My First Reef Tank! 75 gal Build

[prsnlty]

Thank you so much for the help!! I will definitely follow your advice. I didn't realize even just a 6 hr outage could do that?!

I would love to see pics--any knowledge I can get now will hopefully prevent at least a few disasters in the future!

Thanks again!

The first two pictures are before and the last two pictures are after taking 5 minutes ago. And this is after the tank stabilized.

 

[Scrappy RN]

I'm sure it was devastating! I have to say that it still looks beautiful though!

Also, I'm going to have to look at your Seahorse tank pics. I LOVE seahorses and have plans in the future to have a seahorse tank. I want to get some experience on this 75 gal before I do that though.

 

[prsnlty]

I'm sure it was devastating! I have to say that it still looks beautiful though!

Also, I'm going to have to look at your Seahorse tank pics. I LOVE seahorses and have plans in the future to have a seahorse tank. I want to get some experience on this 75 gal before I do that though.

Thank you I appreciate that [emoji2] it has been quite a road so far. The colors are finally beginning to return to what acro's I have left and the LPS have all bounced back. I still have a couple of a crows struggling but they have stopped the dying process it seems. There has been no further rtn in the past two weeks on them and they're getting bigger polyps. Hopefully they'll survive. One nice thing is that I have given away hundreds and hundreds of Frags from my tank and some of those people are local to me and intend on returning the favor when I'm ready [emoji2]

 

[prsnlty]

The seahorse tank is something new I am trying. It is quite a bit different from keeping a reef. A lot of the reef tank rules do not apply to seahorse tanks. For example the water must be a lot colder and should not go over 74 degrees also gfo is not to be used and one should plant as much macro algae as they can in the tank itself or at least have a refugium. Do to feeding seahorses several times a day and 03 is almost always quite high so there's a lot of water changing to be had. I do have to go over there and update that threat a little bit however LOL.

 

[Palyzoa]

I reccomend the Jebao RW series power heads, they are affordable and have allot of flow. You can buy em off Amazon Here.

 

[Palyzoa]

Forgot, you can also get jebao powerheads from Aquatic Marine here in Knoxville! I would check them out first if you haven't been there

 

[Scrappy RN]

Thank you I appreciate that [emoji2] it has been quite a road so far. The colors are finally beginning to return to what acro's I have left and the LPS have all bounced back. I still have a couple of a crows struggling but they have stopped the dying process it seems. There has been no further rtn in the past two weeks on them and they're getting bigger polyps. Hopefully they'll survive. One nice thing is that I have given away hundreds and hundreds of Frags from my tank and some of those people are local to me and intend on returning the favor when I'm ready [emoji2]

That's one lesson I've learned in life, the more kind we are and the more we give away, the more we get in return! Even in reefing it seems!!
I recently went through some pretty tough life situations and after being the strong one all these years and being there for family and friends all this time, I was really blessed and humbled by the people who went out of their way to help me through my tough times. Obviously, you have been blessing people all along and they are just returning the favor!

Once you have some more experience/knowledge of the seahorse world I hope you will share so I can pick your brain when I'm ready, lol!!

One last question (for now, ha,ha) are two powerheads/pumps better or is just one ok to start with and is it 10x your gallon flow that you need right? I suppose that's teechnically 2 questions...

Thanks again!

 

[Scrappy RN]

Forgot, you can also get jebao powerheads from Aquatic Marine here in Knoxville! I would check them out first if you haven't been there

I did visit there last week. They were very nice and had a few good selections of fish but not a lot of equipment and the prices on what they did have were a little higher than the other reef store in town and higher than online. I wonder if they price match to local stores? I prefer to buy local when I can. But being on a budget if there's a huge difference in price I have to go online.

Have you been to the Coral Reef out in Jefferson City? They have some really awesome clowns and corals! Not much in the way of equipment either though. I figure most of these places find it hard to compete with online store prices for equipment. But there's nothing like buying fish and corals live!

 

[prsnlty]

That's one lesson I've learned in life, the more kind we are and the more we give away, the more we get in return! Even in reefing it seems!!
I recently went through some pretty tough life situations and after being the strong one all these years and being there for family and friends all this time, I was really blessed and humbled by the people who went out of their way to help me through my tough times. Obviously, you have been blessing people all along and they are just returning the favor!

Once you have some more experience/knowledge of the seahorse world I hope you will share so I can pick your brain when I'm ready, lol!!

One last question (for now, ha,ha) are two powerheads/pumps better or is just one ok to start with and is it 10x your gallon flow that you need right? I suppose that's teechnically 2 questions...

Thanks again!

Yes I'm very grateful to my reneging friends I am sorry about your situation as well but I always look for the Silver Lining you know? Even when there doesn't seem like one it pops up sooner or later. I am a firm believer of do unto others as you would have them do unto you and what goes around comes around whether it be good or bad. I prefer the good for sure [emoji6] I am glad to hear that you had so many people helping you out when you needed them!

