My First Build

[TalloneJosh]

Sooo...... about two weeks ago I started a 20h reef tank in my bedroom. A couple days later I was told i could switch over to my 75g cichlid tank also in my bedroom. I got the 75g set-up and running....

Here's my equipment list:
75 gallon tank
2x 175watt Metal Halides (working on a canopy for them)
2x koralia 240s
1x koralia type powerhead pushing tons of water (not sure on exact gph)
1x marineland 400 powerfilter (Soon to be HOB Fuge, Only temporary till i pick up my 20g sump and hob overflow)
1x marineland 200 powerfilter (Soon to be filled with carbon to polish water, also temporary)
1x CPR BakPak 2r+ skimmer (only temporary, till i get a mag7 for my other skimmer)


Here are some pics

Original 20g tank


Days later 75g tank



Soo I got the 75g tank set-up and finally got a little more live rock and sand, then my parents decided they wanted the tank downstairs so everyone could see it..... I drained most of the water and moved it downstairs with a little help, and a lot of complaining.

I Finally got it downstairs and back up and running again, but i still needed some more rock. I went on CL and messaged everyone with a saltwater tank for sale to see if any1 had some live rock they were looking to get rid of. I found someone and messaged them and they said I could have their live rock. When i arrived at the man's house to pick up the live rock I he said that i would have to take his while set-up...... I know im new to the whole saltwater hobby and i dont know everything there is to know, but this guy was definately doing something wrong, I felt bad for the inhabitants, nothing looked like it was doing well. Then he told me that he had a dwarf lionfish but that he didnt know what happened to it. Sooo for $80 I decided to try and save his inhabitants. I got the stand, 46g bowfront tank, a large koralia type powerhead, a Marineland 400 HOB filter (he had been running it with the stock filtration ) , a pretty decent 36" dual T5ho light, CUC (consisting of snails, crabs, and starfish), clownfish, corals, cleaner shrimp, 40lbs live rock, heater, test kit....

I realize that the first mistake that every beginner makes is adding fish too soon, and I had absolutely no intention of making this mistake. But I felt bad for them, and felt that my tank would be better for them than the nasty scummy water they were swimming in...

So here are the most recent pics.


Fts and temporary light canopy thing



Corals (not exactly sure what the names of them are, so if anyone knows speak up)
these ones i got from the 46 bowfront






My tank has been set-up for about 7 days, 20gallons of my water came from an established reef, and most of the live rock was already cured before i bought it, soo... i'm hoping that this will result in a less painful cylce. The livestock from the 46 bowfront has been in there for about 4 days and appear to be happy and healthy, just hope they will stay this way.

[TalloneJosh]

more pics.


Clownfish


Starfish finally decided to make an appearance


i got this one and a small mushroom from another guy

[havnmonkey]

I'd def keep up on the water changes to keep the ammonia down with all those corals, a lil extra care in the beginning and you might be able to keep all of them!! My tank was started with 40 lbs of LR from a 10+ year established tank... I've never seen Ammonia for the 6+ months it's had water in it, but I did get diatoms, hair algae, flat worms, and still have recurring cyano... but nothing that hasn't been easily manageable. The cyano seems to come and go on it's own.

Originally Posted by TalloneJosh

Corals (not exactly sure what the names of them are, so if anyone knows speak up)
Looks like a Frogspawn


Green Star Polyps


leather coral, maybe Kenya Tree or Colt Coral

[TalloneJosh]

Alright i guess ill keep doing water changes and keep an eye on my parameters, I think i found one small aptasia next to the tree looking thing, and im working on removing it, what do you think would be the best way?

[havnmonkey]

I used a syringe and lime juice for the few I had. just stabbed it right in the face and pushed it out, some lime juice squirted onto them after they retreated... got rid of 7 out of 9 on the first try.

Haven't even noticed any in about 4 months

[TalloneJosh]

haha alright well removed the rock from the tank and took a finetip soldering gun and fried it, then i coated it in super glue, and i haven't seen it since so hopefully i killed it.

[sponger0]

Corals...from top to bottom in your post...even though some have been ID'ed

Leather
Trumpet coral
Looks like possibly a hairy mushroom. Needs a better pic
Acans
Frogspawn or hammer...but looks more like a frogspawn
Kenya Tree
GSP

[TalloneJosh]

Everything has been doing great, all corals look happy and healthy. The clownfish looks happier than ever. I had a small diatom bloom, but my snails, crabs and starfish did a great job of cleaning it up. I set-up my sump and my E.T.S.S. skimmer a couple days ago and seems to be doing well. Soo far soo good, I'm planning on adding another fish or two within the next couple of days and also maybe a few more corals. All my water parameters have been almost perfect, but my calcium levels might be a little high at about 500ppm

[TalloneJosh]

Tank has been set-up for about a month now, and I have added a banggai cardinal, yellow tang, royal gramma, and my mother visited petco 2 weeks ago and decided to get me a few things including a tomato clown + a very white sebae anemone. I know this is a bad sign and that this is a really difficult anemone to keep but we will see how it goes.... I was very upset about the purchase and am refraining from having her by me anything for my tank without my approval.... Soo far the anemone has become very healthy and seems to be very happy. The other day I noticed that the tomato clown has been getting rather close to fuzzy mushroom, and this is a pic of what i found him doing today.

[chad316]

That tomato will be a beast in a few years LOL. Won't take crap from anything if you ask me. How are the inhabitants doing that you got for the CL guy? Just curious.

ninja edit. I assume your ocellarus didn't make it?

[TalloneJosh]

haha nope the occelarus is still alive and doing well. So far the two clownfish have been able to cohabitate without picking on eachother, but if they start nipping at eachother ill make sure to replace the occelarus and find a good home for him.