Newb with 12week 75 gal. Intro and questions with pictures Update!

sviellvoicae

sviellvoicae

Member
Whats up guys. Ive been lurking around for about a month now with a couple posts but I figured its time to intro and get some advice. So far I love the saltwater world. I have had fresh water for about 4 years now and have made the jump to awesomeness! I drift cars and it seems that the online community is more here to help than to talk bad about people so I figure ill take a chance in hopes to get advice and not ridicule. Like many newb's I have made the mistake of not knowing what I want to do with the tank before purchasing fish. I like the fowlr idea but am very torn on what fish to get. I started off with a frogfish and had great success. I had him for about 6 weeks and loved him! I hand fed him silversides every other day and got very attached to him, but I just sent him to the lfs due to wanting more of a variety of fish. So here is what I currently have....
75gal tank.
Wavepoint 4x t5 light with 2 10k's and 2 actinic lights
dual cpr backpack skimmer
fluval 405 (just filter pads and carbon)
currently using 3 powerheads for current and have good top water movement (i know i need more still)
about 60lbs of live rock
2 30lbs of live sand
fish
1 sailfin tang (I know they get huge, but it was more of a rescue fish so I figure I will take care of him for a while)
2 damsels (cycle fish that never died)
1 snowflake eel (love him!)
Im curious as to what direction to go with the tank. I dont fully understand why makes a reef tank a reef tank. Im interested in a fu manchu lion, and dragon wrasse but fear they will land me back into having a fish that will kill everything. Ive seen many people with both these fish in tanks that seem to be more of a community tank so any input would be great on everything.
I feel I have already gone in the right direction considering this was the first day I set the tank up. Had only a fluval 405, standard white freshwater rock, and standard lighting.

To my current set up

And lastly (sorry for the abundance of questions) but what is this? Just started and is spreading fast!

Thanks again
 
sviellvoicae

sviellvoicae

Member
Also I don't know what the deal is with the photo's. Im no stranger to posting pictures in forums but I cant seem to get them to show up.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by sviellvoicae http:///forum/thread/387036/newb-with-12week-75-gal-intro-and-questions-with-pictures#post_3402339
Also I don't know what the deal is with the photo's. Im no stranger to posting pictures in forums but I cant seem to get them to show up.
This was posted by someone else on how to post pics from photobucket...Hope it helps
Copy the direct url. Then click the picture icon in the reply section. After that pops up, click 'Image URL' Then paste the direct link into Import URL. The image will now be hosted by SWF and should post correctly.
 
sviellvoicae

sviellvoicae

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by meowzer http:///forum/thread/387036/newb-with-12week-75-gal-intro-and-questions-with-pictures#post_3402342
This was posted by someone else on how to post pics from photobucket...Hope it helps
Copy the direct url. Then click the picture icon in the reply section. After that pops up, click 'Image URL' Then paste the direct link into Import URL. The image will now be hosted by SWF and should post correctly.

I will try it! but hey Meowzer! You seem to know alot and I was hoping you would give me some advice. On the tank not the picture deal
 
saltwaterdud3

saltwaterdud3

Member
Lol, believe it or not, I was giving Meowzer advice when she first started! lol - time flies.
I see you have come a long way - but I see a few things that you need to change. First of all, canister filters are not so good in saltwater aquariums. They need too much maintenance which can interrupt the natural bacterial cycle of the tank. You also need a lot more completely cured live rock in the tank - you don't have enough for natural filtration quite yet. Also, it doesn't look like you have enough live sand. In general, we recommend either having 1 1/2" of sand for a shallow sand bed or 4" (preferably 6" or more) to be a deep sand bed. What you have growing in your tank is cyanobacteria. Cyano is caused by an abundance of nitrates and phosphates in the system combined with low water flow. There's a lot of information on how to combat cyano in tanks. In general, if you can decrease the amount of nutrients in the tank and increase water flow you will see the cyano go away.
First of all, do you use dechlorinated tap water or RO/DI water for water changes and top off? Do you have your lights on a timer for a full 8 hour cycle? Do you have a test kit where you can test your ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and phosphate levels? If not, you definitely need to get a basic test kit at minimum. Just for a little tid bit of info - if your nitrates and phosphates read zero but you have a lot of algae growing in your tank, the algae is eating up the nutrients so fast that you will not get an accurate test reading.
Try to do some research on cyano and invest in some more fully cured live rock and sand. :D
Great start though, and WELCOME to the wonderful world of saltwater. :D
 
