Aquarium Noob help needed

[Archie1219]

Hi,

I am looking at building my first aquarium in the coming weeks/months. I am leaning towards a 75 gallon tank but will be on a bit of a budget. I plan on having some anemones and soft coral eventually so it will be a reef tank. I know the items I have selected are not top of the line but hope they will be sufficient to get started. Here is what I have planned currently

Aqueon 75G aquarium
Current USA eFlux Wave Pump 1050GPH (2)
Orbit Marine 48-60” IC Loop LED light
Fluval 407 Canister Filter
Eheim 200w heater
40 pounds Arag-Alive sand
80 pounds Dry Live Saver rock

 

[mdb_talon]

The main thing that stands out to me is that light. It's rated at 50watts so I assume around 1/4 watt leds being used. That's not much at all for a 75g tank. For a little more money can get a couple nicrews or smatfarm lights and still be budget friendly, but give you a lot more light. While most softies are pretty forgiving of underpowered lights generally anemones are not.

 

[Gtinnel]

Some Noopsyches would probably due a good job as well.

 

[leighton.bingham]

In all honesty, I wouldn't spend the money on a canister filter at all I would just buy a HOB skimmer

 

[Archie1219]

A bunch of this is foreign to me but are you saying just a HOB skimmer or getting a HOB filter and then a HOB skimmer as well. The reason I was looking at the canister is because it had more filtration than the HOB one I was looking at.

 

[PokeFish]

A bunch of this is foreign to me but are you saying just a HOB skimmer or getting a HOB filter and then a HOB skimmer as well. The reason I was looking at the canister is because it had more filtration than the HOB one I was looking at.

a canister is completely fine imo- just run carbon and filter floss or pads or something. How heavily are u going to be stocking this tank?

 

[Archie1219]

The main thing that stands out to me is that light. It's rated at 50watts so I assume around 1/4 watt leds being used. That's not much at all for a 75g tank. For a little more money can get a couple nicrews or smatfarm lights and still be budget friendly, but give you a lot more light. While most softies are pretty forgiving of underpowered lights generally anemones are not.

For the lights any specific ones that would be recommended? The reason I liked the Current USA is that they have a Bluetooth option that can be controlled and set from my phone.

 

[Archie1219]

a canister is completely fine imo- just run carbon and filter floss or pads or something. How heavily are u going to be stocking this tank?

In all honesty being new probably more stock than I should. But with that said looking at about 10-12 fish and a few small corals and anemones.

 

[mdb_talon]

For the lights any specific ones that would be recommended? The reason I liked the Current USA is that they have a Bluetooth option that can be controlled and set from my phone.

If controlling via an app is a priority and budget being a concern then I would say go with two of the new noopsyches with wifi control. I have not used the new app controlled version but was a fan of the previous version. Cheapest route is probably a couple 100w smatfarm off of Amazon(you can set schedules but not via an app).

NooPsyche K7 PRO III kit with arm bracket

NP K7 PRO III v3 Aquarium LED Coral Light. Better spectrum out / Excellent Growth / Feed Almost all the of the SPS/LPS coral in one reef tank isn't a dream especially red coral / Natural perfect mixing and Shimmer / Superior Color Mixing / The best mixing spectrum technology / Affordable price...

noopsychereeflight.com

 

[Archie1219]

Looking at the Smatfarm or Nicrew lights, will 2 be sufficient for the 75G tank?

 

[Tray21]

If you are set on getting a canister filter I would spend a little more money and get the Fluval FX4. I have one on my freshwater tank and it has a drain spout that you can use to do water changes plus more area within the filter for carbon, bio media and filterfloss. It also will put out 700 gph compared to the 407's 383 gph as per Fluval.

 

[Sink_or_Swim]

In all honesty being new probably more stock than I should. But with that said looking at about 10-12 fish and a few small corals and anemones.

Just a heads up on the sand - if you think you may want to get any sand-sleeping wrasses or certain gobies, or jawfish, you will need more than 40 lbs of sand for a 75 gallon tank. I just upgraded to a 75 (and have all 3 of those types of fish), and I believe I ended up using about 80-90 lbs of live sand to get the appropriate depth.

 

[Piscans]

Hi,

I am looking at building my first aquarium in the coming weeks/months. I am leaning towards a 75 gallon tank but will be on a bit of a budget. I plan on having some anemones and soft coral eventually so it will be a reef tank. I know the items I have selected are not top of the line but hope they will be sufficient to get started. Here is what I have planned currently

Aqueon 75G aquarium
Current USA eFlux Wave Pump 1050GPH (2)
Orbit Marine 48-60” IC Loop LED light
Fluval 407 Canister Filter
Eheim 200w heater
40 pounds Arag-Alive sand
80 pounds Dry Live Saver rock

is this a fowlr? if so, this would work.if i was doing a reef tank, id do 75g tank, 2 2100 gph powerheads from pondforse (cheapest magnetic base powerheads on amazon), 2 smatfarm aquastar g5 or 2 viparspectra, 4 or 5 20 lb bags of caribsea fiji pink, eheim jager 300w or 2 200w. budget: 40 lb gulf live rock & 40 lb dry rock best: 80 lb gulf live rock. no can filter, those are a 200 dollar bucket with a pump. either get a sump or just get a big hob filter

edit: with a 100$ hob setup (you wont pay this much) you are already saving $100. with the budget rock. id just add another 240 so you have 100% live rock. 140 more but the smatfarm are waaaay better then the current lights and the powerheads they have are a joke. they advertise their products to be super slick but they are just cheap stuff in a fancy shell. you are going to want a rodi unit +200 salt +50 (IO reef crystals bucket) test kit (kinda optional. salifert is ok) + 100, filter media, tank cleaning stuff, chemicals, meds (+100-200)

 

[Archie1219]

Just a heads up on the sand - if you think you may want to get any sand-sleeping wrasses or certain gobies, or jawfish, you will need more than 40 lbs of sand for a 75 gallon tank. I just upgraded to a 75 (and have all 3 of those types of fish), and I believe I ended up using about 80-90 lbs of live sand to get the appropriate depth.

I think the 40 pounds was a typo. I bought 80 pounds of sand.

 

[Sink_or_Swim]

I think the 40 pounds was a typo. I bought 80 pounds of sand.

You should be good then.

 

[Archie1219]

is this a fowlr? if so, this would work.if i was doing a reef tank, id do 75g tank, 2 2100 gph powerheads from pondforse (cheapest magnetic base powerheads on amazon), 2 smatfarm aquastar g5 or 2 viparspectra, 4 or 5 20 lb bags of caribsea fiji pink, eheim jager 300w or 2 200w. budget: 40 lb gulf live rock & 40 lb dry rock best: 80 lb gulf live rock. no can filter, those are a 200 dollar bucket with a pump. either get a sump or just get a big hob filter

edit: with a 100$ hob setup (you wont pay this much) you are already saving $100. with the budget rock. id just add another 240 so you have 100% live rock. 140 more but the smatfarm are waaaay better then the current lights and the powerheads they have are a joke. they advertise their products to be super slick but they are just cheap stuff in a fancy shell. you are going to want a rodi unit +200 salt +50 (IO reef crystals bucket) test kit (kinda optional. salifert is ok) + 100, filter media, tank cleaning stuff, chemicals, meds (+100-200)

Thanks for the information. I ended up upgrading a few things. I still went with the eFlux power heads but did upgrade to the Caribsea Liferock. I also upgraded to 2 of the 100w NiCrew lights. I plan on having a few corals at some point. Most everything has been ordered and in transit. Hoping to get the tank set up and filled in the next couple weeks. Then start the waiting game while the system cycles.