Nearly ready to setup 75 gallon, questions?

newfishguy

newfishguy

Member
I am nearly ready to paint my family room and will setup my FOWLR 75 gallon tank sometime thereafter. I am getting the prep work ready until then. My qt is cycling now and I am also curing my lr.
I have the following
75 gallon reef ready tank
250 watt heater
20 gallon sump
mag 5 pump for sump
mag 7 return
3 Maxi-Jet 900 powerheads
Berlin Classic skimmer - in sump
90 lbs of fiji live rock - has been curing for nearly a week
80 lbs of Aragalive sand
Here are my questions.
#1 I had a problem with clear water in my qt and it finally cleared up after running a bio wheel for a week. What is going to clear the water in the 75 gallon tank? Should I be running a filter as well as a skimmer?
#2 How much ls should I actually use? I have been told that 80 lbs might be too deep of a bed. However I thought you should get a lb for every gallon of water for a couple of inches of sand.
#3 I'm thinking about getting the 30-90 gallon reef package with inverts from this site. Would this be a good choice? I realize I need to follow the acclimation process. However, can I just put everything in at once after the acclimation process?
#4 During the acclimation process from what I read it seems like the fish/invert bag water will be mixed with your own display tank water. Can this cause a problem or is it ok since it is just a small amount?
 
diadema

diadema

Member
#1 I had a problem with clear water in my qt and it finally cleared up after running a bio wheel for a week. What is going to clear the water in the 75 gallon tank? Should I be running a filter as well as a skimmer?
The skimmer will take out the dissolved particles - running some other type of mechanical filtration like a powerfilter or canister filter is optional. I personally don't. You can scrub the water periodically by using a filtersock with some carbon in it.
#2 How much ls should I actually use? I have been told that 80 lbs might be too deep of a bed. However I thought you should get a lb for every gallon of water for a couple of inches of sand.
If you can find southdown/yardright or any other aragonite based dead sand - save your money and return the bags of aragalive. If you can't - then ok use what you have. As far as "is it too much?" it's all personal preference. I perfer a shallower bed and used a 50 lb bag of southdown in my 90 (which has the same footprint). I'd say 80 lbs is probably about 3 inches (rough guess) which is fine.
#3 I'm thinking about getting the 30-90 gallon reef package with inverts from this site. Would this be a good choice? I realize I need to follow the acclimation process. However, can I just put everything in at once after the acclimation process?
I would disuade you from ordering a cleanup package until you're sure your system has completely cycled and the food is available for your critters. I akin it to putting a cow in a field of dirt and waiting for the grass to grow for the cow to eat.. Also, the 30-90 has a couple things in it that I wouldn't reccommend for a new tank (the coral shrimp and the featherdusters) but overall the other items are a good mix.
#4 During the acclimation process from what I read it seems like the fish/invert bag water will be mixed with your own display tank water. Can this cause a problem or is it ok since it is just a small amount?
NEVER mix the water from the bag into the tank water. Your absolute best bet for acclimating is to float the bag in the tank (unopened) to let the temperature stabilize, then open the bag and put it in a bucket standing up (a piece of ducttape works well to keep it open and facing up. Then grab an airline hose (from an air bubbler) and create a syphon from your tank. Tie a knot in the hose so that it restricts the flow to a slow drip. Figure 1 or 2 drips per second. Let the drips fill up the bag all the way to the top and then dump out half the water (down the drain). Repeat until the bag is full again. Then dump out most of the water from the bag and scoop the critters (with a net) into your tank. You shouldn't let any of the water from the bag into your tank. Check out the dot com under my name if you like the advice I provided - there' plenty more where this came from.
Good luck with your system. Hope this has helped
 
pontius

pontius

Active Member
you have an overflow down to your sump, right? if so, your water should be clear in less than a day. I assume you mean it is not clear from the sand and salt, right? with an overflow, skimmer, etc, it shouldn't take long to clear.
I used 90 pounds of live sand in my 72 gallon, it's about 2.5 inches deep. I'd suggest 100+ pounds. deeper is better in my opinion.
 
