My 75G Tank Build

[mlott132]

I want to start off first and thank everyone for their feedback. Without your help I would have made a lot of bad decisions. Thanks again.

Only two more days until I finally get my tank filled!:lol2: It has been a long process to get to this point, but I am glad this part of the journey is coming to an end. I have a friend that has had a saltwater tank for a long time coming over on Saturday to help me get this started. Here are some pictures of my tank and sump setup. Once we get it filled and scaped I will post more pics.

I was planning on seeding my QT filter sponge in the sump. Do I wait until the cycle is over to put the sponge in the sump and do I need to hook it up to the air pump or just set it in the sump?

 

[miamiaquarium]

nice set up looks good

 

[TX..r33f]

looks good looking forward to seeing it running

 

[Michigan Mike]

Wow clean! Do you have fish in qt? I would throw salt water in the tank and add a raw deli shrimp in a mesh bag until you get some ammonia starting to show, then wait until you get nitrite and finally nitrate, then do water changes till your nitrates are back to zero.make sure you have all levels ack to zero before you add fish.

 

[mlott132]

No fish in QT yet. Want to get tank filled and cycled. When I add my CUC I will get my first fish in QT. Since I am going with all dry rock I am unsure how long it will tank for the tank to cycle. I don't want to get a fish now and have it stuck in the QT for an extended period of time.

 

[mlott132]

I was thinking of taking the glass covers off and installing screens. Any opinions on this? Would it help the tank run better?

 

[mlott132]

Small Update

Small Update

I just received my new LED fixture. I ordered a SkyLED 462 LED unit from truaqua. Big improvement over the stock single bulb fluorescent unit and it only cost me $120. Here are some pics of the tank with the new light. One more day and it will be filled with water and rock!

With all LEDs on

With red and blue on

Just blues on

what the LED array looks like

 

[mlott132]

Going to be starting my cycle today using shrimp and had a couple questions. First, does it matter if I use shrimp from the deli case or uncooked frozen? Second, how long do I leave it in the tank, for a day or two or don't take it out?

 

[mlott132]

All Systems GO!

All Systems GO!

After many hours yesterday I finally got my tank going. One thing I did learn is that I should have used gate valves instead of ball. Trying to adjust the ball valves to get a constant level in the sump is a PITA!:angryfire: You move the valve a fraction of an inch an the level goes crazy. Anyway, her is a pic of the tank filled and scaped. Let me know your comments on my scape.

 

[sponger0]

Dude, that looks awesome!!!!!

 

[blesk]

How you like the light look perfect.

 

[mlott132]

How you like the light look perfect.

Light is awesome. The kids love it when I just turn the reds on. They call it the blood tank.

Sent from my Thunderbolt via Tapatalk 2

 

[mlott132]

Just started my cycle today using a couple shrimp. How often should I test my water, once a day, every other day, weekly, or other?

 

[rfrain01]

Looks awesome! I test every few days right now during my cycle.

 

[Michigan Mike]

looking real good! Never heard of the led fixtures before, don't think they have the power to do high light demanding corals. Cool tank and being to change colors is cool.Hope you are Not planning on just using that light for anything other than fish only. It is a decorative light, you will need t5ho, or something else to do even the lowest light needing corals.

 

[mlott132]

looking real good! Never heard of the led fixtures before, don't think they have the power to do high light demanding corals. Cool tank and being to change colors is cool.Hope you are Not planning on just using that light for anything other than fish only. It is a decorative light, you will need t5ho, or something else to do even the lowest light needing corals.

No corals just yet. Needed to upgrade from the standard single fluorescent bulb fixture and did not want to drop a ton of money on a fixture I did not need yet. When I do switch to reef I am thinking of upgrading to either Radions or an AI system.

 

[Michigan Mike]

Cool then, I kinda want to see it lit up with red! (hint hint) I really enjoy the rock you got.

 

[mlott132]

Cool then, I kinda want to see it lit up with red! (hint hint) I really enjoy the rock you got.

Here's the blood tank. Looks way better when it's dark outside.

 

[mlott132]

Anyone have experience with the HPS line of heaters from Finnex? I am running two 100W heaters in my sump. Both of their displays read 80 while my digital thermometer reads 76.5. Just wondering if anyone else has had issues of the Finnex sensors being off.

Update: never mind found out that my digital thermometer is the problem. Have to figure out if there is a way to calibrate it.

I'm such an idiot. Did not realize that the digital thermometer will read either the tank temp or air temp. Had the switch in air temp.:headwally:

 

[mlott132]

I need some feedback on this crab. I was at my lfs and saw this in their tank. Is this safe for a FOWLR? My wife is creeped out by it, but I love that way it moves around the tank.