Building a tank from the ground up

[Otolith]

So, I'm fixin' to hopefully place a FOWLR saltwater tank in my clinic. Our clinic is moving out of the basement to a really nice place. People may actually have to take us seriously. :smile:

Anyhoo, I was asked what the startup cost would entail for the tank. I have a 160g tank that I'll be "donating" to the setup, including the sump, stand and hood. The tank is essentially perfect for doing this, as it is a dual pain, so the kids can't scratch the acrylic. The hood/stand will need to be refinished...

So, with this in mind, help me come up with the total cost to get the tank up and running. Let's keep in mind that there are a bunch of little things that can add up quickly, such as plumbing parts, etc. Eventually, I'd like to have a club outing to set this up, and then, if we so decide, we can have a little placard or something like that stating we've set it up and "donated" our time. I would not, however, expect our club to maintain it, but I would look at someone in the club first for a maintenance contract. :smile:

With that said, go ahead and help me design the tank...

[David Grigor]

Planning to use VHOs to keep some coraline aglae on the rocks ? If so, I could probably donate some Icecap ballasts.......I don't have any endcaps anymore though.

[Otolith]

I would probably plan on using 2-6" VHOs, and believe I have some endcaps. At this point, however, I'm not looking for donations, but would like to get a list together of all the necessary parts to get it running. Looking for reccs on skimmers, lights, return pumps, LR, fish, etc.

Come on peeps, share your wealth of knowledge and some of your creativity. :)

[Frogbone]

Derek, It might be easier to start a list with stuff people could donate and then based on that gauge what else would need to be purchased.

Just a thought. I understand though that you need to give them a number upfront.

[Otolith]

The only donation I'd be looking for is peoples' time to help set it up. Yes, we're a nonprofit organization, but I'm not looking for handouts. I would want to buy the equipment, either new or used, and just want to get an estimate.

I'm looking for input for equipment, etc. "I would recommend Brand X skimmers for that size tank. It's cost $xxx dollars, but it's a great buy." Make sense?

[David Grigor]

Okay, for skimmers I think the Octopuss NW200 is the best buy. With a few easy mods can make this $210+shipping 8" diameter skimmer perform like many others hundreds of dollars more.

For flow, MJMods ( $45 each 2 required ) would be the biggest bang for few little wattage and IMO would be ideal for strong flow to give fish some exercise and can be hidden in the back.


Probably shoot for a good external return pump that is both reliable and cost effective would choose a Mak4 at $125.

For rock I'd do 50% the marco dead rocks as they as very lightweight. 50lb is $120+shipping. The rest LR probably from dirk or from Zekester about 50lbs at $6 is $300. Probably can get cheaper. I'd shoot for 80lbs to allow for plenty of swimming room. Of course my aquascaping expertise is free.

Sounds like lighting is covered except for the bulbs. $60.

Couple buckets of IO salt at $36 each.

I would feel most comfortable with AC Jr. or larger on it for the heater redundancy. Perhaps a used Ranco would do the trick too. ( $70-225 ).

Heaters probably a 350W or a couple of 200W heaters will do. ( $30-60 ).

Not for sure what bulkheads are reusable in your setup. I know I have several 1" around.

Allow $100 for topoff to be conservative.

Having maintained church tank for several years. I highly recommend having a ro/di installed locally in the utility room. Carting water gets very very old. Allow $250 to get from Jim.

Allow $300 for fish stocking as I'm sure you will want to stock with some pretty nice fish.

So I come up with: $1880 total in hardware and livestock. So I'd probably round up to $2k total as an estimate and will likely go down with some local vendors support ( MJmods, filterguys, dirk or zekester ). Also i'd like to think the pump and heaters could possibly be donated too so should come under the budget.

[David Grigor]

Forgot to add, I'd probably throw in a aquaclear hang on filter for misc. like carbon and mechanical filtration if ever needed for emergencies and the like. OD has some used 500s that I'm sure could get a good deal on.

[Frogbone]

There goes two Woot HD Projectors or one top notch unit ;)

[epidemic]

I would agree with just about everythink David said. I have never encountered an Octopus skimmer so I can say anything of that, and I am pretty sure you can get a top of the line Ro/DI from Fahz for less than $200.

[David Grigor]

I missed the sand. I'd just do the argo-live stuff. 2 20lbs bags about $70. Just enough to cover the bottom unless you want some sand gobies or something. I'd imagine though your look for more free swimming type fish such as angels etc.

Beauty of the Octopus is your buying a pretty tried and true skimmer body. Modding the pump needle wheel and boring out some bottle necks and you have a pretty killer amount of air intake. As good as any other 8" of that relative height for fraction of the cost of competitors. Should be more than adequate for a 160g tank.

[Otolith]

There goes two Woot HD Projectors or one top notch unit ;)
Well, the plan is for me to NOT pay for this. :wink:

David, thanks for the info, this is exactly what I'm looking for. Lots of options and prices. I would appreciate anyone else's input as well. :beerchug:

[thegrimreefer]

Let me know if you're pursuing a charter to get the tank onto the web site. I doubt they'd go for it, but I know who'll do it!

[Otolith]

Grim, good to know. :) I think we'll probably apply for a grant to get it operational. There's been a few emails back and forth over this. I've told my admin I don't want to do this if the clinic and our club can't set this up, as I'm sure the local aquarium maintenance company would charge 3-4 times what we could do it for.

[Otolith]

I'm sure knowing our company they've signed some exclusive contract that precludes us from doing it up ourselves.:rolleyes: (Hi Jessica :wink:)

[Otolith]

David,
Thanks for the list! It was very useful, and we've subsequently submitted a bid to try and get the tank equipment for clinic.