My new 75!! Recommendations?? Part 2 w/pics ;)

[dsdaley77]

So I have been setting up this tank for the last two years while babysitting two 50g marine tanks for my friend. They are now gone and set up is underway.

Under the hood is a 20g long breeder split in three sections with 4 custom baffles installed myself (kinda proud).
The first section (left side) is where my DT water comes in. In this section the water gets skimmed by a Cora life 220 and then travels to the right and down over a low baffle (8in) and under a high baffle (2in opening at bottom), thru a phos pad and over the third baffle (8in) into the middle section which is 17 inches wide and currently houses different kinds of live rock (25-35lbs) donated from the tanks I babysat.
The water continues to flow right, over the 4th and final baffle (8in) and into the DT return section which is filled with 250 bio-balls. I use a rio2500 submersible return pump to keep my heat down as I can’t afford a chiller. My lighting for the sump/refugium is a 2 bulb 18in current USA fixture with one actinic bulb and one 12K.

Moving up, the return tube attaches into the display tank overflow area and continues up until diverted into two different returns with 2in flares on the end, one pointed right and the other left.
The tank itself is 75g and is internally circulated with 3 Koralia 1050 powerheads, 2 214 (30g rating) zoomed wavemakers and 1 228 (75g rating) zoomed wavemaker.
The DT currently has 50 or so pounds of live rock also donated from the tanks I babysat, along with another 10 pounds of display Helioporea (sp).
The sand bed consists of 1 inch or 40 pounds of aragonite seafloor grade reef sand on the bottom topped with 1 inch or 40 pounds of pacific reef sand. My hope is to not mix the two together and keep sand sifting animals out to keep the layers intact.
The lighting for the DT currently consists of a 48in 4 bulb Nova Extreme T5 system with 2 12k bulbs, 1 actinic and 1 Fiji purple/pink. Lighting is supplemented with 2 ecoxotic actinic stunner strips and 1 12k stunner strip. All lighting is contained in a custom built (by me and yes kinda proud again) canopy.

Live additions yet, you wonder I bet. Well so far,

8 green/blue reef chromis
6 red leg reef hermits
2 quarter size emerald crabs (one is a cool copper color)
10 nerite snails
2 sm. turbo snails
2 zebra turbo snails
2 jumbo turbo snails
2 red stripe astrea snails


So what do you think? Upgrades? Additions? What would you do differently? Most importantly, Whats next??!! If you want more photos or some of something not pictured let me know.

Mostly put together....


W/ actinics on....


Side view w/ canopy


Front view-daylight


Skimmer, overflow drain and first three baffles


Refugium,return section


Sump/Refugium


Canopy w/ LED's and T5's


Inside of canopy-Top view


Front View 7-3-2012

[Shoryureppa]

remove the bio balls, you will regret it later

[Noobtosalty]

a lot better with bigger pics

[dsdaley77]

Originally Posted by Shoryureppa

remove the bio balls, you will regret it later

Any specific reason? I thought we want as much surface area as possible for Nitrifying (sp) bacteria to colonize.

[dsdaley77]

Originally Posted by Noobtosalty

a lot better with bigger pics

Thanks NTS..... My wife had to show me how to use Photobucket

[fuzzyfred101]

Originally Posted by dsdaley77

Any specific reason? I thought we want as much surface area as possible for Nitrifying (sp) bacteria to colonize.

The bioballs tend to trap debree which decays and creates more phosphates, which kindof does the opposit of why you put them in for.

[dsdaley77]

Originally Posted by fuzzyfred101

The bioballs tend to trap debree which decays and creates more phosphates, which kindof does the opposit of why you put them in for.

What if I move them to the left side skimmer area as there is never any particulates/debris due to the skimmer and filter sock on drain tube end?

[fuzzyfred101]

I really like the setup. I have my fuge light set up just like yours ha but mine looks more ghetto. I tried the acrylic over the sump as well even went though the trouble of cutting it out and all but it turns into a pain having to take it off when you want to mess in the sump, then it curls up and all then it lets all the evaporation out anyways. I have 4 1050s on my 75 and they work perfectly, I had more flow but my corals didn't like it. The 4 bulb fixture should work well too if you look at the t5 thread that mile long one grim has some great bulb combos to help max your par if you plan on some corals.

[fuzzyfred101]

Originally Posted by dsdaley77

What if I move them to the left side skimmer area as there is never any particulates/debris due to the skimmer and filter sock on drain tube end?

You can try it but you still will have to be diligent about keeping them crud free, IMO there are just better ways of having more surface area like more live rock.

