i need 2 know

[willie]

this is my first salt water tank i need a few questions answerd for my 75 gal tank?

how many pounds of live sand?

how many pounds of live rock?

all 2 gather how much water follow from power heads?

do u think t5 lights good enough at 425 watts?

i have a mag 5 going 2 my skimmer and a mag 7 for my return.

[Brian Ward]

this is my first salt water tank i need a few questions answerd for my 75 gal tank?

how many pounds of live sand?

how many pounds of live rock?

all 2 gather how much water follow from power heads?

do u think t5 lights good enough at 425 watts?

i have a mag 5 going 2 my skimmer and a mag 7 for my return.

 

 

 

Rule of thumb in 1.5lbs/gal of live rock - can be less if you have very porous rock, more if you have very dense rock.

Live sand is however deep you want your sand bed - 5"+ if you are running a DSB, less if you are doing it primarily for looks.

The power heads question is about flow? this depends on what you plan to keep. total flow can range anywhere from 10x/hr to 50x/hr

lighting again depends on what you want to keep. watts isn't the best measure because it doesn't translate to intensity - you'll definitely be fine for softies and lps, probably sps but we'd need more details

 

pumps sound like they're fine - you may be feeding too much water to the skimmer but without details its hard to say.

[steveoutlaw]

As Brian said, live sand is a personal preference. There are some who run bare bottom tanks (no sand at all) and those that run a DSB 4" plus.

 

Live rock - I go with the 1# per gallon rule, but I like more of an open look. Again, this is personal preference as to what look you like. I would recommend starting out with 75# and seeing how you like it. You can always add more or sell any excess you have.

 

Flow - again, Brian hit it on the head.....SPS require mega flow while softies and LPS don't require as much, and a fish only tank requires minimal flow.

 

Lighting - T5 lighting can be good and it can be not so good. It all depends on the fixture. ATI, TEK and Geissman all make really good fixtures that will allow you to keep anything you want. There are also some more economical brands out there.....but you won't get as good of a light quality with these.

 

Pumps - return pump sounds fine. Can't comment on the skimmer pump because I don't know what type of skimmer you have and what pump it calls for.

 

Good luck!

[jamal]

the skimmer pump is slightly undersized but it is rated for 300 gals. the pump suggests a mag 7 but he is going to use a mag 5. he mentioned that he wanted to have a mixed reef with sps and an anemone. so reasonably high flow is appropriate.