29 gal sump for 75 gal tank setup questions

[jeo]

I plan on setting up my first saltwater tank this weekend (or next weekend). It will be a 75 gal. I already have 80 lbs of live sand and plan on putting this over sand from Home Depot(any recommendations on how much? I was thinking 50 lbs). I also plan on buying as much live rock as I can afford. I plan on ordering from Gulf-View- mostly due to advice on this forum. Probably about 60 lbs initially, more in the future. I intend to have community fish: 4 p. clowns, 3 cardinals, yellow tang, royal gramma, and some kind of dwarf angel (flame?) is the latest list) and inverts. About filtration: I have heard people say a sump is a good idea to create a larger volume of water. This makes a lot of sense to me and I am looking into it. I have an Emperor 400 filter and a prism protein skimmer. would it make sense to put these, along with heaters, ls, and lr, in a 29 gal tank? I would like to keep all of this stuff out of sight. Also what kind of pump would I need? Any feedback on this idea or other strategies would be appreciated, thanks

 

[david s]

hi and welcome to salt water u say u have live sand allready but this is your first tank how are u keepin it alive as far as a sump i would say if u can definatly a sump gives more water volume and beter gas exchange and also cures the scum on the surface of the water and i would just put your heater and skimmer and pumps in it if u have a hang on back prizm u can put it in sump but u have to keep water high if u have it i would run it and maybe upgrade later to a sump based modle and if u get a overflow box get a halfway decent one or get your tank drilled is best i wish i did but didnt know when i set my tank up pump size u want to get close to 10 times your water volume per hour (750 gph) when u look for one i run a mag but i hear dont get a mag7 they have problems go higher than 7 if u go mag here is some info on wet/dry its same basic princible as a sump without wheels or bioballs

 

[david s]

doh here allways forget the link lol <a href="http://www.cyberreefguru.com/diy/guide/diy_guide.html" target="_blank">http://www.cyberreefguru.com/diy/guide/diy_guide.html</a>