kkgaskin90
Well-Known Member
Aside from a sump build, I've never done a build thread! I always figured my tank was not large enough or impressive enough for a thread. Slowly but surely I'm getting to a place where I'm proud of this tank and what it has evolved into, so I guess it's time 
In November of 2013, we purchased an entire setup brand new from the LFS. A 75g tank with corner overflow, stand, Fluval Sea M48 light, Aqueon 19g sump, plumbing, Fluval Return Pump, Coralife Skimmer 125g, salt, and dosing additives. We bought a canopy, put in 80 pounds live rock, 80 pounds of live Carib-Sea Fiji Pink sand, and waited to cycle.
Time for fish! It's hard to kill damsels, right? So two blue damsels, a three stripe damsel, and 2 clownfish later we thought we were doing well. A few weeks later I made a huge mistake. I ordered a Niger Trigger, Sailfin Tang, Flame Hawkfish, Sleeper Goby, Hippo Tang, and Cleaner Shrimp. No QT, just acclimated and added. Shortly after, I added a Snowflake eel. I got what I deserved... Crypto. The Sailfin died within days. The Trigger tore up a damsel and then started on the clowns. I took the trigger to an LFS along with the remaining 2 damsels. The goby, Hawkfish, clowns, and eel all were removed and put through copper treatment while the tank ran fallow 11 weeks.
Long story short, I eventually lost (almost) all of those fish. Most wasted away slowly and died. I used a lower concentration of copper for a longer duration due to the eel, so maybe the long exposure did too much damage, but I can't be positive. The eel, hippo tang, and Hawkfish survived and were added back to the tank. Several months later, the eel swallowed a piece of food too large, became constipated, and died.
So now I was much more educated on quarantine, size requirements, and what I really wanted out of a tank. I knew Dory (I have young kids) had to go, but she was SO shy I simply couldn't catch her.
My new goal was a reef tank. In April of 2015 we bought a ReefBreeder Photon48 to replace the Fluval Sea. I also replaced the Powerheads with a Maxspect Gyre. I slowly accumulated corals... Lost a few SPS but overall it was going well. I also added a beautiful RBTA.
The Hippo Tang developed HLLE and I decided to tear down the tank if I had to in order to get her out. I had tried everything to reverse it but it kept getting worse. The tank was much too small anyway. 3 hours later I had her. So then I was down to a Flame Hawkfish. Along the at we got him a Kole Tang friend and another Sleeper Goby. Then a peppermint shrimp and harlequin shrimp.
Next I decided my sump was due for an upgrade as it was inefficient and I desperately wanted a better skimmer. Here's what I had before:
The largest my stand would accommodate was a 20L. I planned and measured, bought a CoralBox D700, and went to work. Y'all... I'm a blonde (red head, but blonde ditsy), completely not handy, stay at home mom of (then) 3. I had no business building this sump. But some awesome online reefer folks helped me out with plans. After siliconing in a cookie tin (oops), I finally finished it. It wasn't the prettiest job, but it was mine. I also added a JBJ ATO... Wow did that make life easier!!! Here's the finished product:
I went through a bout where I thought Anthias were the coolest fish ever. I tried 3 separate trios, putting them through QT each time. I still have no idea what really went wrong, but Anthias are not meant to be in my tank. The Kole Tang became extremely aggressive after adding the Anthias, so I also found him a new home so I could finish stocking.
The RBTA became either very happy or very upset and began splitting like crazy. I went from 1 to 7 in the span of 2 weeks. I took most to an LFS after the first round of splits, then when it split again I sent them to a friend. I didn't want to risk my SPS on a temperamental BTA!
Finally, it was time to order some fish that had caught my attention over a year earlier. I had been researching, scouring threads, preparing, and talking to people who kept these fish the entire year and finally felt ready. I got 3 blue Star Leopard Wrasses (all 3 arrived alive!), quarantined, and added to display almost a week ago. I couldn't be more thrilled. I'm very indecisive on what else Id like to add... Maybe some Firefish or cardinalfish... Maybe some chalk bass... Hopefully very last will be a Tomini Tang.
