Lee's 75g saltwater aquarium

[Lee]

My story started out how many stereotypical SW newbies do: "I have an idea, how about an SW fish tank! Great idea, I can spare $300 no problem." Lee gets real excited and starts researching fish. Once Lee reaches the point where he wants an aquarium so much that there's no turning back, he buys a book on Marine tanks. "Holy crap, looks like that $300 estimate isn't going to cut it. Well, I'm too emotionally invested now, gotta go all the way!" $1,700 later and I'm still ready to spend more...

So I planned out my project roughly according to the protocols from various marine aquarium newbie books. 75 gallon with a custom built stand. I built the stand and canopy myself. The stand is built with 2x4's and is strong enough to hold several elephants. (My uncle the carpenter revised my plans at the very last minute) The base is covered with a beautiful 3/4" birch plywood and solid oak trim, as is the canopy. The canopy was constructed with housing a light fixture in mind. But as I've recently upgraded from standard output fluorescents to power compacts, heat has become a serious ssue and I need to open up and/or ventilate my canopy big time.

Anyway, here are some finalized construction shots:





During the next week, I got it home, put in about 100 pounds of live sand and a few big hunks of live rock, and a handful of yellow tail damsels. From that point on, spending money on the tank was actually an enjoyable thing. It was no longer "ouch, $6/pound for live rock???" Now it was "YES, more live rock for the tank! Take my money, just give me all your rock!" After a 2-3 week damsel cycle, they came out, and the Chromis/Clown group went it.

Here's a shot of the tank in my living room, (Picture taken 5 months ago, Tank age: 1 month)



Next, I got my quarantine tank set up, which housed a nice baby yellow tang for a couple of weeks. Here is a full tank shot at around 1-2 months while Mr. Bubbles the yellow tang (yes, I name my fish all totally unoriginal names) was in QT.



Over the next several months, I got a lot more live rock, researched lots of different fish, complained that my uncle's base design didn't leave me room for a sump, wished I hadn't been such a cheap ass when buying a skimmer and lights, and other things. I also added a couple fish. Mr Bubbles went in the display tank, I found a Tahiti Flame Angelfish locally for only $60, got a cleaner shrimp, and a Bangaii cardinal pair, one of which failed to adapt to his new home and bit the bullet. I know I probably moved a little faster than an experienced reefer would have. 6 months and I have a Tang and an angel already. All I can say about that is that I'm not an experienced reefer, so I'm probably going to make some mistakes. I am learning more and more everyday, and listening to the LFS less and less everyday

Inspired by Frank's chronicle's, I recently re-arranged my rock to the two-tower style: (picture taken last week, tank age 6 months)



Left side:



Right Side:



Whom once were enemies are now friends:





The clowns (they're camera shy)



Mr Grumpy Pants (he has been frowning since the day I bought him)



Ninja Shrimp hanging inconspicuously from a rock poised to launch a stealth attack on Mr Bubbles:



My tank hasn't gotten a lot of love lately, but there's a good reason for it. (besides the fact that its post Christmas, and I'm broke) We have a new family member who has gotten the vast majority of my attention lately. My christmas gift to my girlfriend: (aren't I nice?)

[framerguy]

Sounds like you are having fun! I like the aquascaping much better, the next step is to make a bridge/cave for the fish to have some shelter. Congrats on the quarintine tank! Smart move.

Shame on you for using damsels for cycling LOL. I'm sure it was an LFS recommendation. I wish they would stop doing that. I'm glad you have found RS now to get better advice!

Things are looking great, keep up the good work! Nice looking DIY stand BTW.

[Lee]

Thanks for the compliments. Yeah the LFS gave me the damsels to cycle. They took them back and even gave a decent credit for them, so it didn't work out too bad. I wanted to keep them, but they're mean little suckers.

[framerguy]

It's just really hard on the damsels but LFS's say" They're only damsels, who cares".

Your tank really is looking good. And your little dog too! (say it like the wicked witch of the west for effect,LOL)

...Later!

[Techno-Vicki]

Beautiful, and only $1,700, just wait, it gets worse How fun!

[Lee]

Just a quick update... Greg, I took your advice. They now have some shelter. I got another 25 or so pounds of smaller rocks and connected the two towers.

I also ditched my SeaClone 100 "protein skimmer" and got a Remora Pro. I say "protein skimmer" in quotes because it doesn't actually collect anything. It just makes noise and moves water. The Remora Pro is HORRIBLY noisy and I tend to shut it down when I'm home/awake, but unbelievably effective. Within 48 hours, it collected more skimmate than the SeaClone did in 6 months, no joke.

I also have a Peppermint shrimp in there somewhere... I think. He doesn't come out much. I usually only see him when I turn on the lights, at which point he dashes for a rock.

[Lee]

The camera I used there is just terrible. It might be the first digital camera ever invented. Here's a flash shot that shows the color of the rock a bit better

[CMG]

Hello, very nice tank. I just wanted to give my two cents on the remora skimmer since I have one and I try to tell this to anyone I notice who also has one. The nise should go down a bit if not a lot after a few weeks or months of running, also the best way to cut the noise that I read about on this site is to get a paper towel and fold it up into a rectangle that fits above the injection nozzle. Remove the collection cup and place the papertoel down ontop of that nozzle then put the cup back and you will see what I mean!

[Lee]

Originally Posted by CMG

Hello, very nice tank. I just wanted to give my two cents on the remora skimmer since I have one and I try to tell this to anyone I notice who also has one. The nise should go down a bit if not a lot after a few weeks or months of running, also the best way to cut the noise that I read about on this site is to get a paper towel and fold it up into a rectangle that fits above the injection nozzle. Remove the collection cup and place the papertoel down ontop of that nozzle then put the cup back and you will see what I mean!

I had thought about doing something like that. This sounds like a great idea, as the noise all comes from the water being sprayed into the skimmer from the pump. Once I get some free time, I'll give that a shot. Its on my list!

[Frankie]

Looks great Lee. I am a big fan of the 75 gallon tank size

[Lee]

Originally Posted by Frankie

Looks great Lee. I am a big fan of the 75 gallon tank size

Thanks Frank. You're right, its a good size. Besides not being appropriate for my dream of having 10 more Tangs, it has many advantages. I felt like the 75g was just past the threshold for certain fish that I wanted to be able to have, like Tangs and dwarf Angels, and its footprint isn't much larger than a 55. You know my actual tank was only $110? If you go up to a 6' tank, they start at about $300.

[zy112]

Love the aquascaping. Looks good!

[tbittner]

Your tank looks awesome! I DO hope you cycled the rock in another tank before putting it into this tank though.

Great fish selection too! I love those yellow tangs.

[Frankie]

Agreed. I am honored that i inspired you to try the islands but that looks much better in your tank. Well done!

[lcstorc]

Off to a nice start.