So here it is finally I am posting my new 75g RR tank.
I bought this tank as a used setup that was FWOLR the previous guy could not keep corals alive. The setup was in bad shape the guy could not even remember the last time he did a water change all he did was top offs.
Only thing I kept was the fish and the fuge and of course the tank.
I have 3 tanks setup now and a tote for the fish I could not keep with anything else till someone picks them up or I take them to the fish store.
75g tank
It is currently cycling I am in week 2 I believe now and already have a green algae bloom cycle
*100lbs of Pink Somoa Sand(in the 75)
*20lbs of just plain aragonite sand from another tank that I rinsed out.
*tons of live rock and some dead( I have a few big pieces still in my coral tank).
*Current outer orbit HQI/t5 light( 2x 250w HQI 10k, 2x blue actinic t5, 2x light blue actinic, 9 blue leds, 9 white leds) I picked this up off Ebay. I am thinking of changing the HQI bulbs to 14k.
*Korlia powerheads 1400,1050, a older model not sure model I picked up from Moliken.
*20g long fuge/sump
*Model 7 pump
*mini skimmer (untill full cycle)
*visitherm heater and probe in the over flow box and another heater in the fuge.
20g Long coral tank
This tank right now is SPS dominated but I do have LPS , Zoa’s, leather’s and shrooms.
*Odessy 36" 4 blub t5 w/6led’s
*Sump (no fuge )
*Model 5 sump pump
*C-skim 1800 External skimmer(will go on the 75 after cycle)
*seaclear corner frag rack
*seaclear long frag rack
20g long fish only
This tank was used only to house the fish I have gotten from trades and tank
*Aquatic life 30" 2bulb t5
*zoomed powerhead just to keep air and water current going.
Looking good! nice start to the 75, and you’ve got plenty of stuff in the smaller tank to move over when its ready. Whats the blue sps in the left side of the last pic?
Thank you guys for the comments. I can’t wait to I am done cycling. This is a pain keeping all the tanks running with everything I have been trying to do… Also I bought a Typhoon III from AWI, so I am finally using ro/di water.
Quick question… What are you’re typical tds readings from the tap? Mine were only around 150-200 and then 0 after the filter. My filter came with the 75gpd membrane and I made more then 75g in 24 hours.
[quote=“saltcreep, post:2, topic:4088”]
Looking good! nice start to the 75, and you’ve got plenty of stuff in the smaller tank to move over when its ready. Whats the blue sps in the left side of the last pic?[/quote]
I am not sure what it is. Anyone else know? It is not blue anymore it browned and bleached so I fragged it so I am hoping in the new tank with the halides it will come back. My coral tank I am still having a issue with the air bubbles in the tank which is not helping at all and some corals out of nowhere are not as healthy as they were and others seem to be doing good. I need to do a water change but now I am stuck waiting for salt. My last bag turned into a rock pieces I got from the tank deal.
[quote=“moliken, post:3, topic:4088”]
glad to see those k powerheads getting some use. should be plenty of flow. soon the green should just go away.
I can’t wait. Should I still keep my halides on during the day on this part of the cycle? I keep the actinics on from 9am- 7pm halides usually 10am-6pm.
I love this light fixture when the t5’s are on it has a fan to cool the fixture so I always cool the fixture before turning them off.
[quote=“Cdangel0, post:4, topic:4088”]
Coming along nicely - the 20L is gorgeous - can’t wait to see the 75 grown out, make sure you take a lot of pictures along the way.[/quote][/quote]
I usually do. I like to be able to go back and see how everything has progressed. I have not been taking as much the past month or so due to working on my cars getting them ready for sale so I can buy more :).
[quote=“JustSumGuy, post:5, topic:4088”]
Quick question… What are you’re typical tds readings from the tap? Mine were only around 150-200 and then 0 after the filter. My filter came with the 75gpd membrane and I made more then 75g in 24 hours.[/quote]
My typical readings from tap, from when i’ve checked, were about 200 summertime, 500 over the winter, about 300 now. Another good thing to do besides checking the incoming, and final output water is to test the water coming out of the r.o. only, before the di resin. Not all the time or anything, but you can check that to make sure the ro membrane is functioning good to start with, and maybe after a year or so ( or people check after they accidentally run hot water through) , so you’re not overworking the expensive di resin. The ro alone should get you down around 10tds depending on the starting tds of the tap, and rejection rate of your membrane.
