Beginning  a 75 Gal. Saltwater Tank

Okay, i am new to this hobby and well i'm about to begin a 75 gal. saltwater tank. I have 2 emperor 400 filters, coralife lunar aqualight, and the other necessities. I want some opinions if these filters are a waste of my time, or if i should stick with them. I'd like to just do fish only for now, but eventually plan on adding live rock sometime soon. I'm a poor college student so i can't blow all my money on equipment. Please help me out, thanks!

 

Re: Beginning  a 75 Gal. Saltwater Tank

I would think not having live rock would be the biggest mistake. Second a protein skimmer would be recommended. I don't us carbon filters so i have no input on the Emperor 400, but not having live rock they probably will be needed. Is the tank in a place you will be living for a while or just during college? If it is where you will be for some time, i would take it very slow, and add equipment as you get it. 75 Gallon Saltwater tank is an expensive tank for a collage student, just means less time in the bars. Just my opinion.

 

Re: Beginning  a 75 Gal. Saltwater Tank

Well i guess I could add some live rock, thats no problem. So if i get a protein skimmer and use those filters would i be good to go?

 

Re: Beginning  a 75 Gal. Saltwater Tank

Good skimmer and rock would be a great start.

 

Re: Beginning  a 75 Gal. Saltwater Tank

Yeah, It is much wiser in the long run to invest in high quality live rock and a very good protein skimmer than hang on the back filters. They are great for mechanical filtration and activated carbon. However with nice live rock and a great skimmer you won't even need the bio filtration they provide.

 

Re: Beginning  a 75 Gal. Saltwater Tank

Live rock is expensive but worth it. Don't get to cheap of a protein skimmer, it can cost more in the long run, review everything you want to buy, research first. If i would of listen to myself it would of saved me a ton of money.

 

Re: Beginning  a 75 Gal. Saltwater Tank

If money is tight, hopefully time isnt. Get live sand, get 30-40 lbs good baserock (lot cheaper then liverock) and finally top it off with 30-40 lbs good live rock. Then wait. This combo works great for a tight budget because it allows you to completely aquascape the tank for about half the cost. A good protien skimmer is important, your emperors are ok but a diy sump with an over flow from the tank would suit you better ( there are a ton of different ways to do the sump). Remember a 75 gal is heavy take your time now and you wont have to drain and start over when you decide to upgrade and expand like all us reefers do.

 

Re: Beginning  a 75 Gal. Saltwater Tank

I like the Emporer filters.  When I first set up my 120g tank I used and Emperor 400 and a penguin 330 along with a high quality skimmer and power heads along with live rock until I set up a sump.  These filters do great biological filtration and oxygenate the water.  The only problem with them is they are too efficient and are nitrate factories.  A good skimmer and live rock along with a refuge will help with this.  2 emperors will be too much bio filtration.  I would can 1 of the emperors and get a penguin 330 because you can remove the bio wheels if you need to.  I took the bio wheels off my 330 and had just the emperor 400 running the 120g and my nitrates went from 40ppm to 20 with 0 ammonia and nitrites.  Adding a refuge futher dropped the nitrates.  Now I'm running a sump and use the 330 for further mechanical and chemical filtration.  Good luck and invest in a good skimmer like the Remora its probably the most important part of your system.

 

Re: Beginning  a 75 Gal. Saltwater Tank

How about this. A 75 gallon all-glass aquarium with an overflow built in, with wet/dry filter with skimmer built in? And of course some live rock.

 

Re: Beginning  a 75 Gal. Saltwater Tank

That sounds great, but why dont you forgo the wet/dry for a sump with a refuge and .75-1lb. live rock per gallon of tank. If you cant afford all the live rock for now just do the sump and refuge and run 1 of your emporers until you can get enough rock for bio filtration.
I'd hate to see you buy a wet/dry combo skimmer and then trash it once you have enough rock unless you get a wet/dry that can be converted to a sump in the future. If you are only doing a fish only tank you will be ok with the w/d but if you want corals and inverts it will produce to may nitrates for them to be healthy.