75gal planted lets rock

Ok im getting off my butt and setting this bad boy up. I have decided that I do not want it to be a reef tank but more of a sandy flats type set up. I plan on having a DSB Little to no live rock. I dont want to have to do expensive lighting or anything because frankly I dont have the money. I need your expert advice on just about everything from lighting to substrate. I plan on doing maybe seagrass and some Macro's. I want to buy some actual LIVE sand. What kind of substrate would I need? I was thinking the bottom layer being playsand, then maybe the "live" sand in a bag then actual sand from the ocean with all the critters. Would I need some kind of mud for the grasses? Would like 20lbs of LR be enough if I had say a 6" deep sand bed? I would think all the algaes and plants would help with nutrient export. Also what kind of lighting would be adequate?

I think this would be a great looking tank.....As far as sand I would go with fine see if you can find Newcastle play sand. It's basically the same thing as Carib-sea, play sand has been used with out issues in the past so you could use it to fill at the bottom so you don't need as much live sand or other sand.....As far as mud I don't think you would need that for Turtle Grass or macro. 20lbs could be enough but the fish will need somewhere to hide, so not sure if it would be enough guess it would depend on size of the rocks that make up the 20lbs.

As far as lighting I would do a simple garage stripe light with some of the cheaper NO bulbs. I had this same set-up on my first reef tank and grew all kinds of corals. There are 2 bulb and 4 bulb versions I think the 4 bulb or 2x 2bulb would be fine with 10k, 50/50 with an actinic would be enough for the macro and grasses grow....

Ok sounds good. What are NO bulbs?

NO bulbs are Normal Output.

Most sea grass needs strong light. After all it grown in shallow flats. Just get all dead sand and ill send you some sand from the sand swap. Shipping is only $5. This sand has a bunch of peoples sand in it and some sand right off the reefs of Hawaii.

The crap you buy at the store might have been sitting on the shelf for many months and there is practically nothing live in it anymore. Bagged live sand from the LFS is one of the biggest ripoffs out there.

Yea I know....I definatly want to get some actual live sand too. MY step dad got a bunch when he set up his reef tank and it was awesome. All kinds of interesting critters. Ill do the sand swap thing too. How big of a sump do you think I would need? I have a 20gal tank but I think that would be too small.

I think a 20g would be fine as long as you leave enough room for water when the power gos out.

Yea I think I would make it deep enough for the skimmer and thats about it. I plan on doing a refugium in there though since EVERY fish I plan on stocking will consume pods.

I love you guys. So much more helpfull than all my other forums.

True the do grow in shallows but they also grow in waters much deeper, it all depends on how far the lights are from the top of the DSB. the way I suggested would be the cheapest but may not be the most efficient as far as total par. If you have VHO ballast that would be even better like an Icecap 660 which can run 4x 110w bulbs would be even better and cheaper as far as a new T-5 set up.

You could also check out Hellolights.com and get one of their retrofits in a 4 bulb for around $200. I got the T-5 2 bulb retrofit from them and it is quality. If you have a electrical supply company in your town you can even go buy a ballast from them for even cheaper then wire it yourself and buy bulbs....I did that on the last tank I had. Depends on how much you want to spend, I usually go with the idea of get a bit more then you need this way you don't have to spend money to upgrade at a later time because what you got in the first place wasn't able to do what you wanted.....
Here is a great article on sea-grass:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-04/sl/index.php

I might be able to get ahold of a 250watt halide. I could put that over the seagrass half and just t5 or vho over the sand bed portion.

I tried growing turtle grass in my tank, but was completely unsuccessful. Not sure what went wrong, I read all the articles on growing it I could find. Macro algae grew well though. I think the grasses are kind of picky. It may take a few tries before any actually takes root.

Thats what i tried also spiny. I had it in a 6" deep tank with lots of flow and two 150 watt MH over it and it just melted away. Maybe i had to much light? I dont know. The bulbs were 10k and about 15" or so above the water.

Ill probably stay away from turtle grass. Maybe just some maidens hair, turtle moss or what ever it was called. Red kelp and galercia (sp)

Borrowed my brothers saws. Starting on the stand tomorrow. Wish me luck on the wood working..lol.

I think macroalgae would be much less frustrating than the vascular plants, but I wish I knew why they're so hard to keep.

It sounds like a fun project D3, keep up updated with pic's.

For help with marine plants you might want to contact Sarah Lardizabal http://www.seanursery.com/ She knows her **** about seagrass. She was in our local club but i think she is in Florida now.

Originally Posted by D3monic

Borrowed my brothers saws. Starting on the stand tomorrow. Wish me luck on the wood working..lol.

Good luck D! please post the pics of your progress on this project

Will do. Im heading to Homedopot now. Im still trying to plan on how im going to do the finish work.

you should consult with chris...he's an expert carpenter...