Stocking 75 gal and need some guidance

[bassetbros]

Hey Ya'll!

First off I'd like to say that there seems to be a lot of very knowledgable people around here so after reading some of the posts in this forum I think I've finally come to the right place so here goes.

I currently have a 15 gallon FOWLR with about 25lbs of live rock and 20 lbs of sand along with a few turbo snails and hermit crab that has been going for approximately 2 years. I just bought a 75 gallon tank and am planning on putting everything from the 15 into it.

1. Do you guys think I'll have to go through a cycling process with this changeover?
2. How long after the change over do you suggest waiting until stocking it with a few fish?
3. Should I just let the lr, sand, snails, and crab take care of the cycle for me? I've got 2 penguin 330's I plan on using for filtration from a previous cichlid tank (that's righ...another cichlid guy sees the light!) and can run the filter that's currently on the 15 gallon as well, though it won't be permanent.
4. Assuming at least a couple of fish listed below are feasible, which one's do you think I should add first?


As far as inhabitants for the 75, I'm looking at the following fish and would like any advice (good/bad) you could provide:

Royal Gramma Basslet
Harlequin Bass
Yellow Longnose Butterfly
Pearlscale Butterfly
Blonde Naso Tang
Aurora Watchman Goby
Yellow Watchman Goby
Longnose Hawkfish
Six Line Wrasse
Blue Sided Fairy Wrasse

I know I don't have the capacity for all of these fish and will definately have to cull some of them but, these are the ones I'm interested in so maybe we can start chopping from there. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!


Thanks and God Bless,
Basset

 

[Edmonton Eskimo]

If you are just moving from one tank to another you won't have a cycling issue but you probably should use new sand with a little from your established tank to seed the new. If you have had a sandbed for a longer period stirring it up can cause problems. Also if you plan to add anymore liverock make sure you cure it first. If not then you can add fish as long as your water is good. Test for nitrates,nitrite,ammonia and ph and make sure they are in check. Your fishlist depends on what kind of tank you want-reef or fish only. Most of those fish are reef safe other than the butterflies and the bass?(tusk?). I would stay away from the naso unless you get it small and plan on getting a bigger tank soon. Other than that the choice is yours. I have a royal gramma and love it. I also have a yellow watchman goby and I think it would be more interesting with a pistol shrimp but that's another story A good place to check fish compatability is liveaquaria.com. HTH

 

[bassetbros]

Thanks for the heads up with the sand Eskimo. I previously had a few skillet fish and blennies caught out of Mobile Bay in the 15 gallon but died soon after we bought our new house...I assume the sand got mixed up a little too much and released some sort of toxic primortial ooz! I took out most of the water prior to transporting and, after doing so, the tank smelled AWFUL! I was told it was because of the release of toxins due to the anerobic bacteria that inhabit substrates too shallow to beneficial but deep enough to be a big problem.

For my 75 gallon FOWLR, I'm planning on using crushed coral along with some of the sand from my 15.

Due to the anerobic environment of much of my live sand, do you think using any of it in my 75 would pose a problem?

Thanks,
Basset

 

[lando]

Hard to say if you will experience a cycle. As mentioned, adding more cured LR during the switch may help with this. YOu should be okay using the sand from your 15 gal. I would advise against using CC as a substrate. It can create some maintanance headaches in the future. I would go with some more sand. Put in the new sand first and then layer your existing sand on top of it. The bacteria in your old sand bed will help seed your new sand.

 

[bassetbros]

Thanks for the advice Iando

One question...the live sand I bought some time ago had a lot of water along with it. Granted I bought it from a very high quality pet store in Mobile (B&B Pet Store) that moves a lot of SW supplies but all the sand around here is very dry. Is the dry sand any better than the wet?


Thanks again everyone!

God Bless,
Basset

 

[lando]

No need to spend the money on "live sand" in the bag. It is really a waste of money. An aragonite based play sand will be just fine. Also, most LFS carry dry reef sand substrate as well. It is cheaper then the LS in a bag stuff.

 

[melosu58]

I concur on The sand. I had the CC and did not like it so I switched over to the Live sand

 

[ashobson]

I just went fro a 54 gal to a 75 gal tank. I reused all my sand from a 3 year setup I also added 50 lbs of new sand I have 200 lbs of sand in there I had a mini cycle that lasted a couple days I have a coral beueaty a humma humma a firefish yellow tang valiten puffer and full grown convict blenny in my tank. I would say going from a 15 to a 75 you will need lots more sand and live rock you will have a cycle there is no way the 15 gal will seed the 75 without a cycle but it will be worth the wait.