+1 RODI is first step as you'll use a lot. Getting rock curing in a tub or brute can will save some time later and make you feel like you're doing something now. Also betting you'll need/want more rocks. I used Marco and pukani rock and would do so again. Order some and add that to what you have. Use your current pump and add a cheap heater, one that just keeps it at 78 degrees and you've started the process. You can buy rodi water or salt water to get this step going and have on hand some fresh rodi for top off from evaporation. Then get your own rodi set up. I have no sink in garage so mine is in the kitchen, mounted to the wall with the in hose going outside to a garden hose and the waste water also dumped outside (need to make the waste line longer to go into kitchen sink) I have 2 brutes. Both for fresh rodi water--one I use to mix salt, the other to have plain rodi water for top offs or to add to salt can if needed. The rest will come when you drill your tank, set it up where you want it, and start accumalating your equipment. Rock should go in first, depending on how you do it (lots of ways to put rock in: on glass, on egg crate, etc. but not on sand for stability with sand burrowers), then sand, then water!
What I did a year ago this month when I decided I wanted a tank, before I found my tank at the end of Nov., was to read, read, read. I signed up for kindle unlimited which allowed me to read a ton of epub saltwater books for 9.99 a month. You can check out up to 10 at a time. More than pays for itself or you can do the 1 month trial. I just tried to soak in as much as I could. I ended up with an AIO (all in one) so I didn't have to choose different pcs of equip. I also purchased the Jebao wave maker power heads and recently a new heater with a controller--not one that can controller other items, but just the heater. Again, cost effective and I can upgrade over time.
I will warn you. It's expensive. I can't believe how much $$ I've spent. I keep a spreadsheet and it's not the fish or coral, or even equipment or initial setup. It's the maintenance: test kits, dosing stuff, foods, light replacement every six months. And it's ongoing. When you run out of a test kit, guess what, ya gotta get a new one and now. I'm trying different ones. Red Sea is good but $$. Hannah is so worth it for alk (none of the others were reliable and most were guess work) and phosphate.
Also, in people's signatures, check for build threads so you can see what we've all done, how we did it, what questions we all asked etc. The more you read, from build threads, to forum threads, to outside books, the better you'll do.
So Welcome and start your own build thread. You can cut and paste your initial message here even
