My first reef, 75g w/ 45g sump
- Thread starter Molli
- Start date
Sinclair81
New member
Its addicting isnt it! Cool to see you add more stuff to the system. I have to do the same thing with my house, as far as bracing is concerned! Also I love the smell of citrus flowers, cant wait til mine bloom again.
I finally got the expansion up and running!
The whole shabang.
The atrocious plumbing.
The dividing point from the pump output. Had to use special abs to pvc glue. I was scared of it leaking!
I ran the expansion by itself to get it up to temp and salinity. The original tank ran with just a power head and heater in it during that time, about 4 days. The corals and lone zoa frag I have closed up when I opened the valve between the tanks. Something in the water I guess. The snails stopped moving too and one of them went into his shell and let go of the rock. This afternoon though they're moving again, but slowly.
The new 75g sump. I think it's got about 40 gallons or so in it.
I've not run a skimmer before, so this is it's maiden foam. Does it look right? The instructions say it may take a few days to produce skimmate and not to mess with the settings yet. I keep wanting to see the foam discolor already though.
My husband keeps messing with the stand. He added these braces today. He says he's done with it, but we'll see.
And lastly, the quarantine tank! Firefish has been incarcerated for 8 days now
Hang in there buddy!
The whole shabang.
The atrocious plumbing.
The dividing point from the pump output. Had to use special abs to pvc glue. I was scared of it leaking!
I ran the expansion by itself to get it up to temp and salinity. The original tank ran with just a power head and heater in it during that time, about 4 days. The corals and lone zoa frag I have closed up when I opened the valve between the tanks. Something in the water I guess. The snails stopped moving too and one of them went into his shell and let go of the rock. This afternoon though they're moving again, but slowly.
The new 75g sump. I think it's got about 40 gallons or so in it.
I've not run a skimmer before, so this is it's maiden foam. Does it look right? The instructions say it may take a few days to produce skimmate and not to mess with the settings yet. I keep wanting to see the foam discolor already though.
My husband keeps messing with the stand. He added these braces today. He says he's done with it, but we'll see.
And lastly, the quarantine tank! Firefish has been incarcerated for 8 days now
Hang in there buddy!
aquamanpc24
New member
like the tank, I just upgraded my fowlr and had did quick plumbing and than went ahead and trimmed the excess off. by the way my girlfriend spells her name Mollie. unrelated but interesting as spelling is not common
Apparently I missed an update when I did one on my local forum, so there will be two today >.< This first one happened on the 15th of March.
Little update.
Since the larger 75g sump is under the refugium, the 40 gallon got to move out. In moves the reservoir! We used this same setup in our apartment for months with no mishaps, using the water for top offs on my planted tanks (while waiting to use it for saltwater, before I knew we were moving).
A closer look at the float valve.
The big empty refugium has gathered these little cheato piles in it. If I shine a light in it at night I can see huge amphipods munching away in them. To me, this means they made it through the return pump!
I'm wondering now though if when I get my mandarin should he go in the refugium or in the reef?
My poor little zoa frag. It closed up when I opened the valve between the tank and the expansion, and has only now just started opening again a week later. I played with the white balance option on my camera to get this shot, still not very good. lol
Little update.
Since the larger 75g sump is under the refugium, the 40 gallon got to move out. In moves the reservoir! We used this same setup in our apartment for months with no mishaps, using the water for top offs on my planted tanks (while waiting to use it for saltwater, before I knew we were moving).
A closer look at the float valve.
The big empty refugium has gathered these little cheato piles in it. If I shine a light in it at night I can see huge amphipods munching away in them. To me, this means they made it through the return pump!
I'm wondering now though if when I get my mandarin should he go in the refugium or in the reef?
My poor little zoa frag. It closed up when I opened the valve between the tank and the expansion, and has only now just started opening again a week later. I played with the white balance option on my camera to get this shot, still not very good. lol
And this one is today!
Got the rest of my sand washed today and in the tank. I was going to take pictures of it in the tank (silly me) but of course none of you want to see a tank full of milk. Anywho, here's some stuff I found in my sand. One of these things doesn't belong in it, can you find it?
We'll come back to that.
I redid my rockwork, mostly on the left side. The tower was bothering me, too tall and I'm not going to be able to use it like I thought I would, so I tipped it on it's side. I like it a lot better now. Here is a pic of it before:
And this is now:
Here's the show refugium rocks. Not very pretty, but I get to scape it later with macro algae's, so it doesn't matter so much. I need a light first though
So did you find the thing that didn't belong? Here it is.
Wonder how long it was in the sand? lol
I also found some shells. Yay, more hermit houses. I think it's funny when they switch shells.
