Xmetal's 75G AGA

[xmetalfan99]

I started this build about 1 year ago. Nothing to fancy in the tank or equipment wise. I was on a college student's budget during most of the build. This limited the equipment and coral I could buy.

Here are some photos from the move of the 50G to the 75G.

Some rock from the 50:


Coral fish and other goodies from 50:


No more rocks and most live stock removed (The water only got dirtier from there) :


Adding aragonite to 23 gallons of fresh saltwater:


Putting sump into stand from side door (dirty water from adding arogonite has a cameo) :


I decided to cut some 50 micron (I think it was actually 25 micron) filter pads to go in tray while I wait for the dust to settle down and the water temp go to about 76. These pads came in very handy later that night.


Finished filling the tank and added the LR and most of the LS from my 50(the water looks AWESOME lol ) :


I went through 5 of the 6 micron pads I had previously cut. These pads inhaled the dust and muck from the new aragonite and the old LS. They got clogged after about 10 minutes of being in the filter. It slowly took longer and longer to clog.
Before:

After:


If I told you this is what the tank looked like in the morning would you believe me? This photo was taken 3 hours after the first FTS:


What is left of the 50:


half of the apartment was pretty trashed by the time I was done making the move:

[xmetalfan99]

Here is the installation of my Tunze Osmolator. Probably the best investment I have made towards the tank.

ATO installed. I love the alarm on it. I am very pleased. Installation was a real PITA, but was worth it.

The magnets for the sensors are very strong and I was worried that I may break the glass if they barely snapped together. So I decided to keep my fingers between the magnets and the glass until I deemed the glass "safe".

Sensors:

From bucket into tank:

Computer:

Holding bucket/shelf:

[fsu1dolfan]

Thanks for sharing...Great shots of your upgrade!! Amazing what those filter pads did in a few hours!! Do you have any updated pics??

[xmetalfan99]

I love my SWC 160 Cone. I had to purchase it because my old skimmer wasn't sitting properly and kept spewing water out of my sump. I figured that wasn't a good thing so I bought one of these when they were just released.

.

[xmetalfan99]

The following are photos of the tank a few days after installing the skimmer and refugium. I tried lighting the refugium with cheap moonlights. Did not work well for growing algae.

[xmetalfan99]

Since you can only post 15 photos at a time here are the rest from 4/19/2010. The tank has really changed a lot since then. I actually miss the look of it.

[xmetalfan99]

on 5/3/2010 I decided I needed more rock to place corals and to make the scape a little more interesting. I used dry rock and really saw how purple my rocks were compared to the bone white rock I had just purchased.

[xmetalfan99]

6/16/10:










The xenia rock had gotten out of control and had to be moved to where it couldn't reach any other rocks. I don't know why xenia is so attractive when you start out, but it is. Probably because it is cheap.

Stocking:

CUC:
lots of hermits, astraea(sp) snails, turbos, nassarius, nerite
2 sand sifting stars
2 emerald crabs

Fish:
1 yellow tang 4"
1 hippo tang 2" (please no tang police. The hippo and yellow are very tiny and will be used as an excuse to get a larger tank )
2 false percs
1 purple firefish
3 chromis
1 royal gramma
1 6-line wrasse
1 clown go goby

Coral:

assorted shrooms
assorted zoas
assorted candy canes
assorted acans
duncans
sun coral
wellso
trachy
xenia
gsp
hammer
acro frag
frog spawn
1 dieing plate

Other inverts:
5 clams
1 bubble tip nem
2 cleaner shrimp

[xmetalfan99]

Thanks for sharing...Great shots of your upgrade!! Amazing what those filter pads did in a few hours!! Do you have any updated pics??

I have a whole bunch coming.
This is the condensed version of the build.

[xmetalfan99]

I was tired of having some really crappy rock in my tank. Crappy as in large and dense. I finished nuking my rock a few days ago and soaked it in some saltwater over night to test the water so I would know if it was safe for my tank. It was, so I rearranged my rock for the last time...I hope....