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Old 02-16-2018, 04:05 PM
Llorgon Llorgon is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Myka View Post
Ok, your budget is reasonable (provided that is equipment only), so if you stick with the 75-gallon you're planning on you can get all the bells and whistles as long as you don't spend too much on a stand. By bells and whistles I mean a freshwater auto top off system, a good quality protein skimmer, etc. However, that is not enough budget to get good quality LED lights if that's what your heart is set on. Personally, I don't like LED as the main light source anyway, so I don't see this as a drawback. I highly recommend the ATI brand T5 fixtures. They are the best ones on the market and will grow any coral you want. Your budget is also not big enough for a custom cube tank with stand and custom sump.

Also, I think the 75-gallon tank is a great size to start with. The dimensions are really nice. I like the more "square from the side" dimensions because the tank is easier to aquascape. Tanks that are taller than they are wide, such as 90-gallon tanks, are more difficult to aquascape, and usually allow less swimming room for the fish between the front glass and the rocks. I like to see the fish a lot, so I like there to be lots of space between the rocks and the front glass.

Random comments on your fish choices...there are some reef-safe Angelfish (such as Watanabei), but they all get too large for a 75-gallon tank. Any of the Dwarf Angelfish (such as the Flame Angel) would be suitable for your tank size, however they are not 100% reef-safe. There are some individuals that are totally reef-safe, but most of them will bite corals causing various amounts of damage. Sometimes they only bother one type of coral, sometimes they bite everything. Lots of people say they are 50/50 reef-safe, but in my experiences it is more like 80/20 that they will bite corals.

Also, there are few fish that actually "school" in a home-sized aquarium. The reason they shoal in the wild is that there is danger being alone, so they shoal up - safety in numbers. At home they realize nothing will hurt them, so they stop shoaling. There are a few that have strong shoaling behavior though, and tend to mainly stick together. These are some of the Cardinalfish such as the Blue Eye Cardinals and Red Spot Cardinals.
Aww man. I was definitely hoping to get a LED light. That may have to be a future purchase I guess. For the ATI lights, how many bulbs should I be looking at? I see they have 4,6 and 8 bulb versions. I am kinda realizing that the cube tank will just be too expensive. The wife will be so sad!

I thought the 75 gallon would be best to start with. Not too big or too small. I think it should give me enough room to have a wide variety of fish to choose from. Unlike the current 10 gallon.

Good to know about the flame angels. I had read that they can be hit and miss, but they look so cool! I will have to do more research on the fish. I'm more focused on just getting the tank setup and not screwing up that part!

Quote:
Originally Posted by gregzz4 View Post
I started with an Aqueon 75g Reef Ready. I didn’t like the internal overflow as it took up too much real estate and made getting good surface flow difficult as the box is offset to one side. It also interfered with my MP10s.
I now have a 75g which I drilled and installed a ghost overflow. Very happy with it.
I would have preferred a coast to coast overflow, but that’s too pricey for me
Where did you get the 75 gallon reef ready from?

I do like the look of those ghost overflows. They take up much less room. Are they easy to install? Keeping in mind I have never drilled a tank before.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Myka View Post
I love those ghost-style overflows. I currently have a false back wall on my tank creating a built-in coast to coast overflow, and I think my next tank will have a ghost-style overflow instead since they are so clean looking on the inside of the tank. The only drawback that I don't like is that the piping runs down the back of the tank, and what I do like about my built-in overflow is that the bulkheads are on the bottom of the tank, and the piping is all under the stand. I wish there was a best of both worlds. Haha
I'm going to look into these ghost overflows more. Seems like it would be a good space saver inside the tank.

Is there a reason for not liking the piping going down the back of the tank or is it just how it looks?
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