Repurposing 75g, advice needed!

[WiscoFishNut]

Hey folks, so I have an idle 75g (rimmed Marineland, not drilled) that I'm planning on repurposing. The idea is to use it as a transition tank for when I'm ready move the inhabitants of my existing 60g cube in to my future upgrade tank some day. The current 60g is a mixed reef setup and the end game tank is going to be something in the 250g range, but will be a FOWLR setup to allow for some specific not reef safe fish that we really we want. The existing scape w/ corals will stay behind in the 75g and not make the move to the 250, or eventually will go back in the 60 once it gets relocated. The 75g might have to run for a year before the 250g is up and ready.

I put together a few ides, and I could use some advice on which one sounds like the smartest choice. I did some rough pricing estimates for each. Assumption - the 75g can be drilled..

Option 1 - Convert the 75g to an AIO = $512
FijiCube DIY AIO kit (169.99)
Tunze 9012 DC skimmer (341.99)
Pro's - stupid easy and cheap. I literally can't screw this one up lol
Con's - there's no sump. I might be disappointed with the skimmer after being used to having a really solid one

Option 2 - Cheap DIY drilled conversion = $660
Undecided internal overflow kit (150.00)
Random plumbing pieces (100.00)
20g long aquarium (30.00)
FijiCube DIY Sump baffle kit (104.99)
Reef Octopus Classic 150SSS 6" skimmer (274.99)
Pro's - there's a sump and all of the many benefits that go along with it. Not too expensive yet
Con's - requires 2 DIY tasks(drilling the tank and sump baffle assembly) that I could easily screw up..

Option 3 - Proper less-DIY drilled conversion = $831
Undecided internal overflow kit (150.00)
Random plumbing pieces (100.00)
Reef Octopus Classic 150SSS 6" skimmer (274.99)
Crystal Sump 36 Trigger Systems (305.99)
Pro's - there's a sump and all of the many benefits that go along with it. one less DIY task..
Con's - expensive! I can still screw up the drilling piece.

I'd appreciate any thoughts or comments! It all sounds good in my head, but..

 

[Pistol Peet]

I'd go with option 1 or 2 I keep the skimmer in sump especially if it's going to be set up for a year or so the drilling isn't as hard as it seems I know that it freaks people out but it's really not that hard give yourself a brand new diamond bit hole saw bit keep it cool and wet and it will go through like butter

 

[Acros]

I’m just curious. Will you be running both 60g and the 75g at the same time for a while?

Why use the 75g as a transition tank? Why not directly move the livestock to the 250g?

 

[WiscoFishNut]

I’m just curious. Will you be running both 60g and the 75g at the same time for a while?

Why use the 75g as a transition tank? Why not directly move the livestock to the 250g?

Fair questions! The driver for this whole thing is that the 60g is currently upstairs on our main floor. The wife really wants to replace all of the flooring with hardwood or tile. I definitely do not want to attempt to physically move the 60g around the work that's being done. Seems like a disaster waiting to happen. My plan is to get the 75g cycled in the basement, and then before the floor work begins, transfer everything down to the 75g. At that point the 60g will be drained and stored in the basement for a while. Once the flooring is complete I'll go to work on building the big setup upstairs. I'm thinking there may be some delays in the big setup being ready due to $$, life, etc. so I need for the 75g to be sustainable for a decent bit of time. Eventually I'll bring the 60g back up to my home office, fire it up, and move the corals to it. The big setup will be FOWLR, hence all the shuffling/splitting up of things.

*edit* - It just dawned on me that for options 2 & 3 I won't need to buy another skimmer as I can just move the Reef Octopus 150 skimmer I'm currently running. Yay caffeine.. So minus $275 from the cost for those options.

 

[Acros]

Haha. That is what I wanted to suggest as well. Use the sump setup from the 60g if you don’t need both running at the same time.

You don’t need a sump for the nitrogen cycle anyway.