So I guess it's story time and how we came to wanting a reef tank, and there will be a moral at the end of it.
We were renting a small place in another state where we had a little 36 gallon freshwater. It did not survive the move to TX. Now we have our own place and have been here 2 years so we started discussing a new tank.
We have a very long hallway that is dead space. Portland had a 60 gallon tank with stand on sale for $200. I thought let's check it out, it would go great in that space as a freshwater.
Next thing you know we are in the store and she sees the 125 gallon tank and says I don't want the little tank, I want the big one. I try to explain to her once you get over 75 gallons you really start looking at sw setups and they cost more.
Well she would hear none of it. So I started showing her pics of the various saltwater tanks (f/o, field, reefs) again she said I want that one! That sent me on my set up research quest. Luckily I am a retiree so in about 2 weeks of non stop research I have a good concept of the set up and the cost associated with it (mind you I am only referring to the equipment at this stage). Showed her the cost and we have worked out a 4 to 5 month budget to get all the equipment. That brings me to this point.
At this time I do want to thank r2r members for great posts. This site has been the base for most of my research, and I checked the info here for everything against 3 other sources, to come up with my plan.
So I promised a moral and here it is: Gentlemen when the ladies are telling you size doesn't matter on tanks, it's a lie. The proof is when mine told me she wanted the bigger tank!
