Twisteds 75 reeftank

[twisted]

well, ive been here a few days and figured its time to start a tank journal.
My tank is a 75 gal with a 10 gal fuge. it started out as a 46 bowfront but was quickly upgraded. present lighting consists of a 4 bulb nova and a 2 bulb glo fixture. this weekend i ordered another 4 bulb nova and a mix of geissman bulbs. my setup is pretty basic since i really didnt have any direction other than books i had read in the library. i have 2 powerheads for water movement and a skimmer that needs to be upgraded.

tank Fish-
percula
maroon clown
coral beauty
mandarin
yellow tang
hippo tang
engineer goby
lawnmower
purple firefish
blue devil
red serpent star in the fuge

corals-
zoas-pinks,blues,radioactives,candy apple reds,AOG,darth maul and a few i dont know
elegance coral
green palays
tongue
xenia
green stripe shrooms and purple ones
neon green monti-this popped up out of nowhere
leathers
star polyps
clove polyps
caribean ricordia

about 70lbs of totaka and kaelini lr

clean up-
nasarius snails,turbo,blue leg herms,chitons

as far as additives, ive never done it because ive read good and bad and never really had anyone give personal advice for my tank other than what ive picked up online recently. so, i change about 10% of my water every 4 to 6 weeks. this seems to work for my tank at the moment but im sure there are many things i can do do make it better. thats why im here! im really looking forward to joining the reefer club and getting to know some of you.
the only products that go into my tank are alk with makeup water as needed and every 2 weeks about 5 mil of strontium and moly

foods consist of oyster feast,cyclopese, and a mix of clam,shrimp,mussels,fish that go into the blender. some gets pureed for the corals. i also feed phyto

 

[twisted]

i post some more pics when the lights come on

 

[twisted]

 

[twisted]

lets see, i feel like ive learned alot since ive started but then i read the journals in here and realize i have a long way to go before i can be proud of my tank. the zoas in my tankk are reproducing and doing very well. actually everything is doing well other than my elegance that is on the rebound. ive noticed alot of improvement in the past month and hope to some day see it the way it should be. i feed it silversides sometimes daily and oysterfeasta few times a week. the guy that sold it to me said they were filter feeders and didnt need individual feeding. same goes for my tongue coral. they were almost a loss but i think ive turned them around and are on their way to recovery. every day i see a little improvement. my fuge has a great variety of co and amphipods and loaded with them. anyone wants some chaeto that is packed with them let me know. got plenty of drive way filler, i mean, xenia...ive got a real nice piece of rock with some xenia and green palays id be happy to give away also
my tank has survived a year pretty much with me on my own, so this next year should bring about something great!

 

[mnat]

Tank looks really nice, welcome to the site.

 

[twisted]

thanks mnat! ive been spending the last few days checking out all the tanks here and at first was real happy to see all these cool set ups. then i was left with the feeling of my tank needs to be better. so, now im inspired to renovate! last night, i moved the tank to get a peninsula style. today i plan to move some rocks around, replumb my fuge and clean up the electric. the only down side will be running the fuge lights at the same time as the dt, instead of alternating. i already like the way i can get to both front and back. pics will come soon!

 

[twisted]

everything is roughed in and where i want it to be. this is mainly to see how our living room works with the tank off the wall. if we like it, the big tank we are planning will take its place with a nice custom stand and the 75 underneath at a sump/fuge. i already like the skimmer in the fuge. i can now run it full bore instead of a trickle! and no bubbles in the tank! i still have to clean up the electric and move the outlet, and hard plump the pump but i like it already!

 

[twisted]

 

[twisted]

 

[mnat]

Very nice mandarin, one of our favorite fish.

 

[twisted]

Very nice mandarin, one of our favorite fish.

i waited 10 months and 13 days to get him. it was most definitly worth the wait. he is a happy one too! there is no shortage of live pods and he eats a variety of prepared foods. i watch him all day long. id like to get the other type, i think its called a spotted mandarin, i just havent seen any in the stores and im not sure if they would get along with each other

 

[NikkiT]

Love the new rockwork, looks great.
Mandarin looks very healthy! I believe mandarins can do well in groups so long as you have enough pods.

 

[twisted]

Love the new rockwork, looks great.
Mandarin looks very healthy! I believe mandarins can do well in groups so long as you have enough pods.

there is an abundant supply of copeods and amphipods in both the fuge an Dt, ill have get one! they are one of the coolest fish to watch

 

[twisted]

well, my wife and i are kinda digging the idea of doing a bigger tank and having it 3 maybe 4 sides if possible. the size we both agree on is 4 x 4 x 3' deep. the 75 will then become the sump/fuge. i plan to be in the house a long time so we want to get the right tank now instead of deciding a few years down the road to do it anyway. so, instead of upgrading every few years, we are gonna do our biggest we can have and get things rollin. construction of the stand will start in a few weeks and the rest will be listed when i start a very detailed and lots of pics build thread. i do know i would like to do as much diy as i can, including the stand. never really built anything with wood, but im sure i can build something nice and sturdy.

 

[mnat]

That is one heck of an upgrade. It is always nice when the wife is on board, makes this hobby a lot more fun. In the end you will save a lot of money by doing the big upgrade now.

 

[twisted]

That is one heck of an upgrade. It is always nice when the wife is on board, makes this hobby a lot more fun. In the end you will save a lot of money by doing the big upgrade now.

thats the idea! no more toying with little upgrades here and there. the wife is the one with the expensive taste in corals. so i guess ill have to make a tank she can have what she wants...lol...she is great though. we work well together in everything we do...this is going to be a fun project i cant wait to start!

 

[twisted]

 

[NikkiT]

That is one heck of an upgrade. It is always nice when the wife is on board, makes this hobby a lot more fun.

He has to say that, otherwise I'll kick his butt!!

New Pic of the Blue Hippo looks great, can't wait to follow your new TOT!

 

[twisted]

That is one heck of an upgrade. It is always nice when the wife is on board, makes this hobby a lot more fun.

He has to say that, otherwise I'll kick his butt!!

New Pic of the Blue Hippo looks great, can't wait to follow your new TOT!

thanks! we've had him for a while now and other than being a pest when its time to feed my elegance, he's great. i really need to try another cleaner shrimp in my tank. i went through 3 of them and a coral band before i realized my red serpent star was eating them.he also made it difficult to feed my tongue coral meaty foods. the star in now in the fuge.and gets a good meal of silverside a few days a week...next week im planning a trip up north to some fishy stores to get some new frags and maybe a gobie,blenny of some sort, ill prolly start at tropiquarium but not sure where to go from there. the only other one i know is the aquarium center. are there any more between those 2 or more south? im coming from exit 0

 

[panmanmatt]

If you're going to go to Tropiquarium then I recommend a stop at Reefs to Reptiles also. They are just north of Trop on the opposite side of the street. It's a smaller store but they have a lot of great frags and some of the less common fish and inverts too. Definitely worth stopping in.