I have the Itch!

[Kloned]

Hello!!

I am happy to announce that I have gotten the itch for a Reef.

I currently have a 75 gallon glass Cichlid tank. I plan on converting this tank into a reef. I have many questions but ill save those for later, I do not plan on being up and running until winter of next year. There is just to much to learn! I do need the tank to be almost maintenance free so i have a lot of planning to do .

Here is what I have thought up so far, with a lot more to come:
75 Gallon Reef
Sump\Refugium setup
Auto water top off
RO/DI water filter for tap water
MH lighting w/Lunar Lighting (more thoughts on this to come)
Some sort of wavemaker

There are wso many options to look at for livestock that I have not even begun! I would like some hints on the different kinds of live rock and live sand. I plan on doing a 3" deep live sand bed.

Another concern that i have is an overflow system. Where the tank will be there is no room for hang-on setups, so I will be drilling the glass. I am not sure on the measurments but I think the tank is 48"x24"x18" (Length, depth, height) I will let you all know the exact measurments later. With the overflow i would like to create it on the back pane of glass with a 3 sided 45 degree angle enclosure. Will I need to make two of them or just one dead center of the tank? Also is it hard to drill the glass and what size and how many holes need to be created for the overflow or overflows?

Thats my main question as of now. I have many, many more but, and I will quote so many of you now, patience is what it takes!

I plan on planning this out to the utmost detail. I jumped into my Cichlid tank headfirst and made many mistakes. Something I would like to avoid as much as possible with my first Reef.

Thank you all in advance for all the help over the next while. I know I will need a lot!

Kloned

[IBMGeek]

First of all welcome to 3reef!

You have to make sure the tank your drilling is not tempered in order to drill it. Most company just use tempered glass for the bottom pane but make sure the sides are not tempered as well.Second of all you need at least 2 holes, 1 for the overflow and the other for the return. You could also add more holes for the return and use an ocean motions (wavemaker device) or something of the sort to produce wave action in your tank. As for the placement of the overflow i think it doesnt matter. Some people have it in the corners others in the center, depending on where your putting it i would put it in the center because you can hide the overflow with rocks and such.

What do you want to keep? Lps,SPS,Soft corals etc..?

[coral reefer]

Welcome to 3reef! Glad you decided to change over to salt...you will be glad you did!
Read read read...best advice I can give you !

[geekdafied]

welcome to 3reef!

[reefboy23]

Welcome to 3 reef i am fairly new myself.

[mattgeezer]

Welcome to 3reef

[omard]

To 3Reef!!!

Yep, you have caught the "itch" bad. Believe me, it that "itch" will get much worse later.

Go slow, do some research, and lots of your questions will be answered.

Be responsible, go slow.

The Tao of Marine Aquaria
Tips for Our Hobby and Life

© 1997 Adam H. Whitlock
Edited By Elizabeth M. Lukan 11/25/00

[Kloned]

Thank you all for the warm welcome! I do plan to go very slow with this. I want to be able to enjoy what I will have and have more fun with it than stress!

Originally Posted by IBMGeek

What do you want to keep? Lps,SPS,Soft corals etc..?

I am not sure what Lps or SPS's are, I do know that I want a nice reef, lol. More research is to go into that. I am more worried about designing all of the plumbing in the limited space that I have to deal with.

I am not sure if my glass is tempered, any way to tell? I am afraid that it is and that will prevent me from drilling it correct?

Thank You again!
Kloned.

[IBMGeek]

Do you want to drill on the back glass or directly on the bottom?What brand of tank? There was a way knowing if your glass was tempered using i think polarized glasses (not sure ill try to find the link). Deciding on what you want to keep now is important because you can plan better. Such as if you want to keep sps (hard corals) then they will require a lot of flow so then you might add more returns and have more flow in your tank.

[Kloned]

Hmmm, So should I base my tank off of the corals I want or the fish I want? can I mix hard and soft corals in the same tank? I have so much to learn! I am excited!