My 75 gal w/ no sump FOWLR

Well I took another ammonia test today and it still showed 0 after I added 2 raw shrimp couple days ago. I figured something was up so I youtubed how to do the api test. I realized I was doing the test wrong. I thought the second bottle was extra so I was never using it. Did the test the right way and I now show 2 ppm of ammonia.

Also made the same mistake when I got the kit. I'm not much of a reader and didn't realize you have to mix the solution from both the bottles, just assumed one bottle was extra. :headwalls:
 
Glad Im not the only one AIG25 haha.

Ordered my CUC last night from reefcleaners. I got 4 blue-legged hermits, 12 dwarf cerith, 4 nerite snails and 4 trochus snails. Not sure too little or too much for start up.

Also last night I cut the eggcrate to size and halved it so it will be easier to take on and off. All 3 clownfish are doing great. They have a ton of swimming room since they are the only fish in tank.
 
Little update:
I ended up canceling some of my CUC order b/c hermits needed faster shipping so I just bought the ceriths and nerite snails. Along with the clownfish I had, I added a Hardwicke wrasse, six line and a fairy wrasse.
When I added the snails to the DT all was great for the first 5 min. Then as the cerith snails started climbing up the glass, the Hardwicke picked them off and ate them. So in the matter of a day or 2 all my cerith snails were gone. It never messed with the bigger snails.
I decided I wanted to get some hermit crabs so I went to the local Petco and got 3. Once again everything seemed great for the first couple days. Then on the 3rd day my wife texted me and said 2 of the clowns died. We noticed the fairy wrasse started showing some spots the night before but everyone was normal. After 2 more days all my other fish died. After reading through the disease thread, it looks like velvet came from the hermit crabs. I tested water parameters and they were all 0.
Trying to look on the bright side so I get a chance to start over. I wanted some cleaner shrimp but with the Hardwicke in there it would have been impossible. I am going to pick up a couple shrimps tomorrow and start the fallow process. Good learning experience for sure
 
Also I added a gyre 130 in tank. so far so good on it. Going to pick up some more nerite snails since cerith can damage the gyre. Also going to buy a couple bags of copepods to add in tank. Figured 6 plus weeks with no fish it will give plenty of time for them to multiply. Also within the last couple days looks like im getting some diatoms on my rocks and gravel.
 
So I got my order from reefcleaners in. Ordered 2 bags of pods, 6 empty hermit shells and 10 more snails. Within the first 15 min of adding the empty shells, one of the hermits decided to make the move. It was pretty cool.
Also went to LFS and added 2 peppermint shrimp in the tank. They are fun to watch. I also bought 2 Osc. clowns for my QT. Their orange color is a lot darker then the Petco clowns I had before.
 
Here is one of the shrimp
 

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well I thought one of my hermit crabs died for the last couple weeks. I saw a floating body but couldn't find the shell it was in. Assumed the shell was stuck in a rock. Well just now I saw the "dead" crab in the missing shell. I had no idea that hermit crabs molted. Made our night that we didn't lose him/her
 
I picked up a pajama cardinal and a firefish couple weeks ago. I thought I updated that in the thread but I guess not.

Thinking about picking up a purple firefish today and/or another pajama cardinal.
 
man I haven't been on here in awhile. my tank is going great. I have added 2 more peppermint shrimp and 1 cleaner shrimp since my last post. Also added a yellow tang and a small blue tang. I know..i know. Atleast I'm admitting it.

Also I thought my pump for my protein skimmer went bad. It was making a loud noise over night after I took it out and cleaned it the day before. If I would hit the pump a few times the noise would quiet down. Finally it was back to normal after a few weeks of that. Then we had a storm pass through and our electricity went off while I was at work. When I got back home, pump wouldn't come on at all. Figured pump was bad so ordered new one online. I ended up buying the wrong one so I decided to take apart the old pump to try and make the new one work. I found a small snail inside the pump. Took it out and plugged back in the pump and its back to working like new.
 
If you decide to get the 6 line again be careful about putting another fairy or flasher wrasse with it. The 6 line can be very aggressive. Good luck and happing reefing.
 
Added a Christmas wrasse, tailspot blenny and a purple dottyback. The dottyback and the wrasse was in the shop's display tank but the blenny was in their holding tanks. After couple days the dottyback looked bad. Then the blenny went missing and a few days later the dottyback went missing. Blue tang looked bad with ich and the clowns showed signs. The firefish, cardinal and the wrasse showed no signs.

I pulled all the remaining fish this past Saturday from DT to start TTM. Tomorrow morning is my first switch. Hopefully I can get rid of ich after this 72 days of fallow.
 
haven't updated in awhile. We moved houses in august and all the fish made it. we had to stay in a hotel for 17 days so my brother fish sat.

Yesterday I noticed the gyre stopped working and has a red light. Was working fine since the move. Its been past a year since I bought it so I bet no warranty. I tried turning it off and back on but nothing. Only once when I did cycled power the gyre turned on for half a second but then back to red light. Read something maybe inside of it.
 
I'd call Maxspect customer service anyways. Seems like their service is really good and they may take care of you or offer a discount on a replacement.
 
been a long time since iv updated. Tank still going. I updated my current fish in my signature.

While adding water to the tank today I finally decided to adjust my rocks that fell over some. As soon as I put my hand in the tank I felt a shock. First time I have been shocked from the tank so it definitely caught me off guard. I got my volt meter and measured the water at 20V. I unplugged my equipment one by one til I found the culprit. It ending up being the protein skimmer. Never noticed it stopped skimming, luckily no fish deaths. I will have to look online for a new pump/motor for it.

Also I was bored enough today to take a third attempt to try and fix gyre that stopped working a year ago. I plugged it in and it instantly started spinning. Made some terrible noises and took me a little bit to know to put it in water when I plugged it in. After that it stopped making the noises. Some of the blades broke off while I had it torn down over the last year so replaced that. Working great right now. Need to add some pics at some point to update
 
been awhile since I have updated. Since the last update our pajama cardinal died. We had him for awhile but all of a sudden he started losing his color. Then he started swimming less and less. Not sure age or something else played a factor.

Our Christmas wrasse also ended up dying. He was always a big eater but all of a sudden we noticed its stomach got huge like it was pregnant. We kept an eye on him and didn't notice any strange behavior besides stomach huge. Then one day he was dead and half buried in the sand.

Our firefish story is a strange one. When we first added him we would see him swim occasionally. Then one day he just vanished without a trace. We thought he ended up dying and snails got him. 3 or 4 months went by without a trace then one day when I was watching the tank I spotted him in our rock. I only saw him for a second or 2 and then he went back in his home/rock. Literally another couple months went by and we saw him out swimming in middle of tank. He was skinny but still out and about. Since then we have seen him every day. He has gotten healthier looking and acts as if nothing has happened
 
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