SeahawkReefer's 72 Gallon Bowfront

[SeahawkReefer]

So... Found a 72gal bowfront with stand, AC110, 850gph Koralia, and Coralife 36" Dual PC light on CraigsList for $140... Cleaned the tank and stand really well... added Instant Ocean salt + distilled water + sand... waiting for the water to clear and starting the cycle now...

Equipment:
72 gal bowfront and stand
Aqua Clear 110, 166-500gph
Hydor Koralia 3, 850gph powerhead
Hydor Theo 250w heater
Coralife 36in Dual Bulb PC light (1x 96w Actinic, 1x 96w 10K)
48in FishNeedIt Dual T5 fixture with 10,000k and Actinic bulbs

40 lbs sand, Nature's Ocean, 2x Aragonite and 2x Marine White
30lbs live sand, Nature's Ocean Bio-Active Aragonite

70+lbs of Live Rock

 

Livestock:

Yellow Clown Goby

Bi-Color Blenny

Talbot's Damsel

Foxface Rabbitfish

Clarkii Clown

Yellow Nose Shrimp Goby

Tiger Pistol Shrimp

Brittle Star

Sebae Anemone

6x Banded Trochus

3x Tonga Nassarius

3x "Tiger Nassarius"

Discosoma Mushrooms

Rhodactis Mushrooms

Hairy Mushrooms

Zoas and Pallys

Galaxia

Hollywood Stunner Chalice

Lobo

Acans

Favia

Favites

Montipora Caps, Idaho Grape, green with purple rim, orange, and "red"

Green Leptastrea

Red "Cyphastrea"

Pink Birdsnest

Bonsai Acro, purple with bright green polyps

Hammer

Duncan

Caluastrea

Toadstool Leather

Devil's Hand Leather

Green Star Polyps

Purple Encrusting Sponge

Clove Polyps

Xenia

Halmenia "dragons breath" Macroalgae

Planned Equipment:
Media Basket
Skimmer Box
6x or 8x 48in ATI T5 fixture
Ati bulbs
Led moonlight

GFO Reactor

Jaebo MP-25

Current pic 5-5-13

(milky because I forgot to rinse the sand... oops!)

Planned Livestock:
Cardinalfish
Rainfordi goby/ court jester
Firefish
Sexy shrimp
Anemone shrimp
Coco worms and feather dusters
Christmas tree worms
Clam(s)
Banded trochus snails
Tonga nassarius snails
Pacific nerite snails
Chiton?
Urchin?

Cowrie?

[gena]

Congrats again!!!! You are going to have sooooo much room!!!! What's your plan for this one? Do you have a stocking plan yet?

[SeahawkReefer]

Planning another Pacific tank... I should be able to keep a clam or two and an anemone hopefully... no big fish... hopefully LPS and softies for now and some SPS when I upgrade the lights...

 

any suggestions for how to reduce the "milkyness" any sooner? I'm running filter pad in the AC110 and rinsing it a couple times a day, but I really can't believe I didn't rinse the sand!

[gena]

It's live sand so you don't want to rinse that anyways. I usually have really good luck with that pillow stuffing stuff (filter floss). It collects the tiny particles better, IME.

[Chadf]

I'm jealous, nice tank!

[SeahawkReefer]

It's live sand so you don't want to rinse that anyways. I usually have really good luck with that pillow stuffing stuff (filter floss). It collects the tiny particles better, IME.

Only 30lbs of the 70lbs was live sand, but I'll pick up some filter floss and add that to the AC to see if that helps... thanks Gena!

 

I'm jealous, nice tank!

Your tank is beautiful! This thing will take me years to fill up!

[#Anthony]

It always feels good when you upgrade a tank Soon I will upgrade from a 65 gallon to a 240 gallon

 

Good choices of fih and inverts , how many chromis do you have

[SeahawkReefer]

It always feels good when you upgrade a tank Soon I will upgrade from a 65 gallon to a 240 gallon Good choices of fih and inverts , how many chromis do you have

Wow big upgrade for you too! No fish at all yet... just started cycling yesterday so at least a month before any livestock... I don't know how many chromis I'd like for sure or even if I'll decide to go with the ever popular blue green or another species.... we'll see!

