Susan's 75

[chartwell]

I've been upgrading from my 50 gallon cube to a 75 gallon system the last few weeks. Basic info:

Tank: Planet Aquarium 75 gallon (48" X 18" X 20" high) rimless with an external overflow. Bought used, already plumbed with dual durso drains and one return.
Sump: Eshopps Adv-200. Bought used along with tank.
Stand -ordered from my LFS. "Heritage" style in Spanish Oak.
Lighting - One Radion (only plan on having soft corals, like mushrooms and zoas)
Flow- Two MP10s
Skimmer - Aquamaxx EM-200
Return pump- Tunze Silence 1073.20
Heater- Eheim 150 wt
ATO - "DIY" kit with an Aqualifter pump, has served me perfectly for years.

I used 50 lbs of ReefCleaners dry rock, plus some live rock I've had forever in my old system. I put the rock on little PVC "coasters." Also put in a shallow sand bed (about 20 lbs) of Seaflor Special Grade sand.

I've got some clear netting arriving Friday, and we will make a screen top for this tank like I had on my 50.

Photos to follow!

 

[chartwell]

I went with the popular "two islands" approach. If I could find a fairly delicate arched rock to put on the left hand island I think that would look good, but this will do for now.




Left island:



Right island:

 

[chartwell]

Sump: (still have some cord management to do, but the DJ switches help.)



I hope the EM-200 won't be too much skimmer for this tank, I know it is probably overkill. Just really liked the reviews I read for it online. Guess I'll have to have lots of fish ;-)

 

[chartwell]

Just some photos...

 

[chartwell]

 

[TangySushi]

thats going to be a nice looking tank. I'm a fan of the two islands scape

 

[chartwell]

Thanks TangySushi - I do think the two islands are a good way to go. I'm a nervous wreck right now from upgrading like this, really hope everything continues to go okay. I check my parameters daily, have an ammonia badge on the tank, and have a bottle of Prime handy. So far so good!

 

[james30ct]

Hows the bicolor? Does it nip at corals at all?

 

[chartwell]

Hows the bicolor? Does it nip at corals at all?

The bicolor came from a friend who is taking down her system. She has had this fish for many years, and while it does pick a bit at the rock it does not bother corals. It eats like a pig, including pellets, so maybe that helps.

I know it is a risk, but honestly I am more of a fish person than a coral person, so it is worth the risk to me. The bicolor was kind of psychotic towards my other fish for a couple of days, but is now calming down and being a perfect angel. Pun intended.

 

[Nina51]

very pretty tank!! you will really love this upgrade. i recently went from a couple of biocubes to a 75g and i have really enjoyed it. love your little hawkfish!

 

[chartwell]

very pretty tank!! you will really love this upgrade. i recently went from a couple of biocubes to a 75g and i have really enjoyed it. love your little hawkfish!

The hawkfish is my favorite! Love the rotating eyes

 

[chartwell]

More photos

More photos

Looks like Blenny got the tip of his tail nipped!



Angel photobombing the shrimp



I love simple things like mushrooms...



Zoanthids by moonlight

 

[ecfort57]

Nice looking tank

 

[Tahiti]

What do you like better about this tank compared to your cube?

I have a cube tank and want to upgrade to a 70+ gallon (non cube).

Great looking tank so far btw!

 

[chartwell]

What do you like better about this tank compared to your cube?

I got tired of only being able to keep very small "rock hugging" fish, and wanted to be able to take in the bicolor angel my friend was needing a home for. I was frustrated by the tiny sump that fit under the cube, and wanted to be able to buy a really good skimmer that needed a bigger compartment. I also wanted room for a big ATO container so I don't have to fill it every few days. The 75 is set into a recessed closet area, so I have tons of room behind it and of course the stand cabinet is way bigger.

I was fighting a losing battle with algae in the cube, and I'm hoping that having room for a better skimmer and a GFO reactor, if needed, will make my life easier. I had also become convinced that the dry rock I started the cube with was leaching phosphates because of the insane amount of algae that sprouted from it compared to no algae coming from some other rock I had in there. That's why I ditched almost all of my rock, only kept two pieces that were not the same as the rest, and got 50 lbs of new dry rock. Who knows if this will work in the long run, but I had to try something!

 

[chartwell]

My baby is having open heart surgery! LOL. Well, really more like a lens replacement, I guess, since that is what is happening. Replacing the standard reflectors on a gen 1 Radion with the wide angle TIR lenses. I'm hoping these will work well for me since my tank is only 20" deep, and I only keep lower-light corals. This way maybe I can keep things in a larger area, and not cook the corals directly under the light.

 

[chartwell]

Thanks for sharing, what do you use to take these photos with?

The photos of the corals and fish are just taken with an ancient Olympus E-510. I do have some upgraded lenses for it though.

 

[chartwell]

Oh hai Blenny.



Model citizen damsel



Bicolor is also being a good fish

 

[chartwell]

Update

Update

Tank is doing well, I got the calcium on an automatic doser a while ago and am finally seeing the rock really start to color up. Lots of sponges growing, including some funky black stuff. Zoas are kind of a fail, they just get smaller and smaller and never open up. Palys do fine though. Really want to focus on mushrooms, so I've gotten a few fancier types and hope to see them take off.

Most recent purchase is a rock flower anemone and I love it, if it does well for six months I might get more.

Hammer and some mushrooms

This chalice is doing well

Crazy yellow watchman goby is the most aggressive thing in the tank - here he is attacking the bicolor angel:

Some mushrooms

 

[chartwell]

Just some pictures...

Just some pictures...

Mimic puffer- favorite fish ever, despite the fact she's eating me out of house and home and bites me every time I have to put my arm in the tank!

Mushroom

Starry Blenny