I've decided it is time for an upgrade! See previous tank thread here.

I have an old 75g Oceanic that was given to me years ago by my grandmother that is currently set up as a FWP. The plan is to tear down the FWP and change it into a simple reef. No sump, no HOB crap. Planning on using Koralias for flow and having lots of rock/sand for biological filtration. I will have a HOB skimmer and a HOB filter on hand, but I do not want to be using them constantly.

Lighting will either be PCs or possibly a 2x250w HQI Sunpod (what can I say, I'm a sucker for the shimmer). I already have a 4x65w PC so if I don't find a Sunpod, I'll just be sticking with PCs.

For coral, I'll be sticking with LPS and softies. Everything that is left in my 40B will be moving to this tank. I might buy a new nem once everything gets back in line from the upgrade, but that is still a maybe.

Fish-wise, I'll be moving most of my current fish. I'm planning on getting rid of my Pygmy Angel and my Strawberry Psuedochromis. I will be getting a Blue Throat Trigger and possibly some type of tang (not sure yet). I've also always loved Sunburst Anthias so I may get one or more of them.

I'll post some pics when I have anything worth posting pics of.

Sounds like a plan.

Just ordered 120lbs of sand from MarcoRocks. I suppose I'm committed now.

AWESOME

Thanks Weetie!

I'm hoping to be able to get the sand and start putting the tank together within a week. I need to get a rack for my frog tanks and get them on it before I can even start tearing down the 75 to redo it.

I figured I'd put the sand and maybe 15lbs or so of lr in the tank with a mix of new SW and old SW from a waterchange on the 40. I'll put a powerhead and a heater in there too. I'm hoping within 2 weeks it would be ready for the transfer? The LR I have in a tub on my floor has just been kept wet, so it will probably need some time to recure (I'll go ahead and throw a powerhead/heater in it tonight, I'd been toying with just trashing it since the MJ that was in with it died). I figured I'd add the "uncured" rock along with some of the cured rock in my sump to hopefully speed along the process. I don't test, but I figure as soon as I have a diatom bloom I'd be good to go. I'm really not in a huge hurry, I'm just excited lol.

Sand shipped today and I won't be getting a Sunpod for the tank right now. There was one on ebay but it has just went up too high for what I can afford at this time. I'll try to figure something out tho, because I really want halides if I can afford them.

Welcome to the Large Reefs section Stacey!

I like 75s, I really want to upgrade my 55 to one. Hopefully I don't find a cheap used one soon, I've got too many other priorities right now.

I like your plan. Good luck finding affordable halides. When I was thinking halides I was really considering the fishneedit fixtures. I haven't heard anything negative about them other than not being as nice as a name brand quality light.

Thanks for the welcome skillzy!

I'm was thinking about using 2 Hellolights HQI retros and just hanging them over the tank because I've seen it done before by a local friend and it didn't look too bad. I'm definitely going to look into the Fishneedit pendents too. I'm wanting to stay around $300-350 or so for lights, but I do have a little bit of wiggle room with the price.

Looks like its going to be about the same price for the 2 hellolights retros w/ phoenix bulbs as the 2 fishneedit pendents. Honestly I have no clue which I'd rather have lol. The pendents will look better than the retros, but the retros will already have the bulbs I like. With either one I'll have to make some sort of contraption to hang them because I'm not allowed to drill holes in the ceiling lol. I'd think I'd be able to make a fairly decent hanger-thingy using the conduit or whatever it is that other folks have used.

Right now I'm kinda leaning towards just ordering some cheap bulbs for my PC fixture to get me buy until I decide what I want lol.

I think BibleSue has one 250w MH Pendant she could sell you.
PM her if you're interested.
Probably has a Phoenix 14k bulb, but don't know how long it was used for.

I'd go with the retros given the choice between the two, just for the better quality.

Thanks Weets, I'll shoot her a PM when I make up my mind lol.



I'm kinda leaning towards them too, its just that I'm pretty horrible with DIY electrical stuffs. I'd much rather have the Phoenix bulbs than the generic whatever ones that fishneedit uses.

No new updates on the tank itself, but I was finally able to make it to Lowes to by a shelving unit and lighting for my new terrarium rack!

