Reasonable Budget for a first timer?

[Spare time]

may I ask if I plan on this being a long term tank do you still hold the same opinion? I did think about DIY on the sump, but honestly I have enough house projects that with the tank I think I would rather just spend then do that part myself.

I do still hold the same opinion. I think mainly because I am a very budget conscious reefer (yay phd stipends lol). The fiji cube baffles are nice looking and I would just buy that and a tank from petco for the sump if I was making a new build. I definitely think the lights you chose (the blades) are a good choice. I just think many people think you need to invest a lot in areas that don't really need it (such as powerheads, controllers / dosers, etc.) I like interacting with my tank so I hate dosers unless I am away. I don't need a controller because the test kits are so easy and tracking things like pH and ORP really doesn't hold much benefit as long as you know what it is on a typical day with a cheaper tester (except ORP which I will never test).

 

[MoshJosh]

haha ok yes,I I think I will go with real reef rock after both of your suggestions

I like aqua-scaping too much to go full live rock. . . If money was no option I would probably do a caribsea life rock scape with bits of Tampa Bay LR mixed in or in the sump.

 

[vittpsu21]

I do still hold the same opinion. I think mainly because I am a very budget conscious reefer (yay phd stipends lol). The fiji cube baffles are nice looking and I would just buy that and a tank from petco for the sump if I was making a new build. I definitely think the lights you chose (the blades) are a good choice. I just think many people think you need to invest a lot in areas that don't really need it.

I can very much see your opinion there, I think in this case though with all the house projects, the idea of making my own sump just isn't very appealing to me lol.

As for the mp40's I had pretty good experience last time around and they look sleek which was most of the reason I gravitated towards them

 

[vittpsu21]

I like aqua-scaping too much to go full live rock. . . If money was no option I would probably do a caribsea life rock scape with bits of Tampa Bay LR mixed in or in the sump.

I struggled scaping last time, is one of the things I am most worried about this time around, have kind of just decided though that I am going to just do it and figure it out lol

 

[Spare time]

may I ask if I plan on this being a long term tank do you still hold the same opinion? I did think about DIY on the sump, but honestly I have enough house projects that with the tank I think I would rather just spend then do that part myself.

I also don't think the sump baffles would take much time to silicone into the tank. If you do need a prebuilt sump, check all the options as some have unique features while being cheaper.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

I like aqua-scaping too much to go full live rock. . . If money was no option I would probably do a caribsea life rock scape with bits of Tampa Bay LR mixed in or in the sump.

You realize that you can Just as easily, bust up ocean live rock and build any scape you want with it, ya? The methods are slightly different but one doesn't preclude the other.

I chunk up live rock all the time. It's way easier to get the pieces you want, than with Marco crap cement.

 

[Spare time]

I can very much see your opinion there, I think in this case though with all the house projects, the idea of making my own sump just isn't very appealing to me lol.

As for the mp40's I had pretty good experience last time around and they look sleek which was most of the reason I gravitated towards them

That is fair with the mp40's. As for the sump, that is understandable! I had to go with a fiji cube since my sump wouldn't fit a standard 40b or 29g and I didn't want a 20 long.

 

[vittpsu21]

I think my one big takeaway so far from all of this is that I can hold off on an apex for a while without much of an issue, I think the idea of seeing my readings easily seemed nice to me. But like most said the cost is pretty high up there when you can just test with a digital reader in most cases

 

[twentyleagues]

Yeah the skimmer I hadn't started researching yet, was also eventually planning on a refugium but I know thats not until later down the line.

I am not super sure on the corals, my main focus is just having a successful tank the first time around and then as I learn and grow making changes with the experience. The one thing I am attempting to avoid is buying something and then buying another version of it because I wanted bigger etc, I will never go bigger than this size tank in my house and therefore I think find it more important (and I could be wrong here) to do it right the first time to avoid the cost of buying the same thing over and over again!

I think I had something around 5-8k in mind for this size tank but judging off responses I might be a little on the low end with that. Keep in mind when I give that budget I am talking more in initial setup, knowing I will likely add and fix things as time goes on (which makes your point about that apex very valid I think)

I get that for sure. I'm stuck on the skimmer thing my self. I know I'm setting up my 90 cube tank and my 180 eventually and probably a 75 display refugium hence the 120g sump. I don't want to buy 2-3 skimmers as this becomes a reality I want to buy 1 that can handle the system when it's all up and running. Do I wait? Do I buy one that can process 400g now and allow it to massively over skim? So do I find one that's some where under sized on the intended system but over at the beginning....I get you! do it once do it right.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Reasonable for buying everyone brand new, and with the tech you're looking at, in the first year.. $10-15k will easily find its way from your pocketbook, elsewhere. This could be quartered with some used and diy. It could double if you want to go ham.

 

[Spare time]

Reasonable for buying everyone brand new, and with the tech you're looking at, in the first year.. $10-15k will easily find its way from your pocketbook, elsewhere. This could be quartered with some used and diy. It could double if you want to go ham.

Dang I haven't even spent that on all the tanks I have owned combined lol

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

I think my one big takeaway so far from all of this is that I can hold off on an apex for a while without much of an issue, I think the idea of seeing my readings easily seemed nice to me. But like most said the cost is pretty high up there when you can just test with a digital reader in most cases

An Apex system will cost close to, or more than a custom glass tank at 120g.

 

[vittpsu21]

An Apex system will cost close to, or more than a custom glass tank at 120g.

yeah 1200-1300 it looked like if new

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Dang I haven't even spent that on all the tanks I have owned combined lol

That tracks. You are a self-proclaimed very budget conscious reefer.

OP, based on the conversation and wants list, is not.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

yeah 1200-1300 it looked like if new

That's just to get started.

 

[OrlandoAIOReef]

I do still hold the same opinion. I think mainly because I am a very budget conscious reefer (yay phd stipends lol). The fiji cube baffles are nice looking and I would just buy that and a tank from petco for the sump if I was making a new build. I definitely think the lights you chose (the blades) are a good choice. I just think many people think you need to invest a lot in areas that don't really need it (such as powerheads, controllers / dosers, etc.) I like interacting with my tank so I hate dosers unless I am away. I don't need a controller because the test kits are so easy and tracking things like pH and ORP really doesn't hold much benefit as long as you know what it is on a typical day with a cheaper tester (except ORP which I will never test).

Don’t listen to BRS & you’ll b much better iff

 

[vittpsu21]

That tracks. You are a self-proclaimed very budget conscious reefer.

OP, based on the conversation and wants list, is not.

haha, this is pretty true, I think from my mind if something is solid will last and is proven I can justify it pretty easily to myself. Not sure if that's a good thing but that's certainly how I am, also I am not a PHD student and am almost 40 years so different walks of life allow different options perhaps

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Don’t listen to BRS & you’ll b much better iff

And spend way less.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

haha, this is pretty true, I think from my mind if something is solid will last and is proven I can justify it pretty easily to myself. Not sure if that's a good thing but that's certainly how I am, also I am not a PHD student and am almost 40 years so different walks of life allow different options perhaps

Just remember there's a lot of ways to do this. No right way.

Some things I buy new, some things I diy, some things I modify.

You have to decide if the juice is worth the squeeze

 

[vittpsu21]

Just remember there's a lot of ways to do this. No right way.

Some things I buy new, some things I diy, some things I modify.

You have to decide if the juice is worth the squeeze

such a good movie yeah that is the hard part I guess, have to balance what you want vs what you need vs what you like