sviellvoicae

sviellvoicae

Member
Thanks for the advice and reply! I still only have the canister because I was told that is the only thing keeping some biological filtration?
Sorry I didnt mention that I have bio max in it as well. When I started is was still in the mindset that canisters rock!( in the freshwater world lol). I am currently using an api test kit and thought that $40 was alot for it. What is a desired test kit? My last reading did show a high nitrate reading so that makes sense to why I have all this cyano. I feel I have very low water flow and some "wave makers" are in order. I was also told that a spray bar is a great idea on my canister. Should this be used? And lastly I use tap
. Can I slowly change to ro water? Ive been reading how some buy this from local grocery stores. And my lights are honestly on longer than 8 hours. I guess I like to look at my fish for a long time lol. I shall change my timer to 8 hours per day?
Again sorry for the abundance of questions, but I thank you in a huge way for helping me along. I read every chance I get, but everyday I learn something new about owning a saltwater tank. Also I would like to make a diary thread I guess its called. Just a thread to track my progress. What is the best place to put it?
 
1guydude

1guydude

Well-Known Member
u can put ur thread in the new hobbyist section. Though the mods may move it for u!
Id deff lower ur light schedule down to 8hrs....light also feeds nuisance algae!
Wats biomax? If u can buy some small rubble rock or ceramic rings and replace ur biomax with that!
Yes start using RO water at least! RO/DI is prefered and distilled is the last resort imo!
U can get those test kits online for like $20 i thinks....order both the master and the reef one!
I dont see any powerheads in ur pic!?!?!
Welcome and congrats on sayin hi!
 
saltwaterdud3

saltwaterdud3

Member
Yay, I love questions, and I especially like to help those who want to learn. You seem like you are one of the ones that want to learn. Canister filters are not the ideal filtration for saltwater aquariums. For your tank, I would invest in an Emperor 400 biowheel filter. You can easily add media to the filter baskets and replacement filters already contain carbon and are easy to change. API does make a pretty good test kit. I've used them for years, but if you want something more accurate - try Salifert. I never tested my water as much as I probably should have - I got to the point where I did everything by feel. Though, I did often measure Calcium and Alkalinity often when dosing Kalkwasser. A pretty good brand and style of powerhead is Koralia. (Hydor Koralia.) You can buy a wavemaker for that, but if you already have a couple of powerheads on order I'm sure that it's better then what you have going now.
Put your lights on a timer. You can buy lamp timers at home improvement stores, even Wal-mart. Should not cost more than $10. Make sure you buy timers that are three prong. (with ground) You may want to only put your lights on for six hours now that you have a cyano problem.
Tap water is pretty bad for a tank if you are topping it off every time. I've used tap water for years to start aquariums with - but not keep them running. I would not recommend using the RO water from the grocery store. If you really want to get serious about reefkeeping, you may want to invest in an RO/DI unit for your home. You can find them for reasonable prices online. The TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) in tap water is outrageous. By filtering your top off water through an RO/DI unit, you take out the dissolved solids, and avoid adding excess nutrients to the tank. (which is now causing your cyano problems.) I'm surprised that you don't already have algae problems since you leave your lights on longer than 8 hours a day. Maybe that's because you don't have any true live rock yet? hmmm.
At the very least, you need more cured live rock. Buy what you need a little at a time and you will get there. I would invest in some water purification first, however. Once you can get some pure clean water you will need to do a massive water change on your system. (No more than 50%)
 
