[nikebs]

I am trying not to spend much money on this tank. I put most of my aquarium money into buying fish for my 120 gallon FW. This is my first SW aquarium. Here is what i spent.

20 lbs. crayola purple sand- $7
petco hydrometer/thermometer combo- $4
walmart blacklight and white aquarium light bulb- $15
aqua clear filter- $20
petco heater- $17
11 lb. live rock- $44
50 gallon instant ocean super clearance- $6
old powerhead- N/A
striped zebra looking damzel- $4

i tried to do it as cheaply as I could. Live rock is ridiculous.

[ianizaguirre]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA OO MY GOD PURPLE SAND IN A SALTWATER Tank !!! ummm i think we can do better here why not geting live sand as you will end up spending alot more money from dumb mistakes like these in the long run and trust me to get cheap stuff cuz FROM EVERYONES EXPERENCE YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR and dont budget the saltwatter tank if anything start budgeting the freshwater tank !!!!

snd you will eventually have to get rid of that fish if it doseent die since you put it in right away !!!!!

[nikebs]

ive been told live rock is good enough. Im going to get some more small live rock at petco. the fish seems to be doing fine.

[migget]

Well, i agree with ian but not trying to sound mean, hes right when doing a saltwater tank your trying to mimic the ocean in the long run, not what makes you feel good or look good to u. Yes you will d tht eventually but at first you need all the components tht the ocean has to even attempt it right. As the purple sand might look cool, it will do nothing for the health and life cycle of the tank and take forever to become what lie wsand is alrdy.
The live rock is the same as the live sand, jsut in rock form, using the purple sand as an accent to make it look good might work but IMO i would los it all if you want to do it RIGHT!!!!! Me and my wife spent like 1000 bucks getting LR when we didour 12o so i know what your talking about, but if you wanna be seriuos about having a lil part of the ocean in your home, plz plz plz i cant stress enough do it right. It might cost a lil more in the beinging but it pays for itself in the end when its to the point you jsut change the water every week and look at the wonderful work u did.
Plz jsut think about what both of us have said and go form there. There is alot you need to know before just putting sand and rocks in a tank and with some saltwater and calling it a saltwater tank.
I hope i didnt sound to critial im trying not o jsut trying to help

[firstadam2k]

I do not wish to sound mean also but i would not get saltwater from petco the one near me has cronic ick in thier tanks and will not do anything bout it.I would hate for you to get burned on saltwater its awesome but not cheap price shop on liverock build up slowly if you have to i am rather lucky as i have two good stores near me.
look around if ya can. and good luck.

[Proud Texan]

my question: why would you put PURPLE sand in a aquarium? no offence but IMO rubber dog poop would look better would be alot funnier too.

[ianizaguirre]

if you dont want regular white live sand you can get black live sand but please get live sand

[pyromaniac398]

Ian and Austin- You BOTH need to cut out the insults. Instead of saying things like "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA OO MY GOD PURPLE SAND IN A SALTWATER Tank !!! " and "rubber dog poop would look better would be alot funnier too." be constructive. I know your both young but treat others on this forum with some respect. This is his first tank.

nikebs- though they have told you in a rather immature way the purple sand was not the best way to spend your money. Although LS is expensive it will only serve you better in the long run...(you will need to replace to purple sand). There are many ways to save a buck but in this hobby there are certain things you just can't afford to cut corners on. Things like substrate, water movement, and water filtration. FW is a whole different ball game from SW. Before spending any money on this tank, take some time to paruse through the RB library. Also be sure to stop by these threads:
http://www.reefbuilders.com/forums/r...-up-guide.html
http://www.reefbuilders.com/forums/r...-up-guide.html
http://www.reefbuilders.com/forums/r...-up-guide.html

Stick around and I'm sure you will learn more than you bargained for

[ianizaguirre]

pyro i did not insult anyone as i gave an explanation afterwards so theres no need for any type of warning

[REEFMASTER]

This is not intended to insult you by any means!, but a marine tank by no means is cheap! As you will find out, if you keep on this path many things can go wrong! to name a few, TANK CRASH. not saying you have to buy top notch equipment, but investigate what your buying! LS,LR cost a mint, but a reef tank IMO needs it! you can go barebottom-BB, but you still need live rock!. A reef tank is 10x's more work than a FW, and most of these guys in here will attest to the fact that they have thousands of dollars wrap up in this reef tank thing, myself included.
So think about it before you become fully engulfed, this hobby is a beautiful thing if you do it right the first time around.
HAPPY REEFING!

[Hosser]

Pyro thank you for calling those out that decided to berate,
Heres the deal, you can find rock way way cheaper than petco, either online or other stores and for a 20 gal you only need probably 20-25 pounds, you CAN find it for as little as a couple bucks a pound. (I did) , Live sand for that aquarium is only gonna run ya 25 dollars. A 40-60 gal hang on back filter costs 36 and youd be up an running with a 20 dollar powerhead. A hundred bucks would go a long way. Good Luck and dont mind the responses that dont deserve your time, others here will help.

[Adam J]

craigslist classifieds: jobs, housing, personals, for sale, services, community, events, forums is a good place to find deals on equipment,ect...

[DEWAYNE]

hey,guys..pyro, you just said my words almost to a tee.... anyone insulting another SW tank, really needs to look at there own, and yeah guys it was insulting... nikebs, act as though the ignorant comments come from ignorant people... I know you made the wrong choice in your substrate, first off the white live sand, or crushed coral will help with light reflection.... second your lighting will play a key role in the beauty and beneficial health of your fish. I would also suggest using a good name brand salt, petco does not use "petco" salt, they use a good brand name salt.... "kent, red sea, coral life", are just a few to mention I use the KENT brand and it works really well. I hope you choose to hang around and get more positive responses to any question(s) you may have. GOOD LUCK!!! to you

[ianizaguirre]

my bad if my comment was taken out of proportion

[WILLIAM1]

Welcome to reefbuilders nikebs. There are some valueble things to learn about saltwater tanks. You will learn it takes a little time. You have to replace the sand asap. Pick up 1 or 2 bags of live sand. If your going to do a saltwater tank be prepaired to listen to alot of babbling from some people and honest answers from others. This hobby takes patience and time to start a nice reef tank. You have a very good start just change the sand and consider a new light something with a little more wattage. The light used to create photosynthesis cant be bought @ walmart. I will post a couple of links to the sand and light which I would consider if you plan on having any type of coral. I would break the 120 down and make a reef tank in a second. Take your fish to the local pet store and cash them in for anything I could get and start building that reef tank that you always see in other peoples houses. LOL
24" Dual Satellite 2x65 Watt w/Lunar Light: Aquarium Supplies - Aqua Buys
Arag Alive Live Reef Sand 10LB: Aquarium Supplies - Aqua Buys

[RyanG]

Originally Posted by Proud Texan

my question: why would you put PURPLE sand in a aquarium? no offence but IMO rubber dog poop would look better would be alot funnier too.

beauty is in the eye of the beholder...