StringerBell wrote:

Now, 20 years later my wife gave me a great 65 gallon tank and wants it to
be a Marine tank like the old days.

I would recommend that you pick up a copy of "The Conscientious Marine
Aquarist", by Robert Fenner. Here's a short synopsis of the first section.

There are three basic types of marine tanks these days; fish-only, fish and live
rock, and reef. There are variants of all of these. You had a FO tanks in the
old days, and you can do that again. The old filter designs still work like they
did in the 80s.

With FOWLR tanks, part of the biological filtration function is handled by live
rock and additional circulation in the main tank. One disadvantage is that you
cannot treat the main tank for most diseases without harming your main filter
(the live rock). One advantage is that the rock looks more natural to most
people and brings in lots of interesting critters that you don't see in FO tanks.

Reef tanks attempt to recreate part of the coral reef inside the home. The
equipment is very different from the stuff you used in the 80s. As you can see
from the title of this group, many of the posters here have these tanks.

If you and your wife are really interested in recreating what you had in the
80s, go for that. Or go one better (IMO) and try the FOWLR method. Reef is going
to be a big learning experience and wallet drain.

What I would do in your shoes is to buy an Eheim 2224 wet/dry filter, a good
protein skimmer, crushed coral substrate, about 30 pounds of cured live rock, a
powerhead or two to circulate the water around the rock, basic fluorescent
lighting, and whatever dead coral decorations you like. That will make a decent
FOWLR tank.

Undergravel filters still work as well (and as poorly) as they did back then; a
wet/dry is much better.

George Patterson
Coffee is only a way of stealing time that should by rights belong to
your slightly older self.