My 75 Gal Tank Update.....with a couple of questins

parker420

parker420

New Member
Hi....I'm the guy who had some extra cash and wanted to try his hand at his 1st EVER tank! A 75G Saltwater fish/coral tank at that! Crazy huh?
So.....I went about things wrong (according to most) I bought a 75G non-drilled tank.....and bought a Fluval 406 canister. Ok....well, I now have on order a Reef Octopus BH2000 Skimmer, received my 2 Korilia 1150 powerheads today, my Aquatica 4 lamp w/ led's should arrive any day, and I'm considering the Aquaclear 70 or 110 HOB filter, and scrapping the canister. 2 Cromisis (?) fish have been alive and well for about a week now, water is clear and test pretty good. 20lbs of LR in.
Sheeeeeeew!
Now.....is there a good place (good prices) to order LR from? What heaters do you guys like? I was sold a 300W cobalt? Were the 1150's a bad choice (too much flow? is that even possible?) What about a HOB Filter? Aside from LR.....what to add next, and when?
Thanks Again!
Steve in KY!
 
sweatervest13

sweatervest13

Active Member
Adding more LR is a good choice. SWF.com has good live rock at a pretty decent price (i think it is free shipping!!!).
If you can return the canister filter, I would do that. The HOB aquaclear filters do a fine job, along with the HOB skimmer you should be good.
The two power heads will not be too much flow (2 powerheads are recommended!!) Make sure you point one across the top of the water to get the water surface moving. Sometimes you need to play with the placement of the PH's to make sure you don't have any dead spots in the tank.
I have never ran a cobalt heater, so I can't comment. I run a Finnex titanium 500W heater. They are a bit expensive but do a very nice job.
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
Just to put my 2 cents in. The bigger the filter the better. You really can't over filter lol
 
geridoc

geridoc

Well-Known Member
Assuming that you have properly cycled the tank, do not put your new lr directly into the display - there will be a die-off that will kill the two fish you already have in there. Put the rock into a plastic bucket with water and a circulating pump and give it a few weeks before introducing it to your display. Whatever brand of heater you use, the cruel universe guarantees that it will fail in the "on" position, cooking your stock. I always use two smaller heaters, so no single failure will be enough to overheat the tank. Stuff happens!
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
I have a ? W your lr comment. Are u referring to lr ordered online or any lr? I generally put mine rt in. But I get it at a lfs. Its only out of water for maybe a half hr or so.
 
parker420

parker420

New Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by sweatervest13 http:///t/395844/my-75-gal-tank-update-with-a-couple-of-questins#post_3525248
Half an hour is fine. My LFS usually wraps the LR in wet newspaper to keep it moist during transport.
If it ships, then you need to cure it.
OK....that brings up another question. My lfs wanted to wrap the lr I purchased in newspaper.....I was told when the newspaper gets wet, the ink on the paper gets on the rock, along with the ink chemicals of course, and could cause problems?
 
mohawkninja

mohawkninja

Member
My LFS just 3-bags it in water, then I put it in a Styrofoam cooler so if it leaks saltwater doesn't get in the car.
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Its true that LR has been wrapped and shipped in newspaper for yrs. If you get your LR locally, you have the option of bringing with you alternative supplies for transport if you don't like the store's use of newspaper. Newspaper keeps the rock moist while it is out of water during transport and provides a bit of insulation to the rock which is why its used.
There is going to be trauma and die-off no matter what you do for transport....even if the live rock is completely submerged in water in a bag. Die-off is not that important in the greater scheme of thing. LR will repopulate with life in a good aquatic environment. And that outcome, is on you--the hobbyist.
 
mohawkninja

mohawkninja

Member
I get my live rock from a LFS that is about 1km from my house and I get it packaged in water. It takes about 10 minutes from their tank to mine. Practically no die off.
 
beaslbob

beaslbob

Well-Known Member
Quote:Originally Posted by parker420 http:///t/395844/my-75-gal-tank-update-with-a-couple-of-questins#post_3525212
Hi....I'm the guy who had some extra cash and wanted to try his hand at his 1st EVER tank! A 75G Saltwater fish/coral tank at that! Crazy huh?
So.....I went about things wrong (according to most) I bought a 75G non-drilled tank.....and bought a Fluval 406 canister. Ok....well, I now have on order a Reef Octopus BH2000 Skimmer, received my 2 Korilia 1150 powerheads today, my Aquatica 4 lamp w/ led's should arrive any day, and I'm considering the Aquaclear 70 or 110 HOB filter, and scrapping the canister. 2 Cromisis (?) fish have been alive and well for about a week now, water is clear and test pretty good. 20lbs of LR in.
Sheeeeeeew!
Now.....is there a good place (good prices) to order LR from? What heaters do you guys like? I was sold a 300W cobalt? Were the 1150's a bad choice (too much flow? is that even possible?) What about a HOB Filter? Aside from LR.....what to add next, and when?
Thanks Again!
Steve in KY!

sounds all too familiar.
Basically you talk to 10 people and they will give you 10 different recommendations.
So take this 11th recommendation and do what you want with it.
The dirty little secret is that it is the algae that makes the system easy to setup and maintain.
So I highly recommend setting up macro algae (look better than the ugly moss types) to balance out and stabilize the tank. A refugium protects that macros from the fish which will eat it. A refugium can be a complicated external container or even just a simple tank partition to keep the fish and macros seperate.
by establishing the algae first and letting it control the tank IMHO everything else is a very far distant second. So live rock, filters, circulations, substarates and so on and not as important.
But that's just me and my .02
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
I disagree with Beaslbob that circulation is very important in the scheme of things. Without good water circulation "crap" settles in the dispaly and rots and would never find its way out to support a healthy system.
 
beaslbob

beaslbob

Well-Known Member
Quote:Originally Posted by acrylic51 http:///t/395844/my-75-gal-tank-update-with-a-couple-of-questins#post_3525767
I disagree with Beaslbob that circulation is very important in the scheme of things. Without good water circulation "crap" settles in the dispaly and rots and would never find its way out to support a healthy system.

And I agree with you. Circulation is very important. as is water quality and everything else.
My point is that starting the tank with macros right from the start has a far greater effect on the tank then circulation or any of the others. Firs instance in this particular example macros do provide circulation to the system.
But then I can understand your thoughts. After all most people have not had tanks (sure FW but the same thing applies) that ran for 10 years with no circulation and with descendants of the original fish.
Still that's just my .02
 
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