75G Build, First Timer

[Patterson333]

that looks great to me. i wish i was far enough along with my build to have ordered all that.

Hold on, do you mean in terms of like the actual physical set-up with plumbing and fuge? Or are you talking about the maturity of the tank? Because your tank is certainly more mature than mine, as it's been set-up for a while longer, and if you'd be hesitant to place that kind of order because of maturity, than that would certainly be an issue for me as well...

I do have pleeeeenty of rotting stuff on all my live rock, since I've been curing while cycling, so I would imagine there's enough food/nitrates to sustain my CUC, macro, and plants, but if you guys think I should hold off than I will.

 

[coffeetwitch]

in terms of i need to get my sump finished.

no place to put the macro for me.

 

[Patterson333]

in terms of i need to get my sump finished.

no place to put the macro for me.

Lol oh ok good to hear. I'm gonna wait a bit longer to see if anyone else chimes in, and if not I might just go ahead and place the order.

 

[NanoNerd]

Those crab are nasty little buggers... They work but keep an eye on your hermits and snails. Also they are known to take out sleeping fish and some types of corals.

As for high lighting and high flow corals? Most SPS require a ton of flow and tons of light. Check out plating corals aswell.

When you get to the point of adding corals just post what your looking at.

Question, what kinda skimmer you have?

 

[Patterson333]

Question, what kinda skimmer you have?

None yet, actually. My tank hasn't been set up for too long, maybe about two weeks (I was fortunate enough to have a quick cycle, and adding Dr. Tim's One and Only seems to have helped quite a bit).

I'll probably be picking one up on October 16. It's the grand opening of a pet store near me and they're going to be having some really great deals (i.e. spend 100, get 25 off).

 

[NanoNerd]

O... Careful on the CUC... If your not careful it can spue it's guts if it feels threatened by a hermit or em. crab. They have been known to nuke entire tanks... Not trying to deter you from your ideas just be careful.

IMO... Weekly 50% water changes and nice clean up crew will do you just fine...atlases for the first month or 2. Then cut it back to a normal PWC of 10-20%, also try to keep 2 snails for every gallon and hermit for every gallon. Look into adding a serpent star fish... Keep and eye on him... Their great at turning up the sand and keeping it clean but grow super quick! When adding a invert that moves though the sand be sure your rocks are solid. Don't want to see a avalanche. just my opinion.

 

[NanoNerd]

Nice, once the cycle is complete would be a great time to turn her on full blast and keep an eye on the collection cup for a few days lol it will fill up quick! Lol i can't wait to see your tank ready and maturing.

 

[Patterson333]

O... Careful on the CUC... If your not careful it can spue it's guts if it feels threatened by a hermit or em. crab. They have been known to nuke entire tanks... Not trying to deter you from your ideas just be careful.

Don't want to see a avalanche. just my opinion.

Hmm, I'm a bit confused, what are we talking about in the CUC that will spew its guts and nuke the tank? lol

Oh and as far as avalanches go, I put eggcrate down first, then rock, and then sand around the rock, so my whole rock formation is stable as it could possibly get.

Edit: Actually, it would probably be more stable if I had epoxied everything, but you know what I'm getting at lol

 

[TLTGF]

I think they were referring to a sea cucumber while you were talking about clean-up-crew (cuc)

 

[NanoNerd]

Correct, my apologies, my brain is on a sea cuc, I am thinking of adding a sea cuc to a tank I maintain. Lol

 

[Patterson333]

Correct, my apologies, my brain is on a sea cuc, I am thinking of adding a sea cuc to a tank I maintain. Lol

Hahahaha okay that makes a bit more sense, I was actually a little worried lol.

But yea, by CUC, I mean clean up crew. And I just placed the order Hopefully it'll get here on Thursday or Friday.

 

[Patterson333]

I'm gonna head out to home depot in a few to pick up a bulb for my refugium. Any recommendations?

I remember the last time I was there I couldn't find anything labeled as being 6500K... But maybe I didn't look hard enough lol.

 

[coffeetwitch]

i would think just the highest rated compact bulb you can find.

but thats just me.

 

[Patterson333]

i would think just the highest rated compact bulb you can find.

but thats just me.

For future reference, after a bit of googling I found that I needed a "Daylight" compact fluorescent.

Anyways, I got myself a 120W equivalent CF. Strongest one they got. Hopefully the lighting will be good enough.

 

[coffeetwitch]

not arguing but tell me how thats not going to be able to grow macro.

in the mean time i will keep an eye out for that daylight bulb since i have not yet purchased one yet.

 

[Patterson333]

not arguing but tell me how thats not going to be able to grow macro.

Not sure actually. But since I've never grown macro I don't really have the experience to be certain.

The only issue that I've got with the light is it's spectrum. I'm not sure what it is. You're looking for 6500K, but apparently some of these daylight bulbs operate at 5100K (though from what I've read, many have been able to grow macro with a 5100K bulb)

 

[coffeetwitch]

fascinating. who knew.

man im so new to this saltwater bit and trying to grow things i may as well have been born yesterday. i do know that if its a plant, i cant grow it. i tried "tomatoes" got it a foot tall and then it died. hey dont judge i was just looking to supplement my income.

 

[scottayy]

i'm using a 6500k 26w CF
growth hasn't been the best

I've seen much better growths with way lower light spectrums on blogs and web sites.. even like 2300k and some 5100k

I really don't know what to think regarding growing macro.. it seems to be hit and miss depending on setup

 

[Patterson333]

Lol hopefully mine will be a hit! I look at it this way, even if the lighting doesn't work out, the bulbs were so cheap that I didn't take too much of a loss

 

[NanoNerd]

IMO different types of macro grow under different conditions. Some like actinic others like PC. Flow is also important, my culp loves the 6600k actinic and a nice med flow. I used to use a lower spec of 5500k and low flow and it started to turn green and have long strands. With the new light and higher flow I am seeing tight red curley strands. I sell around 4-6 cups a month to a few people I maintain their aquariums for.