75G SW fish tank

Hi everyone,
As everyone is at some point... I am the new guy. I have had a 30 gallon SW tank for about 4-5 years. I recently upgraded to a 75 gallon tank. I was hoping some of you could give me ideas on equipment I need to for it. right now my equipment is not name brand stuff and is to small for a 75... such as, I have 2 powerheads, 1 is a aqua clear 30 and the other a aqua clear 20. I have a small sump setup that was for my 30gallon w/ a pump that is rated at 500gph. I have an over the tank overflow again that was doing my 30 it measures 5x2x6. what I need to know is how much bigger do I need to go for all of it. I had the intention of making my 30 a sump/refugium for this tank, however it will not fit inside the stand. so it looks like a 20 is the best I can do, will that work? As for fish and corals, I currently have 2 clown fish, 1 wrasse, 1 sailfin tang, 1 brittle star, and 3 turbo snails. any help would be great.

 

Hi Pecco - what sort of things do you want to keep in the 75 - as this will affect the advice you are given

a Skimmer is IMO one of the best pieces of equipment you can have on a salt water set up

Lighting - again advice will depend on what you indicate you want to keep - if its fishonly with live rock ( FOWLR) then the lighting requirements are a lot different to those required for SPS and other corals with symbiotic algae

so post what you are considering keeping and you will get some precise answers

Steve

 

Well I would like to have some corals and an anemone. I do not need the stony coral or anything like that. just the normal easy care for now. right now I have a 96w 10k and 96 actinic on it. I currently have a hang on the back protein skimmer made by prism. I have another skimmer in the small sump I have also. however I dont feel it works very well. the hang on the back prism removes much. and as of right now I have around 30-40 pounds of LR, and 40 pounds of Sand.

 

Hi Pecco -

I believe, Zoas, Mushroom rocks, elephant ears, Leather corals, Toadstools, Green Star polyps and other I cant recall would be OK under that amount of light I assume they are Power compacts? ( the species I have listed are filter feeders so dont rely on light for feeding to the same degree as other species

The Nem - may be a problem under that amount of light? depending on species as some are more light demanding than others - and Nems can prove difficult to keep and require a very well mature tank ( many people advise not trying them until your tank is over 1 year old)

a 75 gallon tank is 5 ft long I believe? which means your lighting options include T5s X 80 Watts and you could fit 6 (maybe 8) of these accross the top of your tank - and that would really open up your options on species to keep

Steve

 

i am build in a 75 gal tall that is 36 x 19 x 23ish . at theis very moment i am putting the baffles in a 20 gal tal sump refugium.

lighting will be a 20 k radium 250 watt MH on a magnetic ballast.

skimmer i ordered yesterday was the octopus extreme 160 with purple pinwheel from reef specialty, 289.00. its rated for a 160 gal medium bioload. ifyour tank is teh same size as mine replacement of 6 T5 s will cost more then 1 MH se lamp.---rob

 

This isn't entirely correct. These corals may supplement thier nutrition from filter feeding, but rely mainly on light to produce the food they need and can easily be kept without ever feeding them. I wouldn't confuse adaptability to lighting conditions with the act of filter feeding.

You will need to upgrade your lighting system. That is not really much lighitng at all for a 75. If you want an anemone, you will need a lot of light. Think 6 x 54w T5 HO lighting or MHs. The bright side, no pun intended, is that you will be able to keep hard corals if you decide you also want an anemone.

You also need a skimmer, I think some good advice was already given. Try to get one that is over rated for you size tank.

Also, if you want a reef tank, you will need more LR. I would say at least 80lbs total to start with, but it would be better if you have 120-150 lbs. A FOWLR you can have less.

Good luck with your upgrade!

 

thank you for all the input, at this point I cannot afford it right now. will the tank be ok for now with what I have? I do have 2 protien skimmers on the system however neither is rated that large.

also another question: does running a MH increase your electricity a lot? I have heard you would see a significant increase in it. is that right?

 

I'v heard its about $50 a month for a MH and chiller. What you can do is just upgrade to more T-5's, I believe it says you just have 2 right now. I would upgrade to the Current USA SunDial (2 10k's 2 Actinics with built in timers and moonlights) or similar. You could go for the nova extreme pro (6 t-5's) Do you have the tank yet? If not I would get a reef ready 75, it makes life much easier.

 

yeah I already have it and it is up and running with all of my old equipment and no it was not reef ready. I have an overflow box into a sump that is to small right now. however I don't have much in it at this time so I think(hope) it will be fine till I can upgrade more. I didn't buy a MH for fear of the added monthly cost, so it looks like I will be doing more t5 lights.

I was also wondering how much water flow I need inside the tank? I have 2 power heads in it now, 1 is a aqua clear 30 and the other is a aqua clear 20 , they are at opposite ends of the tank. are they enough or do I need much more?

 

Hey Im new as well but looked up those power heads and I would say yes you need better/ higher GPH heads. You can get really good ones for not a lot of money. I wish I had the link with me at work but Im sure these guys can help out with that. The one ph is only rated for a 30 gallon tank. IMO I would but stronger ph's. Good luck 50JC