I should be getting sand tomorrow and depending on how much I get done tonight I might start getting the few FW fish and plants I want to keep moved into my old NanoWave 9.

WHO WANTS TO SEE MY RACK?!?!?!

























Sand still isn't here, neither are my bulbs. I was figuring I'd have sand today since it was shipped priority on Monday, but hopefully I'll get it tomorrow. I'm going to be kinda irked if it doesn't make it here tomorrow/Saturday because I was planning on getting the tank started on Sunday or Monday. Tonight I'm going to try to get my 9g setup for the remaining freshies I want to keep, the rest of them will be going to the local LFS lady when I go get salt this weekend.

TEASE :{

I'm not amused.

Nice setup though. Good luck with the sand! The shipping companies/usps have been disappointing me lately unless you pony up the cash for overnight service.

The sand showed up today. For some reason the boxes are smaller than I figured they would be. I hope I ordered enough.

I did get the NW9 set up as a FWP last night so I will be able to tear down the 75g probably on Sunday. I'm hoping to have SW and sand it in by Monday!

I ordered PLENTY of sand lol.

The tank has been tore down, cleaned, and has my 120#s of sand in it. I'm currently waiting on my RO/DI to make the water I need to start filling this bad boy up. I'd like to get some water in it tonight, but I'm already sore and tired. My PC bulbs that I ordered a week ago supposedly finally shipped yesterday, I'm hoping I have then by the end of the week. I'm not happy that it took the company a week to ship the damn things.

There is about 20g of SW in the tank now, and I've added my live sand and some of my live rock.

Also I haven't been to bed yet lol.

Girl you crazy.

Also, for water!

I could of told you I was crazy! By the time I got done getting enough water into my tank to cover my live rock it was pushing 5:30 so I figured I'd just stay up since I had to be up by noon to take my doggies to the vet. Piper is getting her stitches out and Harley is getting another acupuncture/chiropractic treatment. I'm sure the latter makes me sound even more crazy.

Also, I'll post pics when/if the water ever clears lol. Right now it looks like its about 15g of SW and 5g of whole milk.

Tank is still milky. Due to me being sick this week, I just finally got my two HOB filters running with filter floss. Hopefully that will clear it up fairly quickly. I did manage to get about 40g more water in the tank. It is a mix of old SW from my 40 and new SW.

I'm kinda changing my mind on my fishlist. I was going to keep my mating pair of watchman gobies, but there is a local guy that breeds a couple species of clownfish that I might be selling them to. The female of the pair is my first SW fish so I'm pretty dang attached to her, but I think it would be awesome if he could raise their babies since there is no way I could due to time/cost restraints.

If I do sell them, I'll be getting 2-4 pearly jawfish. I'm kinda thinking of doing an order from sealifeinc after the switch to get the jawfish and a blackcap basslet. I do want some type of tang just because I have random macros popping up here and there that could use eaten. I can get small pre-qt'ed pacific blues from my LFS, but I'm not sure if I want one. My favorite tangs are the atlantic blues, but they need a bigger tank. A yellow tang is also a possibility. I was going to get a mystery wrasse too, but I really like having different colors in my tank so now I'm leaning towards one of the red fairy wrasse species (like longfins, mccosker's, etc). Obviously I still have a bit of time to make up my mind and I'm sure it'll change before I actually start stocking lol.

Hope you're feeling better.

+1 to a red fairy wrasse. They're beautiful.

I got a Red Fairy Wrasse a couple of weeks and named him/her Ruby.
Ruby is cool.
I'm getting a McCoskers Flasher Wrasse this next Tuesday.
I'm a Wrasse Girl.

Thanks for the responses guys!

I am really leaning towards the fairy wrasses. My LFS has 2 female McCosker's that she has had for well over 4 months so I'm positive that they are plenty healthy. I'm not sure if I'll end up with one or both of them. For some reason I'm thinking that the bigger one will turn male? I suppose I'll have to do more research on it.

The tank is still cloudy. I need to get my HOBs fixed and running to try to clear it up. Once it clears, I'm planning on added 10-20lbs of LR from my 40b to hopefully speed up the cycle. The tank already has about 20lbs of rock in it, but it is rock that has been kept wet but that is pretty much it (no heater or watermovement). I won't do the switch till I get a diatom bloom, but I'm really hoping it won't be too much longer since I've already bought my trigger and I'm just waiting to go get him .