Do you guys normally wipe all the green algae off during the cycle or just let it go? It is getting so bad everything is green and much harder to see through the tank LoL
I still have a real bad case of green algae covering everything. I went through the diatom cycle I think, I had the tan/brown covering the sand but that was gone very fast. I tested nitrates 0-5ppm, ammonia 0, phospate 0. My fuge shows no algae but maybe this is due to the cheato I have in there not sure though. What do you guys do at this stage and what is the typical length of the cycle after this point???
I am going to DPA to order some copepods and maybe live phyto to breed in the tank to help keep my copepods population up for the Manderin when she goes into the tank.
So far all the fish in the tank are doing great and even 1 of my hermits that hitched a ride on my LR from another tank. (The fish were starting to look worse in the other so I moved the most hardy) 5 clown fish and 2 chromis.
I would really love to finish adding my rock so I can aquascape it and decide if I want more rock in there. I would have to say I have a good bit over 100lbs currently in the tank and some rubble in the fuge. I saw a guy on the forum selling some LR so I am thinking of making a trip this weekend to grab some up.
The algae cycle will take about a year or 2 to complete. Sorry.
Go ahead and clean the glass, take a turkey baster and blow off the rocks, add your clean-up crew. If you’ve already got 100 lbs of rock then you probably have enough, if you want more add it to the fuge.
[quote=“JustSumGuy, post:12, topic:4088”]
I am going to DPA to order some copepods and maybe live phyto to breed in the tank to help keep my copepods population up for the Manderin when she goes into the tank.[/quote]
I wouldn’t try to keep mandarin fish as they require a lot of micro organisms to eat, same organisms that is most beneficial to any reef tank. Can’t have it all in this hobby, pick what you want to achieve and stick with it.
I ordered 2 things of the copepods from DPA but I do plan on going to TFP maybe this weekend also. I want to pick up a sock filter kit, the live phyto and whatever floats my boat while I am there… I can always find something for the fish or the other 4 legged animals.
What is everyone’s experience with adding live phyto? I was told using this would cause algae blooms in my tank… Not what I like but if its manageable with a decent CUC then I think ill go for it.
Thanks for the info guys I will be cleaning the glass after I grill some burgers out in the rain YahoO
[quote=“JustSumGuy, post:12, topic:4088”]
I still have a real bad case of green algae covering everything. I went through the diatom cycle I think, I had the tan/brown covering the sand but that was gone very fast. I tested nitrates 0-5ppm, ammonia 0, phospate 0. My fuge shows no algae but maybe this is due to the cheato I have in there not sure though. What do you guys do at this stage and what is the typical length of the cycle after this point???[/quote]
When you go to DPA to pick up your pods get this book, It will make it all clear how to manage algae.
[quote=“JustSumGuy, post:15, topic:4088”]
What is everyone’s experience with adding live phyto? I was told using this would cause algae blooms in my tank… Not what I like but if its manageable with a decent CUC then I think ill go for it.[/quote]
Try one squirt every few days and see what happens. The reason you should use it is to try to make your “live rock” to function as a bio filter and not algae storage.
Here is good article explaining how live rock works: http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rs/feature/index.php
btw, DT’s live phyto is good because it will not “overdose” the system, all it’s is live algae and will produce oxygen before being eaten.
[quote=“JustSumGuy, post:15, topic:4088”]
What is everyone’s experience with adding live phyto? I was told using this would cause algae blooms in my tank… Not what I like but if its manageable with a decent CUC then I think ill go for it.[/quote]
Try one squirt every few days and see what happens. The reason you should use it is to try to make your “live rock” to function as a bio filter and not algae storage.
Here is good article explaining how live rock works: http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rs/feature/index.php
btw, DT’s live phyto is good because it will not “overdose” the system, all it’s is live algae and will produce oxygen before being eaten.[/quote]
That was a good read. Kind of makes you think about it a little more on how good is you’re rock. This could possibly answer some of these tank crashes people have and can not find the answer through a test kit.
Here is the book I bought a few months ago. I have found a lot of useful information but have neglected reading the whole book. Maybe I should start reading now.
We bought copepods from the site you mentioned when we found out what the manderin ate, they cost around $43 for 1 bottle after shipping.DPA it is only $16 for a bottle. I have done very well with the dt’s I bought from DPA before in my Copepod breeding tank. Which that tank has crashed ever since I added the cheato that came from the tank I bought. It had all kinds of pests in it and next thing I knew Copepods were no longer seen in the tank at all. I am going to put 1 bottle in the tank itself and the other in the fuge. I will prob make a little spot for a rubble pile in the main tank for them to breed in.
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