Yup, that's right just rocks, shells, and a rusty screw for today. That's all you get.
Firefish has a week and a half left in quarantine!
Got the rest of my sand washed today and in the tank. I was going to take pictures of it in the tank (silly me) but of course none of you want to see a tank full of milk. Anywho, here's some stuff I found in my sand. One of these things doesn't belong in it, can you find it?
We'll come back to that.
I redid my rockwork, mostly on the left side. The tower was bothering me, too tall and I'm not going to be able to use it like I thought I would, so I tipped it on it's side. I like it a lot better now. Here is a pic of it before:
And this is now:
Here's the show refugium rocks. Not very pretty, but I get to scape it later with macro algae's, so it doesn't matter so much. I need a light first though
So did you find the thing that didn't belong? Here it is.
Wonder how long it was in the sand? lol
I also found some shells. Yay, more hermit houses. I think it's funny when they switch shells.
Yup, that's right just rocks, shells, and a rusty screw for today. That's all you get.
Firefish has a week and a half left in quarantine!
Sinclair81
New member
Any updates?
So long since an update! I've been gone a month visiting family in Arkansas. I left my tanks in the care of my husband. I left detailed instructions with him for various situations. A few things occurred while I was gone that weren't covered in my instructions... The first phone call I got was that the auto top off wasn't working anymore after switching the power cords to the new circuit that the electrician installed. Ok, no big deal, just turn the pump on manually when it dips below the mark on the sump.
The second call, the float valve on the RO/DI reservoir had gotten stuck somehow, and overflowed onto the carpet under the stand. With fans blowing on the carpet to dry it, he noticed the tank temp was 70. Or rather he thought he did. After some going back and forth we decided he was merely misreading the temp on the tiny cheapo thermometers. Related to the overflowing of the reservoir, I was concerned with the salinity. So I walked him through using the refractometer.
Through these issues he maintained that the coral and the single fish were 'fine'. I had doubts. I really wasn't surprised to come home after a month away and find...
Cheato growing in my display! So much in fact that it was shading all the little zoa plugs I'd been so very hopeful for. I'm quite sure they're all dead. No little nubs or anything, just coraline covered plugs now. So, I scooped out the mass of cheato.
Yup, lot of it. I cleaned the glass, disposed of the mop bucket of green spaghetti and counted myself lucky as I watched hermits scuttle after bits of debris dislodged from the mass. And then.. wth is that? zomg. AN URCHIN?
Where did I get that? It's a little bigger than a quarter. Any chance it's been eating my zoas? I mean, I'm sure the shading didn't help, but I have to wonder. Anyway, I'm back and paying attention to the tank again. Let's see what else turns up
The second call, the float valve on the RO/DI reservoir had gotten stuck somehow, and overflowed onto the carpet under the stand. With fans blowing on the carpet to dry it, he noticed the tank temp was 70. Or rather he thought he did. After some going back and forth we decided he was merely misreading the temp on the tiny cheapo thermometers. Related to the overflowing of the reservoir, I was concerned with the salinity. So I walked him through using the refractometer.
Through these issues he maintained that the coral and the single fish were 'fine'. I had doubts. I really wasn't surprised to come home after a month away and find...
Cheato growing in my display! So much in fact that it was shading all the little zoa plugs I'd been so very hopeful for. I'm quite sure they're all dead. No little nubs or anything, just coraline covered plugs now. So, I scooped out the mass of cheato.
Yup, lot of it. I cleaned the glass, disposed of the mop bucket of green spaghetti and counted myself lucky as I watched hermits scuttle after bits of debris dislodged from the mass. And then.. wth is that? zomg. AN URCHIN?
Where did I get that? It's a little bigger than a quarter. Any chance it's been eating my zoas? I mean, I'm sure the shading didn't help, but I have to wonder. Anyway, I'm back and paying attention to the tank again. Let's see what else turns up
nemosworld
Active member
read this whole thread, enjoyed it!
you are doing very good for a beginner.
keep up the good work!
you are doing very good for a beginner.
keep up the good work!
glassterbate
In Memoriam
Thanks for the wonderful read.
A lot has happened since my last update, including a complete tear down and re set up of the whole system. My husband decided we needed a better stand, he didn't like the look of the one we had and once he gets an idea in his head there is no talking him out of it. I desperately didn't want to go through a tear down, but he insisted and eventually convinced me of how much better it would be.
