Harmys official 75g build

[Mitchell0605]

Do you guys in America have the huge amount of advertising against smoking? Every second/third add here is a smoking one all about how bad it is. I reckon all that's gonna kill Aussies in 20 years is obesity. Those adds are pretty graphic.

 

[thincat]

Well smoking is nasty. I stoped 30 years ago.

 

[Mitchell0605]

Congrats. A bit late though.

 

[harmy4993]

smoking is pretty nasty. it was relaxing for me thou. but who needs smokes to relax when im going to have a 75 gallon ocean in my bed room to look at.

 

[Mitchell0605]

Exactly.

 

[harmy4993]

ok i have some tank talk then we can go back to talking about whatever.

diy rock update:

they went from this

and haveing the water changed out 1-2 times a week

to this

leaving the hose on a trickle and getting a 2x turn over a day roughly. i think this system is better but i think i need to get a timer or something on the hose and turn it on for 15 mins 4x a day. i think that would be perfect. this rock is 4-6 weeks old. the other pool is rock that is 2-4 weeks old.

i also have this

10 gallon qt tank.
power head
temp gauge
6 pack large filter pads
1 dry erase board to keep track of things. water changes, test results ect.thats a short term recording. im using a computer program for long term recording.

i forgot the shrimp which ill pick up in the morning. i plan on startign the cycle tomorrow. putting the 6 large filter pads to host the bactira and then when the 75 has water and rocks and sand in it then ill take the pads, transfer them over and that should speed up the 75 cycle. so it gets my cycle started without my tank being up yet. and gets my qt going so when its done i can get a fish to start the qt process.

in other 75 gallontank related news we have
holding off on the leds for now. i really want them, i think they are awesome but they can wait. im going to go with the catalina 6 bulb t5 unit. from all the reviews i have seen its just behind top of the line lights without the brand name price. and it will work with the top of the line bulbs which is what i want.

im thinking for current flow in the tank gettign 2 750 gph ph's and one nano ph. the 750s from left to right and right to left facing each other and the nano to hit behind the rocks.

i got some pool filter sand and got it cleaned but it doesnt have the same consistancy as the pfs i used before. this may be to small. im not sure i like it. im going to run it in the qt during the cycle to get a better idea. if i dont like it ill put some in my fuge and use the rest in my horseshoe pit. not a lose if it doesnt work. wish i could find the same pfs i used last time. that sand was awesome.

 

[Greenmaster]

Nice rock... your crushed shells have a more natural white then mine... the local oysters here are more gray in color.

 

[harmy4993]

that could be the cement. its really white.

 

[Greenmaster]

I also have really white cement... it's the shells and/or the sand you used for your mold.

 

[thincat]

GEE, you Guys really want to make me set up another tank just so I can make more DIY Rock.

 

[Mitchell0605]

Haha do some for your Dragon.

 

[thincat]

You know Mitch, setting up is the fun part of doing Saltwater. The end result is shear beauty, but setting up is fun.

 

[harmy4993]

i dunno about the setting up being the funniest part. i like adding fish and watching how they act and there personalitys. but to me the most fun part is watching the tank grow. when i had my planted tank i really liked watchign it grow from small plants to semi jungle. thou things do grow much faster in fresh water.i just really enjoy watching tanks evolve.

 

[SnailPowered]

I can see setting up being the most fun part of any tank, be it FW or SW, because as Harmy said you are watching it grow. I know that I loved watching my oscars go from barely beg enough to get a feeder minnow in their mouths to the size of my hand. Once they got that big I decided I needed a bigger tank so that I could watch them get bigger lol. I know that I liked to rearrange my freshwater tank every time I cleaned it because I thought it got better every time I did. I would imagine that is is difficult to rearrange your SW tank...but that has a large part to do with my lack of knowledge on SW.

 

[Mitchell0605]

I agree setting up is fun. I had a ball re-aquascaping and putting my new lights on. Plus I'm still setting up with new corals always welcome! I loved watching my fishes personalities develope as well.

 

[harmy4993]

on a side note. i guess you can say my cycle is started. i have the 10g going with power head, shrimp, and 6 40g filters. no rocks but plenty of space to host the bactira which will be used seed the 75g. im guess this should take about 6 weeks since i have no bactira in there now.

ok now time for your thoughts.

i think i really like the clean back glass look. should i leave space for me to get behind the tank so ill be able to clean off the back glass?

 

[Greenmaster]

If you want the back clean and you don't have a cleaner on a pole you would need access to the back of the tank.

 

[harmy4993]

and in diy rock news. just did a ph test with the water running and had a ph of 7.8. my previous low with water runnign was 8.2 so its getting close i think. im still over 8.8 after 24 hours of water off but the water is starting to become alot more clear when the water is off. less grime/scum collecting on the surface. making progress.

 

[Greenmaster]

Right on... I just made my biggest rock yet... it's 19"x30"x12"high when I take that one out I will be posting all my rocks on my thread... that will be Wednesday. Harmy your build is like 2 months ahead of mine and it's looking awesome.

 

[Mitchell0605]

Awesome Harmy. On a side note for something different you can get a quick growing coral like Zoanthids or Green Star Polyps to cover your back wall.