Salt Virgin Needs Advice

[moldrik]

I highly agree. With my tank, the only thing that I need to be careful with is space, so I don't have a lot of room to work with, so I need a compact system for skimming, etc.. However, I would definately spend the money. I love fish and I want to make sure that I have the right stuff to keep them healthy and happy.

I can see his perspective that he wants to keep a tank and he is low on funds. And yeah, the "responsible" route is to not get one, save your money, and invest it or something ( stocks are really low right now! ).

The more you cut corners and the more you cheap out, the worst of a headache you will have and the more money you will spend in the end replacing stuff that doesn't work as well as it should. So really, investing that extra $40 here and there, in the end, will save you money.

For you, living the student life, I think it's a matter of buying one thing at a time, for the right price, until you got most things ready to go.

Someone mentioned this as well, but if I wanted to go cheap, I would cut the sump/refugium that you're planning on setting up. You don't NEED it, and the keyword here is that: NEED. You WANT to keep an aquarium, so what do you NEED to keep it running properly, with good water condition, for the next X years ( right, years ).
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Suzuki GT380