75g Lurking danger and Leafy Seadragons

[vlangel]

AQUARIUM PROFILE & EQUIPMENT
1. What type of saltwater aquarium is this?: mixed reef
2. Total water volume: 75 gallons
3. When did you start this tank?: September 2025, but all the rock, sand and inhabitants were transferred from a 9 year old 56g aquarium
4. What is your aquarium made of?: glass Aqueon
5. Aquarium Stand: Aqueon 48" x 18"
6. Aquarium filtration: only a canister prefilter sponge from an Oase BioMaster 850 and natural biological from rock, sand, macroalgae. The canister filter is acting as a cryptic sump where pods, worms and other life can live and reproduce unmolested by fish. Hopefully this will provide a continuous supply of pods and worms for a natural food source for fish and coral.
7. Controller: Inkbird temperature
8. Protein skimmer: no
9. Reactor: no
10. Sump: no
11. Equipment for flow & circulation:
A. Oase BioMaster 850 canister filter,
with spraybar output
B. Carefree Fish wavemaker
C. Ecotech mp 10
D. Ecotech mp 40
12. Aquarium Lighting: ReefBreeder
Photon V-24
13. ATO: no
14. Aquarium Heating: heater that is
made to be integrated in the
BioMaster 850 canister filter. The beauty of this is the heater is in the canister and not in the tank cluttering the display. Also none of the inhabitants can be injured by it.
PH: 8.0
Specific Gravity: 1.024
NO3: 10ppm
PO4: .5ppm
Calcium, Alkalinity, and Magnesium are not monitored as these are naturally regulated with water changes and AFR dosing
Salt Brand: Instant Ocean
Trace Element dosing: Flourish (1 capful weekly), AFR ( 5-10 ML weekly), and 1 capful Seachem Stability weekly
Water Chemistry Details: 10% water change weekly
Aquarium Aquascape:
Substrate: shallow and deep sand
Live rock: 80lbs of Carribean
Nutrient export: Macroalgae and coral

AQUARIUM INHABITANTS
Fish: Coral Beauty Angelfish, Ocellaris Clownfish, Midas Blenny, Yellow Watchman Goby, Bi-color Blenny, Firefish Goby, Blue Eyed Kole Tang, One Spot Foxface, Masked Goby and 2 Pajama Cardinalfish
Future fish that I would like is a Long nose Hawkfish, a Royal Gramma, and maybe even a Sharpnose Puffer.

Coral: SPS- Scroll coral, War coral
LPS- Green Hammers, Aqua Trumpets, Neon Green Trumpets
SOFTIES- various Palys, various Zoas, Sinularia finger leather, Cabbage leather, Green Toadstool leather, Green Star Polyp
SPONGES- Yellow Ball Sponge, Red Tree Sponge, Purple Photosynthetic Sponge

Inverts: Rock Flower Anemones, 6 Feather Dusters, Emerald crabs, 6 Peppermint Shrimp, Nassarius snails and an Atlantic cucumber.
I feel I need a couple blue legged reef crabs and some nerite snails to help deal with the diatoms on the sandbed.

Macroalgae: (Green) Codium, Opuntia, Shaving Brush, Ulva, Moss Ball, (Red) Pom Pom, Gracilaria Hayi

2 Mangroves

Aquarium Nutrition:
Auto Feeder 2Xs daily veggie flakes
1 Frozen Cube daily of various foods
5 ML of live Phyto

Hi folks, my name is Dawn and I am upgrading from my current 56g column to a standard 75g display. The main reason is I am not as tall as I once was and the tall 56g is a pain to clean, ha ha! Gotta love getting older. Actually I am also excited about having a bigger footprint for more fish too!
Like my current display, this new 75g will also have a mural on the back glass. That is where the leafy seadragons come in; sorry folks if I misled you into thinking that I was keeping seadragon! It's reminds me of when I kept and raised seahorses, which are in the same family as seadragons. Of course my tank is kind of leafy since I love macroalgae.

I plan to set this tank up simply with biology doing most of the filtering, (same as my current tank). I will be moving all my rock over, washing and re-using the sand and keeping macroalgae.

I bought a 20g high tank at a Petco sale to be the sump and home for my aged Percula clown and renegade pistol shrimp. I also am going to relocate all the rainbow nems down there. The sump will not be plumbed to the display immediately until I can gather and put the plumbing together. Display and sump will just be AIOs until that happens but the 20g will be under the cabinet. That way my fish and coral are back in a stable environment until I can do the plumbing rather than makeshift holding tanks.

 

[Reefing102]

Sounds like a plan and that background is awesome

 

[griss]

Following.

 

[vlangel]

Sounds like a plan and that background is awesome

Thanks Reefing 102!

 

[Uncle99]

That’s very cool, nice work!

 

[vlangel]

That’s very cool, nice work!

Thank you Uncle99. I am hoping it will look even better and more cohesive once rock and water are in.

