4 1/2 Months running, What now?

ReefFreek917 · 05/27/2008, 03:08 PM

I have had my 75 up and running for going on 5 months now. Here is what I have:

75lbs of LR

50lbs LS + 20lbs in 10gal refugium

1 Lawnmower blenny
1 Black & White damsel
1 Yellow tail damesl

I have tons of tiny snails on the walls of my display and lots of pods.
I plan on adding 50 more lbs of LR.

I have a 20gal sump with a kick *** skimmer and a Phosban reactor as well. I ahev 600 bio balls in the sump as well. I have the sump sectioned off with acrylic sheets as to create a micro bubble trap and to section off the bio balls and the skimmer. I have a 65k CF light on the refugium and am adding Chaeto and LR to it next week. I have 2 Koralia 4's and 2 Penguin 1140's in the display tank. I have a Coralife light with 2 10,000 daylight bulbs and 2 65k actinic bulbs. My readings are:

PH= 8.1
Nitrite=0
Nitrate=0
Phosphates=0
salinity= 1.025

I know I need to add a cleaner pack of snails and crabs and every online store has different amounts of cleaner crews. Suggestions and what to add would be nice!

I plant to start adding coral soon but wanted some more suggestions on what would be the next steps with my tank. I want to add a maroon clown and 2 purple tangs.

I am also having a hard time uploading pics as it says the file size is to large. Give me time and there will be some up.

Darth Wader · 05/27/2008, 03:38 PM

Well if I were you I would start with adding the rock. That could possibly start a smaller cycle so I would add like 5lb of rock at first, test all your levels and see if they spike at all. If they dont try maybe adding in like 10lbs and just keep testing your levels till you have all rock you want in the tank (make sure to wait a few days before adding more pieces to make sure your levels are stable).
After you have added all the rock I would add some more snails. I would recommend astrea or margarita snails, and if you have a sand bed then maybe some nassarius or cerith snails too.
Then when the rock is all in there and you have all your cleanup crew in there too you could introduce another fish or start adding corals. I donâ€™t know about 2 purple tangs in a 75, I would say that seems like a bit much. If I were you I would add the maroon clown and maybe and anemone for it and then see how things go and add the tang at the end. And 1 purple tang max.
Thatâ€™s just what I would do.
Oh yea, and I didnâ€™t see Alk and Cal levels. I would also start measuring those as well.

rhkingsfan · 05/27/2008, 03:45 PM

2 purple tangs are a waaayyy too much. Its arguable whether you should even have 1 purple tang in a 75; with two they'll probably kill each other. I don't know whether that maroon will be problematic with the two damsels.

If I could do it over again, I would skip the astreas and get trochus. The astreas are a pain in the rear because they can't flip themselves over. If they get stuck, your hermits are gonna kill them. Trochus snails can flip themselves, are faster and fun to watch (disadvantage is that they grow pretty huge, but you probably won't notice in a 75 gallon).

Darth Wader · 05/27/2008, 04:13 PM

That depends on if he/she has a sand bed or not. My astrea's flip themselves over in bb tank. Either way if a crab wants its shell is gonna get it flipped over or not. Trochus snails are pretty rad tho. I have some and they do motor around.
I agree with you about the purple tang. 1 in a 75 would be pushin it and 2 would most likely as you said end in death.

Darth Wader · 05/27/2008, 04:14 PM

My bad, I didnt see the 50lbs LS. In that case i would agree with rhkingsfan and go with trochus.

Aerowen · 05/27/2008, 04:19 PM

not a good idea to add the maroon clown with tha damsels already in place

ReefFreek917 · 05/27/2008, 05:24 PM

Do you think the maroon clown would hurt the damsels? also, on adding a little LR at a time, I have a source that sells me fiji LR with Coraline all over it for $2.99 lb but it is minimum of 10lbs per purchase. I was getting ready to add 50lbs total to the system. Would this burden it to much? How many of the Trochus snails should I add and the same thing goes for the hermit crabs?

