Rene's 75g Journey!

[drstratton]

Hi everyone! My tank has finished cycling and I'm ready to start stocking! But first I will post up a few pictures of my system!



Sump/Refugium This was from 4 yrs ago. Everything is the same except the rocks have none of the color on them.



Screens for the DT! I plan on have a couple of Wrasse!!!



QT



My light is a Nova Extreme 48" T-5 8 bulb Fixture with Lunar Lights! I will be purchasing new bulbs for it before I get any coral (I will have questions ).

 

[drstratton]

I have two Purple Firefish in QT, they will go into my tank on the 15-16th.


Pom Pom crab from DD


3 Halloween Hermits from DD


Waiting to go into the DT


I also purchased a Mix & Match special from IPSF - Hermit crabs, snails, micro stars, Asterina stars, wonder mud & live sand activator. I needed to add some diversity to my tank since I started out with the dead rock and sand from my original build!




Micro & Asterina Stars plus a few bristle worms!


I also have Chaeto & a growing number of pods!

That's what I have for now! I'm trying to figure out what corals to get and where to place them (questions for another thread).

 

[mfinn]

Looks like a great start.
Have any idea what kind of corals you like?

 

[drstratton]

Looks like a great start.
Have any idea what kind of corals you like?

Thank you!

I'm in the research process right now. I love them all! To start with I will probably get Zoa's & other soft corals. Then I will get some LPS. I met a local reefer who is going to frag some for me when my tank is ready for them. He will also give me some SPS if I want them, so I might give it try, but that will be down the road a bit. I have found a coral that I really like - Blue Sympodium Polyp, it's one that needs to be contained on an island of rock, it won't grow on the sand. I really like mushrooms, but I've heard that they can cause problems in your tank, can't remember where I heard that though, is this true? I will definitely get an elegance coral, I had one in my tank before, I would have to say that it's my favorite coral. I want to make the best choices that I can, so I will be asking a lot of questions!

 

[drstratton]

I just found the sites coral data base, that is going to come in very handy!

 

[NanaReefer]

I think it's fantastic that you saved what you did for 4yrs!!! Signs of a true reefer!! I'm going to enjoy watching your tank mature. Thank you for sharing it with us

 

[drstratton]

I think it's fantastic that you saved what you did for 4yrs!!! Signs of a true reefer!! I'm going to enjoy watching your tank mature. Thank you for sharing it with us

I went back and forth over the years trying to decide whether to keep it or not. Just couldn't bring myself to let it go and I'm so glad that I didn't!

 

[drstratton]

Good morning! So, I went to Oceans by Design & Barrier Reef. We had a great time and spent way to much money! I bought 3 Paly's, a Sympodium Sp., a Clove Polyp and GSP (my husband wanted this, we are going to place it on the glass, I hope I can keep it contained) at Barrier Reef. I bought 5 Zoa's, a Red nano Starfish and a Fireshrimp. Sadly when I woke up this morning my Fireshrimp was dead, I almost cried. I drip acclimated it along with the starfish, the starfish is doing great! The shrimp was a little slow moving when I took it out of the bag, then perked up a bit, but it just didn't make it. If I call OBD will they refund or maybe ship another? I just don't know if I did something wrong. Everything else I've placed in my tank have had no problems. Anyway here are some pics. We bought another 10g that I'm using as my frag tank for right now, eventually I would like to get a 40B for it. My husband surprised me with a rack that he made out of some acrylic that he had!

Starfish!


Corals! I'll post another when they open!

 

[drstratton]

Right now I'm just using a powerhead in the frag tank, I have a Bio Wheel, should I run that with carbon? The light is a 5000k LED will that work or should I look into getting something different? I'm only going to keep them in the frag tank for about 2 weeks, then I will dip again and place them in my DT. I want to keep everything as healthy as possible! Thanks!!!

 

[NanaReefer]

Are you sure that it's not the Shrimps "molt"? Common for them to do when newly acclimated. Also I'm concerned that Orange Linka Starfish will slowly starve. Your tank being so new. Nothing in there for it to eat. They very seldom accept prepared foods.

 

[drstratton]

I added my Purple Firefish to the DT today! Yay!!! Here's a video, I believe they are happy to be out of QT!

Purple Firefish

 

[drstratton]

Are you sure that it's not the Shrimps "molt"? Common for them to do when newly acclimated. Also I'm concerned that Orange Linka Starfish will slowly starve. Your tank being so new. Nothing in there for it to eat. They very seldom accept prepared foods.

No, it was dead! It had been half eaten! I told them how new my tank was, they said it would do fine. I hope I didn't completely mess up!

 

[NanaReefer]

You didn't mess up. The LFS messed up! Many do to make a sale. I would seriously consider taking it back. These Starfish are for well established tanks, very large tanks at that as they have ferocious appetites. Most sights recommend at least a year before adding one.

If you really like/want a Starfish look into the Brittle Stars or Serpent Stars (Non-green verity)

 

[drstratton]

If I lived closer I would, I live 2.5hrs away. I know someone in the Tri-Cities who would probably keep it for me!

 

[drstratton]

I called OBD and they are going to send me another shrimp as soon as they get one in.