75g tank!!!!No Pics ( Yet Hopefully...)

[jamesvishiou]

75 gallon tank peoples! Im getting one for Christmas!
Lighting:
2 Reef Optix 3 Plus HQI Pendants
Moonlights (don't know yet what kind...help if you can.)
Other Reef Junk

:
Give the best Hang-On Back Protien Skimmer please (have to wait till i get money to get a sump)
Build my own refugium(...Again, please give ideas

)
1 Koralia Powerhead
A wet/dry filter hybrid
Tell me more stuff to get please!!!
How much live sand will you need for a 2 inch live sand bed?
How much live rock would you need for a 75?
Can you give me a fish list?
Indo-Pacific small fish

 

[crabbychris]

You need about 150 lbs of sand.....at least 1.5 lbs per gallon of rock for reef
your best option would be to go online and buy about 80 lbs of base rock and about 45 lbs of live rock. base rock is on sale right now online for .89 a pound.
I would also add some actinic t5s or pcs to go along with the MH
I have always heard the octopus skimmer was great or you could get a turboflotor 1000 or a bak-pak2.
Test kits needed: Calcium, Alkalinity, Magnesium, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Phosphate, Silicate and a refractometer or a floating hydrometer.
if you go on eeeebbbay you can buy a prebuilt or custom refugium....but I would get a 55 gallon or 29-30 and put it under the 75 and fill it with live sand or reef mud and cheato. You can put your skimmer down there along with your return pump.
Before you get any fish you need to decide if you want a reef with corals or just live rock and fish. I would also cycle the tank with fish food or frozen shrimp.

 

[steelytom]

I am not sure if one hydor will give you very much flow, you will definitely have dead spots. I would go with two hydor 4's, one at each end, threes if you are keeping all softies.
I have a coralife super skimmer 125 hanging on the back of my 75g and it does fine. Only problem is it has a tendancy to overflow every once in a while. But that is probably a gamble with any HOB skimmer. Why not get rid of the wet/dry and make your own sump out of a small aquarium. I made mine out of an old 29g aquarium and some cut glass from a local hardware store. I designed mine to house a skimmer on the left side where the water flows in from above, the middle chamber is a refugium, and the third chamber is my return pump. The whole thing cost me about $15 because I had the aquarium. You can buy a clip on light and run pc, 6500k spotlight for the refugium.

 

[phils29bcinwa]

I have 60-65 pounds of sand in my 75 gallon, and I would say it is around 1 1/2 to 2 deep, I dont think you would need anywhere close to 150 pounds of sand in your tank. I also have about 80 pounds of live rock in my tank. Good luck and keep us posted

 

[crabbychris]

150 lbs would give you a 4 inch dsb....thats really what you need IMO....the more live rock the better also my opinion.

 

[jamesvishiou]

thanks you guys for the information...

how much thousand K would have a whiter look?
I'm definitely going with a reef type, mainly SPS, Polyps, and Softies.
Could you still give a selection on fish?

 

[jamesvishiou]

I will try to keep you guys posted, probably around Jan. 15th. Thats when I will get some stuff for it. What about calcium reactors???
Also when I get my tank, how would you be able to post the pics on these posts?