Tim's 75G RR [Lots of Pics]

[tbraun]

Well, as promised, here are some pictures of my tank as of this weekend. I hope you enjoy my work in progress.

Full Tank View. Please excuse the bare tank top, with my new fixture I have to redesign the original canopy cover.

One of the pulsing Xenia which started out as one single plug and now makes up 4 stalks.

The other group of Xenia

Colony of ~25 Fire Ring Zoos

Torch consisting of 7 heads with one looking like it's going to split soon. Coloring is much better in person. New Hot Chili Pepper Monti plug to the left of the torch. Poor picture of it though.

My unidentified SPS. You can also see the last of my green hair algae on the rock to the left.

A better picture of the Hot Chili Pepper Monti. Coloring is better in person. To the left is my Sea Hare happily eating my algae.

Green Slimer which is already showing impressive growth. Excuse the large chunk of epoxy holding it down, this one was giving me issues to keep it in place.

Two small Trumpet frags. When I originally got them, they were in poor shape. They are now showing good growth and are ready to find a permanent place in my tank.

Another colony of Zoos, about 30 total. Not sure what their full name is. There is also a Bullseye shroom in the foreground and a few remains of algae throughout.

My Orange Cap which is already showing good growth as well.

My new undata monti which already has new polyps throughout.

My mated pair of Yellowstripe Maroon Clowns. Mom's in the foreground and Dad's out of focus in the background.

A new plug of Acans. Just put it in my tank on Saturday. A huge thanks goes out to RFD4 for parting with this.

A better picture of my Sea Hare.

A baby Nudibranch. One of ten that appeared in my tank.

I hope you enjoy.

Best,
Tim

 

[rodclement]

Hey Tim! Welcome to the Club!
Your tank looks great, it will fill up in no time! Post some tank stats like lights, filtration, etc!
Looking forward to meeting you next meeting!

Rod

 

[SirFragalot]

Tim...

What did your tank look like before the sea hare got to the hair algae? I'm just curious because i'm in a battle with it myself.

 

[tbraun]

SirFragalot,
I had a severe hair algae problem, also had Bryopsis and Cyano. I used Kent Marine Tech M to bring the Mag up to ~1650 and it started to vanish on it's own. I would scrub each rock with a tooth brush when I syphoned for a water change to remove the dead algae. I purchased the Sea Hare to keep the remaining algae in check while I reduce the Mag back to normal levels.

Hope this helps,
Tim

 

[tbraun]

I failed to mention, the Sea Hare had only been in the tank a few days before I took the picture. But I am truly impressed with how well it has been doing at eating the algae. I can definitely see the difference.

While I was battling the algae, I also reduced my Day lights to only 2 hours per day and kept the blue actinics on 24 hours a day to promote corraline growth. I kept this up for about 2 months, then I slowly increased the amount of day light until I reached my normal of 8 hours per day.

 

[Steve0xr]

Nice tank, and thanks for the algae tips. Keep fighting the good fight!

 

[tbraun]

Here's some tank stats. Hope I don't miss anything:

Hardware Stats:

Tank: 75 Gallon Reef Ready w/ corner overflow
Sump: Custom designed 10 gallon tank with Refugium
Return Pump: 800 gph Quite One pump
Protein Skimmer: RedSea Berlin w/ 800 gph Mag Drive pump
Lighting: 4x48" T5 Fixture w/ built in timer and Lunar LED's
Circulation: Vortech MP40w
Controller: NeptuneSystems Apex Controller
Other:
- Two Little Fishies PhosBan Reactor running GAC.
- Custom Built Durso Standpipe
- Kent Hi-S RO/DI

Water Stats:

Salt: Instant Ocean
Dosing:
- Kalk Top Off
- Kent Tech M
- Kent Trace Elements
Salinity: 1.028
Ph: 7.9 - 8.1 depending on time of day
Mg: 1500
Ca: 440
dKh: 10
Nitrate/Nitrite/Phosphates: 0 ppm

Current Feeding Cycle:
- Frozen Mysis (Half Cube) every 3 days for the clowns
- Thawed Mysis for the Acans directly fed every other day

Todo / Wish List:
- Move Sump to basement into spare 75 Gallon tank I have
- Upgrade return pump
- Change to a Kati/Ani system instead of RO/DI
- Add a better ATO system of some sort
- Build a custom controller and open source it
- Get more $$$ so I can spend it all on my tank ;D

 

[tbone212371]

Tim
nice tank.. Nice meeting you today!
Good luck with the chaeto... Should help you out!
TR

 

[deepblue68]

nice start.welcome!! ;D

 

[TanksNStuff]

Nice tank Tim. I have a 75G corner overflow also, looks exactly like yours. I have a question... do you hear a gurgling noise as the water goes through your overflow where the LocLine exits? I do because my return pipe is slightly smaller than the cutout and water rushes through on either side of it... making some noise. I ended up wrapping some tubing around my pipe a few times to kind of take up the space and it helps a lot... but every once in a while I need to readjust to make it quiet again. Just wondering if you had similar issues and what you do to prevent it.

