Hired to make a 70 gallon SW tank....

[Lycanthropic]

Okay so It wasnt really hired. My dad offered me up to do this tank for him. Im more of a brackie, but I do know the odd thing about SW. He wants a breakdown of cost.

What do I need to start with?
The tank is currently FW. All substrate, air pumps, fish and whatever else is going.
Its on this little ledge between a kitchen and living room so unfortunately I do not think a sump is a possibility. If it can be done it will be.
I was thinking a good canister would do it. Maybe a Rena xp3/4, but Ive only ever used them on fresh and brackish.

I know I would need an RO/DI unit as well. I was thinking about 50 gallons/day would be acceptable in case of an emergency w/c needing to go on.

For substrate how should I go? As well I think I should mention this tank has no overflow and I dont think it will be possible for me to make one in the tank. It is not drilled either.

HELP! I know the rule that corals etc cannot be put in for about a year or so due to the ecosystem or something or other. All fish would be bought from the same store and would be QT'd and freshwater dipped. I was told the fish just need to "look cool"... go figure!

I need the pricing in a few days.... no expense will be spared apparently so go buck wild!

 

[hmotorsol]

could we get a picture of the current setup to show us what we are looking at?

 

[Lycanthropic]

I would say yes, but my father is a very private person and does not like photos of his home circulating around the internet for various reasons. May I ask why you would like a photo? I dont understand

 

[customdrum]

if you want the best help go over to www.reefcentral.com

never heard about 1 year before corals but peole say alot of things lol.

you will need a skimmer,powerheads and a sump would be a must on a larger tank like that.

live sand, sand or argonite for substrate, and id say easily around 50lbs or more of rock if you want to do a reef tank. you can use live rock and live sand to start and it will cycle pretty fast.


sw is not cheap, you can easily put 400-600.00 in a 70g tank with the equipment and setup.

 

[Brian Bivens]

I think the picture is requested specifically because you talked about limitations due to the ledge etc. people in this trade are particularly crafty at coming up with ideas to get around physical limitations.

The picture would help people see the shape of your tank, the equiptment, the space below etc.

Also, I have a SW tank that has only been up and running for 2 months, and I have 7 coral frags that are all doing very well. It's more important to worry about water quality over time the tank has been established.

 

[Brian Bivens]

sw is not cheap, you can easily put 400-600.00 in a 70g tank with the equipment and setup.

LOL before fish and corals!

 

[Lycanthropic]

I really wish I could take a picture, believe me! I made this in paint.
Its literally just a wall with a little cubby. on the one side facing the living room it is just straight wall. On the ther side there are a bunch of spaces to put things... which my dad has packed full of random useless stuff.
I am expecting to estimate out around $2-3 grad, and my dad is expecting the price. as I said, price is not an issue.

 

[Lycanthropic]

blah. here is the pic

 

[Amphiprion]

if you want the best help go over to www.reefcentral.com

never heard about 1 year before corals but peole say alot of things lol.

you will need a skimmer,powerheads and a sump would be a must on a larger tank like that.

live sand, sand or argonite for substrate, and id say easily around 50lbs or more of rock if you want to do a reef tank. you can use live rock and live sand to start and it will cycle pretty fast.


sw is not cheap, you can easily put 400-600.00 in a 70g tank with the equipment and setup.

Believe it or not, there is a wealth of information here. There are various reasons as to why (I won't enumerate them), but in many (if not most) cases, I prefer this site over RC.

In any case, those things aren't necessarily true, as I've seen some incredible sumpless setups and they were all on the larger side. Equipment selection can make a huge difference on such tanks, however. I'd say that price estimate for a 70g is fairly conservative. In fact, unless much of it is used (and the persons asking are very generous), that is the starting point, especially if higher end equipment is used. Getting quality equipment can and often will save headaches in the future.

To make any better assessments, we are going to have to know more about the tank, plans for the tank, which inhabitants, what kinds of coral, etc. If you can't provide that, my recommendation is to hold off and investigate sw aquaria and reef aquaria more in-depth. I would not set up a tank until you are more familiar with what you want. It could potentially end up being a nightmare/money pit otherwise.

 

[greech]

Can't even begin to give you any ideas without more info about the tank you are converting and what you want to keep. Without answering the later your cost estimate will either be higher than it needs to be (hard to do in this hobby) or woefully short. No pics necessary but...

1. What size tank (gallons and dimensions)
2. Any ideas on what he wants to keep in the tank (all SW fish look cool). Does he want fish only or a reef tank? Does he want stoney corals or softies?

Personally I would avoid a canister filter and if you get one, I would recommend removing the stock media. You can make the tank simple (don't confuse simple with cheap). Live rock with be your form of bio filtration (usually recommend 1 lb per gallon but you can certainly do less). Your bioload (# of fish) will determine how much LR you need. Live sand or dry sand that is seeded with LR will also provide some bio as well. Aside from that you could use a simple HOB filter with quality carbon such as Chemipure and some filter floss that you can change out frequently. The HOB could also be turned into a refugium to export nutrients (or you could have 2 HOBs for mechanical filtration and a refugium). Protein skimmers can also be highly beneficial, especially when dealing with larger/predatory fish and when trying to keep high demand corals such as some SPS.

Lighting can be done with power compacts, T5HO or halides. PCs have limitations. Quality T5HOs with good refelctors can grow just about anything and halides of course have few limitations but generate heat. The types of corals you want to keep and the dimensions of the tank are pretty key here. Fish only with live rock (FOWLR) tanks don't require high lighting at all but you would probably want them to appecaite the colors on the fish anyway.