Do you know what's causing the cloudiness?
I think it's important that you figure that out before you start putting livestock in there.
This seems like a long time for that to be continuing.

I think it's possible that the larger Wrasse would become a male, but I'm still learning about Wrasses myself.
McCosker's are actually Flasher Wrasses, as opposed to Fairy Wrasses.
I like both Fairies and Flashers, but there seem to be more neat color variants of Fairy Wrasses.
Divers Den has been getting some really cool Fairy Wrasses in on a regular basis lately.

MarvinsReef is a really good person to talk to about Wrasses.
Also, this thread might help you a little bit: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...t=0&start=0

Crappy fine white sand is causing the cloudiness, along with the fact that I'm doing virtually nothing to help clear it up (no HOBs running currently, just a powerhead in the tank). It was fairly clear one day, but then I got the HOBs running for a night and it made it worse (stirring it up I suppose). Since I've been sick I really haven't done anything to the tank since it has been setup. I got them running one night, but they are so loud that they keep me awake.

I'm not putting any livestock in the tank for quite some time, but I was thinking of putting some of the LR in my sump on the 40b into the 75g to help speed it up. I figured another 10lbs or so of super nicely cured established LR would help speed it up. I will transfer everything from the 40 over as soon as I get a diatom bloom in the 75g. I've always had more luck judging a cycle by diatoms than by test kits. The trigger is being held for me, so he won't be introduced until probably a good solid week after I get the tanks switched over.

Thanks for the info and link about the wrasses. I honestly don't know much about them as I have only kept sixlines in the past. Probably I'll end up getting whatever fits in the area of what I can afford and what I can find lol. I don't want to order online and especially not from the Diver's Den since I've had such horrible luck with them and their customer service.

Ok, that all makes sense.

You're the first person I've heard of who had a bad experience with Divers Den, but I guess it would make sense in your case to find stuff locally.

The place I'm getting my McCosker's from is in Nashville and I'm having it shipped to me.
However, I have seen their corals in person at a Frag Swap in January and their stuff looked very, very healthy.
I have also spent a ton of time talking to them on the phone this week, they're really amazing ppl.
They don't just guarantee that your livestock will be healthy, they have an actual guarantee that you'll be happy with it.
Never seen anyone do this.
They frequently have nice Wrasses available for pretty cheap.
Here's their site: http://www.tritonsgarden.com/category.php?id_category=5226
They're bad at taking pics, just assume their stuff is much brighter and more colorful IRL.
I can testify from personal experience that it is.
Feel free to check back with me next week to see how well they ship (I'm getting stuff from them on Tues) and on how the McCosker's I'm getting from them is doing.

OOO thanks for the link Weets!

I'll have to check them out because even with shipping it is going to be cheaper to order from them than to get them locally. I hope your order goes well!

The cloudyness is really starting to piss me off!

I just cannot figure out why it keeps getting so cloudy. Judging by my rocks, its sediment because the rocks keep getting a white dust over them, but yet it keeps clearing and then coming back. I've been running the HOBs full of filter floss and sometimes it seems to be helping and sometimes it doesn't. It'll be clear at night and then by the time I wake up again its cloudy. Nothing is stirring up the sandbed. I just threw my skimmer onto the tank because there is a foam building up on the top of the tank around the center brace, but I'm not sure if that is really going to help much or not. I don't know what to do. I've thought about doing a big wc and stirring up the sandbed, but I don't want to prolong my cycle any longer than I have to.

I am. If it doesn't get said too often, you have a nick rack. It's a little uneven though which is weird, but a rack is a rack...you know what I mean!

Do you have a little motorboat?

--------------------------

Saw your previous thread...well done! Very good job...and you took some fantastic pictures!

I loved this one....

I get compliments on my rack all the time! It's not uneven, its just natural.

The pic is my female watchman goby. I've had her for around 3 years now and she is my first saltwater fish!

Also this morning the tank is relatively clear, I'm hoping it will remain that way. I'm going to a not so local fish store one day this week (proly friday) to pick up a few things for this tank. Hopefully it'll finish its cycle soon as I'd really like to be able to transfer the tank over soon.

