Brand new to the hobby and need advice - 75 gal

Preface: I have a friend in Hawaii. I asked him if he would get me some rock from the ocean, dip it, lay it out to die, then send it to me in TN. He said that he's pretty sure that's illegal.

I've read posts here and at other forums where people are getting rock straight form the ocean.

Question: Is that, in fact, illegal for him to get that rock for me?

 

Finally got reimbursed for the cancelled order from Bigals. Ordered a Rio 20hf from Amazon. Should be here within a week.

Next up, finish getting rock and sand. I have 23lbs of rock and 60lbs of sand. Need at least 50lbs more of rock and about 30lbs more sand. Then, set it all up, add water, and cycle.

Getting excited!

 

Addition to the things I have to get still: Test equipment and a light for the fuge.

Do you run the fuge light during the cycle?

Also, Since I live in the SE part of the country, temps are very high in the Summer, late Spring, and early Fall. The temp in my house stays set on 72 while running AC and 70 while running heat. I see that some people use chillers and others, heaters, and some use both. I will be using MH or T5 lighting. Should I be using a heater, chiller, or both? I have a small heater in my 10g SW tank and it stays 79-81 in there.

 

Jmann I didn't run my lights on my fuge during the cycle. I live in the SE part of the country as well specifically South Florida so I know how hot it gets.

You definitely want to have a heater so when the temperature drops it will ensure that your tank temperature stays at the temp that you want to keep it.

As for the Chiller the temp in your home will help maintain the temp in your tank. However you are running MH, I would not recommend running out and buying a chiller right away as they are pretty expensive. There are other alternative like using a fan or two blowing air across the top of the tank. This will help keep the temp down or stable while the MH are on.

I am personally waiting to see if I will be needing one, once I have all the equipment running. i.e reactor pumps, uv, etc. before deciding whether I will need one or not. So far the fans that I have and the temp inside my house is enough to maintain my tank temp between 78 -79.

 

Question on T5 lighting.

I'm not sure if I'm going with MH or T5 yet, and I know I don't need lights during the cycle, but I wanted to go ahead and have all my ducks in a row when the time comes. I have been looking at T5 setups at different places. My tank is 75g, 52"x"21"x18"deep. So, the question: Is a T5 Dual 48" HO 108W 2 Bulb(1x10000K, 1xActinic Blue) fixture enough for my tank, or would I need something like a T5 Quad 48" HO 108W 4 Bulb(2x10000K, 2xActinic Blue) fixture?

 

Jmann what I meant about running lights was regarding your refugium question. To answer you regarding T5 In my opinion I would go with quad. I read earlier in your post you are starting FOWLR but eventually in a year or so will go reef. If you go with quad it will work for you now and it will give you a head start later when you go reef with some of the lesser demanding and easier corals.

 

Got another 15lbs of sand yesterday. This time I got 1-2mm grain size instead of the .5-1mm size, still CaribSea brand. This gives me a total of 75lbs of sand. I think one more 15lb bag should have me set for my DT and possibly the fuge section of the sump. I'm shooting for about 1.5" depth in DT. Not sure how deep I should go in the fuge. Suggestions are greatly appreciated.

I also saw some rock I liked at the LFS. It wasn't much. One 4.5lb rock and about 8 small rocks totaling 1/2lb. I don't know why I got the small rocks, other than they were porous and I liked the shapes.

 

Knowing now that there is no real requirement for FOWLR lighting. I'm strongly considering this for my tank. Mostly because they are inexpensive and won't put out much heat.

Probably 2-4 of these - White

And 2-4 of these - Blue

There are some of these in red and green as well. As always, comments accepted.

 

Here's a pic of the small rocks I picked from what the LFS has to offer.

 

Nice pieces ;D. Can't wait to see what you come up with