My 75 gallon

[tclavell]

Hi all,

I posted in the newbies section but also wanted to say hi here as well.

very new into the game of fish tanks of any kind, let alone saltwater and reef.

Things seem to be progressing pretty well. I've had the tank online for about 6 months now.

I'd provide all specifics, but being so new at this, I'd probably get something wrong. Basics are overflow into sump, protein skimmer, couple power heads and LED lighting.

A few photos snapped from my cell phone the other day.

Thanks for looking!!

[tclavell]

shameless bump.

any advice, critique or complements?

[tclavell]

Got new lights yesterday Radion G2's. Also, first in Phoenix to have the new rails. Photo is right after setting it up and not quite tuning yet. Going through the acclimation period for 6 weeks, starting at 25% and working up to 75%

[Mark9]

Originally Posted by tclavell

shameless bump.

any advice, critique or complements?

I would black out the back.
Other than that, looks great.

[kw22]

Love the mimic tang!Beautiful specimen

[Newsmyrna80]

Nice! Beautiful tang

[BioCubeGuy]

Nice tank.. Looks great!

[PCygni]

I dig it. And, yes, I would 'black out' the back too.

[coralsnaked]

Black out the back, move those power heads to the ends and feed that tank. Looks a bit sterile. If you have a good skimmer and a single reactor you can process quite a bit of poo in a 75 once your rock ages a bit. You have great lights that will support anything. If that's Atlantic crushed coral make sure it is 1" or less and vacuum it once a month real good to prevent nitrates from building up.

[tclavell]

Thank you all for the compliments and suggestions. Blacking out the back of the tank is definitely something on my list.


When you refer to feed you tank you mean pods? I usually add about 2 cups of "reef stew" every other week. Should it be more?

Also, the bed is sand.. Just and extreme closeup with the cell phone.

[coralsnaked]

Originally Posted by tclavell

Thank you all for the compliments and suggestions. Blacking out the back of the tank is definitely something on my list.


When you refer to feed you tank you mean pods? I usually add about 2 cups of "reef stew" every other week. Should it be more?

Also, the bed is sand.. Just and extreme closeup with the cell phone.

With all new tanks you need to take it slow, but with that siad when your tank begins the maturing process at ~ 6 months and you have probably been thru some algae phases you will want to up the bio load in your tank to match its processing limits. I personally run my 75 G mixed stony tank with enough livestock to cosume 2 cubes of mysis per day as it is a wrasse tank. In addition I feed my corals X3 weekly with Coral freenzy 1/2 tsp and spot feed my LPS x2 monthly w/ pureed Mysis. I run 90 lbs rock an oversized skimmer 24 7 and GAC. This gives me a dectable amount of Phosphates & Nitrates on a Red Sea Pro test kit. This is the balance for my tank, yours will be different. You look like you are running less rock than me but you have sand and mine is bare bottom. My skimmer is rated at 150 gal display and yours i dunno. But you should be testing params on a newer tank to include Ca, Alk (most important) and Mg. Thease need to be spot on and always constant. As your tanks grows in and the demand for these increase you will need to supplimnet them in some form. There are many ways. And until your tank is 6 months old you need to test for Nitrates and Phosphates. 0.0 means your tyank is sterile and for a stony tank Nitrates NO3 should be ~ 5ppm, Phosphates PO4 ~ 0.03. To high on Po4 and SPS will suffer. LPS stonies are more forgiving. But 0.0 on both Po4 and NO3 will starve the coral. Softies like it even dirtier. Its all about balance. How much food and poo goes in and how much is used up and exported. I said sterile because i see All those crabs and snails on the hunt and not many fish. Figured not much food going in. Thats OK early but as I said when tank (rock) matures you should up the livestock and food.

[tclavell]

Thank you very much for your time and information. This is the first time ever getting into the saltwater/reef tank hobby. I seem to learn something new everyday.

My protein skimmer, reef octopus NWB 110, seems to be doing a good job. I empty is about every 2 - 3 days and it's collecting a lot of stinky mess.

Feeding of fish is done daily. Mix of frozen food (1 - 1 1/2 square) in the afternoon and a pinch of flake in the morning for the clowns and chromis. I have mysis, krill, brine and some prime reef. I mix that up so they get something different everyday. The mimic tang gets marine grazer about every two days. He also eats what everyone else eats and is very fat.

Feeding the coral is about every 4th day, and the anemone about once a week (isn't hosting clowns yet)

I think my tank is a little crowded with fish and may get rid of some ( i have 3 clowns. one got caught in the overflow and i though he was dead so i bought another)

livestock:
1 x Minic Lemon peal tang
1x watchman goby (dont' see him much as he's paired with the tiger pistol shrimp)
1x tiger pistol shrimp (spends 90% time under rock with goby)
2 x blue/green chromis
1 x dottyback
3x Ocellaris Clowns
2 x cleaner shrimp
~30 x hermits


Coral: (don't know all the names)
1 x hammer
1 x duncan (3 heads)
1 toadstool
1 x leather
1 x zoas
...and a couple others i'm not sure of.

Other:
1 x BTA
1 x Maxima clam

[TheBookWorm]

You're probably at your limit there. One of the clowns will most likely did when they pair off. LiveAquaria recommends a 120 gallon tank for a lemon peel tang, BTW.

[clownfish06]

Nice lights ..where did you get them and what are the name brand? Radions?

[scott71]

Looks like things are going well.

[kw22]

Originally Posted by TheBookWorm

You're probably at your limit there. One of the clowns will most likely did when they pair off. LiveAquaria recommends a 120 gallon tank for a lemon peel tang, BTW.

They also "recommend" a 180 for a Hasselt's bamboo shark,which is very inaccurate TBQH.

Most people actually do recommend 75-90 gallons + for a mimic tang.

They also have 50 gallons "recommended" for a 24-32 inch snowflake eel.

Some if their freshwater "recommendations" make me laugh and cry at the same time.

Most if their "recommendations" are okay though.

[TheBookWorm]

For dwarf seahorses, the recommend a pair in a 5 gallon tank, while a lot of people recommend 5 per gallon. And they recommend a 180 gallon tank for a sturgeon, a fish that can reach 4' in length.

[kw22]

Originally Posted by TheBookWorm

For dwarf seahorses, the recommend a pair in a 5 gallon tank, while a lot of people recommend 5 per gallon. And they recommend a 180 gallon tank for a sturgeon, a fish that can reach 4' in length.

And 1 gallon for betta fish.

I am very experienced in freshwater fishkeeping and anything less then 5 gallons is cruel TBQH.Something like 9-10 gallons minimum is needed.

[kw22]

And they really need warm temperatures of 80-82 F.

[tclavell]

couple new shots today. Lights are 2 days out of the acclimation period. Started at 25% and will end at 75% intensity.

hopefully in the next few weeks i can figure out how to black out the back.

Please ignore the hippo... I'm babysitting until my friends 300 gallon tank is finished.