Setting Up A New FO tank , whats the best way?

[Violet_Dream]

Hi,

I'm planning on hopefully setting up a 75 gallon plexiglass FO tank soon. The LFS guy told me that the best way to set it up is as a reef tank but without the lights. I'm wondering what kind of filtration you all reccomend. Sand or CC. Protein skimmer ? Refugium? All that stuff. Is it better with a little live rock in the bottom if you're only going to have flourescent lights?
Thanks for the help in advance.

[FMarini]

HI back:
As you can imagine there are many ways to accomplish an endpoint. Same w/ fish tank. Depending on your finances($$$) you can set up a FO like a reeftank minus the high powered lighting(fish dependent -this is my recommendation), or you can set it up inexpensively (w/ CC, no live rock, wet/dry, etc).

So what type of fish are your looking to keep, to me this is the deciding factor.

If you are going to keep reefsafe community fish, then a reef set up w/LR and a DSB is excellent.
If you get triggers or large form wrasses then your sand bed my will be decimated. W/ rhinecanthus triggers then some rock will be crunched.

Once you let us know which way your thinking we can give you some other points to consider
frank

[dgasmd]

I am in the same stage too. I have a 125 gal tank with a trickle filter running with plain tap water now. I just worked out all the leaks in the plumbing.
My goal is to ahve lion fish, triggers, tangs, an eal, and a groupper maybe.
Do I really need a skimmer?
Some say the trickle filter is a bad idea. I will not be having any live rock for a while. Will start with 140lb of sand and some 25lb of live sand to seed it.
Any suggestions??

Alberto:bum:

[T-T-Trigger]

Violet Dream, I agree that it is very fish dependent. But I have not tried 100% with a DSB in a fo tank. The sand in my 85 id about 2"-4" in various places, mix of live mixed grain and sugar size aragonite. No current residents are decimating it with digging, etc. So I think that it might be an worth playing with. But do DSB's process enough nitrAte in a heavy load system? I don't know. I do know that my skimmer prevents nitrAte by pulling organics out before the bacterias get their hands (claws, tentacles, mouths???) on them. I ALSO know that I have a have a doosie of a time syphoning up big lionfish turds without sucking up some of the sandbed at the same time! So my experience says that a good skimmer would be more beneficial than a DSB. (you just mentioned "reef tank" not dsb, but I thought I'd touch on it).

Live rock without much light is not as pretty but certainly makes the aquascape more authentic. The extra detrivore type life forms are also invaluable in cleaning up after your big fishies. But consider whether or not you will have a q-tank and what you will do if the system needs to be treated for an infection.

It all comes down to the fish you want. A large angel, for example, would require an authentic as possible reef tank type setup to thrive IMO.

Sorry for the late night rambling, hope I made some sense.:)

[Violet_Dream]

Thanks for the replies,
I hadnt really decided on the fish. I dont really know all of the different kinds yet, however I do know that I really like Flame Angels and Coral Beautys. I like puffers but I have heard they are very agressive. I dont even have the tank yet. It's just an idea I am entertaining. I'm still steadily pumping all my extra dough into my 20 gallon reef.
I was thinking of having the live rock in there for some texture and a little extra filtration.
Are cannister filters any good?