Warning: post is extremely long lol
Over the last few years Ive been in the hobby I went from one upgrading idea to another. At one point I had a 150 custom tank sitting on my back porch while I collected equipment for it. I had a bunch of stuff for it then...... I needed a car. Obviously at 16 a car> upgrade tank was my mind lol. So I sold everything off I could sell and got a car.
Then time goes by and my main tank crashes in the beginning of july. That kind of sparked an upgrade again ( both my parents wanted to get rid of the tank I had, since it crashed) So I decided it was time to get a bigger tank :dance:
I looked around for about 6 weeks and found a reef redy 75g, stand, and skimmer for a decent price. a 100 mile round trip later its sitting in my family room.
The build begins :beer:
Now I dont know if this is how the first post should start but I needed to throw down all the ideas and thoughts I have because I dont want to forget anything
Pictures will be added once I find my camera battery..... thanks mom
Tank :
75 Gallon with megaflow overflow
Cleaning
This thing smells worse than cooking live rock. The entire tank( glass part ) is clean but the overflow, durso, and return pipe are either covered in hair algae or coralline. My mom freaked out whenshe smelt it lol
Its nearly impossible to clean coraline off plastic.Ive been fighting
with de-corallining this overflow for days. Even after its dried out it still wont come off easily. Day by Day though I'm chipping away at it. Glass
and a razor blade, coralline comes off now problem. Plastic on the other hand
seems impossible
Sump:
30 long
I was nervous using a 20 long because I was afraid the backfrom from the 75 would overflow the 20. So I searched a few pet stores and picked up a 30 long. I was going to use a 29 but the extra 6 inches will be nice since my skimmers pretty big
Design:
Going to be pretty simple, Skimmer, 3 baffles, fuge, 2 baffles, and then the return pump I have a sketchup design but havent gotten a screenshot of it for the forum
Stand:
Unsure of brand and DIY Canopy
Inside Paint
Should I paint the inside white? I see alot of people do it but I dont know why.
Maybe it reflects better in the canopy... idk lol
Equipment:
Lights:
Reflectors-
I have lumenarc minis, lumenbright mini, and a full size. Im going to be testing with a par meter for best fit for a 75g
Ballasts:
I have a big dual 250w magnetic ballast and two icecap 250w. Like with the reflectors I'm going to choose one
Light bulbs:
I feel like my phoenix bulb "washed" out the colors. So I may try 10k ( reeflux ) with VHO supplementing or a higher K bulb ( radium ). I hate this decision because its such an expensive thing if you make a mistake
Actinics:
May try VHO's. I have two IC660's lying around I could use
Protein Skimmer
Octopus Extreme 200
- I dont know if this is oversized or the right size. I hope I'll be able to keep decent amount of fish with it
Return Pump
Quietone 3000
- I'm trying out the quietone on the build, my return can handle 600gph so I may step up the pump in the future
Refugium
Bulb?
- I dont know what bulb to use. I guess I'll try one of those flood lights from lowes. Then again I dont even know if I want a refugium.
Sand
CaribSea Seaflor Special Grade Reef Sand
- In my tanks right now I have done bare-bottom because of the easier maintence. But after staring at purple tank bottom I just cant stand it anymore. I'll do the extra work for sand ( planning on a super short sand bed ~ 1-1/5")
- Also will this sand be too big for a sand sifting goby?
Liverock
~60lbs
- If I had to guess I'de say I have roughly 50-60lbs or liverock After my tank crashed I jammed all the rock I could into my 20 long and the remaining rock is in my 30 long right now cooking ( I have HORRIBLE bubble algae issues )
- I also have some aiptasia, but hope with some peppermint shrimp and kalk theyll all be dead soon enough
Powerheads
Koralia's
- Right now I have two K2's, a nano, and a Koralia 750 I feel like my tank is not going to have enough flow with these
- I'll see how it goes and change things from there Vortech's
- I HAD two mp40w's but I sold them when I had to buy myself a car ( I'm 16 ) but now that I'm upgrading I have the urge to buy them again. Maybe around christmas I'll buy one for myself
Livestock:
Fish
Right now I have
- One false percula ( Occerlaris )
I want ( this will probably change but )
- Another false perc
-3 green chromis
- Kole tang
- Orange Spotted Diamond Goby (sand small enough for them )
- Maybe another fish ( suggestions? )
- I thought an ORA tank bred mandarin but that would be a fish down the road
-I know alot of people pick anthias over chromis but I sometimes am
away from the tank for 2-3 days and if I remmeber they need to be fed
a few times everyday so I couldnt get them
- Will this Bioload be too much for the tank?
- Will the goby get enough food out of the sand to survive? Or should I
try target feeding?
Coral
- My main tank crashed after in the beginning of july and killed all my sps
and everything besides 3 coral. I plan to have a mixed reef with the top
sps and the bottom whatever I like ( acans, zoas, my toadstoll etc )
Right now I have
- SPS
- Brown Birdsnest
- Frags of pink and green birdsnest. ( I swear my snails gonna kill them before
the build though ) i HATE turbo snails
-Purple monti
-Brown cap with purple tip
- Some brown acro I have yet to identify after owning for over a year
- LPS
- Toadstoll
- Pink Leather
- Kenya Tree
- Softies
-Red Mushrooms
- GSP
- Xenia
- Green mushroom
- BUtton Polyps
- Green Zoas
Over the last few years Ive been in the hobby I went from one upgrading idea to another. At one point I had a 150 custom tank sitting on my back porch while I collected equipment for it. I had a bunch of stuff for it then...... I needed a car. Obviously at 16 a car> upgrade tank was my mind lol. So I sold everything off I could sell and got a car.