 

[griss]

Thank you Uncle99. I am hoping it will look even better and more cohesive once rock and water are in.

I’m sure it will. I’m impressed with your artistic skills. Nice work.

 

[vlangel]

I’m sure it will. I’m impressed with your artistic skills. Nice work.

Thanks George, I guess the big bucks I spent going to the Art Institute of Pgh hasn't been a complete waste! Actually if you look at the 1st Pic in this thread of the tank and cabinet you can see a pencil illustration of animals in a Ford pickup truck; that is my work from my Art Institute days. The assignment was, 'what do the zoo animals do when the zoo closes'?

 

[kfisc]

Very cool! I've never seen a background like it.

 

[wvned]

You do realize what a giant pain plumbing a heavy tank and working in a cabinet will be later.
I drilled my 75 and ditched the over the side stuff. So glad I did.

The art is nice and will look great.

 

[vlangel]

You do realize what a giant pain plumbing a heavy tank and working in a cabinet will be later.
I drilled my 75 and ditched the over the side stuff. So glad I did.

The art is nice and will look great.

I do, my 1st tank was a standard 90g with a sump in the cabinet that was added later. It also had a HOB overflow box. Also I always soft plumb so that makes it a little easier. I appreciate the heads up however.

Thanks for the kind words on the art.

 

[vlangel]

Very cool! I've never seen a background like it.

Thanks, I was hoping for something unique.

 

[wvned]

I like art. Quite often artists don't appreciate themselves. I have this. A person made it on another forum I was on. He was going to throw it away. I said I would like to have it but you have to sign it. He/she mailed it to me. I had it framed and sent him $100 gift card.
No idea who it was, just a user name. From a family of talented people that did ad art. They didn't think he was talented. I think it is very good and much to nice for the landfill. I put it up next to the 240.

I like the one you made too.

I did the over the top thing with my 75. When I tore it down to move I drilled it while it was empty. It has an overflow and returns now.

 

[griss]

I like art. Quite often artists don't appreciate themselves. I have this. A person made it on another forum I was on. He was going to throw it away. I said I would like to have it but you have to sign it. He/she mailed it to me. I had it framed and sent him $100 gift card.
No idea who it was, just a user name. From a family of talented people that did ad art. They didn't think he was talented. I think it is very good and much to nice for the landfill. I put it up next to the 240.
View attachment 32413975
I like the one you made too.

I did the over the top thing with my 75. When I tore it down to move I drilled it while it was empty. It has an overflow and returns now.

That’s awesome Ned. Love it.

 

[vlangel]

I like art. Quite often artists don't appreciate themselves. I have this. A person made it on another forum I was on. He was going to throw it away. I said I would like to have it but you have to sign it. He/she mailed it to me. I had it framed and sent him $100 gift card.
No idea who it was, just a user name. From a family of talented people that did ad art. They didn't think he was talented. I think it is very good and much to nice for the landfill. I put it up next to the 240.
View attachment 32413975
I like the one you made too.

I did the over the top thing with my 75. When I tore it down to move I drilled it while it was empty. It has an overflow and returns now.

I like that artwork too. I am glad that you rescued it!

 

[griss]

When I relocated my tool area in the basement for the remodel I made the workbench about 10’ long with pegboard in the back. My younger daughter painted a reef scene on it before I moved all my tools over.

 

[vlangel]

I was set to transfer everything into the new tank bright and early yesterday morning,,,alas, the best laid plans of mice and men! I came down with a stomach virus in the wee hours of Monday morning so nothing got done.
Today I am much better but still a bit weak so no transfer today either. However, i did get into my fish room, and dragged out stuff i would need for the transfer. I have a 10g and a 20g long aquariums to house the fish and coral temporarily. I have a large brute can for mixing more saltwater. And of course various sizes of powerhead pumps for aeration. I found 2 small heaters plus the heaters I am using currently. I plan to buy new heaters since I know that is one piece of equipment that fails. Along with my 2 AquaClear filters, I think I am prepared for the transfer as soon as I have another free day to tackle it.

Oh yeah, and I looked at my fishroom with a critical eye and decided that I was saving way too much stuff. Things like the kriesel nursery when I was raising seahorse fry, old plumbing supplies, frag plugs and so on... I filled 1 and a half garbage bags with stuff I will never use again and likely no one else I know will use either, so out it went. So I am simplifying my aquarium and my fishroom.

 

[griss]

Hope you're feeling better soon.

 

[JohnL]

Hope you're feeling better soon.

Ditto

 

[vlangel]

Hope you're feeling better soon.

Ditto

Thanks George and John. Yes, yesterday was a big improvement and today I feel nearly back to normal.

I have the spare 2 aquariums half full of water and working on the salinity and. temperature in both. I also have a brute can 2/3 full and working on the salinity there too. I am hoping to transfer tomorrow but the end of the week is kind of busy so we will see how it goes.