Buying An Aquarium
 

I am planning to buy a new 45-75 gal tank spending less than $400 on the tank with stand. I've noticed places like Petland and Petcetera have ridiculous prices on some of the tanks (includes a whole bunch of useless things that I already have or don't need).

I live in the NW area, the only store with a better selection of tanks and fish that I know of is Pieces Pet Emporium near McKnight Blvd. What stores can I get live rock, fish, inverts, skimmer etc. from? And for future reference, where can I get tangs and corals from (never seen a tang at LFS) ?

it appears that you don't know about all the good fish stores in town. stay out of the above mentioned stores when setting up an aquarium. try golds, elite, red coral and ocean aquatics. you will see prices at about 1/3 of that you would otherwise see at the big stores. Most of us can thank these guys for making the hobby somewhat affordable.

Have you looked in the the 'buy/sell/trade' sections. Lots stuff there both for hardware and livestock.

I'll sell you the 120g tank and stand sitting empty in my basement for $400 *wink wink* :)

Thanks, but I think 120g is bit big for me, I can't afford enough LR to make it look nice haha.
Anyone know how much LR usually costs nowadays?

seems like red coral is only store up north?

They're the only one I know of that far northwest .. but Ocean Aquarium is also NW (just ... like 2 blocks west of centre street on 16th Av), and Wai's is also north but is NE (like 2 blocks east of centre street on 16th Av.). Ocean's and Wai's are like mirror image locations.