new Need help on recommendations and cost saving guides

[Daniel_k]

Hi everyone I've been doing loads of research on reefing and I think I'm finally ready in terms of knowledge and commitment level to get a reef tank. 

I dunno about the rest but when I dream I dream big, so I was planning to get a 6ft tank and work around it. However I'm quite put off with the price I'm quoted at a few shops. And I'm not quite sure what brand of equipments I should look into.

i plan to get a sump that has a calcium reactor, protein skimmer, and a refugirium ( not sure if that's the way to spell ) I don't plan to add sand into the tank due to me reading up about the difficulties in adding sand. ( maybe someone can give me some pointers ) 

I know I definitely need to get a RO/di unit unless I buy those water which honestly doesn't seem wise to me. Secondly I think I'll also need to get an air con compressor drop in coil to cool my tank off ( maybe not at initial phrase but the moment I'm gg to add in fishes and corals I'll have to have this ) 

 

anyone has has cost saving methods ? Would buying second hand items be good ? 

 

Thanks daniel here 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 11, 2016 by Daniel_k

[dr evil]

Having a large tank will be much easier to keep compare to small tank. Its a good choice for you to opt for a large tank that your pocket allows.

Before anyone reefer can assist you on your question, maybe you can let us know what will you be keeping? Reef tank with mix hard and soft corals? SPS tank? LPS tank? Basically different setup will need different type of equipments and requirements etc.

Averagely for a 6ft tank with equipments, you be spending @ 9-15k and that depends on the equipment you choose. Obviously if you opt for branded equipments, the price will be more expensive.

cost savings only if you opt to purchase used equipments. If you can find a good used equipments, than you can cut cost in your spending.

Cheers

 

[Daniel_k]

I do plan to buy second Hand but anything I should look out for bro ?

 

i plan to go for soft corals and LPS first once I get more experience I do however plan to move more towards SPS. 

Btw thanks for replying to this thread 

[leejwa]

You would be surprised the amount of saving you can save from getting second hand stuff here. For an example, if you are not fussy with the tank size and condition, you might get a bare second hand 6ft tank for less than 1000 , as usually big tank is harder to sell off unless price is low. It is expensive to build but is hard to sell off if you decomm one day .

Try to plan for your equipments that you will be using first before making the tank especially the sump tank design , cos you need to know the dimension of the equipments that can fit into the sump . Starting with soft coral first is good, as slowly down the road you can upgrade the equipments and lighting if you decided to go into SPS later on. 

 

 

[Daniel_k]

Thanks bro leejwa I think I'll go into that I'll go do some research and read up even more about the wave makers the skimmers etc I should get

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[acidjc]

6ft cost saving skimmer. I would recommend Bubble Magus C9. Good enough and cheaper. 2nd hand will be even more cost saving at the start

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[mengyang_neo]

Bro this might be good, cost saving and have almost everything u need to start. Can use rest of the budget to get livestock.

http://www.sgreefclub.com/forum/index.php?/topic/140708-5ft-by-2.5ft-rimless-tank-sales

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[kohanson]

I suggest getting bubble magus skimmers and jebao wavemaker for a start as they are quite affordable. I have used 1 of my wavemaker for 2 years and have not failed me so far. Just need to dismantle and wash them every 3 months and grease it with vaseline to make it run like new. Make sure to get a good return pump like eheim so it will last you many years.

[alons]

You do it right, or not at all, cheap cost eventually more, go for good equipment, skimmer deltec, pumps tunze/eheim. Even second hand is much better than the Chinese junk sold in the stores..

[equiox]

nice