critic my setup ... 70 gal .... build log also

camaroboy8691

camaroboy8691

Member
i have my 70 gal tank running for just over 2 months now . and i do alot of reading on here and im just curious if i can get a thumbs up or down on my setup..........i am also going to turn this into a build log . yes its a few months old alredy but hey . this is gonna get big over time . i live this hobby
we have a 70 gal top tank with a 20 gal lower tank with skimmer . so the lower actually has about 8-10 gals of water in it . right now the sump has no balls or anything just the overflow tube going into the area where the sump is . im actually in the process of plaining on shutting it down for a day and building a fuge setup . but right now lets discuss what i got going on .
for equipment i have
2 koralia 2 power heads
1 700 gph return pump
skimmer is a super skimmer up to 125 gals
i have 65lbs of live rock .
have a samoa pink substrate . a bit courser than sand . about 1.5 " of it on the bottom of the tank
the tank has cycled and we have a good bit of fish in it doing very well . the live rock we got was all purple and very colorful with some living stuff on them already . even a little mushroom looking thing .
for lights we got Nova Extreme Pro T5 High Output with 3 10k lights and 3 actinic ,,,, also have a lunar light . but thinking of adding 1 more to even out that light
so thats what we got so far.
what i would like to do after reading here
sump/refugium . in the area where the sump is i can block some off and basically have an area about 12x8x14 for a refugium . im planing on a deep sand bed about 3-4 " then about 10lbs of live rock . with cheato then pods .
for the top tank . im thinking about slowly removing the substrate that is in there and slowly adding live sand . maybe like a 1/4 of the tank a week till its all re done .
i would also like to add another power head . i dont think there is enough flow up top .
any adivice on what i would like to do ? like i said it cycled and i have fish in it . and i dont want to go changing a ton of things around and hurt someone in the tank .
 
camaroboy8691

camaroboy8691

Member
sorry for not getting alittle more info on this topic . just way to busy but im getting a chance to get an update so here we go ..........
but for fish ,
2 falsh percs
1 cardinal
1 yellow tang
1 lawnmower bleeny
1 dragonet
1 brittle star
1 4 stripped damsel
3 pepermint shrimp
1 skunk
about 8 blue legs
5 nasurious snails
1 margarita
2 emerald hermits
thats the list for the big tank but read on . more comes in unfortunatly
so just about 3 months ago we started this tank , all with very good live rock from the local fish store , we got the fuge up and running about 2 weeks ago it has 4" dsb and about 10 lbs of live rock in it . with cheato . all water quality is spot on and perfect . then it took a turn ...
here is what we are going thru
about 2 weeks ago we decided to put up a nano tank . we got a 12 gal bio cube . and used a few chunks of live rock from the big tank and also water to "kick" it . well we waited a week then got some corals for it . and 1 gold strip clown . also 5 pepermint shrimp and 10 hermits , and 3 nasuris snails . we decided to just put up a small tank for a few cool fish we couldnt have in the bigger tank . well about 2 days ago we notcied 1 of the clowns in the big tank got some spots on him . so we went into panic mode . and took the stuff out of the little tank and put into the big tank so we could use the nano for a quarantine tank . well needless to say we had to take the gold strip and put into the big tank . and i hate to mention this but we have 2 anomones in the big tank 1 bubble tip and one long tenticale . the clowns we have in the big tank never took any action to the anomones and they have been in there for over a month . well about 12 hours after putting in the gold strip he went right for the long tentacle . and stays there .
so now im faced with a delemia . when the false perc is done with hypo whats going to happen when we put him back in the big tank ? the other false perc that is in the big tank is staying on his own end of the tank from the gold strip and not bothering him . the false perc that is in qt loves the other false perc . so im sure they will go back to each other very easily .
any comments ?
im working on getting some pics up .
 
camaroboy8691

camaroboy8691

Member
9-22-09
the gold strip clown in the large tentical ... i really cant belive hes in it ... especially for only 12 hours after being in the tank
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
WOW...I can't believe your tank is a little over 2 months old, you put ALL that in it, and have had no problems.....
I will say it looks nice though....
BUT....I did not see a pic of your mandarin...what is it eating? after 2 months I don't see how you can have enough pods for it???
Your yellow tang will most likely outgrow the tank with all the other occupants
If you are going to keep the mandarin...I suggest you get that fuge built and load it with pods...the fuge AND the tank
anemones usually need tanks at least a minimum of 6 months old
What are your water readings????
 
