My 75 Gal Fowlr!

ZOMYGOSHNESS XP!

I'm going to get my first saltwater tank and AH I'm excited! I've spent the last few months looking through youtube and forums, insanely jealous of all those people who had them and decided, what the hell! I'm going to do it! I mean I'm a student (living comfortable at home with the rents) this will be the last time i can be so irresponsible with my money without worrying about hugely detrimental consequences, the worst that could happen is my wardrobe will be slightly outdated which would probably be good for me anyway. I hate how the thought of outdated clothes makes me feel... as in i hate that i feel bad about such a stupid, silly, materialistic thing. So this'll be good for my soul XP not to mention it'll probably make me fit in more with the guys at uni (I study a bachelor of digital media and computer science, full of nerdy guys so a fashion forward girl is a bit of a strange sight)

Anyway I've literally read every word of half the journals here (and plan to read the other half in the next few days) and have drawn alot of inspiration and knowledge from them (thanks!~), so I've decided to start my own one of those too. Plus i like log books/diaries/journals i find them very therapeutic.

So here's what I've got at the moment:

a 75 gallon tank with a 25 gallon spinning arm sump all plumbing pretty much done for me as i bought it off someone who decided to drop the hobby
typical stained wood cabinet and hood
2 x 1ft metal halides that just came in built into the hood of the tank, I guess they may come in handy later
hydrometer
a protein skimmer
2 x 1300l/h power heads to go in the display
1 x 3000l/h return power head
300 watt heater
2 x 4ft normal lights, one day and one blue night one
thermometer
massive bucket for water changes/storage
a hell of alotta bio balls which apparently i don't need
a whole bunch of test kits and water supplements
a big bag of instant ocean mix, which I've already used so i'll need to get another of those
20kg of finely crushed coral sand
and last but not least around 45 kg of live rock to come on Saturday

So for those who haven't been reading the main marine and reef chit chat forum lately, the only hiccup I've encountered thus far was a bad salt mix reaction which made all the water go very cloudy but that's been all sorted out

The tank is now sitting there, cleaned, tested for leaks, emptied, filled with salt water and running with one little powerhead to keep water agitated and a heater waiting for Saturday when i get my live rock. Which i might add i got for an absolute bargain! I managed to find someone who is shutting down their well established FOWLR tank and desperately wanted to get rid of their rock so they offered it to me for 200 Australian Dollars which thanks to the global credit crisis is now around $140 US!

The LFSs around the area aren't that great here, all the LR I've seen were terrible quality, brown and smelly chunks of crap selling for $14 or so a kilo. Which is a bit weird seeing as we're surrounded by ocean and have one of the largest reefs in the world in our backyard. Internet sites don't like to ship down here either and if they do it'll be to the airport who quarantine them for a few days, long enough for them to just completely die, not to mention the ridiculous shipping fees! =/

So yes... great bargain find XP

ANYWAY... Pics will come once there's something relatively interesting to take a picture of other than water and sand.

P.S. be prepared for alot of irrelevant ramble. I tend to do that ^^;;

Looking like a good start. What wattage are your halides? What protien skimmer do you have?

More flow would be useful,since you only have 16.9something times an hour turn-over, and 20 times an hour is the recomended minimum. The sump return sounds fine though, and there is enough live rock also

All the best
Rabbut

It's an Atman protein skimmer, 150 watts halides 14000k. And yea i was planning on getting another power head and using one of the ones i had now for when making salt water.

Thanks for the input =)

So, any pics of the setup?

I got my rock! =)

And as promised pics! Although not very great ones. Using a 2.0 megapixel phone camera XP

full tank shot:
I think that a couple of rocks are going to have to go, it's a little crowded don't you think? There's a bunch of bleached corals that have become LR there too.


'scapin on the left:
It kind of resembles a crab. I'd love to say that was the plan... but it was completely unintentional XP


'scapin on the right:


Hitchers, I've counted 6 snails and 1 hermit crab so far:


What is this?

Very nice and unusual layout you have there Kpris.

It looks kind of sinister in the haze with the backlighting. A bit like a spooky barren landscape.

You just need to make sure you have enough room to put new corals in once you are in a position to add them. A lot of them come on their own live rock and can make it quite difficult finding a place for them if you are quite full in the first place.

Can't see the last photo very well, is it live or dead and how large is it?

If alive it could be a sponge. If dead it could be a calcified coral! I'm sure one of the gurus would be better placed to comment.

Looking good though and it's sounds like you've done alright with hikers

looks like a coral skeleton to me but cant tell really

ben1987 said:

looks like a coral skeleton to me but cant tell really

Click to expand...

'Skeleton' that's the word I was looking for, thanks Ben

@ CageUK: haha yea i have yet to get a background to get rid of that hazy backlight. And it kind of looks half alive half dead? A large part of it has turned a browny colour but there's still a big patch that's white with green erm... trimming?
And yes i do plan on taking out rocks and replacing them with coral later on down the track. But that'll be quite a bit later (probably a few months) after I'm done with all the fish stocking and can't resist any longer.

I've also found a little nassarius snail and a crab of unknown species. I can't get a good picture of it but it has a dark purplish body with bright orange legs which are a little hairy. So far it appears to be eating the algae so i'm hoping it's not harmful although i did hear that a dark purple body with even darker claws isn't a good sign. =/

I managed to get a semi-decent picture of the crab.
orange/white tipped hairy legs with a massive scary looking dark purplish claw... definitely an evil crab? I swear It's been eating algae though...


Also found this little guy. My brother swears it was moving but i haven't seen that yet.



bit of greeny coral?


again sorry about the terrible quality images =(

[edit] Ohh and forgot to add that there has been virtually no trace of a cycle which is kind of expected seeing as i had taken it all from a well established tank, a somewhat neglected one but still. And the snails seem to be pooping out as much junk as they're eating... very slow too.

So I'll be waiting another couple of days (exams are just finishing, and I've got work the days after) then taking a sample to the LFS for a second opinion, can't be too careful! and if their test results match mine then I'll be bringing home some more CUC~

Also the other day i saw the common cleaner shrimp at another LFS selling for $160! Please tell me that's very abnormal I'm really starting to feel that Australian aquarium stores are overpriced, with products of terrible quality
Leading on from that, anyone know of some good online stores that would ship to Australia? I've found alot of great UK and US ones but they don't ship here

Those pics aren't bad for a camera phone. I like your rock scape. It's definitely unique. The most important thing is that YOU like it!!



Kj

i really do like the look of that. I think with a few coral additions it will looks very natuaral. Real reefs are coral gorwing in and amongst dead corals.
any tohughts on your fist fish when the time comes?

thanks kj~

@ben: I did have a stock list but looking through other people's tanks and at the fish at the LFS the other day I think i might completely change it XP
I'd love to get some wrasses, firefish, maybe a blenny and a pair of cardinals? and the typical clownies, although i hate the idea of doing something so cliche, they're just so adorable! I haven't fully researched all their compatibilities yet though and if i would even be able to get them here but *fingers crossed*.

unless a maited pair i dont think cardinals are suited to living in twos. maybe wrong on that though. Im sure i read single, maited pairs or groups. The rest should be fine together. If you dont like following the crowd what apout different colour clowns like B&W ones or maybe skunk clowns?

Yea it would have to be a mated pair i heard. Also i saw a skunk clown at the LFS today, they always look sooooo much better in real life than in pictures. Definitely considering it =)