help me build a tank!

[reavely]

I would like to build a 75 gallon tank. So far I have a few inhabitants in mind, but am not knowledgeable about what kind of hardware (except for the fluval 404 filter I'm bidding on) I should be getting or are even necessary; like heaters, air flow, wave-powerhead, protein skimmers?? etc.. or what kind of substrates, rocks & crustaceans I should or could go with.
The primary inhabitants I'm dreaming of would be; ocellaris clowns, condy or long anemone, Coral - undecided?, Blue tangs, catalina gobies, blue-green damsels...
what others (corals, crustaceans, or inverts) might go well with this combo?
Is this a feasible combo?
How many of each would be healthy for a tank this size?
I have been keeping a 40 gal cichlid tank for several years but need all the input I can get to get a good marine tank going, HELP!

 

[justinx]

Welcome to the board!! My first piece of advice is to get a good reef book. I started out with reading Natuarl Reef Aquariums by Tullock. It is agood beginner book that goes through all the steps of setting up, stocking and maintaing a reef tank. I followed his methods a little loosely and this is what i have created. Also, read on this board. I researched the posts on the message board for six months before i even bought a tank. That was a little long, but i was moving soon when i wanted to do it, so i just decided to wait until after the move to set up my new tank, and boy was i glad. I saved at least 500 dollars just from doing research. Best of luck to you and welcome once again. Feel free to ask any questions you may have, and the search tool on this board is fantastic. I can almost promise that someone else will have had the same questions you do somewhere in the past. So get a book, do some reading, do some searching, and the best piece of advice that i have to offer is take things SLOOOOWW. You will be rewarded in the end with this hobby if you take your time.

 

[ophiura]

First piece of advice? drop the -s of the tangs. If you research more, read more, etc, you'll learn that they are prone to a lot of disease and need a lot of swimming room. Best to keep one in this size tank, to avoid a lot of headaches. This is MO, but you definitely will not be keeping multiple blue tangs, as two similar tangs will not get along.
Catalina gobies are a colder water species, and do not tend to do well long term in our tanks, unless they are species specific tanks (where the temp, etc, is set up for a particular species).
Chromis do best in small groups, and you may or may not wish to take up limited 'space' with them. You will not stock a saltwater tank anywhere near that of a freshwater tank (esp if you are used to cichlids...in SW the rough rule is 1" of fish per 5 g, not 1" per g....and this is modified based on the fish and whether you have corals or not). It also takes much longer to establish and stock a saltwater tank. Much longer.
You will need a heater (prefer two) and additional power heads for circulation. Forget air pumps and stones, which are not used in salt water tanks. A protein skimmer would be really good, but not absolutely necessary- at least not right away. But you may wish to reconsider the Fluval (especially if it will cost a lot) which, though good for running carbon, is not the best choice for a saltwater tank (though many use them). A refugium might be a better choice. A refugium is a separate tank/box under the stand (typically), where there is a bunch of sand, some algae, and little bugs. This helps greatly in biological filtration. Many people will use live rock, a deep sand bed (DSB) and a refugium as their filtration...and may or may not use a protein skimmer.
A fine sand is better than crushed coral, and live rock is really more appropriate than artificial corals and the like. Live rock (though base rock is often used as the 'brick' behind a facing of the more expensive live rock, which will colonize the rock underneath) is a natural structure, and will help keep many types of fish which graze on it.
Lighting is a major issue for keeping corals and anemones (which are often not kept together). It is a separate issue entirely, and you may wish to post new threads based on your planning as you progress in your learning curve.
I would definitely get a good book or two.
Do some searches for:
DSB (deep sand bed)
refugium
live rock
live sand
I think it will help to do some searching for what sort of tank you might want to keep, before people can really give you too much advice on what else you can put in it.

 

[nah2o]

Ophiura, (or anyone who will respond with good advice)
I have an established 75 gallon tank already with about 1 1/2 inches -2 inches of CC. It's running on a Skilter 450 Protein Skimmer and that's it. All I have left are 4 damsels (lost everything else during a tornado / power outtage). I will be moving in about a month and I would really like to replace the CC with a DSB seeded with some LS, and also get some LR. (I already have some base rock) What would be the best way to remove the coral, but still keep a little for the bacteria? What other equipment would you reccomend? What type of lights that would support the growth on the live rock (and still fit in my hood - (2) 48-inch bulbs) would you reccommend.
I would like to get going on the project as soon as I move and get the tank settled in the position in the house it will be.
Thanks for any help.

 

[ophiura]

Well, I would say you may want to start a few separate threads, to get the most input on this.
One about changing out the substrate
Another about the bulbs
Do you have any structure in there at all? Any rocks?
On the bottom of your crushed coral, you may find a layer of smaller particles, which you can try to selectively keep to seed the new bed. However you do it, I suspect you will recycle a bit, or more. Keep as much water as possible, keep the filter wet (don't clean it out), keep any rocks you have wet...this will help save some bacteria. But don't go out and buy a bunch of fish as soon as it is set up in the new place
Do some searches for people who have moved, about change to a DSB, etc, in addition to thinking of some different threads.
You will probably need some powerheads if you don't have them already.

 

[nah2o]

Are you saying take out all the CC except for the last little bit? Should I go on and do that BEFORE I get ready for the move? (at least so the movers won't have to carry the heavy tank) In transport, I will probably try to leave just enough water to cover up the last bit of CC I have left. I will put as much of the rest of water as I can in containers. Since you can't very well clean sand with a python cleaner, are the algae packages advertised pretty good bargains? What fish are NOT compatable with the different creatures?

 

[ophiura]

This is where I would start a new thread...in fact, I think some people have moved recently, and there have been some CC beds removed recently too. I really haven't had to do it, so I think starting a thread on that would be more prudent, and result in better advice for you. I don't think you necessarily have to keep the bottom layer, but you can keep some to 'seed' the new bed.
I'm not quite sure which creatures you are concerned about, but that may also be another thread Are you concerned about the sand bed creatures? clean up crew creatures?

 

[demosthenes]

Here is the procedure I used to remove my CC Bed and replace it with a DSB.
1) Obviously, buy a lot of high-quality PlaySand, such as SD.
2) Remove All Tank Inhabitants, LR, PHs, OverFlows, etc. (You can keep the filtration and such, but I removed it for more accessibility.)
3) Scoop out the CC and KEEP it in a clean bucket that can be used for an hour or so.
4) Place the PS/LS in the tank, along with everything else you removed except the CC.
5) Place the CC in PantyHose of a nylon material. By doing this, the bacteria are present in the tank, and able to spread to the new DSB. Any Pods in the CC Bed can also migrate to the new DSB. GL with your new DSB!
Demo