Ryan’s 75 gallon

[ryany25]

Hello! I’ve been working on a 75 gallon setup. I have 4 freshwater tanks in the house, and I love scuba, so this is an obvious progression. My tank is an Aqueon, and has two 300W heaters, two 48” Current USA leds, an FX4, and a 4000 gph gyre. The stand is homemade. I left it open while I figure out how everything is going to land. I’ll enclose it and add doors at some point. The tank is cycled, and currently only has pods, snails, and hermit crabs in it. Tomorrow the first 6 coral are going in. I’ll include a picture of how it sits currently. I am running the lights on their default 24 hour cycle, and feeding phyto, algae wafers, and ammonium chloride. I will post updates as things evolve. I plan to replace the glass lids with diy mesh. I want to take the rock out and break it up, then glue together some kind of scape. The rocks are just stacked up right now. I would like to have a fuge and a skimmer in the future as well, so that will mean either trying to drill and add an overflow to this or a new tank. I’m considering trying my hand at acrylic fabrication. I welcome any and all advice on any of this. I am really enjoying the hobby.
Thanks!

 

[Lavey29]

Looks like you are off to a good start. You need more rockscape. Fish will need plenty of caves to hide in and out of and also sleep after lights out.

 

[ryany25]

Looks like you are off to a good start. You need more rockscape. Fish will need plenty of caves to hide in and out of and also sleep after lights out.

Thanks. I’ll get some when I’m picking up frags tomorrow.

 

[Rjukan]

Hi! Ooh 75g is a really nice size tank! The stand looks like it came out pretty nice so far, are those horizontal pieces in the middle removable? In case you want to get a sump in there etc.

I built an acrylic sump a bunch of years ago, it's really not too hard. Just have a nice large flat workspace and follow a good plan like Melevsreef.

How about your background tho? I've always bugged out on the open back with the hoses and wires exposed. Are you planning on keeping it that way?

What fish are you thinking about adding? Corals love fish waste lol.

 

[ryany25]

Hi! Ooh 75g is a really nice size tank! The stand looks like it came out pretty nice so far, are those horizontal pieces in the middle removable? In case you want to get a sump in there etc.

I built an acrylic sump a bunch of years ago, it's really not too hard. Just have a nice large flat workspace and follow a good plan like Melevsreef.

How about your background tho? I've always bugged out on the open back with the hoses and wires exposed. Are you planning on keeping it that way?

What fish are you thinking about adding? Corals love fish waste lol.

Tank stand would be fine if I remove a horizontal, and I’ve considered the idea that I might need to. The background bugs me too. I think I’ll paint it at some point. For fish I know I want clowns of course. The rest remains to be seen. I’m going to add a pair of clowns in a couple weeks, then a fish here and there very slowly. Thanks for the input!

 

[Rjukan]

I always paint mine, but for some reason I used a vinyl black background for this one and it's awful. There are tons of bubbles and salt in there, I've been meaning to grab some black paint and get it done. Sucks to do it now tho, since it has to be rolled, or brushed on.

And if you decide to do an acrylic sump yourself, definitely post your work here! Would be awesome to see it in progress. I remember something about cell acrylic being better than something else. Idk, it's been a while, but make sure you get the right acrylic not the bad one.

 

[Lavey29]

Thanks. I’ll get some when I’m picking up frags tomorrow.

What you should do is buy some real live wet ocean rock and Jumpstart your biome with biodiversity and microfauna. Then your tank will take off in a good path.

 

[ryany25]

Tried my hand at rockscaping. That is much harder to do than it looks. I pulled the rock out and busted it up along with some new rock. Glued together what I thought was a pretty cool scape. It all fell apart trying to get it into the tank and I ran out of glue trying to get it back together. Another day. I did stick 6 frags in there today.

 

[ryany25]

Oh, and I made some mesh screens. Can hardly tell they are there compared to the glass.

 

[tbrown]

Scape looks ok to me!

If you get some more rocks, look for long, flat rocks for shelves?

 

[ryany25]

Scape looks ok to me!

If you get some more rocks, look for long, flat rocks for shelves?

I certainly will. I wished that I had as I built. Thanks!

 

[tbrown]

There's always Aragocrete... Probably half or more of my rocks are homemade.

 

[ryany25]

There's always Aragocrete... Probably half or more of my rocks are homemade.

Now that’s interesting.

 

[tbrown]

Now that’s interesting.

It's not an easy task and it takes time to let them stabilize so you don't nuke the tank, but you make the rocks the way you want them. You can also crush some existing rock or break pieces and "glue" them together the way you want.

 

[ryany25]

Got back in there with some epoxy and glue.

 

[ryany25]

Scape looks ok to me!

If you get some more rocks, look for long, flat rocks for shelves?

Your tank looks amazing.

 

[tbrown]

Your tank looks amazing.

Thanks! It's a work in progress?

 

[ryany25]

I got home from vacation yesterday and added my first fish today. 2 clowns, a lawnmower, and a mandarin as well as 2 turbo snails. I also discovered an aiptasia living under a zoa. I injected it with Tropic Marin Elimi-Aiptas. I hope that takes care of it. All of the coral I’ve put in seems to be doing ok with the exception of the pulsing Xenia. That one may be dead.

 

[tbrown]

Congrats on the fish! Sorry about the Xenia.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I got home from vacation yesterday and added my first fish today. 2 clowns, a lawnmower, and a mandarin as well as 2 turbo snails. I also discovered an aiptasia living under a zoa. I injected it with Tropic Marin Elimi-Aiptas. I hope that takes care of it. All of the coral I’ve put in seems to be doing ok with the exception of the pulsing Xenia. That one may be dead.

Glad you got your first fish in there!