Hi, I have a good amount of freshwater experience and limited saltwater experience. I had a bunch of freshwater tanks a few years back in middle school and one small 29 gallon reef tank that was somewhat successful. I've been out of the hobby for a few years now and just got a 180 gallon tank with stand of Cregslist for 200 dollars that I resealed, and he also threw in a 54 gallon bowfront that I sold for 50 bucks. I also got a 65 gallon 36x18x25 tank new at PetSmart for Christmas with stand it only cost 150 new(I really wanted a 120 4x2x2 but my dad didn't want another big tank in the house). So far I have a 300 watt hydor heater for the 65 gallon SW, a hydor slim skim protein skimmer rated for up to 65 gallons which was the cheapest skimmer I found with decent reviews (I know it's better to get more than the rating but it was cheap and I was in a budget and I can always add a second one later on). For lighting I went with 2 165 watt eBay LEDs that are supposedly geat for growing coral. I have no filter (I am hoping the live rock will be enough) and no sump. Could I get away with no filter or sump and just live rock? I heard filters in reef tanks are nitrate factorys and I don't want to drill my tank and the tank is up against a wall near a doorway and a hob sump thing would make the tank stick out too much. I could possibly get a canister filter if it's absolutely necessary for a healthy reef tank. I'm picking up 50 lbs of live rock and 40 or so lbs of sand on Monday for 50 Buck's if everything goes as planned. He sys the rock is still live and in a bucket but I may end up buying a peice of good live rock at my lfs to seed the rest of the live rock just in case the beneficial bacteria died while his rock was in the buckets. So after I get live rock how long do I have to wait to get fish? I know with fw you have to let the tank cycle first but I was hoping adding live rock would jump start the cycle. Also when I add fish I'm probably going to get a clownfish or 2 first beacause I would think they would be a more hardy SW fish and there cheap. For the rest of the stock I was thinking some type of small wrasse, a small tang(I know most tangs get far too large for a 65 gallon tank but I was thinking maybe a toimini tang which gets much smaller than most tangs would work) I'm undecided on getting a dwarf angel beacause I know they can eat coral and getting one is a gambel but they do look pretty cool. Not sure yet what I'm doing for the rest of the stock yet and I'm open to suggestions. So would my tank work with no filter, and would a small tang be OK??? And if you have any advice for my tank I'm open to suggestions/information that might be useful.
65 gallon reef setup no sump or filter
- Thread starter Fishguy679
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TL
R: On a 65 I would definitely use a sump. The live rock is 80% of your filtration, but the refugium and skimmer are very important components of a uccessful reef tank. A sump is by far the best way to get a large refugium and skimmer. They also let you hide all your equipment. Drilling the display is best. I used an internal overflow box that gets siliconed over the bulkhead and this looks amazing.
Canisters and HOBs are the worst thing you can ever do to a reef tank.
No tangs.
Clownfish go in last because they are so aggressive.
Good luck on the lights. If they work, awesome, but if they don't be ready to upgrade. I tried to do cheaper LEDs, but they just wouldn't cut it. I ended up getting a 4' 6-bulb T5HO Tek Light for my 75 and am very glad I did.
R: On a 65 I would definitely use a sump. The live rock is 80% of your filtration, but the refugium and skimmer are very important components of a uccessful reef tank. A sump is by far the best way to get a large refugium and skimmer. They also let you hide all your equipment. Drilling the display is best. I used an internal overflow box that gets siliconed over the bulkhead and this looks amazing. Canisters and HOBs are the worst thing you can ever do to a reef tank.
No tangs.
Clownfish go in last because they are so aggressive.
Good luck on the lights. If they work, awesome, but if they don't be ready to upgrade. I tried to do cheaper LEDs, but they just wouldn't cut it. I ended up getting a 4' 6-bulb T5HO Tek Light for my 75 and am very glad I did.
I really hope the lights work out I got them for very cheap. And instead of a sump, could I just fill a canister with live rock/bio media? I really don't want to drill my tank. And for the clownfish how many is a reg of number with them? Like is getting more than one a bad idea in a tank this size?TL
Canisters and HOBs are the worst thing you can ever do to a reef tank.
No tangs.
Clownfish go in last because they are so aggressive.
Good luck on the lights. If they work, awesome, but if they don't be ready to upgrade. I tried to do cheaper LEDs, but they just wouldn't cut it. I ended up getting a 4' 6-bulb T5HO Tek Light for my 75 and am very glad I did.
NO. A Canister is the worst filter you could ever even think of using for a saltwater tank. HOBs are almost as bad. Both trap tons of junk which then rots and ruins your water quality. Don't even think of using a canister. Using HOBs and canisters is the beginning of a story that ends with 'and I could just never get the tank to run properly so I tore it down. Saltwater is hard.'. It is only hard when you make it harder on yourself. They actually run easier than freshwater if you set them up properly and do the right maintenance along the way. They are more complete and balanced.
Drilling is not nearly as bad as you would think. Get a diamond drill, spray with water, go nice and slow. There are good YouTube videos showing how easy it is. If you really can't bring yourself to drilling then use an Eshopps overflow box.
Two clownfish is fine, they will pair off.
Drilling is not nearly as bad as you would think. Get a diamond drill, spray with water, go nice and slow. There are good YouTube videos showing how easy it is. If you really can't bring yourself to drilling then use an Eshopps overflow box.
Two clownfish is fine, they will pair off.