We drained the water into large trash cans lined with trash bags and put all the rock inside. We used 1 45 gallon and 5 32 gallon trash cans. I kept out the nicest pieces and the ones with coral attached and put them into the tank I use to mix saltwater, along with the fish. The hardest fish to catch was the yellow watchman goby. He can be fast when he wants to. They helped me handle and remove a lot of the rocks, as some of them are pretty heavy. I made everyone wear heavy rubber gloves, in case they might get stung by something. Like the urchin.
I didn't take any pictures of the tanks being emptied, as I was too busy directing my help (husband and his cousin) and working. I did get a few though as they did the heavy lifting.
Removing the refugium.
Moving the new stand into place.
The lurking urchin that helped convince everyone to wear their gloves
Everything in place, days later with both refugium lights and reef lights on (which never happens at the same time)
Shot from the reef side with the lights on their proper cycle.
On the right, reservoir and auto top off pump.
On the left, mixing station.
And the sump, with brand new skimmer and simplified plumbing. Hooray for simplified plumbing! Also, fun note, when we pulled the mass of cheato from the sump during tear down, I couldn't convince either of them that it was safe to handle without gloves.. I think I scared them about the tank being potentially full of stinging things.
Tonight when I cleaned the tank glass for pictures I found this guy lurking in the overflow. I think I will call him lurker. He seems to lurk alot.
Next post, coral!
We drained the water into large trash cans lined with trash bags and put all the rock inside. We used 1 45 gallon and 5 32 gallon trash cans. I kept out the nicest pieces and the ones with coral attached and put them into the tank I use to mix saltwater, along with the fish. The hardest fish to catch was the yellow watchman goby. He can be fast when he wants to. They helped me handle and remove a lot of the rocks, as some of them are pretty heavy. I made everyone wear heavy rubber gloves, in case they might get stung by something. Like the urchin.
I didn't take any pictures of the tanks being emptied, as I was too busy directing my help (husband and his cousin) and working. I did get a few though as they did the heavy lifting.
Removing the refugium.
Moving the new stand into place.
The lurking urchin that helped convince everyone to wear their gloves
Everything in place, days later with both refugium lights and reef lights on (which never happens at the same time)
Shot from the reef side with the lights on their proper cycle.
On the right, reservoir and auto top off pump.
On the left, mixing station.
And the sump, with brand new skimmer and simplified plumbing. Hooray for simplified plumbing! Also, fun note, when we pulled the mass of cheato from the sump during tear down, I couldn't convince either of them that it was safe to handle without gloves.. I think I scared them about the tank being potentially full of stinging things.
Tonight when I cleaned the tank glass for pictures I found this guy lurking in the overflow. I think I will call him lurker. He seems to lurk alot.
Next post, coral!
And now, coral additions! Aren't you excited for me?
I picked this up at a frags for food event where you got a free frag for donating some canned food. I won't tell you how long ago that was since it's only grown a tiny bump since then and I'm ashamed of that. But, it is alive and that's a nice milestone, right?
Technically I didn't add this guy, he just showed up. He lived in the back of the tank, nicely visible through the rocks until tear down, when I carefully relocated him to the front. The flow is too strong there, but I'm scared to disturb him again. He seems ok so far.
Again, technically not an addition, they came in on the rock. One of them is much bigger than the others because I've been feeding it. They all have hard bases that they've been growing. Still not really sure what they are.
This is the last thing that came with the rock, not sure what it is either. But it's alive and growing.
An sps that I bought at Rap! It makes me nervous.
Zoas I bought at Rap.
Lobo and bubble coral I won at Rap.
Zoas I was given as the Las Vegas reefers next to our booth were draining their tank. They found it rolling around in the bottom and asked me if I wanted it. Of course I did.
That's all for now, thanks for reading!
I picked this up at a frags for food event where you got a free frag for donating some canned food. I won't tell you how long ago that was since it's only grown a tiny bump since then and I'm ashamed of that. But, it is alive and that's a nice milestone, right?
Technically I didn't add this guy, he just showed up. He lived in the back of the tank, nicely visible through the rocks until tear down, when I carefully relocated him to the front. The flow is too strong there, but I'm scared to disturb him again. He seems ok so far.
Again, technically not an addition, they came in on the rock. One of them is much bigger than the others because I've been feeding it. They all have hard bases that they've been growing. Still not really sure what they are.
This is the last thing that came with the rock, not sure what it is either. But it's alive and growing.
An sps that I bought at Rap! It makes me nervous.
Zoas I bought at Rap.
Lobo and bubble coral I won at Rap.
Zoas I was given as the Las Vegas reefers next to our booth were draining their tank. They found it rolling around in the bottom and asked me if I wanted it. Of course I did.
That's all for now, thanks for reading!
