shiznick29
Membership Expired
Hello everyone. Let me start off by saying that I am very excited to be back. I believe if I'm not mistaking that I was on DFWMas back in 2013, 2014. Something like that lol. I ran into a couple who donated a 75 gallon tank To me with stand and lights and I completely put the tank together Plumbing in all Built My Own 30 gallon sump but then personal reasons I had to get rid of the setup and never continued in the hobby until now. So what I have now is that I bought a stand and tank which I believe is 75 gallons from somebody here local in Granbury and it's been almost a year since I'm finally being able to work on the tank. Information on the tank is the tank is not Reef ready the stand was in bad shape which I sanded, Staind and now I'm putting a urethane coat on it. I just ordered from BRS 1" inch hole saw Diamond Drill Bit 3/4" inch Diamond coated drill bit I also ordered a 1-inch bulkhead a three-quarter inch bulkhead both of which are thread thread and I ordered a three-quarter inch bulkhead that is a slip thread for my reeflo blowhole external return pump. I bought this pump several years back when I was setting up my old tank and I've never even registered it and I've never even used it so it's been brand new sitting in my closet for three four years. I bought two 125-watt Jager hearters A Reef Octopus classic 150 skimmer with a 6 inch cup. I have an acrylic sump that I believe is close to 30 gallons but the sump was originally designed to be a wet dry filter but I'm going to convert it to the return which I'm going to fill with live rock which travels over into the skimming section then travels into the return section. I plan on incorporating a 4-Piece manifold in the return line for future upgrades. I have been refreshing myself on all the knowledge that I gained previously years ago and I want somebody to correct myself if I'm wrong but I believe with a 1 inch drain I will be looking at 600 gallons per hour and I need to match that with the return. I believe with the return being three quarter inch add the elbows add the head height of 4 foot and add gate valves and with the manifold I should be able to incorporate 600 gallons per hour return. I am still having confusion or a stall on what I should do weather if I should install a dorso by drilling the bottom of my tank whether I should drill the back of my tank and install a Herbie overflow or a bean animal overflow. I was hoping that somebody could help me with suggestions tips experience whatever they may have to offer to me that can help me pick the better solution for my tank. The lights that I chose to put on this tank are going to be Aruba Sun V Series T5 HO Fluorescent RetroFit - Hamilton at 48 inches along with 54 watt bulbs. I also seen a dimmable retrofit that BRS sell but I would have to install the T5 caps to the wiring and then the wiring to the ballast. If anybody has any suggestions when it comes to lighting please let me know LEDs are way too expensive though I thought about running the 4 T5 and getting a very small Kessil A360W-E Tuna Blue LED Aquarium Light - Wide Angle to go in between the T5 in the middle of the hood fixture that way the aquarium will have some LEDs. Again these are my plans this is where I'm at it is all debatable it is all up for discussion I am on a budget and I am looking for the best route that will provide positive results for first time reefkeeper. I want to thank everybody in advance for being generous on this site for providing with a vast amount of knowledge and for being eager to help and to explain things so that other people can understand.