75G Reef Tank Help

[alyxandria]

Ok so once the plumbing is settled we are going to have to figure out where we want to order our sand and rock from.

ROCK:

I'm a big fan of the reef saver rock from BRS so that will probably be the rock we choose to go with. I don't think we will be putting live rock in. Over time it'll turn live and I'm not worried about the wait. So that's taken care of.

I'm thinking generally 75 lbs of live rock as its a 75G tank. What do you guys think I should request for sizes? Last time I was stocking a 20G and I requested 3-4 lb. rocks and it worked out well.

Do you think I should go with bigger rocks or smaller? I like the idea of smaller because I can easily pull out rocks. I don't want big rocks or small rocks, but medium (I know, I'm a woman - I'm complicated)

I was thinking maybe 10 pieces around 7-8 lbs each?

What do you guys think?

SAND:

Now, I liked the live sand that I bought for my tank but for my boyfriend I was thinking about going the non-live route.

Should we get 75 lbs of sand? And what kind do you guys recommend? Hoping not to spend too much in this area.

What's a good sand bed depth?

[alyxandria]

(Mostly concerned about these questions below at the moment- I can figure out rock and sand later )

I just ordered the 1500 GPH kit from glass-holes.

Would the 3/4 inch loc-line return work? It says it's good for up to 1140 GPH and I assume I'm going to lose GPH so would this be ok? Just seems like a big jump from 1.5" overflow plumbing to 3/4" return plumbing. That's not too small right?

And I would only need one return correct?

And hank, or someone; could you perhaps suggest a specific pump you would use on a setup like this? I'd trust you more than Id trust myself to know which to get. I'm on a college student budget so nothing fancy smancy just something that will do the job would be perfect!! Would really appreciate it

Ps. I will be using a ball valve on the return.

[Sniperhank]

I have a mag 5 on my 55 I think.

[mr_X]

Mag 7 or Quiet One 3000 IMO.
Yes, the 3/4" loc-line should be fine. One return is all I would use. I have a single 1" return on my 300.

[alyxandria]

Awesome thanks guys!

Will get that ordered

[alyxandria]

So, I built a frag tank today. I planned on plumbing it separately but now I'm considering plumbing it into the system. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to do this or pictures of their setups?