75 gallon reef tank. (in the making)

I have a 75 gallon reef tank that was previously a FOWLR. It currently has a Marineland emperor 400 w/ biowheel. I plan on getting a cannister filter so I will need recommendations. I was looking at a Marineland C-220 but I am open for other ideas. I currently have a 10 gallon refugium containing 3 inches of fine sand, 2 inches of rubble, 9 lbs of live rock, chaeto, and grape caulerpa. The lighting is only a 17 watt stock flourescent. I will need a new light. I also will need a new light for my DT to make it able to host corals. I am interested in LEDs with clear lighting and blue lunar lighting for at night. I plan on building a sump with a protein skimmer and uv sterilizer. I have a 10 gallon tank already because that is all that will fit. I need recommendations for protein skimmers that will fit. Then I will build a bubble trap after I have the appropriate measurements. I have made this thread to have help along the way.

Current livestock:

Live rock: 54lbs (plus 9lbs in refuge)
Sand: 2 inches in DT

Fish
Blue Hippo Tang
Yellow Tang
Fuzzy Dwarf Lion Fish

Inverts
large number of baby snails
4 nassarius vibrex

Plans for Livestock:

CUC
Nassarius Vibrex: 30
Nerite Snails: 5
Fighting Conch: 1
Red leg hermit: 15

Fish
occelaris clownfish pair
firefish
mandarin
4-6 reef chromis

Coral
undecided
would like to hard and soft but it all comes down to the cost of the lighting

Current Parameters
Nitrate- 40 ppm
Nitrite- 0ppm
phosphate- 0ppm
Ammonia- 0 ppm
Calcium 300 ppm
ph 8.2
Temp- 76 F
Gravity- 1.018

right off the bat I know that I need to get my gravity and calcium levels up and my nitrates down.

 

BMX - FWIW, if you going to have a sump and refugium, you do not need a canister filter. I kept mine when I went from a FOWLR to a reef but I don't have a sump or refugium. As long as you have something to run carbon and GFO (I think these are important) and a good skimmer, you should be fine with what you have. I wish I could help on the in-sump skimmer but I'm not sure about a good suggestion. I'm sure others can chime in.....your tank looks like it has a good amount of live rock. On the LED's again, I run T5's on mine and I find LED lighting very confusing but many on here love them and can give you good suggestions. Congrats on your switch. Just be prepared, you'll have to do a lot more labor and water changes with a reef

 

Just made an order to reefcleaners.org

CUC
Nassarius Vibrex- 40
Nerite Snails- 20
Scarlet Hermit Crabs- 5
Dwarf Cerith- 30

Do you guys feel like this is enough?

 

That should be a fine start, although that is a ton of nassarius! If you find you are having algae issues, just order some more nerites and ceriths.

For protein skimmers, you may need to go HOB on the 10 gallon. I have two Eshopps HOB skimmers on two different tanks and love them both. I have the PSK-100H on my 46 (no sump). It is a little on the noisy side compared to the "silent" skimmers, but still quiet enough to be used in our bedroom with no issue. Stay away from Coralife Super Skimmers!

For livestock, a couple of notes: You may know this, but a 75 is not nearly large enough for a Hippo Tang. Second, the firefish and the mandarin may become meals for the lionfish (especially the mandarin, being a slow mover that is usually on the sandbed). The others should be ok.

 

Yea I know about the blue tang. I ignorantly bought it like 2 years ago. He has practically stopped growing at 4 inches. Thanks for the recommendation on skimmers +1

 

Yes, you are right about the nitrates. Actually, 40 is not bad for a FOWLR. The mandarin has specific feeding requirements as I'm sure you've read so be prepared on how you're going to supply the live pods. Your proposed list of live stock sounds good. You may want to start with some lower light, hardy corals such as mushrooms and other softies. I like xenia but many say they can grow like weeds. I've never kept mandarins but they are pretty. You do have to be careful about the lionfish and making sure it's well fed. The kind you have are usually pretty passive fish IME. The schooling chromis are cool. Have you thought about any other inverts like urchins and crabs (emerald, anemone) - they add diversity, color, and character as well as clean up capabilties. You definitely want clowns, they are so hardy and have such personality.

 

Yes I have thought about emerald crabs but heard they can bite at some soft corals. I would like to get a good light right away so I dont have to buy another one down the line. I went to my LFS and he recommended a LED light and a T5 to me. He said the T5 would have 4 bulbs. He was busy so I didnt want to bother him for too long. I will probably go back one day this week and get more information on them and ask for opinions on here before I purchase them. He also recommended since my sump is going to be so small to get a smaller protein skimmer and that it will just need more maintenance but will still do the job. What are your opinions on that? I also just removed my biowheels to attempt to get the nitrates down along with some water changes.

 

My refugium is also super stocked with pods and macro algae as long as they will be able to make it through my future protein skimmer and future UV sterilizer then the mandarin should be well fed.

 

As long as you have enough flow going into the sump, as mentioned, you can still run a larger HOB skimmer. I run an Eshopps PSK-75H on my 28 nano (which has a very small sump area) with great success!

 

Could you recommend one for me under $200.