75 Gal Beginners Questions

[DOMINUS81]

Hi! Im new here, new to the hobby aswell! I went through this site and got some questions answered. However, I still do have some questions. Well heres the situation first. I am switching from Fresh water to Salt water. I have a 75 Gal. Tank 48 in L x 18 in W x 21 in H and I am leaning to mostly DIYs for now then upgrade later on for example skimmers, ATO's, etc. Im doing a DIY for my stand (almost done) and I am planning to do a DIY AIO (Kinda like Toms reef in Youtube). I also ordered a controllable pump 800-3200 gph. Everything should be done this weekend with the whole set up including sand and Im getting water from my fish store. Here are my questions.

1. Water, since Im not planning to get the RODI filtration yet (In an apartment 3rd floor). What exactly am I checking while Im cycling the water. (Getting my water from local fish store). What should be my water measurements.

2. Do I need the dosing stuff like calcium and alkaline? Can I wait on these?

3. Evaporation, I can use distilled water to fill the tank?

4. AIO, can I add that refugium? Or should I keep it basic? Is there a specific requirements to build an AIO?

I think these are all of my questions for now. Prolly more when I start to upgrade.

 

[Spare time]

Welcome to the hobby!

1. For now, you want to get a hold of a test for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. However, your LFS can likely test these. In general, you should be seeing 0.00 on an ammonia test (these can be hard to read but your lfs should be able to help), nitrite 0.00, and some nitrate at the end of cycling a tank. The easiest way to cycle a tank is to get a bottle of cycling bacteria and some ammonium chloride for fish tanks. It will take about a week or 2 before you can get fish if you start with dry rock. You will see an ammonia spike, then nitrite, and then nitrate (check nitrate after nitrite is gone). You then do a water change to bring nitrate back down. Adding live rock will make the first few months to a year easier, but more difficult in the long run due to pests.

2. No, not until you get a lot of coralline algae or stony corals.

3. Yes. You will find that an rodi unit will be very handy later on as my 75 gallon evaporates about a gallon a day. There are some cheap ones if you'd like me to share some.

4. Some companies make hang on back refugiums (fiji cube, aquamaxx, etc.). Icecap make a hang on back algae scrubber too. If you want a prebuilt AIO filter box, check out the fiji cube inserts. I will say though that sumps are far easier in the long run due to convenience. Refugiums are very helpful

 

[Spare time]

Welcome to the hobby!

1. For now, you want to get a hold of a test for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. However, your LFS can likely test these. In general, you should be seeing 0.00 on an ammonia test (these can be hard to read but your lfs should be able to help), nitrite 0.00, and some nitrate at the end of cycling a tank. The easiest way to cycle a tank is to get a bottle of cycling bacteria and some ammonium chloride for fish tanks. It will take about a week or 2 before you can get fish if you start with dry rock. You will see an ammonia spike, then nitrite, and then nitrate (check nitrate after nitrite is gone). You then do a water change to bring nitrate back down. Adding live rock will make the first few months to a year easier, but more difficult in the long run due to pests.

2. No, not until you get a lot of coralline algae or stony corals.

3. Yes

4. Some companies make hang on back refugiums (fiji cube, aquamaxx, etc.). Icecap make a hang on back algae scrubber too. If you want a prebuilt AIO filter box, check out the fiji cube inserts. I will say though that sumps are far easier in the long run due to convenience.

 

[DOMINUS81]

Thank you for reply and asnwering my questions. As I preplan for the future. Overall is to eventually get a RODI unit when I purchase a house. So I plan to tough it out by hauling water from my LFS to the Apartment. I did saw the prebuilt AIO's from fiji and I figure I can make it the same concept and I can customize and ofcourse the cost efficiency.

As for the water change. That refill is from my LFS right?

 

[Spare time]

Thank you for reply and asnwering my questions. As I preplan for the future. Overall is to eventually get a RODI unit when I purchase a house. So I plan to tough it out by hauling water from my LFS to the Apartment. I did saw the prebuilt AIO's from fiji and I figure I can make it the same concept and I can customize and ofcourse the cost efficiency.

As for the water change. That refill is from my LFS right?

Yes. You can get premixed water from your LFS (I assume) or you can mix water yourself.

 

[Dom]

Hi! Im new here, new to the hobby aswell! I went through this site and got some questions answered. However, I still do have some questions. Well heres the situation first. I am switching from Fresh water to Salt water. I have a 75 Gal. Tank 48 in L x 18 in W x 21 in H and I am leaning to mostly DIYs for now then upgrade later on for example skimmers, ATO's, etc. Im doing a DIY for my stand (almost done) and I am planning to do a DIY AIO (Kinda like Toms reef in Youtube). I also ordered a controllable pump 800-3200 gph. Everything should be done this weekend with the whole set up including sand and Im getting water from my fish store. Here are my questions.

1. Water, since Im not planning to get the RODI filtration yet (In an apartment 3rd floor). What exactly am I checking while Im cycling the water. (Getting my water from local fish store). What should be my water measurements.

2. Do I need the dosing stuff like calcium and alkaline? Can I wait on these?

3. Evaporation, I can use distilled water to fill the tank?

4. AIO, can I add that refugium? Or should I keep it basic? Is there a specific requirements to build an AIO?

I think these are all of my questions for now. Prolly more when I start to upgrade.

You're going to carry home 75 gallons of water from your local fish store? Reconsider getting an RODI setup. They don't take up much space.

You don't have to start dosing right away. Faithful, weekly 20% water changes will go a long way in helping you replenish elements consumed by the tank.

