I recently decided to upgrade to a 75 gal with a 20 gal long sump/fuge after my 55 was ruined by a really bad child…sigh. Anyway here are some pics and specs it was just completed 9/4/2011. Overflow is a dual 3/4 inch pvc construct, the return is 1000 gph pond pump (was told they could be used so i thought id give it a go) pumped through 1 inch pvc and ID hose, emperor 400 powerfilter, Seaclone 100 skimmer, AquaticLife T5 HO and Lunar Light Fixtures 48". Just 5-10 lbs of LR and 3 inch sand bed in my fuge area because my LFS was out of cheato. My fuge area is 12x12x11. I did have many coral in the 55 before it was ruined but the ones i did have were looking great. I had to put all of my livestock in a 18 gal tote while i put the tank together with just and emperor 200 on it and a heater. My hairy mush and star polyps have started to return to normal while my green mush, kenya tree and toadstool look pretty bad. I used the water I had in the bucket in the new tank as well as fresh water to fill it. Will they bounce back?
You might have issues with the argonite substrate within the fuge trapping detritus causing NO-3 issues down the line.
Vacuum and cheato should help with nitrate problems…no?
[quote=“andrewk529, post:2, topic:4551”]
You might have issues with the argonite substrate within the fuge trapping detritus causing NO-3 issues down the line.[/quote]
+1, it may be a headache down the road. You will find that its too tight in there to properly vacuum substrate. If you leave some were close to N. Wilmington, you can stop by to pickup some algae. Otherwise looks very good. :
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I live in dover but i go to greenbank aquarium for most livestock. I called yesterday and was told to come in next week for some cheato so ill be headed up there. What substrate would you recommend for the fuge since the aragonite will give problems? Btw here are a few pics of my 55 that crashed at 1 year.
WE HAVE A BIG GROUP S OF THE CANAL finally. come to the meeting. people will have chaeto. check out carpool info thread. date is 9/19. what i understood andrew and rosti to mean was no substrate your in fuge/sump. if you wand anything, rubble rock or something like that, not a bottom that will be tough to work in. correct me guys if that was not yr intent.
welcome to drc. nice tank.
Ah. Ok but now help me understand the pros and cons of substrate vs. no substrate please and thank you.
No substrate in sump/fuge is best, just algae and light to absorb some nutrients, OR mud substrate if you are committed to feeding it and stocking with critters. One thing to remember is a fuge with substrate will most likely become a good producer of natural food to the system but will have a very small, if any, contribution to filtration in your situation.
Ok. I was planning to put pods in there also because i want a pair of dragonets in the main tank. So you say lose the sand in the fuge and just LR and cheato? Will the pods be ok with just that?
[quote=“TheNewGuy, post:9, topic:4551”]
Ok. I was planning to put pods in there also because i want a pair of dragonets in the main tank. So you say lose the sand in the fuge and just LR and cheato? Will the pods be ok with just that?[/quote]
yes
rosti has a good brain on these things. right now there are empty seats in cars going to the mtg.
WPH in new castle right?
[quote=“TheNewGuy, post:12, topic:4551”]
WPH in new castle right?[/quote]
yep
I saw the place and date somewhere while browsing but i can find the thread with the official event specs such as time and all that good stuff.
Oh wow it was on the home page duh…smh im noob sry.
A pair of dragnets would more then likely starve in a 75 even with a pod population in the fuge, you have to remember they are like hummingbirds and need to eat constantly they can not store food for energy. They are very beautful and I always wanted one myself but the truth is they do not have a good chance in mid size or smaller tanks.
[quote=“Hudzon, post:16, topic:4551”]
A pair of dragnets would more then likely starve in a 75 even with a pod population in the fuge, you have to remember they are like hummingbirds and need to eat constantly they can not store food for energy. They are very beautful and I always wanted one myself but the truth is they do not have a good chance in mid size or smaller tanks.[/quote]
That is the exact opposite of what my LFS owner told me…she said they couldn’t out eat the pod population.
[quote=“TheNewGuy, post:17, topic:4551”]
That is the exact opposite of what my LFS owner told me…she said they couldn’t out eat the pod population.[/quote]
And that is one of the problems with some LFS. There are a few other really good stores you should check out for livestock. I always find it best to stop in to any atore I can find and check out what they have going on, some carry things others don’t, some have salesman working, others have hobbiests working.
I’ve had difficulty keeping 1 Mandarin in a 75g that had been set up for 3 years with a full 20g fuge chock full of pods.
Now with that being said there have been some success stories from people able to train their mandarins to eat prepared foods. If you do a search over on reef-geeks.com you can find a pretty good “how to” thread written. If you’re able to get them eating prepared foods they should do better and may not decimate your pod population too quickly.
That does make sense. Its a long shot to get them eating prepared foods as ive heard of them doing it in some cases but id rather not attempt and fail in a smaller setup. Maybe just one will do good in the tank.