Glad it's clearing up! Cloudy tanks are frustrating.

Hey Dunks, my new McCosker's is SOOOO cool!!!
You gotta get a Flasher Wrasse!!!

Sweet! I'm actually planning on getting at least one this week. A fish store about an hour away is having a huge sale, so I'm going there. They have all snails/hermits on sale for 50 cents, plus McCosker's on sale for $14! I was actually going to go today but the order was delayed so they didn't come in until after the store closed. I'll probably be going on Friday tho!



Cloudy tanks are extremely frustrating. It still has some sediment and such on the glass but I'm hoping I'll get a nice bacterial bloom soon and it will go away.

Also, this is for you:

IS THAT A DART RACK?!?! What types are you keeping? I miss it alot, but reefing took most of my budget. Sorry for the hijack.

Yes sir! Right now I've got 3 Auratus, 2 Leucomelas, a breeding pair of Imitators, and 10 tinctorious tadpoles of various locals. I've got at least 4 Patrica tads, the other ones I'm not totally sure what they are yet. I've also got my 3 cresteds on that rack (2 are in the barren 18x18x24 exo and then the other one is in the 12x12x18 exo on the bottom). I'm planning on turning my old 40B into a terrarium for my Patricias as soon as I get it all switched over. I've also got a 20H terrarium that will house some of my future froglets. Depending on what all I end up having, I'll either be keeping all of them or trading for other species. I really want a pair of sipaliwinis or bahkuis too, but I gotta find the fundage first lol.

Cool, hope you're able to find a nice one.
That's a great price!
I had never seen them "flashing" before and I'm assuming that's what this is, but he does this cool thing where he opens his fins really wide and then zooms across the aquarium.
It looks like he's trying to surf across the top of the aquarium.
The top and bottom fins have some really pretty colors on them, so it looks really neat when he does it.
He did it right after I fed him lots of brine and mysis soaked in vitamins and garlic, so I think he was just feeling really happy and perky.

I picked up 2 McCoskers at the fish store today. Just finished getting them aclimated in.

Also, the 75g has diatoms!

AWESOME!!!
LMK how you like them.
My 2 Wrasses are getting along great although one is a Flasher and one is a Fairy.
The Fairy used to be shy, but she comes out and zooms all over now that the McCoskers is in there.
I hope you enjoy them as much as I have been with mine.

Needs mo' photos, Dunks preferably with the owner hugging the tank...

Where do the Flashers hail from? I've seen some cool ones coming out of different places lately, look a bit different than the normal ones you see.

Most of the lifestock from my 40b are now in the 75g. I still have a few frags to move over and put the finishing touches on the aquascape. I'll try to get some pics later afte it all clears up and gets happy.

Also, I lost both of the McCosker's. I talked to a few other people that bought them and theirs all died too, showing the same symptoms as mine before they passed. I really think that they were cyanide caught or something since the others had issues too. Needless to say, I will not be purchasing from that FS again.

That sucks Stacey. Good to hear everything is almost moved over. Can't wait to see pictures!

Oh noooo!
I'm sorry.

Looking forward to pics of the tank when you are able.

I went to my normal LFS today and picked up a tiny blue Hippo tang and a female McCosker's. She's had both for well over a month so they should be nice and healthy. She had a Splendid Psuedochromis (Pseudochromis splendens) that I'm thinking about getting. He was a really pretty yellow and blue, but I'm a little worried about possible aggression. I had a strawberry psuedochromis before and never really had any trouble with him, but I traded him off because I was afraid he'd get nasty.

My buddy had a Splendid dottyback. It was a jerk. Not worth the risk IMO.

Yeah that is kinda what I'm thinking now. I'm going to email my LFS owner and see if she might be able to get me an ORA Yellow Assessor. Since I'm going for colorful fish, I need some yellow in the tank and I think the Assessor would be a good choice for the tank.

Yellow Assessor sounds like a good idea to me as well.

Hey, I was wondering, what do you think about setting up a playdate between my Male McCoskers and your Female McCoskers?

That sounds way more adorable than it pro'lly should, Weets

Can't wait to see Dunky's response, lol.