4 Months

[dabudkrew]

Ok this is what i have since i got it back in April 7th, what do you guys think i need, its a 72 bow front, with an inch of sand (getting more sand this month) about 50 pounds of rock i think?? and just two Maxi Jet 1200 powerheads,a heater stick, a Eheim 2200, and 2 96 antics and 2 65 10,000 pc's, since im getting paid this month i just want to see what you guys recommed me getting, thanks

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d124/dabudkrew/DSC00957.jpg

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d124/dabudkrew/DSC00954.jpg

[glennr1978]

What kind of budget are you working with, and what do you plan on keeping in your tank?

[erikharrison]

To give you an idea, I have a 75g, and flow wise I have 2 seio 620s an 820 and my mag 5 for my return. I am thinking of adding more flow down the line when I get more into SPS. You need a 2"-3" deep sandbed, and if you have a fuge, you're even better off. Buy the cheapy 75w grow lights from HD and the metal clamp on light housing for them, and fill your fuge with chaeto. I have a thirty gallon fuge with a 5 inch sandbed, and about 20 lbs of LR in it. The remaining 40 lbs of rock in the main display. I am using a coralife super skimmer rated for a 65g and sometimes it won't skim anything, and I have a good bioload on it. Chaeto in the fuge will help eat up any excess garbage in your water, and as Jeff has stated before in other threads recently, tangs love it! You could probably do very well with softies, but anything larger you'll need to go with Metal Halides. HTH!

[dabudkrew]

as budget goes i will probably spend around $200-$300 i am planing to buy some more sand but would like to get a finer grain to mix with the sand i have now. as livestock i will probably add 3-4 more fish maybe some tangs and a couple of cleaner shrimp and buy more rock to add on the right side of my tank. as for the fuge, i was thinking about it but dont know how it works and what size i would need to get it set up, i know it goes under the tank but dont really know how it goes with the set-up, i do know i want to get a skimmer because of all the stuff that stays on the rocks, i get the only way i clean it now is when i do water changes and it cleans up when i pour in the water, but other than that thanks for your ideas i am going to keep'em in mind

[erikharrison]

Basically a fuge will do a couple of very beneficial things for you, especially when you have it lit and filled with macro algae.
1.) Excess Nutrients are used by the algae
2.) The algae grows and you can feed it to your tangs
3.) You can put your ugly rocks in there and more rocks to help with filtration (biological)
4.) You can put a Deep Sand Bed (DSB) which helps in filtration
5.) You can hide thermometers etc in there
6.) You can run the fuge light opposite of the other tank lights, which will help the algae grow and maintain a steadier alk/ph
8.) You can put reactor chambers in there with your desired media (carbon, phosban etc.)

It's very easy to setup. If your tank is not drilled, you would need an overflow box, a return pump, and lighting for it.
Basically, mine is a thirty gallon long, so mine juts out of the back of my stand. If you looked at the tank from the top, it would be L shaped. I have about 3 feet of space behind my tank (it is in a cubby) and I can crawl through the stand, which is why I have my fuge jutting out. My overflow tube just goes straight into the fuge, and I put my return high up in the water surrounded by rocks as to not get critters stuck in it. I have it up high in the fuge so in case of a siphon break, there is less water that can be pumped into the display. Basically, it will pump the water till it has no water to pump, and in that situation, less water on the floor is better! I have overflowed the top of the tank once, but it was because I was messing around with the overflow box, and the siphon was broken. Being that it was so high up, I barely got any excess on the floor. I can take pics for ya if you want, since our setups are close in size. I would still recommend alot more flow!!!! I grab a powerhead and kinda blow the rocks off once a week to get as much garbage in between the rocks out as possible.

[dabudkrew]

i alos have a rio 3100 but i dont know where to but it? i was thinking of buying 2 more maxi-jet 1200, but how would you position them? right now i have 2 pointing inward any suggestions?

[dabudkrew]

?