For a reef you are gonna need lights too so goto Lite Brite in the NE and pick up a Workhorse7 Electronic Ballast ( $55.00 and you can run 3 power compacts ) this will at least get you started with some shrooms and such.
Look in the bargain finder for a tank the size you want and just phone around and make a offer you can afford ... somebody will bite eventually
For sand there is a sandblasting place south of Glenmore on Barlow that has sand blasting sand ( quartz ) for like 13 bucks for 100 lbs ( I know everybody says get aragonite but it does not actually buffer till your PH is so low everything is dead lol ) ... even Dr Ron says use whatever as it will populate with critters when you add live rock
As for pumps & live rock J&L is prolly the cheapest ( even after shipping ) ... I got a bunch of Fiji from them awile back and it was awesome with purple coraline growth !
HTH
Cheers
Rasta
PS ... almost forgot ... build yourself a Beckett skimmer ... you wont regret it ... just finished a dual beckett for my system and only need to use one beckett ... works that good