New Reef tank. Suggestions? Comments?

[DrPeaches]

Well here it is. After four months of planning and building, I finally have my new 75-gallon tank up and running. I've added 85 lbs. of live rock and 80 lbs. of aragonite sand. Ammonia and nitrate levels are now at zero using Salifert test kits. My hitchikers included at least three hermit crabs, a snail of some sort, a button polyp, and my first aiptasia, which I tried so hard to avoid. I plan to nuke it tomorrow. I hope it'll be the last. (wishful thinking?)

My plans are to begin with a few LPS corals in a couple of months after the water parameters are stable and the tank has had more time to cycle. In a year or so I want to begin adding SPS corals.

My question to the group is, do you think there's enough live rock in the tank? There's a big open space in the front that seems to cry for attention, but I want to leave some room for a clam or two. Should the live rock be a bit taller perhaps? If I'm going to add any more rock, I'd rather do it now than later.

Any other suggestions are more than welcome too.

 

[gflat65]

I might go with a rock or two more, but it looks fine the way it is. I just replaced all of the rock in my 125 and ended up using a lot less. The added sand space is nice for clams and brains, etc. The short rockwork allows for growth and better flow. Just needs some fish and corals.

 

[bshumake]

I think it looks nice! Do get a couple more rocks. I'd say 2-3 nice ones. Kermit's just got some in and they look pretty good. Be sure to have some hidey holes for fish so spans, arches, and caves are always nice. Be sure to pick out the nicest and oddest pieces from the LR vats. Hes had a couple that were Perfect before. Oh, I have some "shrapnel" that richard left in my kitchen to stink up the house you can have. Thier smallish but would do well for shimming pieces in and leveling out corals. Make sure you have strong enough lights for the clam and I highly recommend the squamosa hes got for $90. Its SWEET!

 

[wjhuie]

looks good. So what are you using for circulation also what kind of skimmer ?

 

[DrPeaches]

Thanks for the suggestions and comments. It's nice to have some reassurrance to know I'm not completely off track. I think I will add a piece or two of live rock to the front while still leaving the open space. That should round things out nicely.

For lighting I'm using two 175W 20,000K metal halides along with two 96W PCs, one actinic and one 6700k, so I think I have enough for the clams. (I'm not running the halides yet) Circulation is via closed loop with two 3/4 sea swirls driven by a MAK-4 pump.

Now I just have to force myself to be patient and wait for everything to stabilize. Should the clams be one of the last things I add?

 

[bshumake]

Yep.

 

[nam2212]

Looks good so far. I think I would add a few more nice pieces of liverock. I am in the process of putting together a 75G at the moment and I have about 110lbs of rock. Do you feel that the Mak4 through 2x 3/4" SS is enough flow? I will be running a little less than 1200GPH through 2x 1/2" SS, but my return will also provide just over 700GPH. I have been wondering if this will be enough. As far as clams, it really depends on what species you are planning to keep. I had really good luck with a derasa under 130W PCs. He is now under 250W HQI, but did fine under lower lighting. I think I waited about 2 months after the cycle to add the derasa. He has tripled in size in the last year and is outgrowing my 29G. I might wait a while longer if adding a crocea or maxima, but derasa and squamosa are pretty much bullet-proof in my experience.

Nick

 

[wjhuie]

What kind of skimmer

 

[DrPeaches]

I'm sorry I forgot to list the skimmer in the last post; it's an ASM-G1X. So far, it seems to be working well.

I think the plumbing setup will provide adequate flow. According to the Sea Swirl Web site, the 3/4" swirls will handle somewhere around 800 gph each. I'm also using 1" pvc. When I use the head loss calculator on the home page of Reefcentral.com, it comes up with about 1000 gph total flow. I also have double returns, not so much because one won't handle it, but because I'm a bit paranoid and want to avoid a flood.

Here are a couple of pics of the plumbing.

And I decided to go ahead and add some more live rock. There are three more pieces (17 lbs) from Kermit's that seem to fill the spaces very nicely. Thanks for the suggestions y'all.

 

[wjhuie]

Awesome well thought out and a very clean looking setup.
Do you plan on upgrading skimmers soon, also where is the intake for your closed loop?

 

[acro-wrasse]

looks good with the extra rocks added.

If you plan to add sps next year, you might want to play around
with your rock design now.
A year from now you won't want to start moving rocks and lots of current are important for sps.

Your off to a great start, now if only you can resist putting a clam in all that empty sand!

 

[DrPeaches]

The entire flow of the tank runs through the sump and back through the two sea swirls. Chalk it up to a rookie mistake for calling it a "closed loop." The basic design I appropriated (stole?) from the coral tank at Kermits. As for the skimmer, I haven't given much thought to upgrading just yet, but as I add corals and fish I'm sure I'll have to consider it.

And yes, it's been tough looking at that big, empty aquarium just calling for corals and clams. I think it might be some kind of test to see if I can resist temptation.