65 Gallon Build Lots of Questions!

J

Jimbojames

New member
I have recently bought bennyblanco's 65 gallon reef ready aquarium, with a vortex protein skimmer (in 100?) and sump. looking to get tank running in next month or month and half. Looking to take my time not in a hurry.

This tank is mainly gonna be Softies/Polyps, LPS, and Invert side with one anemone. Fish would be A pair of clownfish, blue tang, maybe 2-3 more other fish, Notting larger then the blue tang. Looking for something like this: http://www.chicagoreefs.com/index.php?pageid=logan

Looking to add 65 to 100 pounds rock. NOT SURE IF DRY ROCK OR LIVE ROCK IS BETTER? WHAT TYPE?


I have a return pump its only rated at about 320 GPM. CORRECT PUMP WOULD BE 10 TO 15 TIMES THE SIZE OF THE TANK CORRECT? SO 650 TO 1000 GPH?

Still need powerheads. ARE KORALLIA 4's GOOD? WOULD 2 WORK or IS 3 BETTER? IF BUYING USED $25 A HEAD A GOOD PRICE TO PAY? IF I BUY NEW MP40 WILL THAT BE ALL I NEED OR WILL I WANT A KORALLIA AS WELL?

Still need live sand. MINIMUM 65 POUNDS? SUGAR GRADE IS THE FINEST? IS THE FINEST THE BEST?


Still need heater, don't now much about type size or brands. ONE IN TANK AND ONE IN SUMP? HOW MANY WATTS AND BRANDS?

Lighting I have a 400 watt MH, I think its has a 6000k bulb, Some where down to road wanna get a T5 or LED lighting. Most likely T5 6 bulb system.

BEFORE:
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AFTER:
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IF ANYONE HAS ITEMS FOR SALE THAT MIGHT BE USEFUL PM ME PLEASE.
 
oh man Jimbo. Nice tank, but this is like asking if you should play tennis, football, figure skating or WWE wrestling. Your questions are on the right track, but we need a little more guidance from you to help you. Here are the reasons these questions are hard:

NOT SURE IF DRY ROCK OR LIVE ROCK IS BETTER? WHAT TYPE? What are you keeping in the tank? Big fish=less rock, corals and inverts=more rock. Zoas? Flat areas to grow. SPS? High areas for light and flow.

I have a return pump its only rated at about 320 GPM. CORRECT PUMP WOULD BE 10 TO 15 TIMES THE SIZE OF THE TANK CORRECT? SO 650 TO 1000 GPH? again, What are you keeping? 10 to 15 is good ROT, but Zoas don't need that much and stick heads probably run twice that.

ARE KORALLIA 4's GOOD? WOULD 2 WORK or IS 3 BETTER? IF BUYING USED $25 A HEAD A GOOD PRICE TO PAY? This one I'll answer. Don't buy used powerheads for your primary. They're not that expensive and people are selling them for a reason. Get Vortech if you want the best quality and cool factor. I just don't like inorganic things in a tank.

MINIMUM 65 POUNDS? SUGAR GRADE IS THE FINEST? IS THE FINEST THE BEST? So totally based on what you are keeping. I'm loving barebottom, but sand is more pleasing to a lot of people but is a guaranteed maintenance issue. Certain fish require sand. Just don't pay extra for "live sand". It will be live soon enough. The grade of the sand is purely aesthetic and potentially dictated by the amount of flow in the tank.

Still need heater, don't now much about type size or brands. ONE IN TANK AND ONE IN SUMP? HOW MANY WATTS AND BRANDS? I highly recommend a temp controller or a full controller like an apex or reefkeeper. So whatcha keeping in that tank? Maybe take a look through the search section a little more and decide what questions you have. There are so many opinions in this hobby the facts sometimes get lost, so bringing two choices on a piece of equipment is sometimes better than just asking which one amongst all of them. Good luck!
 
Ill give you my opinions but like Herbie said everyone has their own opinion on what works and what they like.



Looking to add 65 to 100 pounds rock. NOT SURE IF DRY ROCK OR LIVE ROCK IS BETTER? WHAT TYPE? Personally I would go with a 50lb box of dry rock from either Bulk Reef Supply or MarcoRocks and add a couple pieces of established live rock from your LFS or another reefer


I have a return pump its only rated at about 320 GPM. CORRECT PUMP WOULD BE 10 TO 15 TIMES THE SIZE OF THE TANK CORRECT? SO 650 TO 1000 GPH? There again are different opinions here I would say your return pump should only be 5-10 times the tank volume and the rest of your flow should come from powerheads. This 5-10X however must be measured after head loss meaning a 700gph rated pump might only put out 4-500 gph having to pump the water the 4-5 feet vertical from your sump to the top of your display. You will need to check out the manufaturers flow rate chart to find the flow rates at certain head pressure. Also keep in mind that your reef ready tanks drain pipe is a 1" pvc and bulkhead which is only rated to drain about 600gph and i wouldnt push that limit because in time the inside diameter of your drain pipe gets smaller due to gunk coating the inside of the pipe. Furthermore if you ever get a critter(snail crab fish etc) stuck in your overflow or drain pipe youll have less of a chance of a flood if your not pushing your drain to its max.

