Advice for new 75G tank owner

[scwilich]

After doing some research (including much on this forum) I've gone ahead and purchased an Oceanic 75G Reef-ready tank and stand which I'll be picking up tomorrow.

I've decided to go w/ a Berlin Method tank, and have some questions:

- I'd like to set up a sump from the beginning-- is a 20G glass tank a good base for one? Also, any online plans for a good one, inc. suggestions on a return pump?

- Of the recommended protein skimmers, which one is the cheapest that will handle my 75G (+ 20G sump)?

- I know this is a matter of philosophy but should I go with VHO or MH? To begin with I will not have hard coral, but may eventually want to.

- Advice on type and quantity of powerheads to purchase for this type of tank?

- I've heard a lot on how to reduce initial cycle time... it's tempting, but what would I be giving up?

I know these are a lot of questions and some are pretty broad, but would appreciate any advice.

Thanks,

Sebastian

 

[Gatortailale1]

Welcome to the hobby and this board!

Rule 1: Never rush a tank setup or try to rush cure cycles. It takes time to develop and sustain a reef in an aquarium. There is no proven safe shortcut that I know of.

I have a turbofloater 1000 skimmer. Mid range quality/ does efficient job. Moderately priced. Should fit in 20 gal glass sump.

Return pump. I would avoid Rio. They are cheaper, but you get what you pay for. I don't own a mag, but I read on this board they are much better than rio.

Lights: If you have the money now, get MH with wither VHO or PC acts. Better to spend loot now and get good lights now, otherwise you will add probably and extra half of cost of a MH system on to price if you upgrade later, if not more. I got PC setup last year and now want MH. It's gonna cost me $900 plus to upgrade and last year I could of got system I wanted for $1300 total. (Spent $700 on 6 96w pc bulb setup last year when I started)

Powerheads, 3 maxi jet 1200 would be nice.

Hope this helps.

 

[scwilich]

Thanks for the response; unfortunately I feared I would get the advice to go MH now... I do think you're right though... just a lot of $$$.

If I go MH, what's a good and relatively cheap setup for a 75G tank? Something modular would be great... for example, a hood where I could maybe get 1 MH now that is enough to keep live rock, fish, and soft corals, and then when I move on to hard corals I could add another to same hood? Any setups like that exist?

Thanks!

 

[Roach]

I have a 20 gallon glass sump for my 92 gallon tanks. So far it works really good. I made some partitions in it with plexiglass and silicone. On one end I have a live sand bed with a light over it. The other end is for my skimmer and return pump. My return pump is a Mag 1200 which really works great. If I needed to I could put out a fire in my house with this thing. Almost no noise and very little heat. I am currently searching for a new protein skimmer because my prizm just won't cut it anymore. I like the ETS urchins because they fit in your sump, are relatively small, and affordable. I would for sure go with MH if you can afford it because you will never have to worry about if you have enough light for anything down the road and believe me you will eventually want some hard corals. There aren't really in bad power heads out there in my opinion. I really like rios and maxi-jets. Hope this helps you out. Good Luck!

 

[dbman]

Well, if you don't mind doing wiring and installation stuff yourself, you can get lighting done relatively cheap. I only have a 55 but I'm currently running a single 400W Iwasaki 6500K MH on my tank; it spreads light well enough to keep even the far corners of the tank growing soft corals, and I have two NO fluorescent actinics to add a little color in a hardware store shop fixture.

Cost breakdown:

400W MH ballast from Ebay: $34
400W Iwasaki bulb: $69
Mogul socket: $5
Aluminum sheet reflector: $5
Dual-tube 48" shop light: $8
Two NO actinics: $36
Wire, wire nuts, etc: $15

Total outlay - around $170 for a light setup that grows hard corals anywhere in the center 2/3 of the tank and will grow just about any soft coral anywhere else in the tank. I know the do-it-yourself route isn't for everyone but I just can't argue with the economics of it.

 

[Roach]

I just wanted to add to dbman's post. You can also buy computer fans really cheap for cooling which is what I have done for years. They really work great.

 

[scwilich]

I'm a bit concerned about temperature w/ the 250 or say 400W MH. How high off the water would I have to keep them? Also, I've heard something like 25% of tank could get evaporated each week between lights and cooling fans... is that true? If so it seems like some topping off mechanism would be almost essential.

 

[Gatortailale1]

If you don't like price your LFS (local fish store) gives you, either Champion lighting or premium aquatics have good light sets.

Your follow-up question got me thinking. I would say 75% of cost of MH is in bulb and ballast. what you could do is buy the hood now without MH bulb or MH ballasts. The CSL and PFO come with VHO or PC ballast. You would have sufficient light running just the VHO or PC in early months until you got MH. You could keep a regular bulb in mogul until you go MH to keep salt /water out of it. not working of course)

You will need to decide if you want open top tank and suspended hood or enclosed canopy. If enclosed canopy you will need to get retrofit system or do it yourself.

Link to Premium aquatics PFO hood.

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PA&Product_Code=PFO48HOOD&Category_Code=PFOh

NOTE: PFO custom builds hood. I'm a fan of PC. If you like suspended hood. Tell Jason in email you want 2 rows/ 4 PC bulbs in addition to the two MH bulbs. Then do row of actinics and a row of 10,000k daylight. Reason; once you get MH you can make a more natural dawn to dusk. Actincs on first off last, 10k PC on 2nd off second and MH on last off first.

Fans, get one on each end of hood

 

[Anonymous]

on my 75gallon i've got 2 MH pendants and a seperate DIY hanging box with a couple of PC bulbs.

since you'd want to supplement your Metal Halides with either VHO's or PC's, why not get the latter now and get the MH hanging pendants when you can more easily afford them. Maybe this would be the solution to getting a longer cycling/mature time for your tank. especially if the 'buy it all at once' option is gonna delay ya.

my 2 cents worth,
po

[ October 30, 2001: Message edited by: pojohnny ]</p>