 

[PatW]

I would going with a sump from the start. Having a sump just makes things so much easier. It gives you a place for a conventional skimmer. You can run or not run filter socks. And it gives you a place for an auto top off. I highly recommend an auto top off. It will make the salinity of your tank nearly constant. And marine organisms really, really like stability. You can use a cheap 5 gallon bucket as a reservoir or a small glass fish tank.

I would really recommend getting an RODI system. First you will know that you are getting 0 tds water. Second, you do not have to run to the LFS to get water. You can choose the salt mix you use and not what someone sells made up. Finally, it will pay for itself in a year or so. Convenience, quality and cost - a great combination. You can store your RODI water in a brute trash can and they come in a variety of sizes and even can go on casters.

 

[DOMINUS81]

I have made a mistake, its been awhile since I got my tank and it turns out to be 55 gal lol my apologies. Currently, as of now my tank is cycling for about 2 weeks now. I have kept some RO water when I made a trip to my LFS and yep they're in a brute trash can just doing manual refills every couple of days.

This cycling thing is driving me insane. I have used seed by aquavitro, Dr. Tims ammonia, and API. However, the ammonia isnt going down. Its been 2.0 ppm since my first test. Nitrites at 2.0 ppm and Nitrates are 20 ppm. I also verified this with my LFS and told me to wait it out.

I have been reading brandon429 posts Post in

thread '100% Water Change' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/100-water-change.752693/post-7888324

and most likely do his method this weekend. Maybe it'll help to get my tank going.

 

[Fishfreak2009]

Welcome to Reef2Reef! I'd definitely recommend a sump over an AIO for a 75 gallon. If you want to see how I built the sump for my 75 gallon, as well as what type of equipment I'm using and how the tank turned out feel free to check out my build thread! 75 gallons are one of my favorite size tanks to work with! Great tank for aquascaping and for housing a variety of fish and corals, relatively stable due to size, yet still small enough to be easy to maintain.

 

[MaxTremors]

Welcome to the hobby!

1. For now, you want to get a hold of a test for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. However, your LFS can likely test these. In general, you should be seeing 0.00 on an ammonia test (these can be hard to read but your lfs should be able to help), nitrite 0.00, and some nitrate at the end of cycling a tank. The easiest way to cycle a tank is to get a bottle of cycling bacteria and some ammonium chloride for fish tanks. It will take about a week or 2 before you can get fish if you start with dry rock. You will see an ammonia spike, then nitrite, and then nitrate (check nitrate after nitrite is gone). You then do a water change to bring nitrate back down. Adding live rock will make the first few months to a year easier, but more difficult in the long run due to pests.

2. No, not until you get a lot of coralline algae or stony corals.

3. Yes. You will find that an rodi unit will be very handy later on as my 75 gallon evaporates about a gallon a day. There are some cheap ones if you'd like me to share some.

4. Some companies make hang on back refugiums (fiji cube, aquamaxx, etc.). Icecap make a hang on back algae scrubber too. If you want a prebuilt AIO filter box, check out the fiji cube inserts. I will say though that sumps are far easier in the long run due to convenience. Refugiums are very helpful

IME live rock has far fewer long term problems compared to dry rock. Live rock will lead to a more stable, more quickly maturing, healthier, and more interesting tank. With dry rock you are more likely to get Dinos, have nutrient problems/imbalances (sponging/leaching of phosphates, denitrification), and have nuisance algae issue. The only advantages to dry rock are the ability to create more elaborate scapes and the lack of biodiversity (though IMO that is also a negative, the threat of ‘pests’ is wildly overstated, biodiverse tanks are more stable and more interesting). It’s really perplexing to me when people recommend dry rock as some sort of easier or less complocated alternative to live rock, my experience is completely the opposite.

OP - In addition to the beginning Ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate (for the first two, API is fine, for Nitrate I would recommend Salifert, RedSea, or the Hanna HR checker), if you’re going to keep corals, you’ll also need Alkalinity, Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphate, and PH (if you want recommendations, feel free to ask, but in general get the most specific, highest resolution tests you can, and avoid API). A lot of people make the mistake of not prioritizing test kits before buying corals, and it generally never ends well.

I would really urge you to get your own RODI unit, depending on an LFS is both inconvenient and risky. You never know if and when the LFS is changing their filters/membranes, and in an emergency being able to make water can be lifesaver (what if you need to do a massive water change outside of business hours?). I just wouldn’t trust such an important building block of a healthy reef to an outside source.

As far as the refugium, a HOB would work just fine (I have one on my 28g and it’s excellent). Im not sure what you mean by AIO. Are you wanting to add some filtration chambers to the tank? If so, I would instead recommend drilling the tank or adding a HOB overflow, and setting up a proper sump/refugium. If that’s not possible, Fijicube sell inserts for tanks to turn them into AIOs, Im pretty sure they just came out with a 75g version.

I would recommend watching BRS’s 52 weeks of reefing series, they break down all the basics in an easy to understand way. My only other advice is to just go slow and research everything before committing to anything (be it equipment or livestock)

 

[DOMINUS81]

Welcome to Reef2Reef! I'd definitely recommend a sump over an AIO for a 75 gallon. If you want to see how I built the sump for my 75 gallon, as well as what type of equipment I'm using and how the tank turned out feel free to check out my build thread! 75 gallons are one of my favorite size tanks to work with! Great tank for aquascaping and for housing a variety of fish and corals, relatively stable due to size, yet still small enough to be easy to maintain.

I apologize mines was 55 gallons. I gotta change that title lol. Working on getting a sump, RO/DI, and ATO in the future. I kinda like those trigger systems but so expensive.

I just saw your build, that looks awesome! I gotta look at the dimensions of my stand to see what size sump I can fit in. Unfortunately theres 2 beams in the middle of the stand, which another error on my part.