Minus a little algae issue, things are running quite smoothly. It's been a long, hard, lessons-learned road, but I'm proud of my little 75.
In November of 2013, we purchased an entire setup brand new from the LFS. A 75g tank with corner overflow, stand, Fluval Sea M48 light, Aqueon 19g sump, plumbing, Fluval Return Pump, Coralife Skimmer 125g, salt, and dosing additives. We bought a canopy, put in 80 pounds live rock, 80 pounds of live Carib-Sea Fiji Pink sand, and waited to cycle.
Time for fish! It's hard to kill damsels, right? So two blue damsels, a three stripe damsel, and 2 clownfish later we thought we were doing well. A few weeks later I made a huge mistake. I ordered a Niger Trigger, Sailfin Tang, Flame Hawkfish, Sleeper Goby, Hippo Tang, and Cleaner Shrimp. No QT, just acclimated and added. Shortly after, I added a Snowflake eel. I got what I deserved... Crypto. The Sailfin died within days. The Trigger tore up a damsel and then started on the clowns. I took the trigger to an LFS along with the remaining 2 damsels. The goby, Hawkfish, clowns, and eel all were removed and put through copper treatment while the tank ran fallow 11 weeks.
Long story short, I eventually lost (almost) all of those fish. Most wasted away slowly and died. I used a lower concentration of copper for a longer duration due to the eel, so maybe the long exposure did too much damage, but I can't be positive. The eel, hippo tang, and Hawkfish survived and were added back to the tank. Several months later, the eel swallowed a piece of food too large, became constipated, and died.
So now I was much more educated on quarantine, size requirements, and what I really wanted out of a tank. I knew Dory (I have young kids) had to go, but she was SO shy I simply couldn't catch her.
My new goal was a reef tank. In April of 2015 we bought a ReefBreeder Photon48 to replace the Fluval Sea. I also replaced the Powerheads with a Maxspect Gyre. I slowly accumulated corals... Lost a few SPS but overall it was going well. I also added a beautiful RBTA.
The Hippo Tang developed HLLE and I decided to tear down the tank if I had to in order to get her out. I had tried everything to reverse it but it kept getting worse. The tank was much too small anyway. 3 hours later I had her. So then I was down to a Flame Hawkfish. Along the at we got him a Kole Tang friend and another Sleeper Goby. Then a peppermint shrimp and harlequin shrimp.
Next I decided my sump was due for an upgrade as it was inefficient and I desperately wanted a better skimmer. Here's what I had before:
The largest my stand would accommodate was a 20L. I planned and measured, bought a CoralBox D700, and went to work. Y'all... I'm a blonde (red head, but blonde ditsy), completely not handy, stay at home mom of (then) 3. I had no business building this sump. But some awesome online reefer folks helped me out with plans. After siliconing in a cookie tin (oops), I finally finished it. It wasn't the prettiest job, but it was mine. I also added a JBJ ATO... Wow did that make life easier!!! Here's the finished product:
I went through a bout where I thought Anthias were the coolest fish ever. I tried 3 separate trios, putting them through QT each time. I still have no idea what really went wrong, but Anthias are not meant to be in my tank. The Kole Tang became extremely aggressive after adding the Anthias, so I also found him a new home so I could finish stocking.
The RBTA became either very happy or very upset and began splitting like crazy. I went from 1 to 7 in the span of 2 weeks. I took most to an LFS after the first round of splits, then when it split again I sent them to a friend. I didn't want to risk my SPS on a temperamental BTA!
Finally, it was time to order some fish that had caught my attention over a year earlier. I had been researching, scouring threads, preparing, and talking to people who kept these fish the entire year and finally felt ready. I got 3 blue Star Leopard Wrasses (all 3 arrived alive!), quarantined, and added to display almost a week ago. I couldn't be more thrilled. I'm very indecisive on what else Id like to add... Maybe some Firefish or cardinalfish... Maybe some chalk bass... Hopefully very last will be a Tomini Tang.
Minus a little algae issue, things are running quite smoothly. It's been a long, hard, lessons-learned road, but I'm proud of my little 75.
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