Setting up a 75 gallon ?

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dlp40

Gambusia
MFK Member
Oct 27, 2007
315
2
16
hopewell,va
Hellow everyone,

I'm going to be seting up a 75 gallon FOWLER tank and I just wanted to make sure i'm on the right track. I've been reading a lot of posts on here about setting up this type of tank but i still want to make sure i'm not setting myself up for failure.

Tank will be as follows:

75 gallon
2 AC 110's ( more for circlation and possible fuge in the future)
1 1200gph powerhed
1 360gph pump attached to a spray bar in the bottom rear of the tank
protein skimmer of approprate size( atleast 100gallons rated)
75-100 lbs of live rock
80 lbs of live sand
50/50 power compacts

Live stock:
Hermits(blue and red)
Chocolot chip starfish
cleaner shrip
Cleaner wrasse
Six line wrasse
scooter blenny
green coral gobie
lawnmower blenny
firefish
serpent starfish
long nose hawkfish/hawian hawkfish??????
green/blue chromis
percula clownfish
and the only fish that has to be in here for sure(wifes pick) FLAME ANGLE
The flame angle will be last fish in and the largest fish at the time of addition to the tank(3-6 months after setup)

So what do you guys think? I think i've been matoical enough in my fish choices and everything to be pretty good, but your experiences with certain things could sway me one way or the other. The hawk fish are one of my favorites and i would really like to have one or the other of them, not aat the expense of the flame angle though.

By the way this is not my 1st salt tank, I have a few preditory fish back in the late 90's and a smal reef tank, but things change so much and I was not very pleased with my results at the time. That's why I came here. After 22 years of fresh wate and dabbling in salt for my short stent,
I figured, It's time to do it right!:headbang2

Thanks for your comments in advance,
David
 
dlp40;4454020; said:
Hellow everyone,

I'm going to be seting up a 75 gallon FOWLER tank and I just wanted to make sure i'm on the right track. I've been reading a lot of posts on here about setting up this type of tank but i still want to make sure i'm not setting myself up for failure.

Tank will be as follows:

75 gallon
2 AC 110's ( more for circlation and possible fuge in the future)
I would go ahead and do the fuge if your going to have two, or spend the money on doing a sump. It is possible to do a sump for 200 bucks if you shop wisely.
1 1200gph powerhed
I would do two smaller (like 700gph each or so) power heads to help circulate water around
1 360gph pump attached to a spray bar in the bottom rear of the tank
Your going to get a lot of evap and salt spray if you go this route.
protein skimmer of approprate size( atleast 100gallons rated)
sounds good
75-100 lbs of live rock
Sounds fine depending on what type of LR. Just make sure you leave room for the fishies to swim around
80 lbs of live sand
sounds good
50/50 power compacts
sounds good

Live stock:
Hermits(blue and red)
dont care for hermits as they predate on snails when they can, but you dont have snails on the list. Also need shells to go to when they get bigger, and will battle each other for a larger shell if enough arent present.
Chocolot chip starfish
Prolly gonna eat the inverts if it can
cleaner shrip
fun shrimp
Cleaner wrasse
Six line wrasse
might go after the cleaner wrasse
scooter blenny
do not recommend at all. will die with out ample pod population. Dont buy what any LFS tries to tell you, they do not take frozed foods, of any kind, even if you target feed.
green coral gobie
lawnmower blenny
lots of personality.
firefish
serpent starfish
Im not real familiar with starfish, and I was corrected yesterday on them, but the chocolate star might eat it.
long nose hawkfish/hawian hawkfish??????
gonna eat your cleaner shrimp eventually, if not immediately
green/blue chromis
percula clownfish
and the only fish that has to be in here for sure(wifes pick) FLAME ANGLE
The flame angle will be last fish in and the largest fish at the time of addition to the tank(3-6 months after setup)

So what do you guys think? I think i've been matoical enough in my fish choices and everything to be pretty good, but your experiences with certain things could sway me one way or the other. The hawk fish are one of my favorites and i would really like to have one or the other of them, not aat the expense of the flame angle though.

By the way this is not my 1st salt tank, I have a few preditory fish back in the late 90's and a smal reef tank, but things change so much and I was not very pleased with my results at the time. That's why I came here. After 22 years of fresh wate and dabbling in salt for my short stent,
I figured, It's time to do it right!:headbang2

Thanks for your comments in advance,
David
Click to expand...
hope this helps
 
Thanks for the info Heathd.
 
