75 gallon build

[MA4446]

Nice. Like your set up

 

[freetareef]

awesome!!! hi and welcome!!!!!

 

[aryiman]

Well back for another update! Picked up a watchman goby today and put him in the QT tank. Lost a turbo snail but picked up another massive one at the store today.

 

[aryiman]

So a lot has happened recently.

Any advice on the lighting or is it good? ATI Lights (1 atcnics, blue plus, blue plus, aquablue plus, purple plus, blue plus)

Below is my recent activity:

June 15th - Day 84
Added Corals:
Open Brain
Dragon Eye Zoa
Eagle Eye Zoa
Eagle Eye Yellow Skirt Morph
Rainbow Yuma - feed shrimp once a week
Blue Encrusting Montipora
Various Favias
Green Star Polyps

Added sand sifting star fish

June 19, 2011 - Day 88
Added Coral:
Candy cane coral
Added first fish
Yellowhead Watchman Goby

June 20, 2011 - Day 89

pH 8.4
Nitrite 0.05
Nitrate 0
Ammonia 0

Added corals:
Torch coral
Green paly frag (green monsters / caribbean green


Pictures:

 

[theaquareef]

Im really likin your 75. Its simple and looks good. I think you should have gotten 2 koralia 1400's though thats what i did they seem about perfect!! Btw nice rock

 

[chris3_16]

looking good. Hope u don't mind me tagging along.

 

[aryiman]

^ that's the reason I created this thread is so people can follow and ask questions or give advice. I'm going to be putting a Carpenter Flasher Wrasse in QT this week for the next fish.

 

[TimeConsumer]

So a lot has happened recently.

Any advice on the lighting or is it good? ATI Lights (1 atcnics, blue plus, blue plus, aquablue plus, purple plus, blue plus)

What brand of fixture are you using?

The bulb combo depends on the look you're going for. I like it to look 20k so I would go with 4x blue plus, 1 purple plus, and 1 ge daylight 6500k. If you want it to be more of a 14k look you can do 3 blue plus, 1 purple plus, 1 daylight, and 1 aquablue special.

I would probably ditch the actinic as this has lower PAR than a blue plus to accomplish the same thing.

However, a lot depends on your fixture as well. If you're using an ATI sunpower or powermodule 6x54w, you may be better off using some lower par bulbs like actinics. Because that fixture puts off so much light it will cook anything but SPS, clams, and nems. If it's a Tek, you should be fine.

Loving your build though. Great looking aquascape. Do you plan on having anything on the sandbed in front?

And if you're looking for fish recommendations I think a squamipinnis (lyretail anthia) would be a nice fit, I have one in my 75 and he's a lot of fun. You can get a tang as well, but limit yourself to the smaller ones. Consult this thread: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1946079

Keep us posted on the progress.

 

[wavemaker81]

Nice! I am setting up my 75 this weekend. This is my 2nd reef tank but first one in 2 years since I moved to a new state. I'll be sure to tag along to get some ideas. Keep it up.

 

[aryiman]

What brand of fixture are you using?

The bulb combo depends on the look you're going for. I like it to look 20k so I would go with 4x blue plus, 1 purple plus, and 1 ge daylight 6500k. If you want it to be more of a 14k look you can do 3 blue plus, 1 purple plus, 1 daylight, and 1 aquablue special.

I would probably ditch the actinic as this has lower PAR than a blue plus to accomplish the same thing.

However, a lot depends on your fixture as well. If you're using an ATI sunpower or powermodule 6x54w, you may be better off using some lower par bulbs like actinics. Because that fixture puts off so much light it will cook anything but SPS, clams, and nems. If it's a Tek, you should be fine.

Loving your build though. Great looking aquascape. Do you plan on having anything on the sandbed in front?

And if you're looking for fish recommendations I think a squamipinnis (lyretail anthia) would be a nice fit, I have one in my 75 and he's a lot of fun. You can get a tang as well, but limit yourself to the smaller ones. Consult this thread: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1946079

Keep us posted on the progress.

I'm using the coral life fixture because it had fans in it and I got a really good deal on it.

I have a blue plus and an aquablue special as a spare that I can substitute for the actinic light. I just want to be able to keep alive what I have in there right now. I dont' want to put anything extravagant in there right now as I start the coral process.

I plan on keeping the sand bed pretty much open unless someone has a suggestion on what to do in there.

Thanks for all of your help! I appreciate all the advice since I am new.

I am going to be getting a Carpenter Flasher Wrasse as my next fish then it'll be on to researching the next one.

I plan on putting a clown and a tang in, but not until last since those are both semi-aggressive

 

[aryiman]

Nice! I am setting up my 75 this weekend. This is my 2nd reef tank but first one in 2 years since I moved to a new state. I'll be sure to tag along to get some ideas. Keep it up.

Good luck this weekend! This is my first fish tank ever, so I'm pretty happy with how it is going so far.

