setting up my first salt 75 gallon ?

[HillBillyAL]

Just got a used 75 gallon undrilled tank. Started looking at equipment hob skimmer, heater, test kit. I have a fluval 305 for some carbon maybe gfo and a 4 bulb t5 fixture. Planning on keeping simple corals and pair of clowns and some small fish that won't outgrow my tank. Any advice on running without a sump ? I'd like some constructive feed back good or bad Thanks AL

[GrampaDon]

http://www.marinedepot.com/AquaMaxx_...PSHONW-vi.html http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/reef-o...n-skimmer.html

Advice is drill and use a sump. [wont regret it]

If not ,then use a good quality skimmer.

[Stevenliu9]

I too recommend use of sump, better areation and flow aside you can hide many of your ugly equipments like skimmers, heaters, reactors, etc in the sump

[Sapelo]

Drill it!

[Pigpen17]

I run a 56g without a sump, and it's working out well. I am not using a ton of equipment though, and I am starting to look at some gear that may present some problems. I want to add an auto top off, but there really aren't any good options for a tank with a rim like mine. I can see where having a sump would be a plus here. As well, I am getting a GFO reactor in the mail Tuesday, and I am debating mounting it in the stand or running it HOB. Again, It’s just more gear in the tank, so I can get away with it now, but the tank is starting to have quite a bit of stuff on it. Plus I would love to get my heater out of the tank.

I guess I’m saying that you don’t have to have a sump if you want to keep your tank lean and mean. I don’t use one and have a very healthy system, but I would imagine that they are kind of awesome if you are going to run a bunch of gear.

[FlyfisherDan]

be sure to have an auto top off to keep water level consistent with a hang on back skimmer. I have a Reef Octopus bh1000 and it works awesome as long as level stays consistent, otherwise you will have a layer of scum develop on the surface. I will be moving all into a 65g with sump this week.

[DragRacinGramps]

Like others have said if you can do a sump, do it. But for some of us it just isn't practical, it can be done without a sump and done very well too. Search the forum there are great threads on sump less systems. I run my 75g without a sump. The biggest challenge I see is keeping the tank visually appealing by not being able to see a ton of equipment that a sump makes so easy to hide. I run 6 power heads in mine 4 for circulation, 1 for 2 reactors (GFO, and GAC), and one for a UV sterilizer. I also run a Eshopps PSK 100 HOB skimmer, along with a 200 watt heater. Here's a shot of the tank (sorry about the lousy pic quality, I'm still trying to figure out how to take good pics of the system) you decide if the sump will make your tank more appealing visually.

[HillBillyAL]

I knew you all would say that lol. I'll check and see if it's tempered if it's not I'm going to look into drilling it. What's a good video on where to drill and how to plumb it ? If it's tempered on the bottom and not on the sides. Can I drill the side of the aquarium ?

[RocketEngineer]

Yes, it is much easier to do and by doing so you don't take up space on the bottom of the tank. Use a BeanAnimal Overflow with the coast to coast box.

Drilling Holes in Glass

Good luck.