camaroboy8691

camaroboy8691

Member
start of the sump .... its small but effective . basically took the sump from oceanic and added a divider and a smaller divider for the heater also . it works very well



 
camaroboy8691

camaroboy8691

Member
Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3141372
WOW...I can't believe your tank is a little over 2 months old, you put ALL that in it, and have had no problems.....
I will say it looks nice though....
BUT....I did not see a pic of your mandarin...what is it eating? after 2 months I don't see how you can have enough pods for it???
Your yellow tang will most likely outgrow the tank with all the other occupants
If you are going to keep the mandarin...I suggest you get that fuge built and load it with pods...the fuge AND the tank
anemones usually need tanks at least a minimum of 6 months old
What are your water readings????

belive me . i wish it didnt have some of the things it did either . but you know how it goes you listen to one person then go with what they say . then start reading and reading on the internet and find out you should not have did this or that . im the kind of guy who likes to spend his money correctly the first time around and do it the right way . but on this one the trigger was pulled to soon for a few items .
i know the tang will outgrow this . and hopefully if everything goes my way . which most of the time it does we will be steping up to a bigger tank before years end .
im plaining on doing the water samples here yet tonight . i check the trites trates and ammonia every other day basically and they are all 0 atleast they where 2 days ago . i check ph , carbonate , phosphates 1 time a week . but will post those up later tonight .
the maderin was one of those that should not have been added but did . about 2 weeks into the tank being 1st setup there where a decent amount of pods in there and alot of them on the glass . the fuge was setup 2 weeks ago and was dosed with a bag of pods from swf as also the top tank . the manderin is there and he always looks fine as far as body shape and color . i do notice him picking at the algea a few times daily .
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
If he is picking at the algae, he is looking for pods in it....
You probably should put more pods in....do you have a pic of the mandarin? It should look kinda chunky
OH BOY do I know about doing things before really knowing....lol...COSTLY...But since you have the items already, you have to do the best you can...keep your water excellent, and the anemones may stand a good chance
AGAIN...it's a very nice looking tank
 
camaroboy8691

camaroboy8691

Member
meowzer .... thanks for the compliment . i really appreciate it . and we are just keeping an eye on everything . and doing water changes and everything etc . we have an ro/di setup so its getting good clean water and also letting the water sit for 4-5 days before we do a water change . we have been doing a 5-8 gal water change weekly with good results
as for the substrate . the lfs told us to use the stuff we have in there . but after hours of reading alot of people seem to recommend live sand since its finer . but we are to far into it now and im not touching a thing in the tank other than to clean up a bit every few weeks . so the live sand will need to wait for a new monster tank . hehe
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Live sand is highly over-rated if you are talking about the live sand in the bags. Do some searching around on the net and you can find some suppliers of real live sand. Also there are places you can buy "packages" of fauna that reside in the sand as a booster to your substrate. Also your live rock contains some critters that will migrate to your sand and "liven" it up.
 
camaroboy8691

camaroboy8691

Member
when i did the fuge i bought 10lbs of sand from swf . and put in there . where can i get these sand "boosters" at ? when i did the fuge i put a bag of pods in there but cant see any movement i guess i can take it that they are ok ? i read that they get 1cm long . thats not to big
i guess ill place an order tmrw with swf for some bags of pods and really juice it up . so my manderin doesnt suffer . he seems to be very active . his front body is decent sized . ill try to snap a pic of him . he likes to move a good bit .
 
camaroboy8691

camaroboy8691

Member
well i didnt get a chance to post up last weeks water quality . but here is todays
ammonia ---.25-0 looks like 0 but it kinda looks like .25
trates 0
trites 0
phosphate 0
kh 8 or 143.2 ppm
ph is high 8.6 ever since i started the tank it has been around 8.4 so i put some buffer in it gonna retest today and see what its at
alk is normal
dkh 480
everything is fine in the tank . kinda wish i had a bigger refugeum .
on a side note . over the past few days i have been notcing my small margerita snails climbing to the top of the tank and out of the water , any ideas on this ? or let them go ? my tank has the perimeter shelided like all onceanics do but one did make it to the top glad i saw the little guy .
 
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