Howdy y'all!
So I'm pretty new to the hobby, and by new, I mean I've never had a marine tank. I do have a few years of experience, however, with freshwater tanks and I currently keep a 25 gallon planted tank.
For the past month or so, the saltwater bug has been nibblin' on my brain, and I've been doing a lot of research, reading, etc.. Also, I've been encouraged by a lot of you guys and your tanks and setups, so I've formed a pretty good idea of what I want: a 75 gallon reef. Not too big to maintain, not too small so as to eliminate too many stocking options.
First, however, since this thread is kind of serving as my introduction to the forum, a little about how I feel about saltwater critters. I think the ocean is awesome, and it definitely houses some of the most fascinating and beautiful life on the planet. Moreover, it's in danger (I'll spare you my politics), and reef keeping is a great way to educate people, besides learn more about this ecosystem and experience it firsthand. However, the most fascinating aspect of reef keeping to me is that by starting a reef inside a glass box, you're beginning an ecosystem. With live rock and live sand, you're literally taking a chunk of the ocean and the millions of organisms therein/thereon and giving them an opportunity to cohabitate and (hopefully) thrive. This is unlike freshwater setups in that the ecosystem created is vastly more diverse, and definitely more observable. As such, I'm incredibly fascinated with reef keeping and can't wait to begin!
On to the meaty stuff. The reality is that I'm more or less poor at the moment, and will remain as such until my job picks up or I find another job, possibly in a different state (I'm open to suggestions if any of you need to fill a position...
). This more or less eliminates reef keeping on a scale of more than a biocube or something similar, since I don't really want to throw an aquarium into a moving truck at some point in the indefinite future. However, since I'm addicted to the hobby already, I need to satisfy that addiction somehow, and planning never hurts, so here's my 75 gallon setup as I've thus far envisioned it:
Two principle inspirations:
1) "A Reef in the Sky"--tank layout is beautifully simple, reserved, and harmonious. Please google/youtube/look it up here if you are unfamiliar with it. Really cool stuff, incredibly beautiful.
2)This video: http://youtu.be/4omAUlzIkQk . Even though it's freshwater, it's a stunning reminder that even though we may be tempted to stock our tanks with as many cool things as possible, beauty sometimes lies in the greatest amounts in simplicity. I'm not particularly fond (and please, no offense to anyone--to each his/her own) of those reef tanks that have a literal wall of live rock with as many corals and fish and tangs and shrimp and snails stuffed in there as possible. I'd rather see a tank with 5-10 prospering species of coral, a harmonious selection of fish (with respect given to tangs and proper stocking levels for other fish), an interesting and balanced hardscape, and an array of fascinating inverts. (If you can't tell, one of my pet peeves already is poor tang husbandry.)
75 gallon tank--either custom with low-iron glass or a Marineland tank
Custom 36" tubular steel stand
Custom sump--20 or 30ish gallons
2x 1500gph overflows from gl*******s.com
2x magdrive9.5
2x SCWD's
10 gallon remote deep sand bed (unlit)
10 gallon macroalgae and 'pod refugium (reverse lighting cycle +2 hours)
LED lighting (Probably Ecoxotic stunner strips)
2x Eheim jager heaters, whatever wattage (100% redundancy)
Reef Octopus skimmer (XS 160 or 200)
Aquarium controller (haven't decided which brand yet)
Calcium reactor
Tank will have a shallow sand bed (2" max) of aragonite, and about 75 pounds of live rock, give or take.
I haven't planned for any in-tank power heads because I want there to be as little clutter as possible. I think power heads and circulation fans are really ugly (however, very useful), and I want to avoid them if at all possible. Instead, I've opted for the use of four loc-line returns on SCWD's--a pair for each SCWD. The returns will be situated at the top corners and both 1/3 points on the back glass. From what I've read, this should give pretty good, variable/chaotic flow, and with the aquascape in my mind, I shouldn't have any dead spots to speak of.
I'll be updating with more details as I figure them out, and according to any responses I get on here.
A few questions for the wise ones:
1) SCWD's? Yes, no? Maybe so? Any personal experiences would be greatly appreciated!
2) What do you guys/gals think of the water movement? Too much overflow? Would two magdrive9.5's be sufficient? If both pumps were in the sump, would that be too much flow through the sump?
3) I'm aiming for a somewhat simple, very stable system, so any thoughts on RDSB's, sump setups, and refugia that would contribute to system stability would also be very much appreciated. I'd rather shell out a few Ben Franklins then come home to a dead tank or a wet floor.
Lastly, I know I'm a total noob, but I like this forum because the people on here seem friendly and engaging, so I look forward to talking with you all! Also, don't be afraid to totally shoot me down; I make mistakes and it's hard to hurt my feelings, but teach me if you point out a mistake. One of my mottos is "Don't criticize; rather, create."
