bugging y’all with questions.
