[jsgates]

This will be my first reef tank. Had a 30 ga saltwater fish only tank about 10 years ago. My brand new Oceanic 72 ga bowfront (non-drilled) is coming in Wed. and I'm ready to get some water cycling through it. I am still confused on what's needed for filtration in a reef tank. I plan to keep corals, anemones, live rock, fish, and lots of little sea critters on the bottom. It's looking like I will be getting protein skimmer, but don't want to spend a ton of money. The tank already cost a lot (don't mind upgrading the skimmer down the road). What other equipment should I look into for this tank? Do I need a skimmer and powerheads? Skimmer & wavemaker? I am really looking for a cost effective solution to get started up, but don't want to buy crap. Can anyone recommend a good skimmer for this size tank that won't break the bank? Also do I need powerheads if I buy a wavemaker? Just trying to get this planned out well in advance. Any suggestions are extremely appreciated.

[Tonz of fun]

I would do this skimmer. AquaC Remora Pro Protein Skimmer With Mag-Drive 3 Pump (Saltwater Aquarium Supplies > Protein Skimmers > Hang On > Spray Injection )
A wave maker needs powerheads to operate. The wavemaker is a controller that alternates power between powerheads giving your tank a wave motion. I would just do 2 of these powerheads. set up tunze style. Seio M1100 Super Flow Pump (Saltwater Aquarium Supplies > Powerheads > Adjustable Flowrate Pumps )
What are you planning on doing for filtration? Lots of LR I hope!

[jsgates]

Ok, thanks for the suggestions. Doing lots of live rock definately. What else should I do for filtrtation? I thought the Protein skimmer would take care of most of that with Live Rock and powerheads? I want to set this up right to begin with. Any thing else I should take into account? Thanks again for helping me get this started up. I really excited about doing a reef tank. More exciting than just fish!

[Tonz of fun]

Dont get too excited. I mean its good but dont turn that excitment into a hurry. It takes time I learned the hard way. This is were some of us get our LR. Its uber cheap. Its great stuff. eBay Seller: mrmarine: Pet Supplies, Home Garden items on eBay.com if you buy 100lbs you should be in good shape. He will do 100lbs for 260 shipped. tell him RB or gmvehar sent you...

[jsgates]

Cool! Looks like I will be doing 100 lbs of Live Rock when the time comes. I have also read the 3 part guide to setting up a reef tank in it's entireity before making this post. Sounds like 2 powerheads and a protein skimmer is all that I will need to get the water flowing(other than salt). Also, I have read alot about live sand, but haven't really seen any live sand availble that is bright white. I want to have a really fine bright white sand for my substrate. What do you guys recommend? Looks like this stuff comes in 20 lb. bags for about $26 or so. About how many lbs of substrate will I need for a 72 ga. tank, once I get the live rock in there? Thanks for any info.........remember I'm not rushing into anything here. Just planning to find out about what I'm going to need for the rest of the startup cost.

[FINDING_NEMO]

if u want a deep sand bed you'll need about 150lb, if u want regular just get 2 40lb bags of sand and u should be good

[gimmito]

Just did a 75 gal myself. I used a 1/2" pvc frame to place the live rock on. It will cut down on the amount of rock you will need and give you some interesting caves and overhangs. I did a 2-3" aragonite sand bed (7- 20 lb. bags). I got it at 20 bucks per bag since I bought so many.

[FINDING_NEMO]

is hard to do fine sand with strong water movements as u'll have a lot of sand storms, wouldnt recommended it......... also for a reef tank you want to do a deep sand bed as it'll help keep ur nutrients down

[wesley6610]

Originally Posted by jsgates

Cool! Looks like I will be doing 100 lbs of Live Rock when the time comes. I have also read the 3 part guide to setting up a reef tank in it's entireity before making this post. Sounds like 2 powerheads and a protein skimmer is all that I will need to get the water flowing(other than salt). Also, I have read alot about live sand, but haven't really seen any live sand availble that is bright white. I want to have a really fine bright white sand for my substrate. What do you guys recommend? Looks like this stuff comes in 20 lb. bags for about $26 or so. About how many lbs of substrate will I need for a 72 ga. tank, once I get the live rock in there? Thanks for any info.........remember I'm not rushing into anything here. Just planning to find out about what I'm going to need for the rest of the startup cost.

The only thing about Tonz suggestion of items that I would omit would be the wavemaker. After purchasing mines about a year ago, I actually get better coral growth and lack of dead spots with constant gentle flow that I in turn make semi-turbulent by aiming them against each other from time to time or re-enforcing flow in a particular direction.