Need help picking out my equpiment. Build my tank!

Hello All,

I am new to saltwater tanks. I have been to a few local places to get information but never know what to believe.

I am planning on going with a 75 gallon reef tank.

I would like to not do a sump tank if at all possible. I was told at my local shop they can be helpful but not 100% needed.

I want to try and avoid buying something twice so I want to get it right the first time. That is why I am here asking you fine people for help!

I do not want to spend a ton of money so i want to get the best bang for my buck, but i am willing to send money. i also don't want to get crazy with my lights just enough so i can grow almost all corals and they don't have to grow crazy fast. just live and be happy.

So please build me a 75 gallon reef tank item by item and please include brand names and excat product names so i can find them to buy.

thanks everyone!

if i am not clear enough please let me know and i will post additional info if needed.

 

You will want a skimmer like an Eshopps PSK-100H. For lights a 4X54W T5HO will meet your needs. ATI and Tek Elite are the best. You will need a 250W to 300W heater, Ebo-Jager is probably the best. You will need to get water circulation pumps. 4 Koralia Evo 750 would be a good start.

Aqua Cave, Big Al's and Marine Depot are good companies to buy from and are sponsors here. Just check out the sponsors to see what you can get.

 

Welcome to 3reef BTW.

 

Hi! Welcome to 3reef. Good for you for asking questions before you buy.

My first tank was a 75 and I think they are great tanks to start with. Big enough to be a little more stable, but yet small enough to not break the bank on supplies.

I would not suggest running a SW tank without a sump/fuge. This is one piece of equipment that can save you loads of headaches later. No, it is not necessary, but it is very helpful for a couple of reasons. 1) it increases your water volume, helping with stability, 2) you can hide a lot of equipment down there and won't clutter up your display tank and 3) the use of macro algae in a fuge has been proven to help lower nitrates.

If it were me doing it all over again, I would go with a reef ready (drilled) tank. With at least a 30 gallon sump.

Lights - I would go with a 6 bulb t5 fixture. Nova Extreme makes a good one that won't break the bank.

You will want to look at skimmers - I personally prefer Reef-Octo's.

Return pumps - brands that are decent are Rio and Quiet Ones - sort of middle of the road cost.

You will also want to look at getting some good test kits. I like Salifert - they are a little pricey, but easy to read.

Hope that helps.

 

OK, first... don't put to much weight into what that person says.

Very helpful... YES. 100% not needed.... well halides are not NEEDED, skimmers are not NEEDED, powerheads are not NEEDED... very helpful stuff though if you want a reef aquarium.

A sump will give you added volume, a place to keep all your equipment out of sight like heaters and ATO and dosers and reactors.... and most importantly a sump will give you the ability to run a in sump skimmers and not some POS hang on skimmer. Not to mention that the overflow in the tank will keep the surface clear of protein skim and allow more light into your tank and better gas exchange for your tank.

All very helpful things.

Welcome to the site. You will find a ton of info here. My best advice to you is to start reading and research things well before you start shelling out cash. You will save a ton.

I can give you a list and tell you what to buy... but who the heck am I. You need to understand what you need for your system and then you can look at what brands are better than other. We have a few thousand members here and if everyone of them answered, you would get a different list from every one of them.

The most expensive thing in this hobby is impatience.

Start researching what a good tank recipe is for the type of tank you want. Then start narrowing down the bigger questions of what type of light and how much. Brands are a personal thing and many have their own preference. Just about anything you mention will be in use and some one will have something positive to say. The crap stuff is not really in use. There is different price points in every equipment range and you get what you pay for applies. But that does not mean the stuff at the lower end will not work... it just isn't as nice as the high dollar stuff. Only you know what price point you want to be in and you can go from there.

 

+1 to power man. I am putting a refugium under my 40g breeder when I start it. Only because 1. I want to get every thing out of the tank that I can. 2. I can run a bigger skimmer. 3. So I can grow pods in it. Right now on my 29g bowfront, I have a hang on the back marine land filter. Not having any problems with it. I would do some checking into lots of companies, including ebay. I bought some things at Marinedepot.com, Aquacave.com and Ebay.com. Some had better deals then others, so shop around before you buy. Look on ebay for your lights, I bought all of my sets from a company called Top Dog Sellers. They are Odyessea lights, never had a problem with them. Good price and free shipping. Most of the time your LFS will tell you, you need this and that, just to make a sale. People on here will not tell you that you need something you don't. Good luck

 

I hesitated to reply but I am going to anyway...

Unless you spend a TON of time researching, owning and caring for a SW tank I personally can't recommend someone that is new to SW (saltwater) to dive right in to the hobby with a 75g reef. It was mentioned that you don't want to spend a ton of money. If you go full on reef, and want to keep stonies, it is a safe bet with a 75g that you are going to spend approx. $45-$75 per gallon with everything said and done, stocked tank, stand, lights, skimmer, test kits, sump, additives, trail and error (the list goes on). That figure is on the low end. For example, the test kits alone for a reef, done properly, are going to run $150 right out of the gate. Again, that is on the low side. Being new to SW you are going to be testing a lot at the start. You will be testing 10+ different things when you first start out plus you will be testing different things on a regular basis once things get settled in. I am not talking pH or salinity...I am talking the more advanced tests you will need to run. If you don't already know these tests, I wouldn't go reef without exploring a FO or FOWLR at the very minimum.