[dsdaley77]

Thanks Richard..... I think I will start taking them out and replacing them with more live rock..... Money has just been real tight latly as far as tank investment
My plan moving forward is to actually get rid of T5's and get two of the new Kessil LED pendants. Bout $300 each and I also want to add sand to my sump/ refugium.

Anyone see the new Aqueon LEDs at petsmart? Nice and cheap but only have daylight white right now...... Can't wait till more products come out!!

[Daimyo68]

Unless you plan for a FOWLR, removing the bio balls now will be a good move. They can become "Nitrate Factories" (not as much phosphates ) in the long run with debris building up in them. If you cannot or do not want to remove roughly 25% of them on a regular basis for cleaning (every couple of months), then pulling them out now is good planning for a future mixed reef tank.

Adding more rock would be a good idea at some point. That will help to increase your biological filtration (via more surface area for bacteria to grow and thrive on).

The next upgrade I would make would be a better skimmer. The Coralife is "ok" for now, but having a good skimmer will only help to remove organics from the system. It doesn't need to be some $600 skimmer either. You can get the same skimmer I use or something close to it, (a Bubble Magus NAC6) for $200 new, or used for less than $150. Whatever skimmer you get, make sure that it will fit into you drain area in the sump and for ease of removing it to be cleaned.

As far as lighting, you can hold off on an upgrade for awhile unless you plan to start adding sps in the near future.

[dsdaley77]

Originally Posted by fuzzyfred101

I really like the setup. I have my fuge light set up just like yours ha but mine looks more ghetto. I tried the acrylic over the sump as well even went though the trouble of cutting it out and all but it turns into a pain having to take it off when you want to mess in the sump, then it curls up and all then it lets all the evaporation out anyways. I have 4 1050s on my 75 and they work perfectly, I had more flow but my corals didn't like it. The 4 bulb fixture should work well too if you look at the t5 thread that mile long one grim has some great bulb combos to help max your par if you plan on some corals.

So I think I may have solved one problem and encountered another.....

As for the curling of the acrylic lid for the sump/fuge, I have some 1/4 in and 1/32 in acrylic rods that will be left over from the rest of my live rock build. I plan to silicone the 1/4 rods accross the top of the lid to stop the bending and create a little bit of a handle. what do you think?

[dsdaley77]

So upon trying to change my lighting around a little this am I seem to have broken one of the ballast ends for one of the actinic bulbs. now the two actinics don't work. Not sure how to fix it as electricly I am challenged It seems like when i twist the bulb, the little wheel where the bulb prongs go wont turn on one side. I dont want to force it and break the bulb but really dont/cant buy new lights quite yet. Any ideas? My lights dont come on til 2 AZ time so I think I should call the LFS and see what they say.....Hope their open today being the 4th and all.... I think they are and having a big sale so we shall see. I will check back here in a bit to see if anyone could provide any sugestions which would be greatly appreciated.

[dsdaley77]

So to clarify a few things also regarding the direction of my tank.

I plan, key word there is plan, on making two more towers like the one in this picture. The other two will go to the left side to leave the middle/Right open.

On top of the total of three shelves when complete will be Birdsnest, purple bonsai and the likes. The cloumns leeding up to the shelves will have hammer walls, frogspawn, maybe duncans. further down will be the Zoas, mushrooms, xenia, candy canes etc. on the ground will be clams (once lights are upgraded) Brains and other interesting stuff.

Below in the refugium I am thinking about putting in some true Seagrass that a guy at the LFS can get for me and since it's pretty low flow....maybe some seahorses and/or pipefish.... definitely a manadarin. I kept one in my buddies tank I babysat for two years and loved him....gotta have another. just not yet as my living smorgasboard of food has not fully populated obviously. The sand bed will be about 3 inches of mud/reef sugar.


The last current upgrade I am working towards is my DT lighting. I really want to get rid of the T5's and replace with 2 kessil 350 led pendants, still accented by the 3 stunner strips. With the T5 fixture gone it should open the top up more for ease of access.


whew...... hope my wife doesnt see this

[dsdaley77]

So with my lights not working like I need, looks like today is the day to pull the trigger on two Chinese black boxes $360 shipped w/ 1yr warranty!

And the LFS's like them also do we shall see. I think I will still accent with the 3 stunners I already have and get two more in the UV spectrum.

[dsdaley77]

So new rock work done today. Built another shelf area and will let it be for a day or two. I wanna make sure it's structurally sound before I epoxy it in place as I really don't trust the stuff I'll post picks as soon as my lights kick on

[dsdaley77]

Heres some pics of the new shelf built and installed.

[dsdaley77]

So next project is complete. Finished building a wood cab to attach to the side of my tank which will house all my electrics. Pictures to come shortly