 

[streak]

I was going to recomend the Monticap.. but i see you already picked one up.. I got mine about the size of a quarter and its growing like mad in my nano tank. One suggestion on it though put it up high it loves the light.. I have mine up high and im using leds leme put up a pic of mine.. dont mine the coralline alge bloom i have..

You have a great looking tank. I cant wait to setup my 75..

 

[TimeConsumer]

I'm using the coral life fixture because it had fans in it and I got a really good deal on it.

I have a blue plus and an aquablue special as a spare that I can substitute for the actinic light. I just want to be able to keep alive what I have in there right now. I dont' want to put anything extravagant in there right now as I start the coral process.

I plan on keeping the sand bed pretty much open unless someone has a suggestion on what to do in there.

Thanks for all of your help! I appreciate all the advice since I am new.

I am going to be getting a Carpenter Flasher Wrasse as my next fish then it'll be on to researching the next one.

I plan on putting a clown and a tang in, but not until last since those are both semi-aggressive

Coralife's fixture isn't my favorite due to the lack of individual reflectors for the bulb, but some bargains can't be beat. With a 6x54w Coralife you won't have to worry about burning any corals with too much light.

Keep in mind though, you'll be spending $125 a year on bulbs for that thing, and most of the bulbs are over the sand where it sounds like you're not going to have many corals. Eventually you may want to replace the Coralife with a Tek or a Sunpower 4 bulb fixture, it will use less electricity and fewer bulbs, yet put out the same (or more) light than your current fixture, and you can put it directly over the rocks and waste less light on sand.

But the benefit of the 6 bulb fixture is you have more bulbs to play with to get the colors just how you want.

I have a clown and 2 tangs in my 75 gallon, and they don't seem to both anyone except each other. The two tangs are always swordfighting, and the maroon goldstripe killed her mate soon after adding the two. I'm going to leave her as a widow, she seems happier alone. But they don't bother any of the other fish so I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[68whiskey]

Nice set up. Makes me miss my 75 gallon =(

 

[aryiman]

I was going to recomend the Monticap.. but i see you already picked one up.. I got mine about the size of a quarter and its growing like mad in my nano tank. One suggestion on it though put it up high it loves the light.. I have mine up high and im using leds leme put up a pic of mine.. dont mine the coralline alge bloom i have..

You have a great looking tank. I cant wait to setup my 75..

That looks awesome! My snails keep knocking my monti around, any suggestions? I have it up high as well to get it lots of light

 

[aryiman]

Coralife's fixture isn't my favorite due to the lack of individual reflectors for the bulb, but some bargains can't be beat. With a 6x54w Coralife you won't have to worry about burning any corals with too much light.

Keep in mind though, you'll be spending $125 a year on bulbs for that thing, and most of the bulbs are over the sand where it sounds like you're not going to have many corals. Eventually you may want to replace the Coralife with a Tek or a Sunpower 4 bulb fixture, it will use less electricity and fewer bulbs, yet put out the same (or more) light than your current fixture, and you can put it directly over the rocks and waste less light on sand.

But the benefit of the 6 bulb fixture is you have more bulbs to play with to get the colors just how you want.

I have a clown and 2 tangs in my 75 gallon, and they don't seem to both anyone except each other. The two tangs are always swordfighting, and the maroon goldstripe killed her mate soon after adding the two. I'm going to leave her as a widow, she seems happier alone. But they don't bother any of the other fish so I wouldn't worry about it.

I bought the coral life with brand new ATI bulbs and 2 extras with moon lights for $350 so I couldn't pass it up. I think I'm going to put another blue plus in just to mess with it a little bit.

I'm going to research on other light options for the future, but the T5s are a great starter light that I'm happy with.

Glad to know the clown and tang to mess with your other fish. Might put those in 3 and 4.

 

[TimeConsumer]

I bought the coral life with brand new ATI bulbs and 2 extras with moon lights for $350 so I couldn't pass it up. I think I'm going to put another blue plus in just to mess with it a little bit.

I'm going to research on other light options for the future, but the T5s are a great starter light that I'm happy with.

Glad to know the clown and tang to mess with your other fish. Might put those in 3 and 4.

I love using T5's, going to continue with them for awhile until LED's become a little more affordable.

What kind of tang are you thinking?

 

[aryiman]

I was thinking yellow because I heard they could hold their own in a 75

 

[TimeConsumer]

I was thinking yellow because I heard they could hold their own in a 75

I'v heard conflicting reports. The thread I linked you to says a minimum of 5 foot long tank. Yet one of my books says a 4 foot long tank is the minimum. You also want to take into account, do you want the fish in just the bare minimum? A human can live in a prison cell, but how happy are they? But your tank has a lot of open swimming space, so it may be happy.

Kole's tang would be a good fit, and is a beautiful fish.

What kind of clown fish you have in mind?

 

[aryiman]

^ that's true. The guy here said a yellow can survive in a 75 so we will see. I will get an ocellaris clownfish