Then time goes by and my main tank crashes in the beginning of july. That kind of sparked an upgrade again ( both my parents wanted to get rid of the tank I had, since it crashed) So I decided it was time to get a bigger tank :dance:
I looked around for about 6 weeks and found a reef redy 75g, stand, and skimmer for a decent price. a 100 mile round trip later its sitting in my family room.
The build begins :beer:
Now I dont know if this is how the first post should start but I needed to throw down all the ideas and thoughts I have because I dont want to forget anything
Pictures will be added once I find my camera battery..... thanks mom
Tank :
75 Gallon with megaflow overflow
Cleaning
This thing smells worse than cooking live rock. The entire tank( glass part ) is clean but the overflow, durso, and return pipe are either covered in hair algae or coralline. My mom freaked out whenshe smelt it lol
Its nearly impossible to clean coraline off plastic.Ive been fighting
with de-corallining this overflow for days. Even after its dried out it still wont come off easily. Day by Day though I'm chipping away at it. Glass
and a razor blade, coralline comes off now problem. Plastic on the other hand
seems impossible
Sump:
30 long
I was nervous using a 20 long because I was afraid the backfrom from the 75 would overflow the 20. So I searched a few pet stores and picked up a 30 long. I was going to use a 29 but the extra 6 inches will be nice since my skimmers pretty big
Design:
Going to be pretty simple, Skimmer, 3 baffles, fuge, 2 baffles, and then the return pump I have a sketchup design but havent gotten a screenshot of it for the forum
Stand:
Unsure of brand and DIY Canopy
Inside Paint
Should I paint the inside white? I see alot of people do it but I dont know why.
Maybe it reflects better in the canopy... idk lol
Equipment:
Lights:
Reflectors-
I have lumenarc minis, lumenbright mini, and a full size. Im going to be testing with a par meter for best fit for a 75g
Ballasts:
I have a big dual 250w magnetic ballast and two icecap 250w. Like with the reflectors I'm going to choose one
Light bulbs:
I feel like my phoenix bulb "washed" out the colors. So I may try 10k ( reeflux ) with VHO supplementing or a higher K bulb ( radium ). I hate this decision because its such an expensive thing if you make a mistake
Actinics:
May try VHO's. I have two IC660's lying around I could use
Protein Skimmer
Octopus Extreme 200
- I dont know if this is oversized or the right size. I hope I'll be able to keep decent amount of fish with it
Return Pump
Quietone 3000
- I'm trying out the quietone on the build, my return can handle 600gph so I may step up the pump in the future
Refugium
Bulb?
- I dont know what bulb to use. I guess I'll try one of those flood lights from lowes. Then again I dont even know if I want a refugium.
Sand
CaribSea Seaflor Special Grade Reef Sand
- In my tanks right now I have done bare-bottom because of the easier maintence. But after staring at purple tank bottom I just cant stand it anymore. I'll do the extra work for sand ( planning on a super short sand bed ~ 1-1/5")
- Also will this sand be too big for a sand sifting goby?
Liverock
~60lbs
- If I had to guess I'de say I have roughly 50-60lbs or liverock After my tank crashed I jammed all the rock I could into my 20 long and the remaining rock is in my 30 long right now cooking ( I have HORRIBLE bubble algae issues )
- I also have some aiptasia, but hope with some peppermint shrimp and kalk theyll all be dead soon enough
Powerheads
Koralia's
- Right now I have two K2's, a nano, and a Koralia 750 I feel like my tank is not going to have enough flow with these
- I'll see how it goes and change things from there Vortech's
- I HAD two mp40w's but I sold them when I had to buy myself a car ( I'm 16 ) but now that I'm upgrading I have the urge to buy them again. Maybe around christmas I'll buy one for myself
Livestock:
Fish
Right now I have
- One false percula ( Occerlaris )
I want ( this will probably change but )
- Another false perc
-3 green chromis
- Kole tang
- Orange Spotted Diamond Goby (sand small enough for them )
- Maybe another fish ( suggestions? )
- I thought an ORA tank bred mandarin but that would be a fish down the road
-I know alot of people pick anthias over chromis but I sometimes am
away from the tank for 2-3 days and if I remmeber they need to be fed
a few times everyday so I couldnt get them
- Will this Bioload be too much for the tank?
- Will the goby get enough food out of the sand to survive? Or should I
try target feeding?
Coral
- My main tank crashed after in the beginning of july and killed all my sps
and everything besides 3 coral. I plan to have a mixed reef with the top
sps and the bottom whatever I like ( acans, zoas, my toadstoll etc )
Right now I have
- SPS
- Brown Birdsnest
- Frags of pink and green birdsnest. ( I swear my snails gonna kill them before
the build though ) i HATE turbo snails
-Purple monti
-Brown cap with purple tip
- Some brown acro I have yet to identify after owning for over a year
- LPS
- Toadstoll
- Pink Leather
- Kenya Tree
- Softies
-Red Mushrooms
- GSP
- Xenia
- Green mushroom
- BUtton Polyps
- Green Zoas