My 75 gallon build

[johng1]

Hey folks,

I'm new to the site and to saltwater.

I've started a 75 gallon with a 29 gallon sump (probably 20 gallons in there). There is probably a 2-3 inch sand bed with around 50 pounds of live rock (getting more as I go). Eheim 100 gallon skimmer in the sump.

The tank is cycled with all of my nitrates and nitrites down to zero. Even had a "beautiful" diatom bloom about a week ago. LOL

A couple days ago, I acclimated two mollies (a dalmatian looking guy and a silver sailfin). I acclimated them over 5 or 6 hours and they're doing fine. They've both established their own little caves too. The first night they were in there, the dalmatian took a ride through the overflow down to the fuge. It was pretty funny, I came in to the room in the morning and he was just hanging out down there. haha He just sort of looked at me like "hey, what's going on?"

I'm going to give them a week or two to get the tank settled in before adding anything else.

For now, the stocking list is something like this:
blue and gold damselfish
trigger (bursa or niger)
yellow tang

maybe 2 others? dunno what yet - maybe an angler?
Just ran across these... What about an orange banded stingfish?

and last a snowflake moray.



I'd like to get a trigger, and the eel is a must, but I'm ok with substituting for any of the others if the stingfish will knock them out.

5, maybe 6 fish along with the eel. Is that too crowded?

Oh, for a cleanup, I'm going to keep throwing in a few hermits at a time (even if they get to be snacks occasionally) and one of those corie snails.



John

 

[SeanMonster]

Sounds like a sweet setup. Just some food for thought. I had a Volitan Lionfish for about 2 months. He was about 4 inches when I got him and grew maybe two inches when I took him back to the lfs. I returned him because he ate 3 damsels and stung my Emperor Angel and Raccoon Butterfly. I don't know about the sting fish, but I learned to stay away from venomous fish. Didn't help that the two that he stung wouldn't stay away from him. As far as the triggerfish, I have a Niger that was the second fish after the cycle. He is a mellow fish and I love the way his coloration changes throughout the tank. I even have a Pinktail Triggerfish in the tank with him with no problems.

 

[joy13]

Welcome. Your tank sounds like it is right on track. The niger trigger and the yellow tang both need a larger tank to remain healthy. I agree they are beautiful fish but will need their space the tang for swimming and the trigger just because they are aggressive. Another thing the trigger may rearrange some of the rock work.

 

[SeanMonster]

Good point on the trigger and tang. I forgot to mention mine are housed in a 180 gallon tank.

 

[johng1]

Got ya. Thanks for the help. I'm thinking that I'll start them out small and then either swap them once they get bigger. There are some guys in the local club that have huge tanks.

Either that or (what I think is a better idea): "Honey, we must be doing a really good job with these fish because they're doing awesome. However, I think we're gonna need a bigger tank." LOL

one of the local guys also recommended a nitrate reactor because several of these are messy eaters.

John

 

[SeanMonster]

I've had pretty good luck with just routine water changes and making sure not to over feed.

 

[johng1]

I actually got some real saltwater fish in the tank. Added two damsels on Friday (a 4 stripe and a yellow tail). They seem to be getting along fine. They've taken to each other and stick pretty close. As far as I've seen, they haven't tried to beat up on the mollies (could be because the damsels are only a half inch each though). '

I'm going to let these guys settle in for several weeks before I add anything else. I'm thinking a small yellow tang next. I'd be worried that a trigger would eat these two since they're so small.


Not a great pic, but here they are:

John

 

[SeanMonster]

I put a small Niger trigger and a medium Pinktail trigger in with 6 damsels and neither trigger paid them any attention. The trouble came when I added the small Volitan Lionfish as they tend to grow much faster than the damsels.

 

[joy13]

Got ya. Thanks for the help. I'm thinking that I'll start them out small and then either swap them once they get bigger. There are some guys in the local club that have huge tanks.

Either that or (what I think is a better idea): "Honey, we must be doing a really good job with these fish because they're doing awesome. However, I think we're gonna need a bigger tank." LOL

one of the local guys also recommended a nitrate reactor because several of these are messy eaters.

John

I like that honey business.

 

[johng1]

Good point Sean. I'll hunt up a small trigger to grow with these guys.

You gotta spin it Joy. I'm pretty lucky though, my wife and son are both really into the saltwater side of things. She was ambivalent about the freshwater setup that I had, but these she likes alot.

John

 

[mr_X]

What kind of live rock is that? It appears to be some square pieces resembling non calcium based rock. Some quartz in there perhaps?

 

[johng1]

The squared off rock is some sort of super dense sandstone I think. It was in and around my koi pond in the back yard for two years and then several big chunks were in a freshwater tank for at least six months. So, evidently it is ok with the fish (inverts too).

It's pretty porous too. When I first dropped it in the tank little micro bubbles came out of it for about an hour. I think it's native to out here in West Texas since it seems like the go to rock for landscaping. I'll take a pic of some dry and post it.

The rest of the rock is regular liverock that I got from the LFS as well as some lava rock that came from the LFS as well.

John

 

[johng1]

Got a whole pile of the stuff: haha

John

 

[mr_X]

LOL. I'd watch the lava rock. I've heard that there's a lot of minerals in it that leach out, like excess iron. I think the calcium based rock is your best bet. I'm not sure about the long term effects of the sand stone.

 

[johng1]

Tank's been moved to the other room (my son wanted to trade rooms -my office and his bedroom while we were doing the carpet). Tank's moving along with no problems. I also used the move as an excuse to redo the rock work and add some more. I'm guessing there is probably 80-90 pounds of rock in there now (added 13 pounds of dry lace rock that's becoming alive). Went with more of an amphitheater look and I like it more than just the low wall that I had.

I'm going to let the fish chill out for a bit (a week or so) before I add another fish. Thinking about a small yellow tang next.

I added 2 damsels (a yellow tail and a four stripe) about a week before the move. They seemed like they were getting along fine, but when I was taking the rock apart I found the four stripe dead back there. I think the yellow might have killed him.

Other than that, everything is moving along fine.

John

 

[mr_X]

Remove that air stone! You are going to have a salt creep mess everywhere!
Use power heads for flow and aeration.

 

[johng1]

It's out. I just had it in there for a day or so to get the water super aerated.

I learned the lesson about the crazy salt creep from the air stone. I had it in there for a while when I first set up the tank. LOL

John