75 Gallon "Everything Used" Build

[GatorBen]

Glad they worked out for you. Yeah I wondered how long it would take for the clowns to start fighting. I found that one that we "lost". Funny thing he was the biggest of all of them. He was the very first one that survived my first breeding attempt. I'm going to keep him in my display refugium. It's pretty neat seeing him and being able to tell people that I raised him from an egg. Most people probably won't understand but those who have raised babies know what work goes into it. Plus it was the last semester of my college career so I was juggling feeding him 3-4 times a day, working full time, and studying for finals. He graduated to flake food the day I graduated from college. They can be pretty mean but he will have his own little world in my 20 gal display refugium. I don't have a camera that will take pics but ill get my brothers iPhone 5 and take some good pics and resurrect that old thread of mine. Plus i'll include some old pics of where the tank started.

 

[pickupman66]

Awesome looking build you have going here.... that stand looks eerily familiar. let me guess, it is 22 to 24" tall. tiny front doors. I had one like that. makes it very very hard to get the skimmer cleaned. I ended up removing one end panel to be able to get to things.

 

[gcrawford]

Glad they worked out for you. Yeah I wondered how long it would take for the clowns to start fighting. I found that one that we "lost". Funny thing he was the biggest of all of them. He was the very first one that survived my first breeding attempt. I'm going to keep him in my display refugium. It's pretty neat seeing him and being able to tell people that I raised him from an egg. Most people probably won't understand but those who have raised babies know what work goes into it. Plus it was the last semester of my college career so I was juggling feeding him 3-4 times a day, working full time, and studying for finals. He graduated to flake food the day I graduated from college. They can be pretty mean but he will have his own little world in my 20 gal display refugium. I don't have a camera that will take pics but ill get my brothers iPhone 5 and take some good pics and resurrect that old thread of mine. Plus i'll include some old pics of where the tank started.

I look forward to seeing the pics. I looked at your old thread as well today at lunch. The pile of rocks has come a long way!

-g

 

[gcrawford]

Awesome looking build you have going here.... that stand looks eerily familiar. let me guess, it is 22 to 24" tall. tiny front doors. I had one like that. makes it very very hard to get the skimmer cleaned. I ended up removing one end panel to be able to get to things.

Thanks Pickup.....Yep, that's the stand. It's not the greatest, but beggars can't be choosers sometimes. Since the doors are so small I centered the sump instead of pushing it over to one side. That way I can get to most everything without too much effort. The AquaC skimmer's cup is pretty easy to remove. But centering the sump forced me to have the pump right in the front so I can service it when needed. I kinda like it that way anyhow so I can adjust the output valve easily.

-g

 

[shovelrider]

Any new updates?

 

[gcrawford]

Any new updates?

Not much to update....I did put in the substrate and some rock which is all cycling. I also installed a GFCI plug adapter and ground probe which gives me peace of mind when working on the tank. My main concentration the past couple of weeks is Ebaying some items including that MRC skimmer MR-2 which actually sold in 16 minutes after listing it one day at lunch. I couldn't believe it. I'm also ebaying some of my model trains (my other hobby). Much easier to ship these than large skimmers! One hobby will pay for the other....

-g

 

[gcrawford]

Here's a few shots of the rock and substrate.....as you can see, I went with something different with shells because we liked the look and wanted something different than the sand in the 120.....I have more rock in an existing tank that we will add after the tank cycles.

-g

 

[shovelrider]

What method are you using to cycle?

 

[gcrawford]

What method are you using to cycle?

Actually, the rock pieces have been curing for about 2 months. I'm going to monitor water parameters and slowly add existing rock. The tank may or may not go through the cycle, depending on how fast I add things.

-g

 

[jservedio]

What's with the Canister filter I see there? Is there a reason you left one on there even though you have a sump? Are you using it as a "media reactor" or are you actually leaving sponges and stuff in there?

 

[gcrawford]

What's with the Canister filter I see there? Is there a reason you left one on there even though you have a sump? Are you using it as a "media reactor" or are you actually leaving sponges and stuff in there?

Haha....that's just an intake tube and strainer from another tank that had coralline algae on it. It's only in the tank to spread coralline spores and is not connected to a filter.

-g

 

[BayouBeard]

Very nice build so far. I just joined this forum after running into a member at the local Petco, so I thought I'd chime in and say hi as well. Looking forward to seeing that bad boy stocked!

 

[BayouBeard]

Oh...yeah...I'm working on my own 75g build as well...lol. I'll have to start one of these fancy build threads too.

 

[gcrawford]

Very nice build so far. I just joined this forum after running into a member at the local Petco, so I thought I'd chime in and say hi as well. Looking forward to seeing that bad boy stocked!

Thanks so much and welcome to the forum! I've since added a powder brown tang and a keyhole angel along with the 3 clowns I had already. I broke the "Everything Used" rule and got an auto top off unit (Tunze). I looked for a used one for a while and couldn't find anyone who would part with their Tunze 3155.

Looking forward to seeing your setup!

-g

 

[gcrawford]

Thought I'd post a few pics tonight since it's a relaxing night and Charlie the tang felt like posing.... Upgraded the lights to LED, added some rock, began dosing two-part and watching the coralline grow...

 

[gcrawford]

As Harry requested, an update a few years later. Still have two of the same clowns and have made improvements over the years - still mostly used equipment. Forgive the bubble algae, I've let it go and currently experimenting with removal methods. Also have added a 40 BR frag tank to the setup - running off the same sump, reactors and apex controller.

 

[Travis Stewart]

Our 10 gallon with rock from a fellow R2R member along with clowns we bought from him.

Dang I want to find rock like that lol

 

[gcrawford]

OLD Thread I know............AND sold it all this past fall to pay for my youngest son's last semester in college. He's since graduated and is employed by the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. It seems he loves Dolphins more than reef tanks. Ah well, I feel like I at least planted the salty seed in some form. It is nice to be back to having only one tank. ; )

 

[GWHouston]

Have you been to any of our meetings this year ? If we can find someone up there to host it will be the fourth Saturday of June

 

[gcrawford]

I have not been to the meetings in some time. I'm on call two weeks at a time and it hasn't worked out. This month is beach month for us, so I'm out for the two weekends I do have off. I'd love to come to a meeting though when it can work out. I remember going with my youngest son (mentioned above) to harry's house when he was 6 or 7 to pick up some southdown sand he had..... Time really goes fast! I think the last meeting my wife and I went to was at Corlett's Body shop some years ago or possibly the Aquarium Shop upstairs. I'm sure there are lots of new and younger faces now!