75 gallon timeline

[Mike1995]

well, here's my tank. I'll upload more pictures/updates as time goes on.
do i need more live rock? There's at least 60-70 lbs in there. I had to cure the white dry rock for about a month. And added some new live rock that's actually live.
i have a wavemaker and two return nozzles in the tank. Do i need more flow?
i know it's probably ill advised, but I got a finnex marine 24/7. all my other lights on all my other tanks are finnex. I love them. If i ever put anything other than rock and fish in the tank I'll find a better light.
i have a skimmer, return pump, and a little bit of media in the sump. What else do i need?

 

[Mike1995]

anyone?

 

[count krunk]

well, here's my tank. I'll upload more pictures/updates as time goes on.
do i need more live rock? There's at least 60-70 lbs in there. I had to cure the white dry rock for about a month. And added some new live rock that's actually live.

if you want.

i have a wavemaker and two return nozzles in the tank. Do i need more flow?

would really gph of those to give you an answer

i know it's probably ill advised, but I got a finnex marine 24/7. all my other lights on all my other tanks are finnex. I love them. If i ever put anything other than rock and fish in the tank I'll find a better light.

i would replace it w/something better asap if you want corals

i have a skimmer, return pump, and a little bit of media in the sump. What else do i need?

what kind of skimmer? what kind of media? what sort of sump?

 

[8251reefer]

More flow? Possibly. If its fish only and live rock, the only reason you would need more flow is to keep the detritus frkm settling to quickly. My personal recommendation would be to put an icecap gyre 3k on it. It would give you the only flow you need in that tank. If you didnt want to do that and you are pushing enough flow through your return you could also add an RFG which would give you better use of youe return pump/flow. I just have an IC Gyre 3k on and an RFG on my tank and the flow is plenty for my sps dominate tank.

 

[Mike1995]

i believe the wavemakers are 800 gph. Not sure about returns.
at the moment i don't want corals. I'm still learning the basics of a saltwater tank. What is a good light for corals that isn't crazy expensive?
it's a skimmer made by instant ocean. Very basic. But its been working. Zeolite media. And for now a diy sump in a big brute container. I had a real sump but it leaked and had cracks. I bought the setup used so not everything was good.
what else might you recommend?

 

[starypotter]

Hi I'm working on figuring out the same question about flow with my 75 build so I can only share what I'm figuring out so far. It really depends, what GPH wave maker you have? I'm planning a mixed reef and plan to have my return and maybe 3 530 GPH SunSun powerheads in there, one on each side and the back? It's not set up yet so it'll depend on the rock.
I like the mixed color of the rocks.

 

[starypotter]

I'm running with 2 black box lights, (one on my current 29 setup) and my corals are showing pretty decent growth, I think as long as you don't get anything crazy sensitive then those will be good. @Ron Reefman helped out with the lights in the lighting thread.

 

[Mike1995]

Hi I'm working on figuring out the same question about flow with my 75 build so I can only share what I'm figuring out so far. It really depends, what GPH wave maker you have? I'm planning a mixed reef and plan to have my return and maybe 3 530 GPH SunSun powerheads in there, one on each side and the back? It's not set up yet so it'll depend on the rock.
I like the mixed color of the rocks.

the mixed rock was unintentional haha.
i had a whole bunch of dry rock of different colors. And i also got some live rock to help seed it i guess. The wavemakers are 800 gph. The returns I'm not sure tbh.

 

[starypotter]

Well the returns are going to depend on what sort of pump you stick in the sump so you'll be able to decide that. I know for a reef mixed/varied flow is good so multiple powerheads are good for that reason, not sure where that stands with a FOWLR system. Check out the pump you have to figure what the GPH is, people would be able to help you figure out how much flow they're getting from there.

 

[Mike1995]

i looked and the pump is 780gph

 

[starypotter]

i looked and the pump is 780gph

So you'll be getting less than that out of the return because of the head, you might be able to look up the make of the pump to calculate how much you're really getting. There's a calculator somewhere online....

 

[NY_Caveman]

I would say you have enough rock for biofiltration. If you wanted to add more for aesthetics that is up to your tastes. I would mix up the heights a little myself. Right now it is a bit uniform and horizontal, but that is just my opinion.

 

[Mike1995]

thanks everyone!!
so, i got a little bit more live rock the other day. So now about half is live, and the other half is what was dry and had to be cured. There's little purple things growing on the rock all over, is that a good thing? I also noticed some tiny little star fish looking things growing on the overflow and glass inside the tank. What are those?

 

[count krunk]

those are asterina star fish. They are good little buggers, part of the CUC. The purple stuff is coralline algae, also good stuff.

 

[Mike1995]

thanks

 

[Tuffyyyyy]

Do you have an updated picture of your rock? Not to hate but right now it looks like you're rolling with one of those old-school tanks with all of the rock stuffed along the back of the tank. The way you have it now doesn't really provide any fun swimming room for the fish to weave in an out of. I'd suggest watching this video and seeing if you like what they have to say:


As for lightning, another poster correctly mentioned that you can get a couple of black boxes and be good to go. Something I'd probably do if I went with your tank size would be to pick up the 48" Odyssea fixture and swap out the bulbs for ATI. That way you've got a cheap T5 fixture, but it's at least running the best bulbs...and all for $200-$250.

https://www.amazon.com/Odyssea-Timer-Aquarium-Marine-Cichlid/dp/B016VAZ31S

 

[Mike1995]

thanks for the suggestions. For the lighting I'm gonna stick with what I have for awhile.

 

[Mike1995]

 

[Mike1995]

So, I've gotten a pretty good amount of algae growth. Looks to be diatoms. Would a clean up crew be a good idea?

 

[NY_Caveman]

So, I've gotten a pretty good amount of algae growth. Looks to be diatoms. Would a clean up crew be a good idea?

Probably a good idea. I started with a couple of Trochus Snails and Red Legged Hermits and then added three Cerith Snails in my 45 gallon. Diatoms were quickly gone.