55 or 75 reef for beginner

[otterpop510]

went through the same question for my tank, decided on the 75 and was really happy with my decision. like other people said, much more choices for stocking the tank, also more room for growth and good 'lake' size. also, you don't have to know much about plumbing for a sump, and getting a reef-ready tank (with built-in overflow) and using a sump are two of the best suggestions i got in terms of initial setup for the tank. read around rc and checkout melev's reef site (google 'melev reef'), its got some great info about tanks and ideas for setup as well as benefits of sumps and refugariums.. hope that helps..

yeah, about 'pests', just keep reading around, everything from pest algae to corals and anemones to other critters.. hard to id everything.. try quarentining and dipping.. that's your best bet..

 

[Teremei]

The best way to avoid pests if when you find something, don't buy it. Come back here and do a search on the place and see if it is a quality place. Buy from quality places and you will not run into many, if any, pest creatures.

 

[Paintbug]

i had a 55g FW tank that i was thinking of changing to a SW tank. then my LFS had a huge sale, and i picked up a 75g non drilled tank for $105. this was before i knew of this site. im so glad i got the 75g. i have so much more room to work with. and most the equipment cost me about the same. i do wish i would have went with a RR tank though. not so much because of a risk of a flood like many here will talk about, but because i could sit the tank 5 inches closer to the wall. and i wouldnt have hoses going all over the back. when it comes to sumps, again it adds water volume to your system. that means more room for error. and it gives you a place to add any additives, your top off water, etc. i would never go without a sump on a larger SW tank. plumbing a sump it super easy. weither you use PVC pipes, or vinyl tubing.

 

[Jon Evans]

I have a 75 and it is great. Make sure you get plenty of flow to avoid dead spots in the water, and the live rock will put a hurt on your wallet, so consider using a few good pieces to seed a bunch of base rock. My 75 has been going for about 7 months now, and you can barely tell what was base and what was origionial live rock.