Now the above info was just for starters. Having a sump or not??? Well, you in fact DON'T need one. It is as simple as that. You can get by without one. If you like to be hands on, run a lot of tests, don't mind doing acrobats to make your tank run, no, you don't need a sump. However, I highly suggest having one with a 75g. It will make life soo much easier in the long run. If you want to go reef, set some cash aside and get one. If your tank doesn't already have one then factor in several hundred dollars plus the lights that are going to go with it and the contents that go in it. Being that you haven't even had a SW tank, let alone a reef, IMO a sump is a must. I could go on all night explaining why but if you are going into the reef world you should already know why. For example, be sure you know and are prepared if you lose electricity. If not set up correctly your tank will empty into your sump then onto the floor. Plan accordingly. It is going to suck to lose your entire investment because a thunderstorm rolled by why your weren't home. Happens all the time.

Do you need an expensive skimmer? Wait, do you even NEED a skimmer? Yes, without a doubt. A reef requires a skimmer and if someone who says otherwise is not looking out for your best interests considering that you are new to SW. Without a skimmer, which can be done, requires extensive water testing (remember what those cost) and a boat load of water changes not to mention a whole lot of free time (let's not forget that you just can't treat tap water with conditioner and think it is OK to put in your reef. Rarely is this the case). I frown on what CAN be done when it comes to giving new people advice on this awesome hobby. Yes, you can get by without a skimmer. Would I recommend it to a new hobbiest? Never, ever under any circumstances. It is a receipt for failure.

Now let's move on to the lights. Basically they aren't just lights. In a reef, the are LIFE, not just light! They aren't there just for you to see your corals. They are there as a life giving support system...we are talking reefs aren't we. If you want to go full on reef with stonies (I won't use the acronyms here) or some of the more light needing softies, you need some serious light power. I highly suggest not buying the least that you can afford, go big with lights. Lights are basically going to come down to what you want to keep. Again, know this before you even begin! It will save you some cash in the long run. IMO, if you are going to reef decent lights are a must. I have never understood why people slack off on this. By that I mean you can get away with a poor skimmer or no skimmer. You can get away without having a sump...both can be done. However, without good lights then what is the point in even starting? So, don't slack on your lights. I won't mention what they cost. For a 75g that isn't reef ready....I would be happy with a $300-$500 setup...+ the bulbs. Be sure to read up on bulbs...the term 'spectrum' is a good starting point.


Now there are alternatives to a reef. There are fish only tanks. They are pretty impressive and fun. Basically, in NOT a nutshell, they are tanks that require stock fish tank lighting...(the lights that come with a simple aquarium setup). The cool colors of the fish won't be as great, however. You can run basic filtration as you would with a FW tank. Wet/dry filters come in handy. Skimmers aren't that important, you won't invest $$$$ in LR and LS (which I didn't even mention the price that runs in a reef) and they are easily cared for. A GREAT starting point for someone heading to the reef.

Then there is FOWLR (fish only with live rock). These are really fun as you are close to having a reef. You will see all kinds of 'critters' that come in on your LR, you will probably get some different types of coral with the LR....I enjoy these set-ups without the total cost of a reef. FOWLR tanks do require much more capital then a FO but not near what it costs for a reef.


Anyway I just scratched the very surface and I hope it didn't put anyone off from keeping a reef. I have just seen it too many times...someone that has never had a SW tank wanting to jump right in to caring for a reef. It can get ugly and I don't want to see that happen here.

Good luck though! Like what has been said...it can be done and 3Reef, IMO, is a great place to be to ask questions!

 

I thought a 75 sounded like the perfect size to start with. However if you don't want a sump i would probably go smaller. The biggest problem with no sump is there isn't a quality hang on skimmer that I'm aware of. I can promise you that the biggest bang for your buck would be built in overflow and a sump.
The dollar per gallon post above is interesting. I try to forget what stuff cost as soon as i pay for it.

 

sump is nice because if you have evaporation, it evaporates in the sump, not in your tank which looks really bad.

 

In my experience,im building my first sumped tank. I have a very sucessful 55 gallon reef that was pretty affordable,it just took alot of time hunting for things.If I were I your shoes I would get a sump,if your really against it find a used aqua c remora pro (protien skimmer).use a bigger pump probably a mag 5 or 7 would be good(I use a mag 5). Aquatraders.com sells affordable lighting and its pretty good quality.your going to want to replace the bulbs after about 5 months though. 4 koralia 750s would be next. And id shoot for about 100lbs of live rock, search around it ca be gotten cheap enough.