Build question...

[Tray21]

So my wife and I were looking at our 10 gallon reef tank the other day and out of absolutely no where she said "we need a bigger tank". Completely flabbergasted i asked "ok well how big do you want"? She pointed at our 55 gallon freshwater tank and said something of that footprint. Well I've gotten the green light to begin the build that I wanted to do for about a year now... A 75 gallon with a 40 breeder sump. Ive already started my build sheet and have begun planning things out. I have three questions for anyone that can answer.

1st, I'm looking at overflows and am curious whats the optimum flow rate for the tank. I will match the return pump or get one rated for slightly more and "throttle" as necessary.

2nd, when putting the return line in, would one return nozzle be sufficient or should I go two in the back upper corners?

3rd, I am looking at lighting and am really intrigued by the kessil Ap9x. I am planning on a mix of softies, lps, and sps. For a 75 gallon standard tank is one Ap9x sufficient or do I need two? (I have seen conflicting information floating around the internet, some say one others say two)

Anyways as soon as I start the project of sourcing and assembling I will create a new build thread for everyone to follow along with and continue to help me out!
Happy Reefing!

 

[jabberwock]

So my wife and I were looking at our 10 gallon reef tank the other day and out of absolutely no where she said "we need a bigger tank". Completely flabbergasted i asked "ok well how big do you want"? She pointed at our 55 gallon freshwater tank and said something of that footprint. Well I've gotten the green light to begin the build that I wanted to do for about a year now... A 75 gallon with a 40 breeder sump. Ive already started my build sheet and have begun planning things out. I have three questions for anyone that can answer.

1st, I'm looking at overflows and am curious whats the optimum flow rate for the tank. I will match the return pump or get one rated for slightly more and "throttle" as necessary.

2nd, when putting the return line in, would one return nozzle be sufficient or should I go two in the back upper corners?

3rd, I am looking at lighting and am really intrigued by the kessil Ap9x. I am planning on a mix of softies, lps, and sps. For a 75 gallon standard tank is one Ap9x sufficient or do I need two? (I have seen conflicting information floating around the internet, some say one others say two)

Anyways as soon as I start the project of sourcing and assembling I will create a new build thread for everyone to follow along with and continue to help me out!
Happy Reefing!

All good questions that I am not qualified to answer. So I will add one... "What kind of rock will you start with?"

 

[Tray21]

All good questions that I am not qualified to answer. So I will add one... "What kind of rock will you start with?"

I have a few boxes of the caribsea life rock currently making sure a shelf wont go anywhere in my basement that I will use along with the 3 or four pieces from the nano tank.

 

[00W]

I'm glad you get to go bigger have fun.
I have a 75 as well.
#1-I run a PF300@about 200 gallons an hour.
#2-I run 1 return. Less piping way less head loss on pump. Run lots and lots of flow inside tank.
#3-Cant really help much. I run 48 inch T5 fixture but suffice to say there's probably a brace in the middle and you'll need/want two lights.
Enjoy.

 

[Dom]

Completely flabbergasted i asked "ok well how big do you want"?

Atta boy; make it all her idea! .

 

[Tray21]

Atta boy; make it all her idea! .

My thinking is that since she was the one that initiated this project, she cant get mad at how much gets spent

 

[BOYERZ]

#3. look at the reefi uno 2.0

 

[RocketEngineer]

I miss my 75G. It was running so well I decided to upgrade and ruined everything. Lesson learned.

Regarding overflows, I would get one as long as you can. More surface skimming means more gunk out of the display and into the filters. Also, they run quieter when you have less flow for a given length.

For returns, it’s not an issue having just one because in a SW system, the flow in the display comes from the powerheads much more than the return pump.

If possible, I suggest looking beyond the typical plastic rim tanks if you can afford it. I’m very slowly building a 100G that’s rimless and love not having the crossbar in the middle of my tank. Also, look at building your own rockwork. I was able to create mine unlike anything I could purchase.

 

[Dom]

My thinking is that since she was the one that initiated this project, she cant get mad at how much gets spent

Brilliant.