[vince9]

hello friends, can you tell me what is the basic equipment for a 75 gallon reef tank?

thanks

[Reefland]

Hi vince9,


What kind of saltwater aquarium are you interested in keeping? A reef or a fish-only aquarium? The difference is the intesity in light and the water quality that needs to be maintained; fish can tolerate higher levels of nitrate.

[vince9]

hi, thanks for your reply. i'm interested in a reef tank, i wish to know which is the basic equipment fo a 75 g tank.

thanks

[yankeebobo]

Are you looking at a sand bed? Bare bottom? What type of lighting are you looking at budget wise? Probably a good PC light or Halide if you can afford it. Bare minimum would be a good protein skimmer as well. Some well placed power heads. Are you looking at a primary reef with a small number of fish, primary fish with some corals? This can be an endless venture. Describe what you are seeking to accomplish and we'll be able to better guide you.

[Reefland]

Looking forward to your reply to Bo's questions to help guide you further.

In the meantime, definitely plan a system that has either an internal overflow (drilled, Reef-Ready tank) or plan to use an external siphon box with a sump. This will go a very long way in helping with water flow, removing organics from the diplay to the sump for removal and giving a nice spot for hiding other equipmet you'll need such as a protein skimmer and heaters.

For a protein skimmer, I would suggest the larget, most powerful skimmer that you can afford and fit in/next to the sump. Protein Skimmers are excellent devices for removing dissolved organic compounds (DOC's) and other organics from the water before they have a chance to covert to nitrate and become a problem. They are also excellent for oxygenating the water.

Also plan on ample liverock, 3/4-1lb or porrouse liverock per gallon is recommended. Liverock is the most active biological filtration available and an absolute necessity for long term success of a reef aquarium. For substrate, you should do some reading on teh subject. Deep Live Sand beds are very popular and effecient but not the only option. I would advise you to stay away from crushed coral or other large particle substrate and research either a DSB or a bare-bottom tank. Probably the 2 most common approaches to substrate (or lack of).

Lighting is another difficult topic to recommend anything for unless we know more about your plans. Soft Corals? Hard Corals including reef building small polyped stony corals such as Acroporids? Different intensities of light can be used for different corals. At a minimum you should plan for Power Compacts or VHO and if you want the best, plan for some Metal Halides.

Hope this helps you some, with some more specific details about what you want we can guide you even more.

[CaveManNOhio]

Either way plan on spending more than you think from the start to the end. The more you spend the better it is and the easier it can be to maintain. IMO
Also remember only bad things happen fast in a reef tank. Take it slow and easy.

[iamwildman]

I would advise you to stay away from crushed coral or other large particle substrate

Why is that REEFLAND?

[Reefland]

Originally Posted by iamwildman

Why is that REEFLAND?

Large particle substrates allow for the accumulation of waste. Since the larger particles don't allow for the optimal infauna growth that a fine particle bed does, and since the current can't clean the bed, the waste accumulates and contributes to nitrate. An alternative to this would be to siphone the bed clean frequently but that may be destructive to whatever life is in the large particle bed. Because of this I would go with a deep fine sand bed or BB in a smaller aquarium.