I start the frag tank build with a stand that i would make out of five 2 by 4's and two pieces of 48" x 24" x 1/2 inch plywood.
I used the Low Boy breeder aquarium from Zoo Med, which is a 50 gallon aquarium, that has an area of 48 by 24 inches, and is only 10 inches tall. They are reasonably priced around $135 to $150 depending on the area you live in. I used two AI 26 for lights and some old heaters that i had laying around.
Fresh saltwater is necessary to do monthly water changes and fresh RO/DI water is needed to replenish for evaporation. So I would drive every week to my local fish store (LFS), and buy RO/DI (Reverse Osmosis/ DeIonized) water. Until one day i decided to make room in my garage and buy an RO/DI system and setup a saltwater mixing station at the house. My first obstacle was trying to find the space to store RO/DI filters, water storage containers, and saltwater mixing buckets. After some thought, I decided to use (2) 32 gallon BRUTE trashcans and will mix up about 25-30 gallons at a time. I started the saltwater mixing station build with a stand that i would make out...
For those who are new to the aquarium hobby, a quarantine tank is a smaller tank that maintains new fish and invertebrates for several weeks to be sure all is well before introduction to the main saltwater tank. If you utilize a quarantine tank you are going to dramatically increase your success rate as a hobbyist. A basic quarantine aquarium system offers a hang on the back filter, heater, and an aquarium.