[sportrider1296]

Hello all, I just bought a brand new 50 gallon tank this weekend from a old guy on the other side of town. I had been in his garage for some time and never been used. The stickers were still on it! I has a complete top with a lighting hood. Hood has 2 ft. bulbs. I bought this whold set-up for $100 bucks!, wow

I was going to build my own tank, so I checked on the price of 1/4 glass. It was $5 bucks a square foot, crap. If you do the math on this size tank, it takes 30 square feet of glass. Thats 150 bucks plus tax. So I got a complete tank with woodgrain trime, fully sealed top, and a lighting hood for 100 dollars. Thats 50 bucks cheaper than just buying the glass.

Here are some pics of my tanks and hood, still dirty from his garage. The stand under the tank is what I custom built this weekend to support it. It took seven 8 foot 2x4's. The part that the tank sits on has five braces in the center and under the tanks is 3/4 inch high density board. All in all it cost under 30 bucks to build this stand including the nails. I'm going to finish it wil 3/4 oak plywood to match the tank. It is $42 bucks a sheet and all I need is one. So a grand total on the stand $30 for the structure frame, $42 for the oak plywood, and around $10 for stain and clear. Total for stand $82 bucks.

So now I have my set up for this summers project: 50 gallon tank and oak stand for $182

If anyone wants more info on the build let me know and I will send them to ya.

Ideas anyone? I will start with around 40 # of live rock on a deep sand bed. I not sure about fish yet. I want fish, inverst, other things

[Steven Pro]

What are the dimensions of that aquarium?

[sportrider1296]

Length: 48 inches

width: 12.5 inches

height: 21 inches

[optical]

good luck
you will probablly need beter lighting. i suggest metal halide lighting. try http://www.aquatraders.com its the cheapest place ive seen.

[optical]

id go with a reef setup all the way. with about 60 lbs of live rock.

[sportrider1296]

Please let me know, what all includes a "reef setup" thanks greg

[optical]

basically there are two types of saltwater aquariums.
a reef tank or a fish only tank.
with a reef setup, you will add corals, inverts, live rock/sand, and a few fish that are reef safe and wont eat the corals and inverts. its a bit more expensive but well worth it.
if your into just fish, you can get some really beautiful triggers and puffers or lionfish or whatever that you cant have with a reef style tank because they will eat your expensive corals and stuff.
live rock is the most important thing because it acts like a filter, keeping your ammonia and nitrite and nitrates down to a safe level. it usually has tons of tiny life all over it, and will turn purple,green, red, and all sorts of colors depending on the coralline algae that consumes it-which is a good thing.
you can also have a fish only tank with live rock, which i dont really think is a great idea because you still will need a quarantine tank for your fish anyway. but if you just have fish, you wont need one because you can treat your fishes that are sick right in your tank. copper is usually the chemical that you treat a sick fish which will kill the life on your rock.
its kinda complex. what i would recomend is that you go to a local fish store (LFS) that specializes in marine fish and see what you like.
then look for the cheapest price on the internet for some Julian Sprung books and get a few of those, if not all.
research, research, research.
you need to be patient with this hobby or it WILL cost you a fortune and tons of time. trust me. its not like freshwater.
here are some links to get you started---
http://www.saltwaterfish.com/
http://www.liveaquaria.com/
http://www.saltycritter.com/
http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/liv...a/aa081501.htm
http://www.pacificeastaquaculture.com
have fun

[sportrider1296]

great info thanks a lot!