Newbie 75G Reef Tank

irshladkm

irshladkm

New Member
Can anyone help?
Starting a 75 gallon reef tank. Thinking about a Berlin system, but considering ecosystem filtration. Any information that would make me believe that the ecosystem would be better than the Berlin system would be greatly appreciated. Fresh water experince but always dreamed of a marine tank. Dream has come true I am now starting marine tank and need all the advice I can get. My goal is to keep 1 to 2 inches of live sand, 45lb.s of live rock, a few of the heartiest coral species in anenomes. 5 to 10 clowns and an angel or two. I would also have a colony of cleaner shrimp and crabs. Any information on a good lighting source for this tank set up would be welcomed. Look forward to sharing ideas with the rest of you.
Irishlad
 
bartman

bartman

Member
I feel ya man, i was there about a year ago and a few months ago i finally took the plunge. If i may make some suggestions.
First and formost, if you are going with a DSB it has to be at least 4 inches to get the proper effect. Mine is up to 7-8 inches in places. ( i added hills and valleys for a better look). Dont kill yourself worrying about sand. Get a nice ( i preffer white) sugar grain sized sand from any hardware store. I am using plane jane white playsand, but remember you want "sugar sized" grain.
Seems like quite a few clownfish, based on the information i have read you dont want a lot of clownfish. I would sugest 2. Let em pair up (buy one big one and one that is considerably smaller than the other).
You didnt mention lighting, if you havent looked this will be the single most expensive item you buy for your tank. DONT SKIMP here. You can get by with lesser items in allmost all the other departments but not with lighting. I would suggest VHO or a PC/metal haylide combination. The cost of lights is what held me up for months and looking back i should have spent more on better lighting. You also mentioned anemonies. (spelling???) Lighting is crutial for these.
Second biggest expense for me was the water filtration. If you are going reef then spend the extra money on a RO or DI system to purify your water. Again it will be money well spent.
Now that you have the hardware put it all in the other room (and start saving up again) cause when it comes time to put in livestock it gets expensive again. The up side is that when you start a new tank you can just buy all the live rock you want and just stick it in there and let the cycle begin. Count on spending a couple hundred on LR because i can tell you now that the 45 lbs you talked about will not satisfy you. That is not much rock for a 75 gallon tank. (that is what i have) You could buy half your rock dead and the other half live, but this route is for the patient. It takes quite a while for the live rock to seed the "dead" rock. I bought about 50 lbs of "dead" high alkaline rock and about 25 lbs of live rock and its 3 months later and i am just now seeing the coraline algea spread.
Whew that turned out longer than i though. Hope it helps
Bartman
 
katara

katara

Member
You might want to rethink your lighting.I was looking for 4x55watt pc lighting and ended up buying 2X96 watt pc's(jbj) for $325..looking back..I wish I would have put out the extra $$..I'm pretty limited on what I can stock;and don't think I can get back nearly half of what I spent.
 
jarre

jarre

Member
Skimpping on the lighting is something I regret and I really didn't know any better at the time. I'm currently building two additions systems and am taking three months to purchase all of the lighting and equipment. This way I don't skimp on anything and although I don't have the tanks up and running now I'll enjoy the result better doing it this way.
Now you don't have to go as far as I am with the lighting, but I want to have clams and quite a few hard and stonies. This is my lighting plan to give you an example:
180 System:
Dual 175W MH
Dual 250W MH
(2) IceCap 660’s Runnig
(4) VHO 150W
2 – Actinic
2 – Sun
250 System:
Dual 400W MH
Dual 400W HQI MH
(2) IceCap 660’s Runnig
(4) VHO 150W
2 – Actinic
2 – Sun
This gives me the ability to simulate a full day of lightning with a computerized system. Some will say I'm going overboard, and they may be right. But my limited experience says it easier to turn lights off then to turn lights you don't have on!
Good luck with your dream. I too am enjoying mine!
 
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