05/27/2008, 03:08 PM	#1
ReefFreek917 Moved On Join Date: May 2008 Location: Joplin, mo Posts: 95	4 1/2 Months running, What now? I have had my 75 up and running for going on 5 months now. Here is what I have: 75lbs of LR 50lbs LS + 20lbs in 10gal refugium 1 Lawnmower blenny 1 Black & White damsel 1 Yellow tail damesl I have tons of tiny snails on the walls of my display and lots of pods. I plan on adding 50 more lbs of LR. I have a 20gal sump with a kick *** skimmer and a Phosban reactor as well. I ahev 600 bio balls in the sump as well. I have the sump sectioned off with acrylic sheets as to create a micro bubble trap and to section off the bio balls and the skimmer. I have a 65k CF light on the refugium and am adding Chaeto and LR to it next week. I have 2 Koralia 4's and 2 Penguin 1140's in the display tank. I have a Coralife light with 2 10,000 daylight bulbs and 2 65k actinic bulbs. My readings are: PH= 8.1 Nitrite=0 Nitrate=0 Phosphates=0 salinity= 1.025 I know I need to add a cleaner pack of snails and crabs and every online store has different amounts of cleaner crews. Suggestions and what to add would be nice! I plant to start adding coral soon but wanted some more suggestions on what would be the next steps with my tank. I want to add a maroon clown and 2 purple tangs. I am also having a hard time uploading pics as it says the file size is to large. Give me time and there will be some up.

05/27/2008, 03:38 PM	#2
Darth Wader Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 263	Well if I were you I would start with adding the rock. That could possibly start a smaller cycle so I would add like 5lb of rock at first, test all your levels and see if they spike at all. If they dont try maybe adding in like 10lbs and just keep testing your levels till you have all rock you want in the tank (make sure to wait a few days before adding more pieces to make sure your levels are stable). After you have added all the rock I would add some more snails. I would recommend astrea or margarita snails, and if you have a sand bed then maybe some nassarius or cerith snails too. Then when the rock is all in there and you have all your cleanup crew in there too you could introduce another fish or start adding corals. I donâ€™t know about 2 purple tangs in a 75, I would say that seems like a bit much. If I were you I would add the maroon clown and maybe and anemone for it and then see how things go and add the tang at the end. And 1 purple tang max. Thatâ€™s just what I would do. Oh yea, and I didnâ€™t see Alk and Cal levels. I would also start measuring those as well.

05/27/2008, 03:45 PM	#3
rhkingsfan Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Glendale Posts: 696	2 purple tangs are a waaayyy too much. Its arguable whether you should even have 1 purple tang in a 75; with two they'll probably kill each other. I don't know whether that maroon will be problematic with the two damsels. If I could do it over again, I would skip the astreas and get trochus. The astreas are a pain in the rear because they can't flip themselves over. If they get stuck, your hermits are gonna kill them. Trochus snails can flip themselves, are faster and fun to watch (disadvantage is that they grow pretty huge, but you probably won't notice in a 75 gallon).

05/27/2008, 04:13 PM	#4
Darth Wader Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 263	That depends on if he/she has a sand bed or not. My astrea's flip themselves over in bb tank. Either way if a crab wants its shell is gonna get it flipped over or not. Trochus snails are pretty rad tho. I have some and they do motor around. I agree with you about the purple tang. 1 in a 75 would be pushin it and 2 would most likely as you said end in death.

05/27/2008, 04:14 PM	#5
Darth Wader Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 263	My bad, I didnt see the 50lbs LS. In that case i would agree with rhkingsfan and go with trochus.

05/27/2008, 04:19 PM	#6
Aerowen Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Long island, NY Posts: 497	not a good idea to add the maroon clown with tha damsels already in place

05/27/2008, 05:24 PM	#7
ReefFreek917 Moved On Join Date: May 2008 Location: Joplin, mo Posts: 95	Do you think the maroon clown would hurt the damsels? also, on adding a little LR at a time, I have a source that sells me fiji LR with Coraline all over it for $2.99 lb but it is minimum of 10lbs per purchase. I was getting ready to add 50lbs total to the system. Would this burden it to much? How many of the Trochus snails should I add and the same thing goes for the hermit crabs?