So, a few months ago my significant other and I were talking about my dream tank. I told him it would be a 120g, 4ftx2ftx2ft. Fits perfectly in my house, plus it's deep which makes for great aquascaping, plus it's big enough for a lot of fishies and big, colony-sized corals.

I didn't think anything of it until I open the garage today and see this, where my car is supposed to go:



I was all I can't afford to set up and maintain a tank this large! And he was all no worries, I got this. And then I was all it's going to cost like three grand just to get it set up and filled with water, and then he was all .


Now I'm all cause I don't know what to do with the damn thing! And that's why, if we were legally allowed to get married, we would now be getting a divorce.

at least the shiney blue stuff can be used for household decorating.

ew, I'm not that gay.

Just set the damn thing up already

Go cheap with it. Do a big-A softy tank. Some T5ho retros, a couple of Koralia 3s, call it a day!

Put it in your place somewhere highly conspicuous and toss your pocket change and spare cash straight into the tank while surfin craigslist and the classifieds for deals. Plus you have mod privileges so you can talk people way down on their classifieds prices. $5 or permab& etc.

Can't tell - is it reef-ready?

lol whatever

even going cheap, I estimate just north of $1100, and that's with a 4x65w PC retro, CSS225 skimmer, play sand, a couple Koralias (I still have the Polario I bought last year), and the overflow/sump/return pump. pfft.


yeah, it's forcing me to park on the driveway. I'd say that's pretty conspicuous.


nope. but he only paid $700 for the tank and stand!

what are the dimensions?

I have 125g that's been sitting empty in my living room for over a year.

recommend you ditch the polario. it's a POS.

So to recap: You're #####ing because you got your dream tank? Shut up.

It doesn't have to be complete as soon as you put water in it. Make a plan and do what you can. If it isn't fully up for another 3 months, so what? You have the equipment.

Also, 10:1 = LR:DR.

if you buy used and diy some stuff, you can probably get away with doing it for $600-$800 ish... i think... its a tough economy take advantage of it.

Then don't even drill it. 2 Koralia 3s, your Polario, some good live rock, lotsa base rock, a heater, 4 lamp t5ho retro, and voila...budget big reef. You can do all that for less than $500 and still have a nice looking tank.

lol.


which is why I decided not to use it on the 56g. but if I use it on the 120g, that's $100 worth of koralias I don't have to buy.


I'm just trying to see how little I can spend just to get it to a place where I can transfer the contents of my 56g over. I don't even want to think about how much I'll have to spend to stock the damn thing over the next few years.

Also, if your formula is referring to the rock ratio, there's 50lbs in the 56g, so I figure that plus 100lbs of dry rock from john will make for a good scape.

@eric/skillz: me and DIY don't often mesh well, lol. I'm still going over my list trying to whittle it down to under a grand.

Dry rock from reefcleaners...bet john'll cut you a deal.

too fast for me

All the reason not to drill the tank then! You can buy pre-wired retro kits I think.

Uh... Some rock, some water, some light, some cycle time, done...?



You meant want, right? Grow out what you have you spend-a-holic.



Jawohl mein gayenstein. But you don't want to budge over all the 50 lbs from the 56g at once, since you'll want to have the new tank cycle up a bit before you move any livestock. Buy all the dry rock you need and move several lbs out of the 56 gal every couple weeks until it's done... Maybe?

used stuff is king right now - you can get nice MH retros for under $100. I'm sure T5 units would be even cheaper.

1. Sell tank for $700
2. Fire ginger
3. ????
4. PROFIT!

1. 4x65w PC retro, 2 buckets of IO, an RO/DI unit, 100lbs dry rock = $800. that's as basic as it gets - no skimmer, no sump, VERY low flow (from the polario and K3 I already have).

2. all I have right now are a few mushrooms and a grove of sarcos.

