Nick's 75g Tank (My First Ever)

Nick James

Nick James

New member
Bought a 75g established aquarium. The previous owner had about 30-40lbs of live rock and about 1-2 inches of live sand for substrate.

The tank came with a Prism Protein Skimmer and a Marine Land Magnum H.O.T filter. I am not sure what kind of power output the light ballast he gave me can put out (it looks kinda crappy), two heaters, and two power heads (unkown make).

The guy that owned it neglected the tank for quite some time and it basically ran at room temperature with no filtration for a while. Amazingly, a large maroon clownfish, yellow tailed damsel, serpent star, and green polyp mushroom survived as well as ALOT of nice coraline algea.

There are some mini feather dusters growing on some of the live rock with orange "fans" sticking out of the small white tubes. (anyone know what these things might be?) As well as other little creatures. I noticed another similiar white tube which had two very fine "antennas" sticking out of it.. I've seen them retract and come back out, not sure what this is either..

I have moved the inhabitants into a friend's 30g refugium for now with the live rocks to keep them "live".

I am going to fix up the stand that came with it and set up the sand and some live rock in my 75g tank to start a cycle. I will introduce some live copepods into this environment after a few weeks and some snails for clean up duties.

I plan on buying another light ballast and putting VHO flourescents in. I would like to aim for 3 110 watt bulbs at 10k or higher and supplement 1-2 actinic bulbs for an hour or so before lights out and before lights come on.

I am going to purchase a new protein skimmer hopefully in or around $200 if I can find a decent new one or used one for that price.

I am going to remove the inside materials/items from the filter and put cheato in it with a light mounted above it.

Any input or criticism is welcome! I am a NEWB!

Now I am going to hurry up and wait! I will start posting pics when things get set up!

:reading:
 
I agree with CAPN get rid of the substrate. I learned my lesson well. I will never use substrate that has been neglected.
 
a suggestion---get rid of the substrate and add new stuff--esp with the tank under neglect for awhile. [/B]
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. Is it possible to clean the substrate so that it may be re used? If so how can I do this?

Thanks again,

Nick
 
Just throw it away and save a cupful of it, then buy new sand and throw the cupful of old sand on top of it.
 
Re: Nick's 75g Tank (My First Ever)

There are some mini feather dusters growing on some of the live rock with orange "fans" sticking out of the small white tubes. (anyone know what these things might be?) As well as other little creatures. I noticed another similiar white tube which had two very fine "antennas" sticking out of it.. I've seen them retract and come back out, not sure what this is either..
Click to expand...

Anyone have any ideas what these little creatures might be?
 
Re: Re: Nick's 75g Tank (My First Ever)

Re: Re: Nick's 75g Tank (My First Ever)

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12622746#post12622746 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by nallender
Anyone have any ideas what these little creatures might be?
Click to expand...

If you can post a picture it would help

BTW
the other reason you don't reuse an old sand bed is because it breaks down over time and can become useless for inverts, bacteria, algae that live in it

Here is a good read if you have the time on how sand beds work:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-06/rs/feature/index.php
 
There are some mini feather dusters growing on some of the live rock with orange "fans" sticking out of the small white tubes. (anyone know what these things might be?)
Click to expand...

They are just what they look like, feather duster tube worms. They are worms that live in those white tubes and the feather dusters are their means of eating. They are good to have in your tank.

I noticed another similiar white tube which had two very fine "antennas" sticking out of it.. I've seen them retract and come back out, not sure what this is either.
Click to expand...

These might be chaetopterid worms. Not sure what the common name on those are. If the tubes look to be made of sand then its definate.

All of these critters are a good sign and they should not be removed with the substrate.
 
All of these critters are a good sign and they should not be removed with the substrate.
Click to expand...

I assumed that this was a good sign, which to me is weird as the guy said he neglected the tank. All the live rock he gave me looks really good.. my friend has been taking great care of his tank and he can't get his rock to look as good as this stuff..

The tubes that the little antennas are sticking out of look very similiar to that of the micro "feather dusters" growing on the rock. They don't look sandy tho..

I will try to post a pic of them if I can get a good one as they are so small.
 
My tank is actually a 90 gallon tank!

My tank is actually a 90 gallon tank!

I measured the dimensions and realized the tank is actually a 90 gallon tank.. not a 75 gallon..

I have done lot's of reading in the last little bit and I am going to build my own sump out of a 30 gallon aquarium.. I am likely going to get an in sump skimmer as well

I have just ordered a T5 lighting canopy 48" long with 4 T5 bulbs.. any suggestions on what type of bulbs I should get.. ie 3 white.. 1 actinic.. 2 actinic 2 white..

thanks!
 
got a Eshopps overflow box from That Fish Place in Tonawanda, NY.. it is the closest LFS to my location.. (in another country) and the cheapest.. it has a max rating of 800 gph.. i also won two Koralia 3's on Ebay for 28.99 each brand new..

now I have to find a good size aquarium to use as a sump
 
Pics

Pics

I know I know!

I will try to take pics of my 90 gallon on the stand that I recently painted white (still need to buy new door hardware), and of the 30 gallon tank my LR and fish are currently in.

Just a note.. the stand is kind of crappy, but it came with the tank and I got everything for cheap..
 
i would not do 4 t5s i had 4t5hos on my 55 and upgraded bc it wasnt enough on a 55 let alone a 90 i would do the 6 bulb but perfer the 8 bulb
 
Pics

Pics

Here are some pics:

1) This is of my friends tank (left) and the 30 gallon which is holding my stuff (right)

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2) These are close ups of my 30 gallon.. remember this is a temporary holding place and the lighting, equipment is not very good.

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3) This is a pic of the worms I asked about before.. you'll notice the white tube with a bright orange fan sticking out of it right in the center of the shot.. mini feather duster maybe

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4) These are pics of my fish, Damsel, Maroon Clown, Spotted Mandarin (serpent star can be seen in the background of the Damsel pic)

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5) This is a pic of my mushroom which is in my friends tank. There is a new mushroom sprouting below and to the left of it.

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I will post pics of my 90 gallon tank and stand which I just refinished. After the most recent advice I have changed my order to the 6 bulb T5 set up.. $50 more but I want to make sure I do this right (which is why i am taking so long apparantly to get going.
 
If you put an [*IMG*] before the link and a [*/IMG*] after it without the * it will show the image. ;)
 
I used the IMG button to insert them and for some reason that is how it turned out.. figured it was a problem with the site..
 
I imagine it is because they are from another forum which you have to subscribe to to view them. If you upload them to Photobucket and copy and paste the IMG code, It should work fine.
 
I have a choice between a used Euroreef 6-2 skimmer for $300 with an extra pump, a Euro-Reef RS180 brand new for $400, or a new ASM G3 for just under $300 shipped.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.. I have a 90 gallon tank that I would like to eventually make a reef tank. The skimmer will be in the sump..

Thanks again for your advice!
 
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