My Official Progress Thread (75gl)

[drpaul84]

Whats up guys well i figured since i am a photography freak and take pictures of everything some of you guys would enjoy my progress post....i will start with the pics that have brought me to the steps that i am at, first details on my setup.
It is a 75gl AGA tank with a marine land magnum 350 canister and a eheim 2215 classic canister, also has a rio water pump with 3 heads that are routed under the sand and coming up at different points in the tank, then basic heater and air lines which will be coming out soon, also i have 4 Lunar led light heads with my lighting which is currently a 2 bulb fluorescent setup it has a black tahitian moon sand substrate and currently has 50 pounds of premium fiji live rock.
This tank will be a FOWLR setup an is my first SW tank, ive had 4 previous FW tanks an they where all successful , this tank setup started out as a FW tank but i decided i wanted to step up into the SW world. I plan to put a pair of clowns some tangs and couple other nice calm fish that are bright and bring a lot of life to the tank, also plan to get a nice cleanup crew because i want the tank to have LIFE! The tank is currently in my bedroom under my wall mounted flat screen tv, I am now planning on a move to a room downstairs which i am renovating for the tank and my "man cave" this will allow me more options for a sump refuge and filtration along with easier water changes and space! On with the pics!
Here is the tank the first day i got the stand an tank setup

 

[drpaul84]

Here it is when i started to scape it with safe stones and fake plants

And here it is with the SW transition with the live rock in it an cycling

Ok thats it for pics so far, i plan on making the move downstairs this weekend i will be working hard friday night and saturday to get the flooring setup to support the tank and also need to run some electrical so its all safe and sturdy! Let me know what you guys think and any tips and help you can give on setting up a refuge / sump

 

[scubaguy]

Cool, keep the pics coming. Sounds like you are having a hard time making your mind up on things

 

[drpaul84]

lol no not hard time i just want this to be perfect as i can do it, thats why im willing to make changes so early on in the process because its much easier then later on....
hey i just seen this on my rock , is it anything?? or just junk?
ID please

 

[drpaul84]

no one loves me lol

 

[scubaguy]

It looks like Algea, but could not see it clearly. Just keep an eye on it, you will be surprised at all the stuff that will pop out after your tank is matured.

 

[dstoneburg]

Im sure someone who knows the specifics about this will chime in, but im fairly sure having a tv above the tank is going to have a detrimental affect on the life of the tv? Great looking tank btw!

 

[drpaul84]

yea i am moving the tank to another location so thats not a problem, should make the move this weekend hopefully as long as i get my supplies in time, just need to get some sheets of plywood 2x4 an some tile so finish up the area for the tank and run another GFI for it, shouldnt be too much work, i need to find my level lol.....anyone else got comments or suggestions?

 

[drpaul84]

 

[drpaul84]

well the tank has been moved! man what a chore that was, i finished making the new stand for it and finished sanding in the room so i dont have to worry about dust in the air now! still need to do a lot of finish work in the room but the tank is officially down stairs at its new home, man i gotta get rid of that marine land filter, its loud as hell and just dont like it, so probably going to get rid of it, i do have a shipment of fish coming from SWF.com i cant wait , it will be here tomorow, and on Wenesday i should have another 45-50 pounds of live rock that i ordered from SWF.com i really cant wait! i have a dumb question i know everyone says how great LR is for filtration, so can i really get rid of my filters and just have LR and a skimmer as my cleaning? that would be great cause less things to fail, just wondering that, anyway on with the pictures even though no one cares lol... wait i do have a question whats some good testers for my water quality as far as calcium alk and phosphates go? i see how people post exact #'s on there parameters, where can i get something like that

 

[drpaul84]

wow no replys , well the fish are here and they are floatin in the bags right now, they all look great very active cant wait to get them in the water, what should i feed these guys? (false percs, yellow tang, an royal gamma)

 

[201_0_o_datsnj]

yea good idea on moving the tank from below your tv. next thing u know u have salt evaporation on it and its bye bye tv. i like the black sand in the tank. do u plan on mixing it with LS anytime? and the stand looks nice for something really simple. i wanted to do something like that i think i might.

 

[hammerhed7]

Looks like your off to a great start, I also agree with moving the tank away from the tv, keep the pics coming

 

[drpaul84]

yea i like the black sand also but i do plan on mixing it with live sand also, i did put some of the smaller crumbs of the live rock in there, loosk alright, the big news is, i just added my fish they all look happy except i cant find my royal gamma, not sure where hes hiding but hes doin a damn good job at it lol...i acclimated them by first floating them then doing the drip method, the clowns an tang are swimming around very happy the snails are climbing all over just dunno where the gamma went off to..... what should i feed these guys?? im gonna go to the LFS in a little bit an pick up food for them what should i get?

 

[peef]

Your tang is a vegitation grazer. You need some algae sheet to hang so that he can munch as he feels necessary. Your clowns and RG will eat mysis shrimp and other meaty foods.

 

[drpaul84]

k thanks time to go get robbed by the lfs lol

 

[drpaul84]

not to bad spent 30 bux, got a tray of the frozen shrimp cubes, the seaweed with clip for the tang and got 2 things of food for the rest, got flakes and the lil pellet ones...that sohuld keep them happy, and i also found my gamma, hes hidin under the rocks ....but came out to eat

 

[drpaul84]

i love these fish!!!! i cant wait to get more in the tank, i need a protien skimer ASap anyone have any recomendations? i dont want one that hangs on the tank , i want to do a sump refuge possibly under the tank or maybe in the room behind the tank, any recomendations, and also theres a spot under my power head that the food is collecting up in, should i put another power head across from it so that the food doesnt collect there? i cant wait to get my other 50 lbs of rock also, then i can get creative with the caves , the tang already has a favorite hiding spot lol an the gamma just disappears, the clowns havnt gone into any caves yet there all roamin around happy as can be! anything i need to watch out for now? or think they are gonna be happy for awhile?

 

[drpaul84]

well bad news , tang took a turn for the worst and perished, dont know if i should do the 15 day guarantee or not, seems cruel burying it in salt....might just have to take the hit on this one.....poor guy, he was a fighter though!

 

[theappe3]

well one of the possibilities of the reason why the tang died is because of stress. you added a lot of fish together in very little time.