equipment check before i buy

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g0nz0

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Sep 20, 2008
Messages
21
Hello everyone!

so yesterday i found a new saltwater LFS in Bellevue (saltwater city). I was rather disappointed in the store (expensive, kind of snobby, etc). anyway, they made it sound like you have to go the sump route (especially on a 75gal tank). well my stand doesn't have a lot of room underneith to work with. so i thought i would go the HOB route.
Below is the equipment that i intend to use. do you think it would work or should i use something different? i eventually would like to have a full reef setup.

-75gal tank
-48" Nova Extreme 4x54 watt T5HO w/ 4 Lunar Lights
-2 (maybe 3) koralia 2's
-AquaC Remora PRO HOT Skimmer w/Mag 700 Pump Upgrade & ExtraTall Collection Cup
-5 stage 75 GDP Reverse Osmosis System Aquarium RO/DI
-AquaFuge External hang-on refugium with powerhead 25"L x 4.5"W x 12"T
- Aqua Clear 110 Hang-On-Back Power Filter
- red sea wavemaker pro
- 45lbs premium fiji rock
- 35lbs kaelini tonga rock

thanks to everyone for their help so far.
 
I have read that list, just wanted to know if the products that i have selected would do a good job.

is the Aqua Clear 110 HOB filter enough to do the job? should i look at adding another HOB filter to help? or is it just a waste of time and should i go with a canister filter?
 
LR + skimmer + PH`s + PWC`s should be all the filtration you need. The power filter is not really needed.
 
That looks like a good list. I would suggest the nova extreme PRO over the regular. I find the legs to be flimsy. I found a deal on ebay for $350 including shipping. I will let folks know when I get the unit.
I also bought my RO/DI 5 stage off of ebay for either 100 or 200 shipped.
Check out marcorocks.com to save some cash on base rock. I just saw today he has florida base for $.89/Lbs.
If you need bulk (like dry sand, skip the "live" sand) check out drsfosterandsmith.com. I bought 270Lbs of sand and some other heavy stuff and shipping was only $15.
Thatpetplace.com does some price matching as well.
 
I have 2 hydor koralia 2's in my 46g and it seems like I barely have the perfect amount of flow You may want to consider getting the kydor koralia 3's or at least a 3 and a 2. I use a maxi-jet in my saltwater mixing tub do you have a station setup for preparing and storing RO/DI water and Saltwater?? And do you have a refractometer?
 
g0nz0 said:
Hello everyone!

so yesterday i found a new saltwater LFS in Bellevue (saltwater city). I was rather disappointed in the store (expensive, kind of snobby, etc). anyway, they made it sound like you have to go the sump route (especially on a 75gal tank). well my stand doesn't have a lot of room underneith to work with. so i thought i would go the HOB route.
Below is the equipment that i intend to use. do you think it would work or should i use something different? i eventually would like to have a full reef setup.

-75gal tank
-48" Nova Extreme 4x54 watt T5HO w/ 4 Lunar Lights
-2 (maybe 3) koralia 2's
-AquaC Remora PRO HOT Skimmer w/Mag 700 Pump Upgrade & ExtraTall Collection Cup
-5 stage 75 GDP Reverse Osmosis System Aquarium RO/DI
-AquaFuge External hang-on refugium with powerhead 25"L x 4.5"W x 12"T
- Aqua Clear 110 Hang-On-Back Power Filter
- red sea wavemaker pro
- 45lbs premium fiji rock
- 35lbs kaelini tonga rock

thanks to everyone for their help so far.
Click to expand...

I would opt out of the wavemaker and go with a Tunze or Koralia system. I personally do not like to mix n' match brands if I don't have to and as far as I know the only pumps able to efficiently accomodate the constant switching of the Wavemaster are Maxijets. As Melosu stated, the HOB filter is not needed with a tank this size since you're including a skimmer and an Aquafuge. An option you have in building your tank, if a standard 75g, is to create an all-in-one filtration area where you would need a glass pane for a backing, notch it in a corner or both corners for overflows, and placed about 4" from the actual tank back glass. This way you would still have roughly 13" of tank room to play with and an area for filtration that are not visible from the front. Think nano-cube design ;) Anyways, just a thought :)
 
wow thanks everyone for such quick responses.

roka64 - thanks for the heads up about the pro vs regular. checked out the prices of local RO/DI systems and i will definitely be getting one off ebay. with all the different brands, i take it they all perform just about the same?

fijiwigi - already have 2 35gal garbage cans with koralia 2 and heater for mixing/ storing water.

innovator - didn't know that about the wavemaker, thank you.looks like i'll be getting the Hydor 2-way basic wavemaker with 2 Koralia 3's, and probably use one of my current Koralia 2's to move water behind the LR.



 
Agree with what others have said. Also... while sumps will help you keep the water cleaner (more volume of water) and keep the equipment out of the tank, you don't HAVE to have one. If you don't want to mess with one, by all means don't!

For a 75g, I'd opt for the Koralia 3s for sure. Personally, I wouldn't mess with the wavemaker, but if you do go that route, make sure you get the Koralias that work with the Hydor wavemaker unit. The regular Koralias won't work with the control unit - you have to get the 12V models.

Also... I wouldn't dismiss Saltwater City. While their livestock is a little pricier than others, they're one of the few (if not only) LFS in the area that truly quarantine their fish before bringing them into the display tanks. And most of their corals are pretty darn healthy in my opinion. I have fish and coral in my tank from them and have never had any issues with my purchases. Never found them snobby... must've caught them on a bad day.
 
That looks like a pretty good list to me as well. I agree with the suggested changes to the list and I'm glad to see you are checking on things before you order them. I'm pretty certain that any product out there someone on this site has it or has used it and can offer 1st hand knowledge. I wish I had done that when I got started.
 
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