oh yeah, i totally know. as aquarists we get robbed everyday on everything from fish to the tanks, ESPECIALLY on tanks themselves. and all these people on the net are like oh man save sserious cash by
DIY'ing your tank.
NO
DIY tanks are barely cheaper like maybe $10
lets see here where i live and the surrounding 50 miles the cheapest it got for a 48x13x20 standard 55 gallon size was
8.88 for the sides @
and 35 for the front, back, and bottom @
thats without any grinding, etc on straight normal plate glass, not counting silicone, hood, support glass, lights, and other setups
heck i can get the tank pre built with black plastic edgeing and a filter and net, and light at wal-mart for 158.88
and dont get me started on yardsales, like the 55 gallon i went to look at and was 500 cash bare with nothing not even lights. etc etc
rant completed.
oh well... i just get frustrated