Can someone ease my worries?

Is Night-Rida right about having to shovel out another 750-1000 on all of this? what's all that money going to go to? if the lighting and live rock is only going to cost me 200 then what else is there to get besides coral?

 

test kits and food ooooooo wait wait then comes the fun stuff making decisions on what coral and fish you want to stock lol but you have most all the equipment so far power heads koralias will do the trick for a softie set up. but for the most part you are well on your way food will last you a few months depending on what you buy. I personally like coral frenzy mixed in some new salt water and dump in the tank. but as you up grade the prices do too lol....

 

Well i mean in my tank right now i have 2 ocellaris clowns and a yellow tang and a naso tang (i'm sure i'm gonna get a lot of responses about the two tangs but they're very happy together) i mean i won't be getting A LOT more fish so. And i mean i plan on going with the cheaper corals. so what else is all the money going towards? i have a test kit. And how do i determine how much waterflow i need? i have one powerhead in my tank right now but that's it.

 

For a 75 gallon tank your going to want 2 or 3 1000+ gph powerheads.. you'll probly spend $200-300 on chemcials,foods,test kits,NEW crush coral/live sand. corals arent cheap either.. $50 bucks for a 4" coral is a steal. more colorful/bigger/rarer pieces are more$$. Just trying to be realistic. I was in the same spot as you 2 months ago... So I know first hand. you'll need to test for like 10 different things. as well dosing chemicals to regulate them.. etc..etc..

Plus buying more corals is addictive as spending money!

You can start small & spread out that $1k over a few months, but trust me you will eventually..

 

Be careful to keep this rock 'live" if you buy it ,if you have much die off on the rock you can cause your tank to cycle and possibly kill some of your fish,happened to me , I added a bunch of live rock from a lfs thinking I was improving things only to have several fish die a few days later. Sounds like a good deal though,Best of luck,Dave

 

alot of the trace elements that get used up , you can replenish by simple water changes. so not necessary to go out and buying the dosing supplements. and especially if your starting off with some simple corals. alot of the simple corals are also photosynthetic, so not a lot of feeding is needed , and quite a few if needed will enjoy some mysis , or they are simple filter feeders that can usually get enough with whats floating in your water column. the costs can get up there, but you can buy smaller frags for prob 10-15 and tho they are small , you can have the pleasure of watching them multiply. good luck fullofit

 

You have everything you need. There is no way your going to spend 1000bucks within the next couple of months. The main thing you need is more flow. Get 2 koralia3s. They push something like 850gph each. Thats it, you could even find them used. Do small water changes, feed your fish very lightly. You dont HAVE to add any additives to your tank at all. Just keep up on bi-weekly water changes and use good salt. Red Sea Coral Pro is recommended.....only if you are using RO or RODI water. Thats another thing....corals dont do well with tap water, so you will be making trips to the local grocers for RO water. Most places have a water island you can fill big jugs up in. Another main difference with reefs and FOWLRs is that FOWLR tanks handle higher nitrates. Corals like the nitrates no more than 15-20ppm but ideally 0ppm. Dont let these people intimidate you or scare you away from keeping a reef tank. If you can keep your fish alive, you can keep some coral alive. Keep researching....if you have any questions, ask 3reef.

 

I say go for it! If you can get a solid light fixture and like 50 lbs of cured live rock for $200 that is a good deal in itself, even if you decide not to get corals.

 

did you ask how old these power compact bulbs are? if you get them set up over your tank and there over a year old the spectrum changes and fuels algae growth. also, those lights are a little weak for your size tank, you might need more rock to stack corals closer to the surface. 50-60 pounds of rock is on the light side for a 75 gallon reef, you'll probably need more later on.

if I were you, I would find out the age of the bulbs first, then if you want to buy show up with a bathroom scale and a large bowl to weigh out the rock and make sure it is 50-60#.

~Will.

 

200 for the rock and fixture isnt a bad deal. If the bulbs are straight pin they are cheaper to replace and easier to find, I had square pin connectors on my fixture, so i sold it instead of buying new bulbs. They cost about 25/bulb. I had the same lights on my 72g and they worked great for lower light corals. I used them for about 3 months (with bulbs that were a year old) and had noticeable growth with my birdsnest and monti cap. I had zoos on my sandbed growing fine. Thats plenty of light on a 75 and if you get new bulbs, you shouldn't have a problem keeping low-med light corals.