Still need powerheads. ARE KORALLIA 4's GOOD? WOULD 2 WORK or IS 3 BETTER? IF BUYING USED $25 A HEAD A GOOD PRICE TO PAY? Koralias are not the greatest but not the worst out there. I dont mind used ones in good shape but the Koralia 1,2,3,4etc are a very old model perhaps 3 or 4 years old. If you do go Koralia I would look for the newer Evolution models 2 of the 1050(now 1100) or the 1400(now 1500) would work well for you. Theres also Tunze same principle as a Koralia but much much better quality two of the 6045's would be sufficient for you. And then theres ecotech marine's vortech pumps they are the best out there the motor is on the outside of the tank no power cord in your tank and they take up less space inside your tank. Not to mention the random flow the different modes can provide. Two MP10wes would work well and communicate wirelessly with each other.

Still need live sand. MINIMUM 65 POUNDS? SUGAR GRADE IS THE FINEST? IS THE FINEST THE BEST? you dont need sand persay but if you do want sand then i would not go with very fine sand. it blows all over the tank and easily becomes compacted i would recommend Caribsea Special Grade Reef Sand. Dont pay for live sand. The 40lb bag of the dry sand is $35 get two i think youll be good to go.


Still need heater, don't now much about type size or brands. ONE IN TANK AND ONE IN SUMP? HOW MANY WATTS AND BRANDS?You dont need a heater in the tank and sump. If you put one properly sized heater in your sump and proved enough flow from sump to display it will effectively heat all of the water. I am partial to EheimJager heaters because they are rated for the most gallons per watt used. One 200w EheimJager would be great for you. I also agree that you should consider a reef controller of some type but at the very least get a temperature controller. Heaters almost always fail in the on position and can easily drive your tank up into the 90degrees infact i have a brand new heater controller i can sell you if youre interested pm me about it

Other things to consider are an Auto Top Off system, Lighting, dosing system, and where you will be getting your purified water.

A lot of the choices in equipment you make depend on what kind of creatures youd like to keep sometimes its easier to figure out what kind of reef tank you want and then get equipment based off of that.

Keep up with the questions thats one of the best things you can do is read research and ask a ton of questions.
 
The wp40 is cheaper and probably better than both those. But it might be a little strong for a 65.


Martini and Rossi Asti Spumante
 
Im not going with both sets its one or the another. if i was gonna get a mp40 it would have to me used. I would love to get 2 used mp10's for like less then 250
 
Buying my dry rock from jeff this weekend only time he could meet, getting 50 pounds. After that heading to my lfs and getting saltmix ro water, going to start cure and tank cycle. From what ive seen on here and the net i dip rock in ro water and shake it, then add sand, water, rock to tank, And let it cycle.

TANK WILL HAVE NO LIGHTING OR POWERHEADS AT THIS TIME, JUST DRY ROCK, SAND, WATER, RETURN PUMP, AND HEATER SET TO KEEP TANK AT 78 TO 80 DEGREES. SOUND RIGHT?
 
Yah i guess. I dont have a ro/di unit. I can get saltmix ro water for 80 cents a gallon. Open to ideas, i have tank filled with tap water for a month testing for leaks and checking heater temp level.
 
Given that the first full will probably run you $60+ and your first couple months of topoff and WC water will run you maybe another $30, you're more tan halfway to a RO/DI. You might as well wait to fill and get a unit...anything under 20-30G is probably a toss up, but cost will just add up.
 
jayjigga said:
Given that the first full will probably run you $60+ and your first couple months of topoff and WC water will run you maybe another $30, you're more tan halfway to a RO/DI. You might as well wait to fill and get a unit...anything under 20-30G is probably a toss up, but cost will just add up.
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Yah ive been looking into them cause along with with the 65 gallon i have a 29 gallon up and running, i was looking into them from brs 5 stage 75 gpd
 
Picked up my dry rock from Jeff today about 70 pounds, and about 80 pounds of sand may get 40 more pounds of sand. Gonna dip rocks in RO water first thing in the morning, gonna use 3 buckets dip should get rock really clean. Gonna move 29 gallon and gonna get 65 gallon set up to cycle.
 
65 gallon up and cycling. 70 gallons water, 70 pounds dry rock, 80 pounds dry sand, skimmer running, heater running. Seems to be a little white foam on top, why?
 
That happens its from the dry sand it will slowly dissapate if you have decent flow.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
 
Lighting Getting IT2040, One for now prob grab a 2nd next gb anf gonna get a smartwave controller and 2 koralia 1400/1500 Pumps. Startiing to look for a CUC, not to sure i what to put together in my 29 gallon i have some blue hermits but man there killers if a snail turns over and im not home to filp it its a gonner, not looking to put them in my 65 gallon been looking at ipsf.com any ideas on what to get?
 
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