Ideal 75g Setup?

[Care]

Okay, I have a drilled 75g tank, a brand new stand (yay!) and I want to hear some words of wisdom from those of you who have ideas about the ideal way to set up a sump and lighting for this tank.

Right now I have a 55g tank that will need to be moved into the 75g tank at the end of May, so I have a little time to get the 75g up and running before I have to make the switch.

The 55g I am running now is sumpless... so I am not sure how to go about plumbing this drilled tank with a sump, or what I should/shouldn't incorporate into the new setup.

Please help. Any information will be most helpful... even if it is just ranting about your favorite lighting or sump setups.

Thanks!
-Carrie

[latazyo]

in my opinion you will absolutely hate yourself if you don't go with a drilled tank and fiddle with all of the crap hang of's might give you

I'd definitely drill the 75...in which case you wouldn't be able to fill it with water first

the 55 would be an excellent, but large sump

[Care]

My 75 is drilled, I just don't know how I should go about plumbing it to a sump... I guess that was what I was trying to ask.

Any suggestions?

[otolith]

Where is the hole drilled and what type of overflow is associated with the hole? Is the hole on the bottom of the glass, or is it in the back corner. That could make all the difference in how you should/could plumb your tank.

[spazz]

jerry has some 40g oceanic sumps for sale. it should fit under your 75 stand. then i would get a good skimmer to put in the sump. along with some miricle mud and some feather calarpa.
i would also recomend going all out with your lighting from the start. otherwise you will pay double to upgrade later.
one question though, what do you plan to stock the tank with? that really helps determine what you need for equiptment. if its only a softy tank you could get away with vho lighting. if its a stony tank than 2-250w mh system. kalk reactor or ca reactor if its a stony tank also. its all up to you and how much you want to spend.
i just put together a 250w mh system for my 180. i used coralvue electronic ballasts. they are nice because you dont have to worry about what bulbs will fire off those ballasts. and they are reasonably priced too.
you might want to think about how you are going to return the water from the sump. sea swirls, squid, ect...
if you are not sure of what you want, i would wait and get some more info first and then start getting equiptment.
just remeber its your tank and your money so in the end its your decision as to what you want.
thats just my opinion.



scott L

[FastFish720]

X10 everyone so easy. I've already got mine set up to do auto on and off.

[spazz]

Originally posted by FastFish720
X10 everyone so easy. I've already got mine set up to do auto on and off.

what is x10? i have never heard of it.




scott L

[FastFish720]

it's automation for lights and appliances, but you can use it for your reef tank. www.x10.com

[aka_bigred]

I have some x10 aquarium related DIY resources here at my site:

www.bytality.com/x10

More advanced stuff, but deffinitely the way to go IMO

[Care]

Okay let's see,

the tank is drilled in the upper left hand corner with a little overflow box. The stand has room for a sump underneath, but I am thinking about keeping it at around a 20g tank, as 100g of water is a lot to deal with (especially without a RO/DI unit of my own).

As far as what I plan on stocking in the tank... for right now I basically have a FOWLR with some xenia and a few shrooms. I want to make sure I can get the 75 set up properly before I go investing in any other types of corals.

Eventually I would like an anenome for sure... and I tend to like brain corals as well...

As far as lighting is concerned, I have been thinking about the type that set on brackets above the tank (I don't know what they're called.), but I like the look of them (and besides, then I don't have to try to build a hood to match my stand!)

So, again, any advice on the sump plumbing and lighting would be appreciated.

(my x10 is on the way, so hopefully I will be able to use that with the new set up.)

Thanks for the info so far!

-Carrie

[aka_bigred]

I am looking at about the same setup.

75 main with 55 sump in the basement. I'll be using 2 54w 48" HO T-5 lights run off a workhorse5 ballast. From all I could research, just as good (for me) as an Icecap but 30% the cost. It's an electronic ballast so high efficeincy, and I can always throw on another ballast & 2 more lights if I need it. It was $120ish for the whole ballast/bulbs/endcaps/hardware and T-5's are the most light per watt burned of any lighting I could find so your electric bill won't make you faint each month.

www.aqualuxlighting.com is where I got the lights, and he's local in Eagan so you could pick it up and avoid shipping $$

I'm going to build my own skimmer (this/next weekend projject), and was thinking around 100-120lbs LR. Working on the sump design this weekend too and want a refuge with some LR and a Lights of America light from Home Depot to light the sump on a reverse photo period for better macro growth and PH balance.

Tons more ideas, just not enough time.