New 75 gal sw tank

[MiniReef2004]

1st off I would like to thank all of you for the great forum and advice. This is such a wonderful resource for newbies (like us) Our plan for now is FOWLR in a 75 gal tank on a DIY stand ala garf with a 20 gal sump. For water movement I'm thinking 2 maxi jet 1200 and a 600 in the tank and a mag 7 from the sump. We really like the LR/LS filter so we are doing 200 lbs dead sand from HD and 40 lbs LS, and around 140 Lbs of rock. I'm not sure how much of the rock will be live right off the bat hopefully 60+ lbs. We will be adding a protein skimmer in the next few months.

After many hours of reading and lurking here I do have a few questions:

1 we need a overflow box, any recommendations and vendors?

2 We only have a single outlet near the tank so powerstrips will be my friend, can we expect any problems with this? I really do not want to see my breaker box.

3 Hows my water movement? any tips?

4 Any recommendations on good cheap PC lighting?


Thank so much
Steve & Dee

 

[reefrunner69]

1 we need a overflow box, any recommendations and vendors?

If you have not already purchased the tank, I would purchase a drilled 75, with a built in overflow. If you do have it, lifereef makes an excellent overflow.

2 We only have a single outlet near the tank so powerstrips will be my friend, can we expect any problems with this? I really do not want to see my breaker box.

Depends on how big the fuse is for that outlet and how much other stuff is on the same circuit. I personally think it is best to split it among a couple of circuits, but some of the electrically minded people around here can give you a better idea on what the circuits will handle.

3 Hows my water movement? any tips?

Instead of the 600 go with another 1200, vary the height of the powerheads, on a 75...I might go with 4 rather than 3, but 3 should be sufficient.

4 Any recommendations on good cheap PC lighting?

Hmmm, one of our sponsors had the CSL moonlight hood on sale, not sure it it still is, might check through the sponsors.

 

[yaksplat]

Here's the cheapest place that I found a PC retrofit: www.aquarium-supply.biz

Jim

 

[TheMadNucleus]

Cool Site - they look pretty good - leave it to the infamous Yaksplat.

Another to check for lighting

http://www.ahsupply.com/index.html

BTW, I use a CPR overflow - this thing is really great - in more then 2 years I think I only had to restarted it twice and both times were due to low water conditions in the sump. Even at water cahnges - it never fails - always starts right back up. Did the same on 2 power outages as well.

HTH

Tom

 

[MiniReef2004]

Reefrunner, we already got the tank and the stand is a work in progress so drilled is not an option. I looked at the lifereef and I like that. Hows the ALLBLACK on sale at captivereef? As for the lighting we are deciding between the CSL and the Corallife. You have me a little concerned with the power though. Not really sure if there is any fix for it so we shall see.

Thanks for the input


Steve & Dee

 

[reefrunner69]

Hows the ALLBLACK on sale at captivereef?

I've never used one, I personally prefer an overflow that uses U or J tubes, that one looks like it uses the C bracket like a CPR overflow. I would pm Darrin at aptivereefs and ask him for some input on that overflow.

If it were me, I would go with CSL over coralife, hands down. The only problem I have with them is that CSL is no more, they closed their doors last week. I have had a CSL MH prism pendant for 5 years of continuous operation and it has never given me a moments problem (knock on wood), they have excellent quality and I believe the distributors are honoring any warranty and service agreements for CSL products.

On the power issue, before you get to worried get a second opinion. Several years ago I ran an entire 150g reef, 750W of VHO lighting 4 large powerheads, a large waterpump for the skimmer and an even bigger waterpump for the tank and a chiller...all on one circuit, but I don't think it was the smartest thing I ever did, LOL.