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S_Hurley

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Oct 8, 2012
Messages
70
Hi! I've had a freshwater tank for awhile now and I'm going to be upgrading to a 75 gallon aquarium soon. I was going to make this a freshwater but I want it to look amazing so, since you can't get many AMAZING looking Fish in freshwater I'm going to try for saltwater.

I have a few general questions though. How much more do I have to do to maintain the tank. Also how do water changes go about? i was going to do an aquascape in my freshwater but i want to do some cool like plants that move and such. lif you have ber seen the tv shiw tanked.maintain
I'm
 
Like if you have ever seen the tv show tanked. Sorry for the typos I'm on an iPhone and I couldn't see what I was typing.
 
I basically want to make a really nice scenic tank with real plants and some really nice vibrant fish. I already have the fish that I have seen, now I'm going to go through and see what would go good with what. But anyways yeah so water changes and cycling are my main questions.
 
It took me 6 weeks to cycle my 75g reef before I put anything in. In reef I suggest patience is the key to success. The show tanked is a great show I love it too but lot things they did is not that accurate
 
I let my 90 gallon cycle for 4 weeks before adding anything. I have had it up for 6 months now and currently have only 5 corals and a couple fish, along with several cleanup crew creatures. I highly recommend live rock. The live rock will help with water quality and also add a lot of much needed bacteria to your tank that is essential for a healthy livestock. I do a 15-20 gallon water change every week. Maintenance wise, there is a lot more work involved with saltwater. Having live rock will also help with this maintenance. I have 120 pounds of live rock for 90 gallons of tank space. I'm figuring only 75 actual gallons of water. I was told 2 pounds of live rock per gallon of water is recommended to keep water filtering to a key. You'll also want to make sure you have plenty of water movement and proper lighting. I have a total of about 2000 gallons per hour of movement in my tank. You can never really have too much, but you can have too little. Just make sure you don't point the power heads directly at a soft coral or a coral that likes low flow. I have one of mine pointing behind my live rock and the other point straight forward into the glass. This helps create the three types of currents that corals and reef fish thrive on.
 
And live rock will make a better looking tank. If you are looking for good looking tank, it's essential. I'll attach a photo of mine from month 3.

image-2534986861.jpg

I've added some stuff and moved a couple of things around since then, but I currently have a minnow trap set up in my tank to catch a demon damsel so I can't take an updated photo.
 
I love that show tanked. That is what got me interested in fishing in general and also my tanks.
 
PurplePolyp said:
And live rock will make a better looking tank. If you are looking for good looking tank, it's essential. I'll attach a photo of mine from month 3.

I've added some stuff and moved a couple of things around since then, but I currently have a minnow trap set up in my tank to catch a demon damsel so I can't take an updated photo.

Wow thanks so much for the help. Yes I will definitely be using live rock, but where can I get that? A quick side question also. I was looking at fish and some say they are reef compatible and others say no, what does this mean exactly?
 
TommyP said:
I love that show tanked. That is what got me interested in fishing in general and also my tanks.

Basically the same lol
 
S_Hurley said:
Wow thanks so much for the help. Yes I will definitely be using live rock, but where can I get that? A quick side question also. I was looking at fish and some say they are reef compatible and others say no, what does this mean exactly?

Some fish aren't safe to keep in reefs because they will eat your corals. You can get live rock from your local fish store. Most carry a couple of different kinds. It gets expensive. At my store, the live rock costs 6 dollars a pound. I put 120 pounds in and then added my sand and water and let it cycle. You might also consider buying a dead shrimp and putting it in your tank while cycling. It will speed up the process.
 
Live rock does help a lot. Currently my tank is one year old. Recently have bout 50 feather duster just grow itself on my sandbed and rocks. I didn't have any
 
PurplePolyp said:
Some fish aren't safe to keep in reefs because they will eat your corals. You can get live rock from your local fish store. Most carry a couple of different kinds. It gets expensive. At my store, the live rock costs 6 dollars a pound. I put 120 pounds in and then added my sand and water and let it cycle. You might also consider buying a dead shrimp and putting it in your tank while cycling. It will speed up the process.

Ok cool thanks for the explanation then I will not go for the non-reef friendly fish. And I will definitely consider that. And wow that must get expensive but I definitely think it will be worth it!
 
S_Hurley said:
Ok cool thanks for the explanation then I will not go for the non-reef friendly fish. And I will definitely consider that. And wow that must get expensive but I definitely think it will be worth it!

They are expensive to start, but once you get cycled and ready to start adding fish and coral, it isn't too bad. It's still fairly expensive to buy the fish and corals, but you won't buy them all at once. I have been adding about 1 coral a month. I can't add any more fish until I get that damsel out because he kills everything I put in there with him.
 
Try not to get any damsel when recycling. They too aggressive towards your coral and fish later on. You can try have base rock and half live rock to save some cash. Eventually all become live rock
 
reef lover said:
Live rock does help a lot. Currently my tank is one year old. Recently have bout 50 feather duster just grow itself on my sandbed and rocks. I didn't have any

The live rock will also provide the tank with some filter feeders that help keep the tank maintained. Be cautious though. They have bad stuff in them too. I had an aiptasia outbreak a couple months after cycling and had to buy some peppermint shrimp to keep it under control.
 
Where you located ? Later on if you around where I live I can frag some of my coral mushroom and other for you to test it out
 
reef lover said:
Try not to get any damsel when recycling. They too aggressive towards your coral and fish later on. You can try have base rock and half live rock to save some cash. Eventually all become live rock

My damsel is a demon. He's killed 2 goby's and 8 shrimp. Here is what I'm doing now to try and catch him.



image-2113849613.jpg
 
PurplePolyp said:
They are expensive to start, but once you get cycled and ready to start adding fish and coral, it isn't too bad. It's still fairly expensive to buy the fish and corals, but you won't buy them all at once. I have been adding about 1 coral a month. I can't add any more fish until I get that damsel out because he kills everything I put in there with him.

Yeah that's what I was thinking, if I'm cycling for 5-6 weeks then ill have plenty of time to buy scenery and such. I definitely want to get some live moving coral. Like the bubble coral and some mushroom coral as well as some torch.
 
reef lover said:
Try not to get any damsel when recycling. They too aggressive towards your coral and fish later on. You can try have base rock and half live rock to save some cash. Eventually all become live rock

Base rock?
 
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