carshark

carshark

Active Member
Originally Posted by Pontius
you have an overflow down to your sump, right? if so, your water should be clear in less than a day. I assume you mean it is not clear from the sand and salt, right? with an overflow, skimmer, etc, it shouldn't take long to clear.
I used 90 pounds of live sand in my 72 gallon, it's about 2.5 inches deep. I'd suggest 100+ pounds. deeper is better in my opinion.
too much substrate can throw off your calculations of live rock and decor. and your ph could skyrocket......
i use 90 lbs of substrate in my 75 gallon....along with the live rock it keeps a perfect ph balance i dunno personal observation could be different for someone else i dunno
 
newfishguy

newfishguy

Member
Yes the overflow goes down to the sump. The qt simply just had saltwater in it. It took a week to clear with a filter.
Originally Posted by Pontius
you have an overflow down to your sump, right? if so, your water should be clear in less than a day. I assume you mean it is not clear from the sand and salt, right? with an overflow, skimmer, etc, it shouldn't take long to clear.
I used 90 pounds of live sand in my 72 gallon, it's about 2.5 inches deep. I'd suggest 100+ pounds. deeper is better in my opinion.
 
newfishguy

newfishguy

Member

Originally Posted by Diadema
#1 I had a problem with clear water in my qt and it finally cleared up after running a bio wheel for a week. What is going to clear the water in the 75 gallon tank? Should I be running a filter as well as a skimmer?
The skimmer will take out the dissolved particles - running some other type of mechanical filtration like a powerfilter or canister filter is optional. I personally don't. You can scrub the water periodically by using a filtersock with some carbon in it.
#2 How much ls should I actually use? I have been told that 80 lbs might be too deep of a bed. However I thought you should get a lb for every gallon of water for a couple of inches of sand.
If you can find southdown/yardright or any other aragonite based dead sand - save your money and return the bags of aragalive. If you can't - then ok use what you have. As far as "is it too much?" it's all personal preference. I perfer a shallower bed and used a 50 lb bag of southdown in my 90 (which has the same footprint). I'd say 80 lbs is probably about 3 inches (rough guess) which is fine.
#3 I'm thinking about getting the 30-90 gallon reef package with inverts from this site. Would this be a good choice? I realize I need to follow the acclimation process. However, can I just put everything in at once after the acclimation process?
I would disuade you from ordering a cleanup package until you're sure your system has completely cycled and the food is available for your critters. I akin it to putting a cow in a field of dirt and waiting for the grass to grow for the cow to eat.. Also, the 30-90 has a couple things in it that I wouldn't reccommend for a new tank (the coral shrimp and the featherdusters) but overall the other items are a good mix.
#4 During the acclimation process from what I read it seems like the fish/invert bag water will be mixed with your own display tank water. Can this cause a problem or is it ok since it is just a small amount?
NEVER mix the water from the bag into the tank water. Your absolute best bet for acclimating is to float the bag in the tank (unopened) to let the temperature stabilize, then open the bag and put it in a bucket standing up (a piece of ducttape works well to keep it open and facing up. Then grab an airline hose (from an air bubbler) and create a syphon from your tank. Tie a knot in the hose so that it restricts the flow to a slow drip. Figure 1 or 2 drips per second. Let the drips fill up the bag all the way to the top and then dump out half the water (down the drain). Repeat until the bag is full again. Then dump out most of the water from the bag and scoop the critters (with a net) into your tank. You shouldn't let any of the water from the bag into your tank. Check out the dot com under my name if you like the advice I provided - there' plenty more where this came from.
Good luck with your system. Hope this has helped
 
pontius

pontius

Active Member
Originally Posted by carshark
too much substrate can throw off your calculations of live rock and decor. and your ph could skyrocket....
I've never heard of ph being affected by amount of sand. I don't believe that is true. if a deep sand bed is compacted and traps detritus, it could cause the nitrates to rise, but not Ph.
 
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