1guydude

1guydude

Well-Known Member
LOL i thought that 1st pic was ur SW tank when i read this!
+1 on more rock!
+1 on the timer! I got mine at hell-mart!
 
sviellvoicae

sviellvoicae

Member
Oneguy........ That was my sw tank on day 1
. I guess I didnt give enough details. I had a huge diatom break out and added a little clean up crew that has done a great job. It consists of 6 nas snails, 3 turbo snails, 8 blue-leg hermits, and 2 sand sift stars. I already have my light on a timer but it goes from 9-7 so I just reset it to go from 10-6, but was thinking maybe like 12-7. Less hours and I get to see my tank for a little bit after work. On the bio-wheel I always was interested but passed up a smoking deal on one! O well I will keep an eye out for that and also looking into an ro/di unit. I am getting more live rock today. Looking to get roughly 50lbs. Should this be enough for my 75gal. That would be a total of roughly 90lbs. O and biomax is ceramic rings, but it sounds like lr crumbs works better? I currently have 3 powerheads in there, but I dont think they are very strong. Thanks again! Keep the advice coming if you like
 
1guydude

1guydude

Well-Known Member
k well move ur timer down by 30min everyday as not to shock ur fish to much....if u have no fish than dont worry bout it!
idk which one works better but seeing as the LR rubble already has bacteria on it, instead of the rings having to build it up over time...i would say the rubble. I actually have both in one of my filters!
diatoms are a part of every sw tank in the beggining stages and if u add to much LR or anything to an established tank imo! Once the silicates are eatin up by the diatoms the diatoms will die! So ull prob see more of this when u add ur LR later!
Do u have a turkey baster? This is one tool i swear by in this hobby!
Id get at least two 750 korillias and place em opposite ends pointing at each other!
HTH
 
sviellvoicae

sviellvoicae

Member
Awesome! I will look into those pumps. Also I do have a turkey baster dedicated to my tank but was unsure if it was ok to blast that red stuff. I didnt want it to get airborn and ruin things.
 
1guydude

1guydude

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Siphon it. Blasting will spread the spores.
+1 by siphon she means pull it up into the tb and than dispose of it in the toilet or somethin!
 
A

adam57

Guest
I don't know if you purchased more sand or not but you will surly need it for a dragon wrasse. I had one and it would disappear for days at a time into the aand, I think that is how it survived many ammonia outbreaks in my old tank when nothing else couldn't. I would not recommend getting a dragon wrasse at all, reef tank or not. The one I had was simply the meanest fish I had ever seen, it beat on everything. They are very cool looking though.
 
sviellvoicae

sviellvoicae

Member
Here are some updated pictures of the tank. I added all of my live rock that has been waiting for me at the lfs As well as more live sand. Im still not 100% happy with the aquascape as none of us ever are but any input would be great. I ordered 2 Korilia 750 pumps. Just waiting on them so im still using my powerheads for flow, but I think I have some good top water movement. I also picked up my first coral! Ok picture time. Let me know what ya think!

My sailfin. I know its going to outgrow the tank, but again he was a rescue so I will care for him while i can. Plus I love him

Damsel and Hermit crab hanging out in their cave. They are always in there with each other.

This is my current top water movement. Is this good?
 
travelerjp98

travelerjp98

Active Member
yep that's a zoanthid.... you seem like me as a hobbyist... always going for aggresive fish... go for an aggresive community tank
moray eel, aggresive wrasse, somethin else.. it'll be cool!
I had a toadifish but he had to eventually go because he ate too much LOL.
a reef tank is a tank with corals and invertebrates, compared to a FOWLR which is short for FIsh only with live rock.
 
sviellvoicae

sviellvoicae

Member
I have a 300gal acrylic tank that is sitting waiting for my next house that isnt raised. So I think Ill do that an aggressive tank. I really wanted to that with this one but its a little small for that I think. I like my eel because he doesnt bother much
 
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