Ryan Smith;150564 said:
Well, I finally got the OK to get an octo i think, But i have no funding atm. Im selling my old drums, guitar, and various video game stuff, So i hope ill get $300 or so.
Is there a public aquarium near where you live? I live in San Diego, and the Birch aquarium (which is publicly funded) filters natural sea water for it's tanks, and provides it free to the public. Such deals are rare, but you may have such a think where you live.
I hate paying LFS prices for things, so I look for used equipment on Craigslist, where you can expect to get 50-80 percent off retail prices for things like skimmers, pumps, sumps, liverock, tanks (watch out for copper contamination), etc. The best way to go, IMO, is to watch craigslist every day until you see a whole system (without livestock) that is just what you are looking for, that someone is sick of, and ready to dump. Ignore the unrealistic people who are asking 75% of retail. There is a steady stream of people for whom their aquarium has become a big noisy thing that demands time, money, and space, and is just a PITA, and they are ready to take a small sum just to get you to haul their tank away. When you see such a deal, be the first guy there, and you can get a great deal. Be sure you've done your homework, know what you want, and don't buy something that you can't use.
What about buying water from those machines at the grocery store? Their "distilled" water is certainly RO, and uv sterilized, but is it DI too? Does it have to be? It costs between 15 and 50 cents per gallon (depending on local competition) so maybe that's a viable way to go. If it were me, I'd buy the RO/DI filter unit and make my own at home (you can find RO/DI filters cheap on craigslist too!)