Advice on set up plz

ggNoRe

ggNoRe

Reefing newb
I'm looking for advice on a good set up for a 50-70 gallon marine aquarium. I plan to have live rock, fish, and probably will add a few easy to maintain corals later on. Other than keeping livestock alive aesthetics is my main concern and thus I want to have as little equipment in the display tank as possible while still maintaining a healthy and very clear tank. At this point I'm not too worried about specifics as far as name brands and prices and such but instead am basically just looking for the best engineering and design to have a successful aquarium set up with as clean of a display tank as possible. Positioning of over flow, powerheads, and heaters seem to be my main concern from what I've researched thus far. Any help is greatly appreciated!! :mrgreen:
 
Well if you want little in the tank then you need a sump. your heater and other equipment can go in there. If you dont want powerheads in the dt then a closed loop seems best. There are so many ways to design and build or buy sumps with or without out refugiums. What I did and still do is look everywhere on the net for information. One of the best places is Wetwebmedia, Aquarium, Pond, Marine and Freshwater Fish, reef tanks, and Aquatics Information go into the marine section and the first two parts are all about equipment and setup. The site is run by Bob Fenner the author of "The Conscientious Marine Aquarists" He has worked in the marine field since he was a boy. In my opion probably the most knowledgeable person in the hobby. If you havent been on that site, then you will find you could read for a month and still not be done. check it out :D
 
Sorry for double posting it won't let me edit my other post :(
After doing a bit more reading I still find myself with the question of whats the best way to have an overflow to the sump with taking as little of display tank space as possible?
 
The best way is to have your tank drilled. If you do that, you will have one or two overflow towers, but they'll be black and will blend in to the background.

If you don't have a drilled tank, you'll need to buy or make an overflow box. These stick out more than the overflow towers, but still don't take up much space.
 
Thanks for the advice! Just a little update: closing on condo is taking ridculously long so I still have a long wait before I can start my setup. However, tank or no tank addiction still going strong still reading and researching daily.
 
I'm leaning towards getting the exact same fixture and bulbs as this guy. The colors in his corals and fish almost seem to glow and lots of 20k type lighting while still being suffienct energy for mass amounts of coral.
 
Hmm.. sorry bout that guess it won't let me post links. Is there a way to edit post here? Was meant to post a link to the TOTM winner at reefcentral for the past 3 months lol. Depending on my budget/space restrictions I'm more less looking to copy this guys (seapug at reefcentral) aquarium setup pretty closely. For those that don't care to go searching for it he has a usa outer orbit fixture 48" which supplies 2x150W M/H DE lights 2x130W dualactinic pc's and 6 led moonlights. For the 2 MH's he has replaced the stock bulbs with 1 ushio20k and 1 reeflux14k. Its pretty expensive but I think in the long run it will be worth it. I'm hoping I can get a 90 gallon tank and copy his lighting verbatim. Recently I have been eyeing some aquariums at glasscages.com, mainly the 90G long with optional starphire front and predrilled overflow, seem like quality stuff for a good price there. As far as skimmers, I haven't began much of a thorough research yet but plan to get one that is a trusted brand and is overpowered in relation to whatever size tank I get; for example... if I get a 90G tank ill get a skimmer recommended for 120G. I'm also leaning towards copying his simple sump design with just a skimmer, heater, pumps and dual phosban reactors one gfo and one with gac to help me regulate algae and aesthetics w/o as much maint. as well as keeping phosphates/nitrates down. Any input, suggestions, or tips are appreciated! :D
 
Last edited:
Considering going for a 90G long aquarium from glasscages . Adding the:

1. Reef-Ready [Add $75]
  • Comes standard with 1 Glass Wall Overflow (located on back panel of aquarium)
  • Comes standard with 2 holes for the overflow
2. Put starphire glass on the front panel only [Add $81]

  • The front viewable panel of your tank will be starphire glass.
3. Add hinged glass tops [Add $28]
Comes with plastic section that can be notched out for extra hoses.
  • Midsection is two glass panes hinged together.
  • Comes with handle to easily open hinged half.
4. Acrylic covers for overflows

t_acryliccovers.jpg
t_acryliccover_closeup.jpg


Many people prefer to have their overflows covered.
We can provide black plastic acrylic covers that fit your overflow perfectly.
The tops of our covers come notched to help prevent fish from falling in.
[Add $35 for 1 cover]

5. Bulkheads for overflows (Recommended)
t_bulkheads.jpg


We can provide you with bulkheads that fit your overflow holes. You do not have to buy them from us but doing so will make it much easier on you to get the right size bulkheads.
[Add $30 for all bulkheads]
  • Ordering from us will give you the proper bulkheads for each hole that we have predrilled.
  • If you choose to not buy our bulkheads you will need to know:
    • The holes are drilled for heavy-duty schedule 80 bulkheads.
    • The holes are NOT drilled for light-duty schedule 40 bulkheads.
6. Sump tank (Recommended)

You can purchase an acrylic aquarium sump tank from us. If you purchase ours then you can rest assured that it will fit inside our stands and be the proper size based on the aquarium you are buying.
Add a 29 Gal. Acrylic Aquarium Customized Sump Tank [Add $195]
  • Ordering from us will give you the right sized sump tank based on the aquarium you picked.
  • Our recommended sump tank (ABOVE) will fit inside our stands to easily conceal it and still be close to the aquarium
Altogether it would cost Price before shipping: $631 + about $110 for me to pick it up from them when they come to Houston. Would like your suggestions as if this seems like a good start. I think their stands are really ugly so I would probably look elsewhere for one.
 
I thought it would help as far as keeping fish from jumping overboard, decrease evaporation, and let not as much heat in from the lights.
 
glass tops keep heat in the tank. evap is your friend the more water that evaps means the tank will be cooler. evap takes the hotter water out of the tank.
 

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