I battled algae early on, but it hasn't been a problem once it was gone. I just added about 30 tiny snails, about 20 small hermits, and about 12 or so big Turbo snails, and they seemed to clean it up pretty fast. I also got a small "fuzzy chiton" who would eat a lot of algae at a time, but seemed to hibernate for a week or so until the algae grew back. It's been about 6 months since I've had him, and he still remains on the first rock I put him on. He's doubled in size though, so he must be eating something.

I hear the Sea Hares do a great job of cleaning it up, but be warned that once the algae is gone... it will probably starve and die. When the algae gets hard to find, consider either selling it back to a LFS or lending it out to someone who has an algae problem if you can.

If you just got some chaeto, that will also help with the algae some because it will consume the nitrates that are feeding your hair algae. I think that was a big part in cleaning up mine too.

Anyway, good luck with the tank and welcome to the club.

 

[tbraun]

When I first setup the tank, I heard a horrific gurgling noise from the overflow. I found that removing the foam block from around the standpipe did wonders to reduce this. Ultimately, I built a Durso standpipe and have since solved my gurgling issues completely. If you're interested, you can find information on it here:

http://www.dursostandpipes.com/

If you would like, I can post pictures of my standpipe and sump area to give you a better idea of what I did.

I'm aware of the problem with Sea Hares. I've also heard that if they die in your tank they can cause a tank crash due to toxins released by their dead body. Once I notice there is a lack of food for him, which my kids have aptly named "Smudge", I will see if anybody would like to have him. The LFS I got him from said they would also take him back if I couldn't find a home for him.

I just put the Chaeto in my fuge yesterday. Previously, I only had some live rock and a DSB in my fuge. I'm hoping the Chaeto puts the final blow on my algae issue.

Thanks for the comments,
Tim

 

[SirFragalot]

When I first setup the tank, I heard a horrific gurgling noise from the overflow. I found that removing the foam block from around the standpipe did wonders to reduce this. Ultimately, I built a Durso standpipe and have since solved my gurgling issues completely. If you're interested, you can find information on it here:

http://www.dursostandpipes.com/

If you would like, I can post pictures of my standpipe and sump area to give you a better idea of what I did.

I'm aware of the problem with Sea Hares. I've also heard that if they die in your tank they can cause a tank crash due to toxins released by their dead body. Once I notice there is a lack of food for him, which my kids have aptly named "Smudge", I will see if anybody would like to have him. The LFS I got him from said they would also take him back if I couldn't find a home for him.

I just put the Chaeto in my fuge yesterday. Previously, I only had some live rock and a DSB in my fuge. I'm hoping the Chaeto puts the final blow on my algae issue.


Thanks for the comments,
Tim

Did you use the DIY instructions on that site?

 

[tbraun]

Yes. I ran into a small problem because the pipe size I picked up from Home Depot was a little too big for the area inside of the overflow. The elbow extended out a little too far, so I had to shave it back with my miter saw. I ended up dry fitting all the pieces and haven't had any issues with it. I will take a picture when I get home this afternoon.

 

[mnat]

Tim, looks really good. Do you plan on putting any other fish in there?

 

[tbraun]

Thanks.

I do plan on adding more fish, but I haven't found a decent LFS to purchase them from and I prefer not to order them online.

 

[mnat]

Where are you located? There are a lot of great fish stores depending on where you are and how far you want to drive.

 

[tbone212371]

Club LFS Sponsers:
Ocean Gallery II
Red Sand
Aquatic Obessions

are excellent LFS with decent stock....

 

[tbraun]

Rockaway, NJ... Northern NJ.

I know of one, but they tend to be a little pricey. They also tend to favor fish which require a larger tank than mine.

Willing to travel if I need to.

 

[tbraun]

Thanks for the pointers. I will have to check them out.

 

[TanksNStuff]

When I first setup the tank, I heard a horrific gurgling noise from the overflow. I found that removing the foam block from around the standpipe did wonders to reduce this. Ultimately, I built a Durso standpipe and have since solved my gurgling issues completely. If you're interested, you can find information on it here:

http://www.dursostandpipes.com/

If you would like, I can post pictures of my standpipe and sump area to give you a better idea of what I did.

I'm aware of the problem with Sea Hares. I've also heard that if they die in your tank they can cause a tank crash due to toxins released by their dead body. Once I notice there is a lack of food for him, which my kids have aptly named "Smudge", I will see if anybody would like to have him. The LFS I got him from said they would also take him back if I couldn't find a home for him.

I just put the Chaeto in my fuge yesterday. Previously, I only had some live rock and a DSB in my fuge. I'm hoping the Chaeto puts the final blow on my algae issue.

Thanks for the comments,
Tim

Tim, my noise isn't coming from the standpipe, that's actually pretty silent. My noise is just coming from water flowing into the overflow section around the Loc-Line fitting as the return pipe goes over the top of the overflow wall (well, actually, through it, but its near the top of the wall.)

Here's a top-down pic that sort of shows what I mean. The 90 Elbow connecting to the Loc-Line is a reducer elbow, and it's narrower than the cutout in the overflow. The water that flows around the 90 sounds sort of like a waterfall rushing through there. Do you get that too?