Thinking about a 75 gallon Fish Only setup

[Cody Ray]

I have about 1 semester left before I am moving out and into an apartment (mom is thinking about helping me rent a condo ). I currently have 2 29 gallon reefs, one in the living room, and one in the bedroom. My family doesn't want to mess with caring for the one in the living room, so I am selling that one. Durring college I really don't want to have to focus too much attention on an actual reef setup, so I am thinking about just building a 75 gallon fish only system. Obviously this would require less attention. Here is a general list of equipment and what not that I have in mind. I also have a couple general questions conserning fish only setups.

Display
75 gallon AGA RR setup

Stand
Aquatic Fundamentals 75/90 gallon upright stand
*both stand and display are black. This stand goes together much like Ikea furniture, so it makes it easy to take apart and move*

Sump/filtration
AGA Megaflow wet/dry filtration system Model 3

Skimmer
Coralife SS 125 gallon model

Return pump
ViaAqua 2600 (740gph)

Additional flow
Rio Seio 620
Maxijet 1200

Livestock: Fish
2 Ocellaris clowns
3-5 Blue/green chomis
1 Yellow Tang
1 Purple Firefish
1 Sand Sifting Goby sp.
1 Banggai Cardinalfish

Liverock
75lbs existing liverock

Sand
2 50lb bags viniger tested playsand from Home Depot (not all sand may be used)

To me that seems like a lot of fish, however only one of them grows over 5", not to mention it is a FO system.

Now for the questions. I feel pretty good with the flow, however I have never had just a fish only system, so I am not 100% sure. Besides the regular cleanup crew, is there anything else I should be adding that could benefit the fish/aquarium?

 

[Dubbin1]

Skip the wet/dry and use that money to get a better skimmer (ASM G3 is only a little bit more). You can then build a sump/refug out of a cheaper smaller tank. I used a 40 long for my sump/refug on my 75g.

 

[Cody Ray]

But your 75 gallon is a reef, there's no need to spend so much on a skimmer for a simple FO system.

 

[Dubbin1]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6503233#post6503233 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ChinChek787
But your 75 gallon is a reef, there's no need to spend so much on a skimmer for a simple FO system.

Oh but there is a reason. You are going to want something to pull all that fish poo out that you get with a FO setup.

 

[stelow]

Why not just use a sump and a good protein skimmer? Your tank would be a FOWLR not just a FO. With the use of live rock the need for a wet and dry is eliminated.

 

[Cody Ray]

I do have a 29 gallon just sitting around that I could use, I was planning on selling it.

 

[LekicINC]

I have 75 fowlr. I have a smaller fish list, just 4 fish, and my trates are still really high. I attribute this mostly to my wet/dry. While i dont have ammonia problems, i think the 75 lbs of lr could handle it. A good skimmer is still a good idea. If you have that many fish, you want a good skimmer. Do yourself a favor and dont get a wet/dry, and get a really good skimmer and one of those berlin sumps with a fuge. I wish i did.

 

[tangreef68]

i would not get the wet/dry. just get a very good skimmer

 

[sean48183]

I agree you need a good skimmer. I think if your going to use a sump get a well lit fuge with some chaeto to soak up some nitrates. One other thing, you may not want to use too much light in the display tank. Keep it low. The live rock doesn't need much and this will keep hair algae at bay. With all those fish there will be plenty of nutrients for algae to explode.