richfavinger
Premium Member
Lots of photos, you have been warned"¦ 
I've been kicking around the idea of rebuilding my 75g reef aquarium for nearly 2 years now. I've been in and out of the hobby for nearly 20 years and the tank that currently housed the reef when I down-sized from my 125g system a few years back was pushing nearly 20 years itself.
It was one of the first large tanks I had - complete with original partical-wood stand, that always made you think twice about crawling under it. All filter equipment was hang-on, as the stand never had room for a proper sump.
It was time for a rebuild, but this is certainly not how I planed to do it.
Some time around mid-August 2013 to the beginning of September I noticed my Kole Tang was looking a little pale, but I didn't think much of it. About a 2-weeks later my Long-Nose Butterfly fish that I had for nearly a year was acting strange and looked a little "œdusty" - with in a few days he was most defiantly sick with full blown Marine Ich.
I had to setup a quarantine tank, and fast! With a trip to the local fish store. I picked up a 40g breeder, Penguin 400 power filter (both large enough to handle any fish I'd ever get later), thermometer, Ammonia Alert badge, some 3" PVC fittings (so the fish have a place to hide), some "œEgg-Crate" (light defuser) for a makeshift top, and a bottle of Instant Ocean Bio-Spira Start Up to kick start the bio filter"¦ and of course a bottle of CopperSafe and a copper test kit. - Not the cheapest setup in the world, with local prices higher then other venders. But their really isn't much you can do, when you need it NOW!
The next day would be the move. By then I had already lost my Long-Nose Butterfly. With no time to waste"¦ About 20 gallons of water was removed from the main display and taken to the 40-breeder tank in the basement. Rocks where moved out of the way, and corals moved very carefully as to not break any thing. Fish where caught. It was now or never for the rebirth.
Since I had no place to stock live coral, all corals where sold off over the next few weeks and went to good homes, others to the LFS (funny how people kill for frags, but don't want to pay the worth for 8"+ colonies.)
In the last week of September 2013 my Deep Sea Aquatics (DSA) 135g (48x24x27) with Starphire front was ordered with matching stand. Miss measurements and a bad old floor seam scraped the idea of a DSA 190g (60x27x27).
While waiting for the new tank that took longer then expected (6 months total) to arrive along with bad weather (about 2 of the 6 months, snowed in)! We did some much needed renovations and area prep.
Tank area before drywall"¦
In the same time, about 140lb of BRS Pukani rock was ordered and setup to cure. Since I wanted all new rock"¦
They sent me 160lb!!! I never worked with Pukani or dry rock before...
I sacrificed my saltwater mixing station to cure the rock (for the time being)"¦
I've been kicking around the idea of rebuilding my 75g reef aquarium for nearly 2 years now. I've been in and out of the hobby for nearly 20 years and the tank that currently housed the reef when I down-sized from my 125g system a few years back was pushing nearly 20 years itself.
It was one of the first large tanks I had - complete with original partical-wood stand, that always made you think twice about crawling under it. All filter equipment was hang-on, as the stand never had room for a proper sump.
It was time for a rebuild, but this is certainly not how I planed to do it.
Some time around mid-August 2013 to the beginning of September I noticed my Kole Tang was looking a little pale, but I didn't think much of it. About a 2-weeks later my Long-Nose Butterfly fish that I had for nearly a year was acting strange and looked a little "œdusty" - with in a few days he was most defiantly sick with full blown Marine Ich.
I had to setup a quarantine tank, and fast! With a trip to the local fish store. I picked up a 40g breeder, Penguin 400 power filter (both large enough to handle any fish I'd ever get later), thermometer, Ammonia Alert badge, some 3" PVC fittings (so the fish have a place to hide), some "œEgg-Crate" (light defuser) for a makeshift top, and a bottle of Instant Ocean Bio-Spira Start Up to kick start the bio filter"¦ and of course a bottle of CopperSafe and a copper test kit. - Not the cheapest setup in the world, with local prices higher then other venders. But their really isn't much you can do, when you need it NOW!
The next day would be the move. By then I had already lost my Long-Nose Butterfly. With no time to waste"¦ About 20 gallons of water was removed from the main display and taken to the 40-breeder tank in the basement. Rocks where moved out of the way, and corals moved very carefully as to not break any thing. Fish where caught. It was now or never for the rebirth.
Since I had no place to stock live coral, all corals where sold off over the next few weeks and went to good homes, others to the LFS (funny how people kill for frags, but don't want to pay the worth for 8"+ colonies.)
In the last week of September 2013 my Deep Sea Aquatics (DSA) 135g (48x24x27) with Starphire front was ordered with matching stand. Miss measurements and a bad old floor seam scraped the idea of a DSA 190g (60x27x27).
While waiting for the new tank that took longer then expected (6 months total) to arrive along with bad weather (about 2 of the 6 months, snowed in)! We did some much needed renovations and area prep.
Tank area before drywall"¦
In the same time, about 140lb of BRS Pukani rock was ordered and setup to cure. Since I wanted all new rock"¦
They sent me 160lb!!! I never worked with Pukani or dry rock before...
I sacrificed my saltwater mixing station to cure the rock (for the time being)"¦
