Little bit about the aquatic history... I started freshwater keeping about 2 years ago. We have a 75gallon tank with some CA/SA mixtures. Over the summer we left and made the mistake of letting the wrong person care for our pets. In short, I lost a great deal of moneys worth of plants and fish and the tank itself has been barely hanging on since then. I brought it back form the brink of total disaster but it's still pretty bad even 4 months later. I've made the decision to rehome my current fish species to one of the local fish dealers.
To the subject of the post, I have been lurking around these forums for quite awhile now trying to get a better understanding of things. I understand the initial start up cost of SW hobby is quite expensive but much easier maintained over time. I'm very interested in creating a small reef in the home for my 75gallon. I understand the best thing to do would be to create a sump? I have a 29gallon I could use to do this (i think) but it has been out in the back this winter so I'd have to make sure it can still hold water ok. That would be about 100 gallons of water int eh system after water displacement from rocks/sand in the tank (Im estimating here). My current light system is likely going to be too low, which bums me out. It's a 48" T5HO dual light fixture made by hagen. I understand canister filters are bad mojo for the SW hobby? I have an eheim pro but as I understand it's going to do me little good here. Biggest things I can see right now are a possible upgrade on lights, a skimmer, sump(which will also need a pump) and some powerheads as well as some live sand and live rock.
Does this cover the basics? am I missing something? Whats the best bang for buck items I can get to start this setup? I've been reading this site for weeks but it's a lot to take in.
Also, I live in Pensacola, Florida where we have some of the whitest beaches. Would bringing in sand off the gulf be possible or not a good idea?
To the subject of the post, I have been lurking around these forums for quite awhile now trying to get a better understanding of things. I understand the initial start up cost of SW hobby is quite expensive but much easier maintained over time. I'm very interested in creating a small reef in the home for my 75gallon. I understand the best thing to do would be to create a sump? I have a 29gallon I could use to do this (i think) but it has been out in the back this winter so I'd have to make sure it can still hold water ok. That would be about 100 gallons of water int eh system after water displacement from rocks/sand in the tank (Im estimating here). My current light system is likely going to be too low, which bums me out. It's a 48" T5HO dual light fixture made by hagen. I understand canister filters are bad mojo for the SW hobby? I have an eheim pro but as I understand it's going to do me little good here. Biggest things I can see right now are a possible upgrade on lights, a skimmer, sump(which will also need a pump) and some powerheads as well as some live sand and live rock.
Does this cover the basics? am I missing something? Whats the best bang for buck items I can get to start this setup? I've been reading this site for weeks but it's a lot to take in.
Also, I live in Pensacola, Florida where we have some of the whitest beaches. Would bringing in sand off the gulf be possible or not a good idea?
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