Questions about new set-up

[Didaka]

Hi guys. I'm a newbie to the forum. Been looking over it for a while.

I wanted to ask some questions and all you guys seem to know what you're talking about.

I'm Australian and we measure differently to you guys so i'll do my best.

I have had a 30g tank with a few chromis and a couple of other species swimming around but I got jack of it so I am setting up a 75g tank, and have been questioning what I want to do. I am more into fish, but I want a bit of color in my tank. I want to stock a few fish and if I stock corals then would I have to skip on volume of fish???? However i'm not sure if i will be able to stock coral. The dude from the aquarium who is helping me with the setup will let me know. He has the same tank but has replaced an existing globe with a blue light and is going to see how it goes. Don't ask me about lighting I have no idea once again I think your measurements may be different.

So I thought maybe I should go plants like hair grass and what not. This might be my go with the fish.

Anyhow more about stocking levels. When all is done I will have about 60-65lbs of LR in my tank I have around 20kg of coral sand i'm pretty sure. I don't have a sump because I don't know how to make one and i'm not sure if I can with the hood on my tank , but am interested as i'd like to get the hardware out of my tank and what not.

I was going to put my chromis in there (3 in total), I have a fiji damsal which I think I may give the boot because he is a jerk. But I wanted a couple of bigger fish. I have been checking out the capatabilities and have worked with a list.

These are fish I will choose from.

Longnose Butterfly
Yellow Tang
Blue Tang

Those a pretty much the only bigger fish I will choose from. How many of them can I have with my 3 chromis.

Obviously I will have a rather large cleaning crew to go with the tank and I have been advised to getting a koralia which will hit me up with about 3000lph of flow. I will also have a couple of air stones working their magic.

So this is what i'm after to start with.

A couple of nice plants (depending on lighting)
1-3 of those bigger fish (if able)
and the 3 chromis giving me some serious movement in the tank.

I would love to have some soft corals and an anemone in the future, but only if it all works. I know Butterflies have to be kept with caution with invertebretes.

If this is suitable let us know. Thanks guys. You are all awesome and have helped me out heaps already!!!!

I will attach a photo of my tank at the minute.

 

[Didaka]

Photo sort of takes away from the size and how it really looks

 

[Reefscape]

The corals are not going to be effecting the ammount of fish you can keep as they do not represent very much when it comes to bioload...

The lighting that is in the tank mainly dictates waht coral you can keep. I see its a branded tank, so please post the manufacturer and model and we can see if we can find out what lighting is in there....provided its not been changed already..

I dont see any issues with the fish, however, its only going to be one of each on your list..no probs with the 3 chromis..

The setup itself looks nice and adding a sump down the line is always a possibility, but that all depends on the hood design..

Soft corals will be fine, again depends on the lighting, but, i would "think" that your not going to be able to house a nem with the lighting that hood could provide you with....

Its all looking very good so far mate...keep up the good work, and keep us updated..

Niko

 

[Didaka]

The corals are not going to be effecting the ammount of fish you can keep as they do not represent very much when it comes to bioload...

The lighting that is in the tank mainly dictates waht coral you can keep. I see its a branded tank, so please post the manufacturer and model and we can see if we can find out what lighting is in there....provided its not been changed already..

I dont see any issues with the fish, however, its only going to be one of each on your list..no probs with the 3 chromis..

The setup itself looks nice and adding a sump down the line is always a possibility, but that all depends on the hood design..

Soft corals will be fine, again depends on the lighting, but, i would "think" that your not going to be able to house a nem with the lighting that hood could provide you with....

Its all looking very good so far mate...keep up the good work, and keep us updated..

Niko

Thanks mate.

All i can tell you is it's a sunsun.

I'm going to add more live rock, probably the same amount that is there already. I think the filtration is reasonably good. I have ceramic filter media in the inbuild filter system and am hoping with more LR I should get good filtration.

Absolutely stoked that i'd be able to stock it with those fish. Love tangs and butterflies.

I have a royal dottyback as well but may give him away as he is also very agressive and may not mix well with the others. He is only about an inch long but is super territorial.

I don't think the lighting will cut it for corals unless I get a blue light, but once again i don't know much about lighting at this point. If not I will have to look into some nice plants with moderate lighting.

 

[Reefscape]

you only really need to push the live rock up to about 85lbs. This will then provide you with the filtration you need, and then you can slowly remove the media from the built in filter as this will always have the potential to produce higher nitrates...

 

[Calogero831]

i like the tank and stand. for cleanup crew fighing conch caught my eye recently. they dont get as big as queens and get into the sand to clean. good for a big tank

im new to this also and i never understood whysome people keep there heaters so far down the tank... any benifits?

ps. your gf/wife/life partner is hot lol

 

[Didaka]

i like the tank and stand. for cleanup crew fighing conch caught my eye recently. they dont get as big as queens and get into the sand to clean. good for a big tank

im new to this also and i never understood whysome people keep there heaters so far down the tank... any benifits?

ps. your gf/wife/life partner is hot lol

lol thanks dude. Mrs of 3 years.

The reason I have my heater placed there is to get it near alot of water flow for the initial heat-up and I just havn't got around to moving it yet. I might tuck it away a bit. If I have a sump I would definately put it there, but with my hood I doubt that will happen.

Thanx for the advice on the clean-up crew. I want a pretty big crew in there.

Thanx for the clean-up crew advice

 

[5xevy]

Nice tank! I like the silver.

 

[Didaka]

Here's my plan of attack for a Sump.

Firstly I will make this sump but a smaller version. Probably 3 ft

http://www.melevsreef.com/acrylics/sumps/f/sump_f.html

When completed that I will take out the mid panel in the stand which divides the cupboard. I think the front will have support to hold the tank, but I will have to remove it temporary to get the sump in the cabinet. I will have to use some sort of support to make sure the cabinet holds the tank weight.

Following that I will do the plumbing (my step-dad used to work at a plumbing sales store) and measure it all out to what I need.

Then I will take the hood off, remove the current filter which is situated in the hood, measure out the overflow and return, and cut appropriate sections into the hood to fit both the overflow and the return. And connect it all up (hoping that I measured right:headshake2. In the mean time I would have re-placed the front support of the cabinet, and hopefully be up and going and get a better skimmer, and get rid of that heater and the submersible filter.

Sound like a plan????

 

[Reefscape]

It sounds good to me in theory..However...just need to be very mindfull about how you support the system when you come to remove the centre brace on the stand.......While your DIY'ing, when not make your own hood? you can knock one together in an hour, and that will then give you the expanability to upgrade the lighting in the tank...which most of us have to do eventually...

Niko