3. yeah, I was going to transfer a rock at a time, that way I can cycle up the big tank while cycling down, as it were, the little tank.




also, the problem with used is that I would need to buy bulbs, which brings the price remarkably close to new, too close to justify.

it's not inconceivable that you would find a used unit with bulbs that have a good 6-9 months left in them. Problem is finding them local to you - I see used retros for sale a lot on manhattanreefs.com, but most are local pick-up.

Please don't get PC's on this tank....

1) Hellolights 48" 4 Lamp T5 Retrofit Kit w/ bulbs Price $200, 2x IO RC $90, 2x50lb boxes of rock from John $240. That looks more like $530 to me.

2) And yer point is? I'll send you a frag of frogspawn.

Skimmer = used
Sump = DIY (you need no skill)

Get a job loser

oh fosi, always the voice of reason. thanks. btw, you forgot the RO/DI.

Didn't think about water. I'm spoiled. We get free filtered NSW from the University's aquaculture facility. It's nice.

You don't have a job? Go work at the gas station and put it towards your tank. Don't cry sweety.

















Gawd what a loser.

Congratz on the 120 Jer ... Love Mr. Fosi's pricing for your tank ... I wonder how many hours at the gas station you will have to put in ... ... ... ... ...

Softies + ATI Blue+'s = easy and beautiful!

Haha, how much did he think it would cost to stock it?

Ever thought about a career in media baskets? I need a sorta west coast business consultant.



Few $0.29 gold fish and fake plants.

he was like, 'I figured you could just use all the stuff from the tank you have now'.

and I was like


at this point I'm not even worried about stocking it - if I can just get it set up, I'll stick a few active fish in there for visual interest and then slowly add coral over the next couple years. it's just getting is set up that I'm annoyed with.

come visit nyc and i'll give you a frag.

So Jere's thread is... "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

Just git er done ya nancing crybaby.

gawd, you people want divorce now too??

just put water in the tank already and take pictures of it...

I just got the thing today, lol. plus it weighs a ton, and it's going where the 56g is, so I have to move the 56g somewhere temporarily so I can paint the back of the 120g and set it up. and before I do that I have to decide on sump or no sump - there's no way a tank will fit through the front doors, it'll have to go in the back before the tank is filled. now or never. pfft.

We'll help ya, you Doofus, you know that.
Now stop Blathering about and let's figure out a plan....

I agree man, I think u should send out a S.O.T. (SOS) and see how many people contribute, corals won't be an issue... Use your local forum for LR and Sand.. You can do this.. no sweet!!!!!

All you need is... time... and lots of it.

My dream tank is this exact one.... I'm probably going to be broke for the next 10 years though (student loans etc...). My plan is to buy it on super sale, fill it with water, dry aragonite, and whatever cheap rock I can procure.

I'm then going to use the method outlined on GARF to make my own cement rocks and cure them myself.

I figure it will take at least a year to get going.

Alternatively, give up now and succumb to despair.

^^HAHA

Nice tank Jere.

Is there a local reef club? You might be able to find some good deals there.

And I might have a deal for you on the light I'll send you a pm.

And whats with everyone going bigger? I'm looking forward to downgrading soon. We just need to find the time to plumb the smaller tank.

So why'd the ginger get you the tank? Is it for a special occasion or is he buttering you up for somthing?

Sir... Sir... You are a Mod here sir... Please lead by example.

Spend the $$$. Get a good retro 8 bulb T5 setup, a used chiller, a decent set of heaters, set it up and plumb it for a sump and go for it. Build over time. Hell I will even send you some frags of my stuff if you are interested.

LMAO!!!!!

dont let your dream tank come in between u and ur loved ones!
and i agree with many other ppl, just take it slow and set it up as used as possible and all will be well...

If my wife gave me this tank I would be kissing her a$$. That's a nice tank Jere. Take your time and do it right.

take a drive to Ann rd and torrey pines and check out the big azz piles of rocks like what i used in my tanks. if you like them or even want me to help you transport them you can have your base rock for free.



oh yeah... you lucky bastard. my wife would never get me anything like that.

chiller - $600

no light required

coldwater livestock - FREEE!!!

problem solved.