Starting up new 65 g aquarium, all help and thoughts are appreciated

[Rluka]

Hello everyone,
I'm planing to start a new 65g aquarium, and I'm planing to do the following:
- design and DIY a black stand (need to do it as a show piece)
- put in a sump tank.
- have fish and corals in my tank.

I need ideas in terms of:
- what light should I use?
- what power heads needed?
- what water pump do I need?
- drill the tank or use a hang on overflow box?
- stand design, plans and ideas
- sump tank design and DIY tips

The reason that I want a 65 g specifically is that I need the tank to be 36" long, and the biggest I could find in this length is the 65g. It comes in 36"X18"X24" (LXDXH respectively).

All help will be highly appreciated, and I will keep you posted with photos about my progress.

Many thanks
Rand

 

[jose7878]

You can check Glasscages.com for other tanks in 36" width

 

[Krocky12]

Well you could do a DIY overflow out of PVC.

Lighting you should do about 4-5 watts per a gallon for almost all corals.

Power head Idk that much but I think your suppose to have twice the amount of water movement as you tank.

Sump just use like a 40 breeder and have like 3 or 4 section.

Good luck

 

[Nu-Nu the eel]

Powerheads i would use two korolia 750s. They were too strong in my 30 so i bet they would be good in a 65. I have a 66 gallon lol

I would love to talk about stocking the tank whenever you are ready! Haha!

 

[Mr. D]

For lights I would go LED I personally don't have them, I have t5's but LED's are way cheaper after about a year and can punch through better.

A tank that deep will be harder to keep some stuff with anything but halides or LED.

Deffinatly driller.

And as far as powerheads it's like lighting, depends on what you want to keep. On my 75 I have two K 1050 + return flow and I feel like it does nicely however a 75 is a foot longer and 4" shorter.

If you are DIYing the stand will you be doing a matching canopy?

 

[severum mama]

My experience with hang on overflows was nothing short of TERRIBLE. I would highly recommend drilling the tank.

All Glass Aquarium (before it was Aqueon) used to manufacture this tank in either a standard or reef-ready model. They discontinued the reef-ready model several years ago, but it may be possible to find one used if you are patient.

If you are using the standard pine stand that you see at the lfs, a 40BR will not fit inside the stand. Also, WPG is a rather irrelevant measure of lighting, and simply doesn't even apply to most marine tank lighting (T5 HO, MH, LED).

 

[Rluka]

You can check Glasscages.com for other tanks in 36" width

Thank you,

I'm in London, Ontario in Canada, so buying from a website like this one would cost me a fortune to ship.
We have Big Al's here which can customize do tanks, but they are also expensive. So I decided to go with the 65g.
Thanks for the tip though.

 

[Rluka]

Powerheads i would use two korolia 750s. They were too strong in my 30 so i bet they would be good in a 65. I have a 66 gallon lol

I would love to talk about stocking the tank whenever you are ready! Haha!

Thank you so much,
I will keep you posted, and will definitely talk about stocking!

 

[Rluka]

For lights I would go LED I personally don't have them, I have t5's but LED's are way cheaper after about a year and can punch through better.

A tank that deep will be harder to keep some stuff with anything but halides or LED.

Deffinatly driller.

And as far as powerheads it's like lighting, depends on what you want to keep. On my 75 I have two K 1050 + return flow and I feel like it does nicely however a 75 is a foot longer and 4" shorter.

If you are DIYing the stand will you be doing a matching canopy?

Thanks for the advice Mr. D,

I will not do a canopy, but would rather have a side or top hanging lights with decorative brackets.

In terms of the equipments you've mentioned, any suggestions on where to buy from "any good deals"

Thanks

 

[Rluka]

My experience with hang on overflows was nothing short of TERRIBLE. I would highly recommend drilling the tank.

All Glass Aquarium (before it was Aqueon) used to manufacture this tank in either a standard or reef-ready model. They discontinued the reef-ready model several years ago, but it may be possible to find one used if you are patient.

If you are using the standard pine stand that you see at the lfs, a 40BR will not fit inside the stand. Also, WPG is a rather irrelevant measure of lighting, and simply doesn't even apply to most marine tank lighting (T5 HO, MH, LED).

Thanks Severum mama,

I decided to go with the drilling. I've been waiting to find used ones for the last 3 months, but unfortunately, it is very unlikely to find the size that I'm looking for, besides, most of the used tanks are full of scratches. The one I'm working on is planned to be a show tank in my living room.
In regards to the sump tank, I'm not sure what is the 40 breeder?! But I have a laser engraving and cutting machine that my wife uses in her business, and I'm going to do an acrylic sump myself, I'm thinking of doing it somewhere between 20 and 30g, and would made it out of 1/4" thick clear acrylic. However, I don't have any ideas about sumps designs, so I would appreciate plans and ideas.

Thanks

 

[Mr. D]

I seen you're in Canada and do not know of any sites in particular that ship there. I buy everything at my LFS b/c one has great fish and the other matches online prices on most things.

I wish I could be of more help. Maybe drfoster&smith but idk if the ship there.