Why Power Compacts? Am I missing something?
You can get better output with T5's for the money
and PC lifespan is crappy.
 
Since a fowlr, lightout put isnt really going to matter. If he has the unit already, then no biggie, but if I was going to go out and do a fowlr only, I would do a some cheap t12 shop lights in a canopy, or t8s
 
thnanks for all the input. As for the lights, yes i do have them already so thats why i'm using them.

theCanuck, thanks for posting that link. I've been looking for it for about 3 days now so big thanks. that link is one i've read before and it's where i got the idea for the fuge from the start.

So everyone pretty much agrees with what HeathD on the stock list? I would really like to have a hawkfish of some type. I just love their personalitys. and as for the cleaner wrasse and six line why would they be an issue together, is it because they are similar fish?

for the water movement, from what i aready have listed, how would i setup the best circulation in this tank, without having too much?

Also will the chocolot chip star eat the hermits? It is my daughters pick and i hope it woln't but if it will then it's gone. Unless it's a better cleaning crew.

as for doing a sump, I love the idea and have done them in the past but I would want a bulkhead in my tank and It's not drilled and no one around here drills tanks. I guess i could do an over flow but i'm always afraid of it overflowing the sump or tank some how. I already have a return pump,it's in my pond right now, that i could use and i'll have a free 55 gallon that i could use for the sump soon as i sell the fish that's in it. I still don't know though. I 550gpm good enough for the return pump?

Sorry for all of the ?'s I just want this thing to be right from the start so I have healthy fish and a happy wife:)
 
Flow is something that you need to tinker with...it takes some time. Buy some smaller koralias. I have 3x koralia 4's in my 75g.
 
dlp40;4454959; said:
thnanks for all the input. As for the lights, yes i do have them already so thats why i'm using them.

theCanuck, thanks for posting that link. I've been looking for it for about 3 days now so big thanks. that link is one i've read before and it's where i got the idea for the fuge from the start.

So everyone pretty much agrees with what HeathD on the stock list? I would really like to have a hawkfish of some type. I just love their personalitys. and as for the cleaner wrasse and six line why would they be an issue together, is it because they are similar fish? six line wrasse can be a bully to peaceful fish. Its something I have yet to see, but I have heard of. Only reason why I put it.

for the water movement, from what i aready have listed, how would i setup the best circulation in this tank, without having too much? It really depends on the powerheads. Is the powerhead like a Koralia going to disperse flow, or is it going to have a nozzle on it and create a concentrated jet of water? Its something to take into consideration. If its like a Koralia and pushing a broad stream, you can up the water movement and not worry about blowing your fish around.

Also will the chocolot chip star eat the hermits? It is my daughters pick and i hope it woln't but if it will then it's gone. Unless it's a better cleaning crew. They have predatory instincts and would clean up left over meaty portions before they would turn to eating algae.

as for doing a sump, I love the idea and have done them in the past but I would want a bulkhead in my tank and It's not drilled and no one around here drills tanks. I guess i could do an over flow but i'm always afraid of it overflowing the sump or tank some how. I already have a return pump,it's in my pond right now, that i could use and i'll have a free 55 gallon that i could use for the sump soon as i sell the fish that's in it. I still don't know though. I 550gpm good enough for the return pump? You dont have to have 10x tank volume for a return. You can always compensate with more flow from powerheads. Glass-holes.com has kits to drill the tank and it is very easy. On my third try I drilled two holes in my 75. Watch their instructional video and get a feel for if its something you want to do. Something to think about I guess.

Sorry for all of the ?'s I just want this thing to be right from the start so I have healthy fish and a happy wife:)
A happy wife is the most important on that list :nilly:
Click to expand...
....
 
Thanks again heathd. The powerhead is a rio with the nozzle type return. I have it in the 75 right now with my africans and they don't seem to botherd by it but there a whole diffrent monster from salt. They actually swim sttrait into the flow and try to get as close as posible to the powerhead.

I think the CC starfish is out for now i may add it last in a couple of months after setup.

What should my time line look lie as far as adding fish after live rock goes in.

Thanks
 
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