hypothetically....can you start w/o so much $$$

[happygirl65]

Originally Posted by Innovator

Drill it....now go!

Whoah man...That scares the heck out of me....lol.

I will probably buy a whole new tank if it has to be drilled and have them custom build it for me that way. The LFS that I got my 90 from a few months ago builds them to order anyway. I do agree that a sump is the way to go for filtration. It's funny I used to think that the tank was expensive but even after going planted I can see that the tank price is a drop in the bucket to the total expense of any elaborate tank.

I do have an empty 55 gallon acrylic that I retired due to scratches. I will have to see if maybe I can work on restoring it....that one would be easy to drill without fear. Although I think the bowfront would look cool because of the shape and giving me more room in the front for the rock etc. I think that the 55 was limited due to depth for aquascaping.

I plan to keep my planted tanks going as my husband has told me in our addition that includes a formal living room I can have all of my fish tanks in there. But I was thinking that perhaps I could practice on the smaller tank and then have something built for whatever the perfect spot ends up being in that new room. (maybe between 125-200gal since the 90 looks small to me now )

I get kind of OCD about my tanks when I get going so I am sure you will see many posts from me asking questions...lol.

So what size sump should I go for with a 36 or 55 gal tank? And can you point me in the DIY direction for building one?

[fijiwigi]

Originally Posted by happygirl65

So what size sump should I go for with a 36 or 55 gal tank? And can you point me in the DIY direction for building one?

It depends do you just want a sump to hide equipment or do you want one with a refugium section? The standard rule of thumb for a refugium is a minimum of about 20% of the main display's total volume so with a 36 I would go with at least a 10gallon tank and a 55 at least a 20gallon tank but the refugium section will be much smaller than the sump tank's water volume so you want to get the biggest possible sump that you have room for. Bigger is better with my 46g I had it custom made so that I could have the biggest refugium that would possibly fit under my cabinet.

[happygirl65]

Hey thanks. All great information. I really appreciate it.

[pat8you]

Great advise from everyone so far. the only thing i can think to add that i have learned is a good skimmer is worth its weight in gold if you are going to start a reef tank. Make sure you have one in your sump up and running for a couple weeks before you start adding your corals. Good luck

[happygirl65]

OK thanks!

[oneoffcustom]

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[roka64]

Another money saving idea is use base or lace rock with a little bit of LR. I have found the initial start up costs are what really get you, but the monthly is very little.