still undecided

[SEASEID]

hi all,
well ive been readin and readin and readin posts books and everything else i can get my hands on and im still undeciced about tank sizes im torn between a 75g and 90g aga
i know what equip im usin either way im just not sure about size yet. any input would help.ill probably be usin an ets reef devil 3, 2 250wmh 6500k lamps w/2 no atinics.ill build my own sump stand refugium and hood.use a mixed lsb,dsb base. im not sure of pwer heads yet so i guess i just would like some opions. any and all your comments, questions,and put downs are greatly appreciated.
thanks yall
mike

[Adrian]

Well having never owned a 90 this is somewhat bias, but I love my 75. Im not sure what the demensions are for a 90 off the top of my head, but IMO the shallower the tank the better. Also if your going to get into reefing I would suggest you get a good brand name tank, I have never used an all glass, but I sell them where I work and oceanic is far better and worth the extra buck, well I say that because they used to be, now all glass ownes oceanic and the quality seems to be suffering, but if you can find one in good shape it would be a good investment. If I had the money I would dump all my PHs and put the money towards a bigger return pump. This way I could have one pump and mutiple returns vs. a return pump and mutilpe PHs.

[bigben]

Howdy and welcome to RC!!!

Well, I've never owned either sized tank, but I'll tell I would go with the 90. Nothin' beats a tank with nice width and height. The extra width (2' total) gives you plenty of room for aquascaping your rock. The nice height gives you more room for a deep sand bed. Oh yeah, I'd definitely fork over the money and go reef-ready. That would be maybe your best investment in the whole set-up.

For circulation, I would go with one of the Iwaki MD pumps. Maybe try going with a sea-swirl or two to eliminate the need for as many ugly powerheads. You will most likely end up needing a powerhead somewhere in the mix, so go with a Maxi-Jet (the board will agree with you hands-down).

I can't really give you the best advice for a skimmer. Sounds like you're on the right track, though. I'd also consider the Precision Marine Bullet skimmers--they're really awesome.

Depending on what spectrum of lighting you are going to go with, you may need more actinic supplementation with those 250 halides. I just got a 250 with two 55W blue PCs over my 20, and it seems a little more yellow than I'd like. If I were you, I'd definitely consider the 4' VHO actinics to supplement with. Well, that'll get you started. I gotta go to work now. Take it easy. Don't hesitate to ask us more questions :D

Ben

[MickO]

In my experience, asking people about saltwater tanks, you get as many different answers as the number of people you ask, and for every big 'no-no', there's someone who says the opposite by having successfully done it...

However, there seems to be one thing that all agree on: GET THE LARGEST TANK YOU CAN POSSIBLY AFFORD/FIT...

[Q-ball]

Just a note, the only difference between the standard 75g & 90g AGA's is the 90g is taller (I think 6"?) They're both 48"x18". I've got a 90g fowlr and I love it, although a shallower tank would be a little easier for ya to light as mentioned above...although, with my 6" sandbed, it's like I'm lighting a 75g bare bottom:D I say go for the 90g imo...Good luck!

Q!!!

[minnreefer]

Both would be fine tanks, look in the classified for used tanks and that might make your decision. I agree that the 90 would be better with a deep sand bed. I would love to make our 100 gallon about 6 inches taller so there would be more swimming room.
Jonathan

[Agu]

Seaseid,

Welcome to RC !!!!

This may sound really stupid but how long are your arms. I have a 180 that's 24" deep with a 5" dsb for an effective tank depth of 19". It's still tough to reach things on the bottom of the tank. If a frag falls more than halfway back in the tank it's almost impossible to retrieve without half climbing into the tank. Get a 30" deep tank and you may need to pick up some snorkeling gear also.

Agu

[gas4544]

The 90 gallon tank is 4" taller than a 75 gallon. This does come in handy if you are going to have a deep sand bed. I have a 75-gallon AGA that is working out well for me, but it sure would have been easier if it were reef-ready.
I'm also dreaming about someday upgrading to a 120-gallon Oceanic RR tank...

[vanguard]

I have a 75g AGA. It's about 8 years old and it's been moved to other houses/apartments about five times (usually with 100 lbs. of rocks in it). Nobody questions that the Oceanics are better but in my experience the AGAs are pretty tough too.

As for the size, I sometimes wish that I had the extra 4" of height. I would increase my sand bed from 4" to 5", I would have more swimming room for the fish, and I would have more water capacity to endure my mistakes.

I bought Maxi-jet powerheads after reading what everybody had to say. I really like them. They work and their suction cups are awesome. For your 90 maybe you can use one Maxi-jet 1200 and power you return pump through a sea-swirl with a Y adapter. That should provide some nice flow and minimize the amount of equipment in your display tank. Most people will tell you to avoid Rio powerheads.

As for your lighting, those MH will do a nice job lighting either tank.

I don't have any experience with ETS protein skimmers but they are considered to be a good piece of equipment. I'm really happy with my Euroreef Gx2. It pulls lots of gunk and it's easy to clean.

Looking at your plans it seems like you have either done a lot of research or that you have receive some good advice (or both). Good job Mike.

While your tank cycles (or even before then) you should put that same kind of effort into which livestock you buy.

Another thing you might want to thing about is prepping the house for your tank. You'll want a plumbing system better carrying buckets of water from your bathtub to your tank (and vice versa).

[SEASEID]

wow,
thanks everyone,ive decided im goin with the reef ready 90g aga.thanks for yalls help.dont worry ill be askin about refugium, sump layouts soon. and how to use them.i need to do some more reasearch on them.
thanks again,
mike

[DJ88©]

HI Seaseid,

I am running a 90 right now with a few LPS and anemones and love it. With a good DSB it is great to work in.

As well I am setting up another 90 as a full reef tank. A couple of fish and the rest SPS etc. I was going bigger but decided to keep the size of the two tanks identical for symmetry.

So far I am planning on 2x400W MH with 6500K Iwasakis and 4 Actinic VHO 4' bulbs. As much LR as I can put in plus about a 5 to 6" sand bed.. the sand bed moves the whole thing up closer to the lights and like Q-Ball said, it's like starting with a 75 plus you have the DSB.. :)