Oveflow Tank and Protein Skimmer

Hello All,
I'm new to the game here and just have a couple of questions and was seeing if I could get some insight. Recently I just set up a 75 gallon tank and have had it for about a month and a half now. I have 76 pounds of rock, only about five pounds of sand (which after reading a bunch may not be enough), two Clown fish, a Copperband butterfly, Yellow Tang, and Flame Angel in the aquarium on top of my inverts.
My buddy owns a store right by my house and he just hooked me up with an over flow tank and I still NEED a protein skimmer. I don't mind spending money on the hobby it's just adding up real, REAL quick and I'm starting to wonder if he's just trying to sell me stuff to make money.
Long Story short; I was wondering how important the over flow tank and protein skimmer ACTUALLY is? It's loud, expensive, and I feel takes away from the peacefulness that I had before all that.
Any insight would be great, Thanks.

 

I'm not sure I know what you mean by overflow tank? Is it an overflow box? Or is it maybe an additional fish tank?

And I wouldnt' run a reef tank without a protein skimmer. Not many people in the hobby would either.

 

Yeah it's another ten gallon tank underneath. I got the little box on top, sucks it down, filters n heats it, and then has a return pump to put back in the tank

 

That's a sump tank...you don't NEED one but most here will advise you to keep it. A skimmer is a must.

 

thats an under tank sump. Although a 10 gallon sump is not very large for a 75 gallon display tank (i run a 20G long on my 65G DT) It is still much better than a canister filter or HOB filter. This and the protein skimmer are crucial to a good reef IMO&E. If it is noisy, there are SEVERAL good threads about how to quiet your overflow if you search for them on this site.

 

As has been mentioned, a sump setup on a reef is a very good idea. A 10 gallon sump will be plenty for your system so if you don't want to get a larger one, you don't need to. Now, that being said, you don't HAVE to have a sump but it certainly is better than not having one. I personally don't trust hang on overflow boxes which is why all of my tanks are drilled with internal overflows.

 

+1 on all the others

the equipment being offered to you - protien skimmer is ideal IMO
Especially as you already have a reasonably high bioload in a short time frame



Steve

 

If your overflow is loud, see this thread:
http://www.3reef.com/forums/refugium/why-my-overflow-gargling-97169.html

Sump is a good thing like others have said... and for your skimmer, I'd ask around and see what people think is best for a 75. You'll have to get one sized correctly for your tank and it will need to fit in the skimmer section of your sump. If you have any more questions, just let us know.

Hope this helps.

 

10G is too small for a sump, in my opinion... better to go with a 20G minimum for that tank size... you'll be glad you did... my sump is 30G and it's the smallest I would want on my tank.