75 gallon equipment...

igoteels

igoteels

New Member
I need your help. I just got a 75 gallon tank for free from a friend that was tired of it sitting in his house, so I am going to turn it into a Reef tank. This will be my first and biggest reef so far so with a size like this what would you recommend on lights, skimmer, ALL the equipment you would want to have a reef. The predominant fish will be a Naso Blonde, well along those lines. She will be ruler of the tank because I love this fish and have always wanted one.
What do I need to buy, what kind of lights, sump, everything.
I want to have the light to get most corals, but probaly will have alot of rock with some nice fish and a few hard and soft corals in the back for more coloration...
 
rangermonroe

rangermonroe

Member
Are you going to try to keep corals, or just fish? Will you want to have docile fish, or trigger fish and angels?
Deciding up front will narrow your equipment requirements?
it is good that you are asking this first, rather than " my morray is getting to big and I cant find my clownfish"
 
sly

sly

Active Member
I plan on having a 72 reef. My setup is:
1 Nautalus TE protein skimmer (highly recommended)
1 Sander 25mg/hr ozone unit (highly recommended, keeps water crystal clear)
10 gal aquarium/refugium with 10 mangrove plants to aid in filtration
1 wet/dry trickle filter with bio balls
Lots of LR
390 Watts of PC lighting that I custom made from retrofits off ----. They are fitted to a flourescent hood that I bought from Lowe's
40 Watts NO flourescent grow lights for mangroves
Computer fan to keep the lights cool
5 Blue LED moonlights to reduce stress in the fish when the main lights go off.
Mechanical filter floss before the trickle filter to keep the debris out of the sump
2 Maxijet 1200 power heads in tank to help with flow and reduce dead spots
1 heater
 
sly

sly

Active Member
Here's a pic of my skimmer waste cup. It's dark green and smells like crap. That's because it is.
I really like this skimmer.
 
igoteels

igoteels

New Member
hey sly what are some names of products you have? Also what kinda lights do I need? Since I am not going to do what you did is there any way I can get a good setup for around 400 bucks?
Can I see pics of the tank, and pics of how everything like a sump or whatever work, etc, etc.
 
sly

sly

Active Member
Agreed. This hobby is best not to skimp on anything. I have already wasted money on trying to save money by buying cheap lighting. When I found out the lighting I had was not good enough, I had to scrap it and start over. I would have saved the money if I had done it right the first time. It's best to buy the best slowly as you can afford it. Buy a good skimmer. One that's oversized for your tank. Also invest in lots of LR. This works as good as any filter at removing nitrates. You can put together your own fuge and plant algae there to keep the water clean also. Most of the stuff I've done to my tank is do it yourself. I built my own PC lighting setup and fuge and moonlights, so I can't say what "brands" to use. I guess use "Sly" brands. :D
I inherited the tank from my Brother so I can't say what trickle filter I use. It's probably just the one that came with the tank. I'll post a pic for you to see tomorrow.
 
sly

sly

Active Member
It may be a little small for your tank. It said 275gph for the pump to pump water to your tank. You need more like 800gph or so for a 75 gal tank, about 10 times tank turnover per hour. Also the lighting is only 26 watts. This is also weak. I've heard that at least 40 is needed to grow plants. The skimmer looks similar to my Nautalus but they don't say what brand unless it's a house brand. It looks like it may be a good skimmer but who knows? :notsure:
 
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