Check the "Free" section on Craigslist. Once in a while you can find some gems on there that cost you nothing, just need transportation to bring it home. You'd be surprised at what people give away for free.

I agree, I built this one for about 95$ 2x4s and pine covered. Added trim and stain and still without doors im in for 150$....

http://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/...psbdegenlk.jpg

http://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/...psc73skkm3.jpg

That nice pine cabinet for $60 doesn't seem like a bad idea anymore... hahaha
Your stand looks awesome though Roskoreef, if I had time and money right now I wouldn't want to do anything else but custom build all my equipment.

Wow today was a busy of running around picking up some equipment and looking at multiple different cabinets.

This was today's haul:

CPR CS-90 overflow box and brand new Tom aqua lifter with hanging kit
Got this for $50 together from someone on craigslist
The overflow has some buildup but it's eventually bound to happen. Any tips of removing this? Is acrylic safe to vinegar dip?

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/pic...pictureid=7080

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/pic...pictureid=7081

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/pic...pictureid=7083

Next, I grabbed a return pump and a simple LED light to use for the fuge for $10 also from craigslist.
Not sure what brand the pump and the label doesn't have much info either, but from what I've researched I think this is called a mag7 pump? If anyone has more info and want to post it'll be appreciated. I just thought it was cheap and there wasn't much to lose with this purchase so just went for it.

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/pic...pictureid=7086

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/pic...pictureid=7103

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/pic...pictureid=7089

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http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/pic...pictureid=7091

Finally, I found a cabinet that I think will finally work for my build!
I believe it's solid pine, and it was built by the seller's uncle.
I got very fortunate with this purchase, he was selling a set of 4 furniture and I thought he wanted $90 for it and was thinking of offering $30 for the cabinet alone. When we met up and started talking price he wanted $200 for the cabinet and I was shocked and I told him I came here thinking of spending about $30. Turns out the ad was for $900 altogether and I had just misread it. We negotiated a bit and I told him since we're both out here and I got $40 cash right now that I would take it on the spot if he can let me have it cheap for a project and in the end he let it go to me! The furniture was too big for his my apartment and he had been paying storage to have it stored so I think that's why he was so generous about letting it go. In Vancouver Kijiji seems to be less popular compared to Craigslist but I'm glad I looked there and found this cabinet.

Here it is!
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/pic...pictureid=7097

Each side is made up of about 1" thick wood and even the back which is shown in the picture
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/pic...pictureid=7095

The bottom is supported by beams on 3 of its side
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/pic...pictureid=7092

Each joint is glued and either screwed together or nailed together
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/pic...pictureid=7093

The back panel has a bit of gap between it and the top but i think structurally it should still be sound. I might fill in the gap with some wood putty.
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/pic...pictureid=7096

Even the doors are joined together instead of 1 piece, looks awesome imo
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/pic...pictureid=7101

I gotta admit though that with the sump in the storage compartment it's a tight fit. I'll be able to get everything in there but will need to do some amazing cable managing to get everything to fit nice. Starting to plan out the plumbing as well now and things are starting to get complicated. Maybe I'm being overzealous with the 20g sump and maybe I'll try to find a 10g to use instead.

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/pic...pictureid=7102

Here it is set up with whatever I have for now.
I wanted to hang the lights off the shelf I have and the cabinet turned out to be the perfect height so I'm very happy.

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/pic...pictureid=7100

The wood on the cabinet is also rough finished so I can just light sand it and stain or paint it the way I want or just leave it the way it is. I kind of like the look of the wood right now and how it contrasts the rest of the dark furniture in my room so I might just leave it the way it is and just give it a nice finish.

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/pic...pictureid=7099

The cost is slowly starting to rise and the next couple of things I get will be more expensive probably. Next on the list to hunt down are a skimmer, heater, lights, and power head.

Total cost so far now: $140

Thanks for the tip, while looking on there I actually found some glass sheets being given away for free. I wanted to take a sheet and cut it up to use for my baffles.

I had some questions though, the glass is coming from some office and I assume it has been cleaned with chemicals during its time. Is there a safe way to clean the glass so that it will be aquarium safe? Or should I just not bother?

Does anyone know of a reputable and inexpensive place to get glass cut in GVRD?

Just clean it with a vinegar/warm water solution and that will do the trick.

Cheapest way to cut glass is with a glass cutter from Revy/Home depot, maybe $10, and use a straightedge to score. Finish the edges with some sandpaper. Provided of course, the glass in question is NOT tempered.

Try to find a 15-gallon tank for your sump. Dims are 24 x 12 x 12". You just have to be smart about your baffle height and plumbing so there is room for the water to backflow and not overflow the sump. I used a 15 on my 50-gallon reef.

Sent from my SM-G870W using Tapatalk

Alright I'll have a lookout for one.

Maybe you can trade your 20-gallon for a 15? Or, Petsmart here carries the 15-gallon tanks for I think less than $20, but I can't remember for sure. A 10-gallon will be too small.

Got a fresh box of apples from user SSDiver from Kamloops!

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/pic...pictureid=7104

Let's see what's inside!
Awwww it wasn't apples :sad:
SSDiver really put in some care packaging everything and even covered half the shipping.

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/pic...pictureid=7105

So here are the things I bought from him:

Tunze DOC 9004 protein skimmer for $70 and 3162 comline filter for $50
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/pic...pictureid=7106

SWC Xtreme LED lights $90
I couldn't pull up much info on these lights other than that they use 3W Cree LED which people seem to have mixed opinions about.
Do you guys think this will be adequate for a 29g? If not I was thinking of adding a T5 fixture to go along later down the road.
Fan is so damn loud on this thing... I don't know how someone could listen to it all day. Will have to replace it for sure.
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/pic...pictureid=7107

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/pic...pictureid=7108

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http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/pic...pictureid=7110

I was a little hesitant about this purchase but went for it anyways.
Tunze 3155 ATO for $120
I'm trying to keep this a budget build and an ATO is a bit of a luxury item, but since I was buying multiple items SSDiver gave me a fair price for it so I thought why not.
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/pic...pictureid=7111

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/pic...pictureid=7112

Koralia Nano 425 PH for $10
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/pic...pictureid=7113

Here are some things he threw in for free which was really nice of him.
Power bar, 300W heater, magfloat glass cleaner, and a mechanical timer
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/pic...pictureid=7125

Quick mock up of how everything will go in the sump.
Heater, skimmer and filter in the first chamber. The 300W heater might be too big and I might need to purchase a smaller 200W heater instead.
ATO sensors and the pump in the return chamber.
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/pic...pictureid=7126

Shoutout to SSDiver, he was so amazing with communication and just an awesome person to do business with.

Even while trying to keep this a budget build it's not proving to be cheap. For someone on a tighter budget the comline filter and the ATO were not necessary purchases and could save roughly $170 without those 2 parts.
At least all the expensive components have been purchased now. Only the plumbing left really.
Where is the best place to buy plumbing parts in Vancouver? I went to RONA today and they had scarce amounts of plumbing parts.

Total cost now: $480