just starting...need equipment advice

[scotty]

hi everyone.....i am so happy to find this forum. i have been researching saltwater tanks now for over a month and am ready to buy. i want a fish only 75(give or take) gallon tank. the issue i have is that i get mixed messages from the two most reputable marine fish stores here in my area. one says i don't need a protein skimmer, one does. one says getting a tank that is reef ready is better than getting one where i hang the equipement off the back. one store says for fish only i just need crushed coral, the proper strip light, heater and a penguin 400 bio filter. i guess my predicament lies in not knowing what eqiupment will do the job for this size tank. i want to get it right the first time around, so any advice would be greatly appreciated.
thanks,
scott

 

[ryebread]

Hello Scotty-
Welcome to the board! If you are looking into a fish-only tank with a good amount of fish in it I would definitely go with the skimmer. The penguin may not handle your bioload. Many people run skimmerless, it is up to you.

 

[nucknfutts]

The closer you can replacate the marine enviroment, having the right bioload the longer you will have success with your new hobby. A reef tank setup is realy slick I would go with that set up. Rather than having everything hanging off the back. What ever you do you will learn as you go. Just remember lr and ls is a good way to go no mater what you do in your tank. Your fish will last longer and be healther.

 

[smalltimer]

I would definitly go with the reef set up with the sump....reason...more h2o, the more you have the smaller the changes in the water paramaters..People think fish are easier than corals..WRONG...fish demand as good or better water than corals, they can't handle temp swings either, so get good heater with ditigal temp reading, something that will keep tank stable....definitly go with skimmer, people that go skimmerless, have refugeums with macro algea to eat the protiens and phophates, nitrates, etc. in the water..a protien skimmer, removes the protiens left by the fish and the food BEFORE..it breaks down into amonia, and thus meaning less nitrates and less water changes, oh and more nitrates, even fish can take up to 40 ppm....MEANS ALGEA !!!!!
Good luck, but I like big sump, as big as you can get, I have 28 gallon rubbermaid sump, works great, I have 2 inlets from 2 seperate tanks on one sump, with bag filters, 1, Turboflotor 1000, the best in sump for the $, don't go seaclone, waste of money, 2, 300 watt heaters, 1 large foam pad to seperate bubbles from return water, 3 pumps, 1, reef tank, 1 seahorse tank, one for chiller, all in same sump, also have auto top off from rodi unit in kitchen plumbed under house, makes it easy, no salinity changes and no topping off every day for evap..
GOOOOOD LUCK AND WELCOME

 

[scotty]

thanks for the input...this site has been extremely helpful to me in figuring out what i need to do to get started....it seems with every answer, i have more questions though....i have come to the conclusion that a fish only tank with live rock is better than fish only. can this be done without the reef ready tank where my filtration hangs off the back? i am thinking of my budget. also can i add the live rock at a later date to a cycled fish only tank? is it a lot more expensive to have a sump system than external(hang off the back) kind?

 

[nucknfutts]

When you start your tank your going to want to get either ls or lr its going to be cheeper to get crushed coral and add lr while you start to cycle your tank. It will work quite well to have an overflow to a bottom sump tank for any set up (fish only or a full blown reef) I have had an overflow system for years on my 110 gallon reef tank.
You can add lr at any time but you will be able to add fish faster if you get your live rock in first. It will get your levels perfect faster (most of the time its 1lb of lr to a gallon of water). Just remember to get all of your levels ph bio nitrate and so on where they need to be or you'll end up spending alot of money on fish. THIS HOBBY WILL TEACH YOU PATIENCE more than anything else. Thats the worst part about it. It is cheeper to have an over flow hanging of the back system but if you can go for the reef ready. you'll love it more!!