New and Clueless

R

rtaylors3

New member
Ok, so I know very little about starting a saltwater tank but I would love to. I saw a beautiful 75g tank with a fantastic stand at Petco which is what I was looking for . It had a lot of surface area ahich I heard was better ?? I am really more interested in coral but fish are beautiful too.

What really confuses me is the type of lighting I would need for this size tank and the filtration system. What is a shimmer? What is RO/DI? What all do I really need to set it all up? I am aware of live rock /sand.

The next thing is finding a good deal on used stuff (I was told this was the best place to look). If I am going to do this I want to do it right. I have read some and will continue to learn as much as possible. I would really appreciate any help. Thanks.

Rachel
 
depending on the size of the 75 which im guessing its a standard 48x18x17 or whatever you can buy an number of 48" fixtures it just depends on what you plan to do with your tank...fish only tanks dont need to strong of light, soft coral tanks need semi strong light and sps or hard coral tanks need strong light...but good luck and welcome to the board!!!
 
Welcome to Reef Central; I don't know how to do the welcome banner but someone else will...
Have you read the two threads at the very top of this forum, marked with * ? There is a lot of information there which will help to answer some of your questions.
 
Well to start off, you have quite a bit of reading and learning to do before you even make your first purchase. It's much easier to envision what you want as an end result and then work backwards into making purchases.

Would you like Fish only, or a Full on Reef aquarium?

As for picking an aquarium, I would go with something that is Reef Ready (RR for short). These tanks will have at least one "overflow" in the aquarium with holes drilled on the bottom inside the overflow.
This will take the water from the display, down to the sump...

The sump is an area (usually a smaller tank) that houses all the filtration and heating/cooling equipment. This keeps your display from becoming to cluttered with equipment and also gives you more versatility in your choice of skimmer... (not shimmer)

A skimmer is a piece of equipment that filters out all the dissolved organics in your tank. (fish poo and the like) Spend AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE on this piece of equipment. (They do get spendy!)

As for lighting, lighting really depends on what you plan to have for inhabitants. If you're going with fish only, some power compact fluorescent lighting or a 2 bulb HO T5 light would work great. If you plan on doing reef then a 4-6 bulb HO T5 fixture or Metal Halide will be the way to go. You'll find a lot of debate over MH vs. T5 but either one of them will work well for a 75.

Like I said you have a lot of reading to do, but I hope this gets you in the right direction.
 
welcome.gif

TO REEF CENTRAL
I'd recommend reading through every link in this thread.
A good book like Fenner's "Conscientious Marine Aquarist" (although a little out of date) would help too.

To answer your questions, the main filtration for a reef tank is good live rock and a good protein skimmer. The protein skimmer is a piece of equipment that uses bubbles to create foam which "skims" proteins (waste) out of the water column. There are many brands and models. Research them and don't skimp on a skimmer.

RO/DI is a tapwater filtration system that uses Reverse Osmosis and Deionization to purifiy tapwater. The purified tapwater can then be mixed with a quality salt mix to make saltwater that is free of pollutants, chlorine, and unwanted heavy metals.
Hope this helps,
Mariner
 
So...I have been reading and have come to a good understanding of lighting, simple enough. Is a sump necessary? I agree that appearance would be improved with one. I wouldn't mind having a few fish but I am more interested in the soft coral.
 
75 gallon is a nice size/shape tank for a beginner. A sump is a very good thing to have. You'll come to appreciate it more over time. Another aquarium with a couple baffles installed works great as a sump/refugium. If you can get a drilled 75 gallon tank that would be ideal, but simple u-tube HOB overflows (check out Amiracle and Lifereef) are very reliable.

Get the strongest light fixture you can afford. T5 Tek Light fixtures are great, but a 2 X 150W Metal Halide/Flourescent Actinic combo fixture can really give you a natural appearance and support a wide variety of corals in a 75 gallon tank. Trust me, your tastes and desires will expand beyond what you think you want right now. There's simply too much cool stuff out there that you'll come across, so don't limit yourself because of equipment decisions you made when you first started.
 
it means the glass has been drilled on either the back panel or bottom and has bulk heads (pvc fittings) to support an overflow system for a sump...or the short version holes in glass.
 
If you get an HOB overflow and sump you don't need a canister filter-- just a return pump to send the water back to the display from the sump.
 
You really don't save much money buying a hang on the back overflow. I would recommend using a sump, and I would recommend getting a Reef Ready (pre drilled) tank. Its safer, and IMO easier to work with.
 
it can if you don't leave enough space in the sump to accommodate the back-siphon. It's an easy problem to avoid.
 
also might recom looking for a used tank/system
already set up on craigslist in your area... could get a complete system for a fraction of what it will cost to you to put everything together... seriously - by time you factor everything in that you will need for this 75... you probably could have gone out and purchased a 100+ gal COMPLETE system w/ nice oak stand or something... in this area have seen that very thing for for 1000 on CL - complete w/ the works lighting, etc etc.

and its not even necessarily an economical motive
as much as it is that by buying a larger system already established IT MAKES IT MUCH EASIER ON YOU... to go thru the learning curve (some may debate this but can tell you from experience).

good luck

regards
 
I came across a guy who is selling his 75 with stand, skimmer (I would like to be advised on a good one), pumps, and T5 HO 4 bulb fixture. He is wanting $500. Considering I still need a filter and a new tank and stand alone would cost me 500 I thought that was a good deal. He said it was about 2 yrs old. Any thoughts?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13231889#post13231889 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rtaylors3
I came across a guy who is selling his 75 with stand, skimmer (I would like to be advised on a good one), pumps, and T5 HO 4 bulb fixture. He is wanting $500. Considering I still need a filter and a new tank and stand alone would cost me 500 I thought that was a good deal. He said it was about 2 yrs old. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

if you live in/near a large city
i wouldnt even consider unless you are in hurry (which would be a mistake to begin with - being in a hurry that is)... there are people getting out of this hobby left and right (its expensive and times are tough and getting worse)... if you want a DREAM SYSTEM/TANK... give it some time i assure for perhaps a little bit more money you can have a 100+ gal complete system... you might check not only craigslist but your local forum in your area (reef central forum)...

good luck

regards
 
main thing if you get a larger system
is to be sure you can afford to keep it running... so some long term planning may be the order of the day (figuring out/thinking ahead as far as operating costs electricity/supplies etc maintanance)... you might find that by going w/ a larger system -that it will be more then you can afford to keep...

again take it slow dont rush
and do all the research you can before you jump into reefing... make sure you know ahead of time what you are getting yourself into.


regards
 
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