So I'm pretty new to the hobby, and by new, I mean I've never had a marine tank. I do have a few years of experience, however, with freshwater tanks and I currently keep a 25 gallon planted tank.
For the past month or so, the saltwater bug has been nibblin' on my brain, and I've been doing a lot of research, reading, etc.. Also, I've been encouraged by a lot of you guys and your tanks and setups, so I've formed a pretty good idea of what I want: a 75 gallon reef. Not too big to maintain, not too small so as to eliminate too many stocking options.
First, however, since this thread is kind of serving as my introduction to the forum, a little about how I feel about saltwater critters. I think the ocean is awesome, and it definitely houses some of the most fascinating and beautiful life on the planet. Moreover, it's in danger (I'll spare you my politics), and reef keeping is a great way to educate people, besides learn more about this ecosystem and experience it firsthand. However, the most fascinating aspect of reef keeping to me is that by starting a reef inside a glass box, you're beginning an ecosystem. With live rock and live sand, you're literally taking a chunk of the ocean and the millions of organisms therein/thereon and giving them an opportunity to cohabitate and (hopefully) thrive. This is unlike freshwater setups in that the ecosystem created is vastly more diverse, and definitely more observable. As such, I'm incredibly fascinated with reef keeping and can't wait to begin!
On to the meaty stuff. The reality is that I'm more or less poor at the moment, and will remain as such until my job picks up or I find another job, possibly in a different state (I'm open to suggestions if any of you need to fill a position...
). This more or less eliminates reef keeping on a scale of more than a biocube or something similar, since I don't really want to throw an aquarium into a moving truck at some point in the indefinite future. However, since I'm addicted to the hobby already, I need to satisfy that addiction somehow, and planning never hurts, so here's my 75 gallon setup as I've thus far envisioned it:Two principle inspirations:
1) "A Reef in the Sky"--tank layout is beautifully simple, reserved, and harmonious. Please google/youtube/look it up here if you are unfamiliar with it. Really cool stuff, incredibly beautiful.
2)This video: http://youtu.be/4omAUlzIkQk . Even though it's freshwater, it's a stunning reminder that even though we may be tempted to stock our tanks with as many cool things as possible, beauty sometimes lies in the greatest amounts in simplicity. I'm not particularly fond (and please, no offense to anyone--to each his/her own) of those reef tanks that have a literal wall of live rock with as many corals and fish and tangs and shrimp and snails stuffed in there as possible. I'd rather see a tank with 5-10 prospering species of coral, a harmonious selection of fish (with respect given to tangs and proper stocking levels for other fish), an interesting and balanced hardscape, and an array of fascinating inverts. (If you can't tell, one of my pet peeves already is poor tang husbandry.)
75 gallon tank--either custom with low-iron glass or a Marineland tank
Custom 36" tubular steel stand
Custom sump--20 or 30ish gallons
2x 1500gph overflows from gl*******s.com
2x magdrive9.5
2x SCWD's
10 gallon remote deep sand bed (unlit)
10 gallon macroalgae and 'pod refugium (reverse lighting cycle +2 hours)
LED lighting (Probably Ecoxotic stunner strips)
2x Eheim jager heaters, whatever wattage (100% redundancy)
Reef Octopus skimmer (XS 160 or 200)
Aquarium controller (haven't decided which brand yet)
Calcium reactor
Tank will have a shallow sand bed (2" max) of aragonite, and about 75 pounds of live rock, give or take.
I haven't planned for any in-tank power heads because I want there to be as little clutter as possible. I think power heads and circulation fans are really ugly (however, very useful), and I want to avoid them if at all possible. Instead, I've opted for the use of four loc-line returns on SCWD's--a pair for each SCWD. The returns will be situated at the top corners and both 1/3 points on the back glass. From what I've read, this should give pretty good, variable/chaotic flow, and with the aquascape in my mind, I shouldn't have any dead spots to speak of.
I'll be updating with more details as I figure them out, and according to any responses I get on here.
A few questions for the wise ones:
1) SCWD's? Yes, no? Maybe so? Any personal experiences would be greatly appreciated!
2) What do you guys/gals think of the water movement? Too much overflow? Would two magdrive9.5's be sufficient? If both pumps were in the sump, would that be too much flow through the sump?
3) I'm aiming for a somewhat simple, very stable system, so any thoughts on RDSB's, sump setups, and refugia that would contribute to system stability would also be very much appreciated. I'd rather shell out a few Ben Franklins then come home to a dead tank or a wet floor.
Lastly, I know I'm a total noob, but I like this forum because the people on here seem friendly and engaging, so I look forward to talking with you all! Also, don't be afraid to totally shoot me down; I make mistakes and it's hard to hurt my feelings, but teach me if you point out a mistake. One of my mottos is "Don't criticize; rather, create."