[#Anthony]

Wow big upgrade for you too! No fish at all yet... just started cycling yesterday so at least a month before any livestock... I don't know how many chromis I'd like for sure or even if I'll decide to go with the ever popular blue green or another species.... we'll see!

Cool but when I end up buying 6 chromis they only las me like 3 months and idk why

[SeahawkReefer]

Cool but when I end up buying 6 chromis they only las me like 3 months and idk why

Create a tank profile on n-r and track your test results weekly... list your equipment and wc/testing/cleaning schedule... once other reefers have all that info it'll be easier to help/ speculate... good luck (also just a hint, but keep odd numbers)

[fewskillz]

Welcome to the Large Reef forum.

 

Chromis are damsels after all, and they develop a pecking order and start killing each other off. I've never seen anyone successfully keep a group of them long-term in less than a 180 gallon. I tried multiple times and the longest I ever kept a group was 8 months. The larger the group the better they do, but it's still tough to do. I've got a group of 9 in the 180 right now that seem to be doing pretty well, but it's only been a couple months.

[SeahawkReefer]

Yeah... most damsels are a PITA! But chromis seem to be on the peaceful side... not 100% sure on them at all... I'd really like this to just be a big version of a nano reef... no big tangs or angels or puffers etc etc.

 

Added some filter floss to help with the cloudiness and added Seachem Stability bottled bacteria... started the cycle with 4 frozen mysis cubes yesterday. 30lbs of live sand plus the bottled bacteria... will test friday or sunday and hopefully I'll have some ammonia to get my cycle going!

[SeahawkReefer]

a lot clearer today...

[fewskillz]

IME it usually takes 3 days for new sand to completely settle. Some good mechanical filtration HELPS, but it probably only makes a few hours difference.

[SeahawkReefer]

I added filter floss and rinsed it and the filter pad 3-4 times a day (a lot of "sand dust" came out each time) and today I changed both out now that most of the dust has been removed... at first the dust settled on the bottom, but yesterday I stirred it up and it seems to have been removed by the filter and doesn't look like it has settled on the sand like before...

[SeahawkReefer]

Had a wedding to go to over the weekend, but did my first water test Friday before I left...

 

Ammonia: .5

Nitrite: 0

Nitrate: 0

pH: 7.8

KH: 9

Salinity: 1.025

Calcium: 440

 

So... the cycle has started! Will test again Wednesday probably...

[SeahawkReefer]

New water test...

Ammonia: .5

Nitrite: 0

Nitrate: 20

pH: 8.1

Salinity: 1.024

[SeahawkReefer]

Diatoms showed up yesterday on the sand...

[SeahawkReefer]

Test results...

Ammonia: 0

Nitrite: 0

Nitrate: 20

pH: 8.0

Salinity: 1.026 (needs a top off)

 

Diatoms on the sand still, but haven't done any wc yet...

[privitor]

Ill be following along with this build!

[BattleAthletics]

Yes sir from a 10 to a 72?

 

Damn son!

[SeahawkReefer]

Ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate all 0!

So... I added a bicolor blenny, a yellow clown goby, and a talbots damsel! Also transfered a rhodactis mushroom, xenia, halmenia dragons breath, and red gracilaria that was extra in my 10... only about 8lbs of live rock and rubble in there for now, but will be adding more asap...

 

Sorry... pics tomorrow... I promise!

[SeahawkReefer]

Well... got a good deal on some live rock! It came with some shrooms, a brittle star, and a six line wrasse too!

 

FTS

[surgicalsense]

Excellent scape and find on CL ... I scored my tank there also, but my deal wasn't as awesome as yours. But, I am not ready for such a large tank yet.

 

6 lines are awesome also, I totally love mine. Looking forward to your stocking now.

[SeahawkReefer]

The 6 line is great! and sooo beautiful! but so very very hard to get a good pic of...