Tropical Fish Forums

[Caton]

I have a 75g aquarium, it is 48"x24"x15", it is going to have a 20g sump.

I have a couple of questions before I even start thinking about purchasing stuff:

Is a protein skimmer needed? I could save up to get one later on but is it needed in the beginning?
With 108watts of T5HO light could I keep simple corals (later on)?
How many GPH will I need for the powerheads?
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[SoS]

Are you planning on having a sump? Because I run this $30 dollar skimmer in my 75 reef tank sump and it works great. As a HOB skimmer it sucks.

http://www.aquatraders.com/Odyssea-PS75-Protein-Skimmer-p/43012.htm

108 T5 watts on a 75 is too low. You need to double that minimum for some mushrooms and zoanthids.

GPH powerheads? softies I'd go about 1500 gph. 3 - 500 gph would be good. You could get away with a little less but I like that movement in my tank. I run close to 2000gph
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150 Gallon (567.811768 liters) community tank, 50 Gallon African Tank, 7 reef tanks, 6 FOLR, 28 freshwater tanks

[Caton]

[ak dylpickles]

108 wattswould be fine. I have a friend that grows Sps in a 55 gallon with 108 wAtt t5. Do not do a flame angel! They are major coral eaters. If u do clownfish add them last. They are mean little fish! What about a pair of anthias? Mine are really pretty. Especially under atinics. What type of sw tank do you want reef fowlr? If you do reef do u want doctors or Sps? And a qt is pretty easy. Just add sw and a HOB filter. I like to add a little coppersafe. Doesn't have to be anything special just like a 10 gallon. What 75 is this? R u not doing africansanymore?
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46 gallon-reef

[Mazil]

In the setting up of my reef, I found the best LFS I could find. They are one of the oldest in my area and the man who runs the shop has completely defied my understanding of reef systems time and time again. The only reason I accept (and use) the setup/maintenance routines that he uses for his display tanks, is because I have seen them running with the SAME equipment, coral and fish for at least the past 8 years (I've only been old enough to even have a vague understanding of fishkeeping for this long) but I am sure that the reef tanks I see every time I go to the store, are older than that.

Sorry if that was useless information, but I felt it was necessary to establish credibility behind this (because some may view it as quite radical)

My trusted LFS has told me, and shown by example that tanks under 2 foot in height only need T8 lighting to allow soft coral to thrive. They said, get 2 blue and 2 white tubes and you will be fine. Although I can't say this works for me YET (I don't have coral yet and not getting it soon either... waiting till after the summer) I can say it has worked for them (and well). If I wanted to keep more taxing corals and clams, I would have needed T5 with the same number of tubes.

Their systems run with large amounts of live rock, and deep sand beds in their sumps. They assured me a protein skimmer was necessary from the beginning of the setup (well, at least for the type of system I wanted). The skimmer is hanging on the side of the sump tank.

I've never asked about the flow rate in their display tanks but I did ask is 2000 L/h enough for my (48x18x18) system and they said yes.

I might be shot down in most of this, but that's what I've seen work for a long time and have been using.

[ak dylpickles]

For the skimmer part u don't really need one at all. Depending on how much maintenance u want to do. At my Lfs the owner has 2 150 gallons that have Beene setup for 3 years with out skimmers. Fish and corals all happy!
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46 gallon-reef

[SoS]

[quote="Caton"]
Yes, I plan on having a sump so that would be a good protein skimmer, I will most likely get that if I plan on doing that.
quote]

It works its not a great protien skimmer but I get pretty good skim from it.
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150 Gallon (567.811768 liters) community tank, 50 Gallon African Tank, 7 reef tanks, 6 FOLR, 28 freshwater tanks

[Caton]

[Caton]

I have a 55g that I could use as a sump instead of the 20g....So lots of filtration+water volume = easier to maintain good water quaility
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[Osprey]

dylpickles, your advice is a little oversimplified.
The "meanness" of clownfish depends on how big the tank is, and what species they are. I would highly recommend a pair of occelaris clowns as the starter fish in a 75G tank. Mine were the first in a 90G, which I later upgraded to a 120G, and they've NEVER given me a bit of trouble in the bullying department. Very mild mannered.

Likewise, I've kept a flame angel for nearly two years, and he's never munched on my corals. If you've got SPS, which are generally considered pretty tasty in the fish kingdom, I would recommend avoiding them, but they usually leave softies alone.

Caton, you need to decide early on what fish/coral combos you want, so that you can plan equipment accordingly.
You'll get better advice that way.
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Am I obsessed? Wait a minute... don't answer that!