rckmtl's 75 gal

[rckmtl]

Allrighty. So new tank=new thread. What happened to the old tanks? Couple of things. One, moved to a new apartment where having four tanks setup really wasn't a possiblity. Two, a 20gal saltwater was nice and all...but the main reason I set it up was to see if I could keep a small tank stable. And I did for four years, so I consider it a succesful experiment. Third, I've always wanted a nice big tank, and to have a fish that was more then an inch long. And fourth...this ones not fun...when I moved into my new place, I didn't know the air conditioner was broken. In the middle of summer. When the maintince guy was on vacation for a week...so a week and a half of 95deg. weather wiped out everything I had. Lesson-always make sure the AC works!

So since I had to start from scratch anyway, I decided to go with only saltwater this time. I miss having a freshwater tank, but I decided I'd rather have one -really- nice tank, then two O.K. tanks.

So I picked up a used Oceanic reef-ready 75gal. It is Soooo nice comapared to my other tanks. I've never had a tank w/ a matching stand before. And it looks -huge- in my apartment.
It has one 2in hairline thin scratch smack dab in the middle of the glass, but otherwise is good as new.
I'll post the set-up, ect... in the next post.

 

[rckmtl]

So here is is with most of the rock that I'll have put in. The one side is dark cuz I still need to get the second light. Should be getting that in by Mon if things go well. I started cyling it on the 30th of Dec. Diatoms appeared about 5-6 days ago.
It's really setup to be viewed from an off-center postion, and I think I'm going to get a few more peices of rock to fill it out more. Also, normally I don't care for having dead coral in the tank, but a friend had given me like 20lbs of it, so I figured I'd use it for base rock. It'll give me a good way to measure how fast the diff types of algae spread across the rock. Hopefully in a few months, it'll blend in perfectly with the rock.
I went DSB, cuz I like the look of sand, cuz it worked very well in the small tank, and cuz I had a -lot- of extra sand lying around.

Tank specs-as of 1-11-06-
75gal tank
15gal sump
Currently appx 60lbs rock, 30lbs base rock, 30lbs live rock
A lot of sand, 4-6inches in depth
Two(well, soon anyway) 250watt Metal Halides, 14k bulbs...may add actinics..not sure
330GPH pump for return from sump
Protein skimmer
Avg temp-78degF


Filtration setup is ultra-simple. Water goes from the overflow to the sump((which is technically an oceanic wet-dry, but I don't have any media in it, and am just using it as a sump)) Get's protein skimmed. Gets returned to tank.
I put a standpipe in the overflow to make it quiet, and will prolly use this area for a refugium or maybe for chemical media like carbon, when it's needed.

 

[Gina]

Looks like your new tank is going to be a nice one!
What type of lighting are you planning on?

 

[KimPossible]

Very nice variety of coral and rock! It's gonna be gorgeous!

 

[rckmtl]

Thanks guys! i'm looking forward to seeing how it'l turn out once it's filled in with corals. I made sure to leave room for them this time.

The lighting setup is going to be two 250watt Metal Halides, 14k bulbs.
I'm still undecided about whether I want actinics or not...I kinda want them, but not sure how to get them above the tank without blocking the light from the MH's. There's no canopy on the tank, and there's not enough room to hang them from the ceiling. So the 14k's may have to suffice for now.

 

[rckmtl]

Allright, Tanks been up and running for about a month, so this last week I added my first fishies!
I added a Yellowheaded Jawfish first, and gave him four days to settle in and dig himself a nice burrow, then added a Flame Hawkfish(who was very excited by the water current in my tank and spent a full two days playing in it)
The Jawfish was smart, and dug his burrow behind a rock that is leaning against the glass. This lets him be completly unseen by me, yet he can see in front of the rock by looking at the reflection in the glass. But he comes out at feeding time and eats like crazy, so it's all good. I'm sure I'll see him more as time goes by.

The hawkfish was super curious and after playing in the current a bit, swam right up to the overflow. I was worried he might get sucked in, but what he did was to cling to the side, and then scoot up to the gaps, and then he stuck his nose through the gap for a few seconds, like he was looking into the overflow box. Then he swam off, and hasn't cared about it since. Weird!
He also spent a lot of time watching the Jawfish, and sticking his nose into the Jawfish's burrow. This seemed to confuse the Jawfish.

I also added some more live rock, to form kinda a shelf/overhang thing. While it was only a small addition, it helps in a -big- way by giving the rockwork way more of a three-dimensional feel.
I'll post some pics in a few days.

Next on my list of things to get is a filter sock for the sump, to get rid of micro bubbles, and a some snails. I'm going to add a few every week or so until I hit optimal levels. I'm going with mostly Mexican Turbos, and Nassacirus(or however you spell it).

 

[Woodstock]

Let's see some pics!