I will definitely share the info on raising seahorses they are such neat little creatures [emoji2]

In your tank it would depend on what kind of coral you intend on keeping even if it's not right away. SPS require quite a bit of flow and in that case I would go with either 2 RW 8 at each end or a gyre on the right side. If you're not going to keep acropora I would put one RW8 under the returns in the center pointing towards the glass. That should be plenty of flow. So for now you could get away with that one pump if you wanted to save a little money up front.
The rule is technically 10 times the flow but some Coral can't handle that. Again it all depends on what you want your tank to support.

 

[prsnlty]

http://www.fish-street.com/jebao_wifi_cross_flow_pump_cp-25_duplicate their smaller version of the gyre... http://www.fish-street.com/jebao_wireless_rw-8_wave_maker_usa_california_warehouse__pp-8_wave_maker - rw8

 

[Scrappy RN]

@prsnlty Thank you so much for your advice! I'm off to work all night now so I have to drag myself away from the tanks and forums, lol.

Have a great evening!

 

[prsnlty]

@prsnlty Thank you so much for your advice! I'm off to work all night now so I have to drag myself away from the tanks and forums, lol.

Have a great evening!

You're welcome, have a great night!

 

[Maritimer]

Others here have given you _awesome_ advice - they're amazing folks!

With no fish in the tank, you could use just about any powerhead to provide some surface agitation, even an inexpensive one from a local pet shop. Your skimmer will also add significant oxygenation to your system. Once you get the powerhead you _really_ want to use in the display, you can repurpose the starter model for use in mixing salt water.

Also wanted to say that, having spent a bit of time around hospitals, it's always seemed to me that you've _gotta_ be a bit scrappy to be an RN!

~Bruce

 

[Palyzoa]

I did visit there last week. They were very nice and had a few good selections of fish but not a lot of equipment and the prices on what they did have were a little higher than the other reef store in town and higher than online. I wonder if they price match to local stores? I prefer to buy local when I can. But being on a budget if there's a huge difference in price I have to go online.

I agree that sometimes you need to buy online for some items but try to support local fish stores When I can. Aquatic Marine does offer a 10% discount to ETRC Members which helps a bit.

Have you been to the Coral Reef out in Jefferson City? They have some really awesome clowns and corals! Not much in the way of equipment either though.

Yes I was just out there the other day, nice folks and cool little set up out there.

But there's nothing like buying fish and corals live!

I love picking up a fish from the local fish store and getting it home to quarantine that same day!

 

[Scrappy RN]

Others here have given you _awesome_ advice - they're amazing folks!

With no fish in the tank, you could use just about any powerhead to provide some surface agitation, even an inexpensive one from a local pet shop. Your skimmer will also add significant oxygenation to your system. Once you get the powerhead you _really_ want to use in the display, you can repurpose the starter model for use in mixing salt water.

Also wanted to say that, having spent a bit of time around hospitals, it's always seemed to me that you've _gotta_ be a bit scrappy to be an RN!

~Bruce

That's a great idea about using the cheaper pump for the saltwater storage container, Bruce! Thank you! And yes, the best RN's, IMHO, are definitely at least a little scrappy, lol! Thank you!

 

[Scrappy RN]

I agree that sometimes you need to buy online for some items but try to support local fish stores When I can. Aquatic Marine does offer a 10% discount to ETRC Members which helps a bit.



Yes I was just out there the other day, nice folks and cool little set up out there.



I love picking up a fish from the local fish store and getting it home to quarantine that same day!

Exactly! I always try to support local first because I want them to be successful.

And I wish I had known that about the reef club discount. I just bought a really good digital thermometer from them this past weekend. Of course my membership in ETRC expired while I was out of touch over the last few months but now that the tank is here my next step is joining right back in!

 

[KJ]

I was out of touch over the last few months but now that the tank is here my next step is joining right back in!

 

[Scrappy RN]

So I'm doing my water testing with the saltwater Master API kit but there seems to be an issue with the NH3 test. Is it supposed to precipitate and turn cloudy immediately after adding the drops? My freshwater kit doesn't do that. Plus, the color chart to read the test with is all jacked up. The printing was sub par

and its hard to determine the shades exactly. Anyone else have these troubles?

 

[Katrina71]

So I'm doing my water testing with the saltwater Master API kit but there seems to be an issue with the NH3 test. Is it supposed to precipitate and turn cloudy immediately after adding the drops? My freshwater kit doesn't do that. Plus, the color chart to read the test with is all jacked up. The printing was sub par

and its hard to determine the shades exactly. Anyone else have these troubles?

Yes! I was talking about that last night. The pH is the hardest for me on api

 

[Scrappy RN]

Yes! I was talking about that last night. The pH is the hardest for me on api

My freshwater scale is very crisp and easy to read for the most part. But this marine one isn't. I may see about swapping it out at the store later today. I don't want to start out with the water all messed up in my new tank!