New tank 75 gallon [Archive] - Saltwater Aquariums

TimBeR

11-10-2002, 11:58 AM

Hey Ryan2003,

Wow what a question. well first off there are so many ways you can setup a tankand be successful, the best I can do is post my opinions on how I would do it. The absolute most crucial part of any setup I would believe is the planning stage. First off don't take anything anyone person tells you as gospel, research and read and verify information to the best you can.
I am asuming here that you want a reeftank so the first thing you will need to decide before you start getting your tank and equipment is what type of reef are you going to try to replicate? do you want mostly soft corals and a few LPS corals or do you want to have some SPS and maybe some clams. your choice here will help you better lay out your tank and decide how to do your plumbing. alot of this also depends on how deep your wallet goes.

If I was starting from scratch and was setting up a 75 as a reef here is what I would do, Fisrt with the tank I would make sure I started with a 75 Reef ready tank already drilled with an overflow built in. I would either get a 29 Gallon AGA or 40 Gallon Breeder tank to use as a sump this is a major decision due to the stand you will have limited space to work with under the tank a 29 would fit in less space but a 40 Breeder would add more water volume. but both tanks should fit under a 48 inch stand.
Next choose a pump for the return from the sump to the tank. I recomend trying to pick a pump that will do at least ten times the water volume of the tank. If you don't want to have the sump drilled for the return pump I would recomend at least a mag 18 or a mag 24 if you want an exgternal pump I would go with a dolphin ampmaster 2100
Next I would put in a closed loop system on the tank for good water circulation so I would have 4 holes drilled in the back of the 75 with 4 1" bulkheads installed and I would definately use an ampmaster 2100 or better on this for circulation. then I would chose my lighting according to the tyrpe of reef I decided to keep. Since I personaly would like a good mixture of SPS LPS and a couple softies I would go with Metal Halide Lighting and attinic supliments. 2x250 MH with either VHO or PC attinics the kelvin of the MH's will depend on your personal Pref more then anything else but if you go for growth then iwaski 6500k 250's with attinics are prime. Now that you have lighting and basic plumbing picked out I would get a good skimmer. Next you need to deside if you want to have a DSB or not Personaly I don't like to have a DSB in the display tank but would deffinately have on in a refugium attached to the tank. Next you are going to need Live Rock this in My opinion is the Key. I would go with 1.5-2 pounds per gallon of water. I would also go with a good mixture of diff types I Like to Mix Marshal Island, Figi and slab. you get a wide diversity of Life and great shapes for making caves and cliffs and ledges for your aquascaping.

if you are planning on having a high bio load several fish and lots of corals I would plan to add a refugium of some sort to the system. and possibly a Calcium reactor to maintain PH and CA levels in the tank. Another big thing you will want to consider is the climate in wich you live and how controllable you can keep the tempature of your tank you may need heaters or even a chiller depending on where you live and how well you can controll this. also take into consideration Power failures. How long can your system go without power a good Batter back up system would be great to run the closed loop and maybe the Attinics for 15 - 20 mins great for short power outages. after that then it is looking into a small generator.

Well I think I have babled out enough of the basics here and what not so Hope this helps a little

Good luck,
Clay