FNG Build - 75g mixed

[Judson_f]

Aqueon 75 gal tank
Smartfarm G5 light x2
Fluval fx4 canister filter
Fluval E300
Eheim jager

i think that’s all the important equipment. I bought the Eheim as a backup to the Fluval in case it went out … but then i realized my tanks left side was 82 degrees and the right side was about 73. Even with good circulation. So I set up the backup Eheim on the right side with more circulation. Anyways total new guy. Tried my best to do the most research I could. Cycle log below:

Day 2 tests
pH ~8.3
Ammonia 2.0 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm

Day 4 tests
pH ~8.3
Ammonia 2.0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm

Day 6 test
pH ~8.2
Ammonia 2.0ppm
Nitrite .5-1.0ppm

Day 8 test
pH 8.2
Ammonia 2.0ppm
Nitrite 2.0ppm

Day 10 test
pH ~8.2
Ammonia 1.0ppm
Nitrite 3.0ppm
Nitrate 20ppm

Day 11 test
pH ~8.3
Ammonia 0.5ppm
Nitrite 3.0-5.0ppm
Nitrate ~20ppm

Day 15 test
pH ~8.2
Ammonia .25ppm
Nitrite .50ppm
Nitrate 20ppm

Day 17 test
pH ~8.2
Ammonia .25ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5.0ppm
ADDED ~2.0ppm ammonia

Day 18 test
pH ~8.2
Ammonia .25ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5.0ppm

Day 23 test (Oct 11)
pH ~8.2
Ammonia .25ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5ppm

Day 26 test
pH ~8.1
Ammonia .25ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5ppm

Day 27 (Oct 15)
Add:
Midnight lightning Ocellaris x1
Phantom clown Ocellaris x1
Mushroom coral x1

 

[Judson_f]

Really annoyed that the photos always show up blue with these lights not white like they are haha I did go cheap on the lights and am already thinking of looking for something better/nicer. Also going to start looking into temperature controllers, ATO’s, and a possible protein skimmer. My goal is to keep the bio load extremely light, so for the meantime I think it’ll be okay. Today was the day I added the few livestock I have - and it was a huge relief to see that within 20 minutes of putting the mushroom frag on my rock - that it opened right up wide from how closed up it looked from shipping. Made me feel like I might’ve been doing something right lol

 

[Judson_f]

The two clowns. Going to start looking into a cleanup crew for the next addition. I honestly don’t think I’ll add much else in the way of fish after. Besides maybe a tomini tang - I’d like the focus to stay on the few fish that are in there. I don’t like crowded/non open things

 

[Judson_f]

Oh one quick thought for any experiences friends reading: everyone said clowns are super easy to feed? I have pemysis PE pellets - I know some say to give 24 hour acclimation before feeding which very well prob is the case. But they got comfortable really quickly and seemed perfectly happy and fine so went ahead with trying to feed them a little since they’d been shipping for 24 hours - they both went for the food like they wanted it however every pellet they put in their mouths they immediately spit back out! I’ll have to go buy a different food tomorrow just in case they keep it up but found it odd

 

[Judson_f]

Letting the clowns settle in, went ahead and checked parameters again. All test results still read the same as the last one. The temperature is stressing me out. I have my home AC set to 72. I have the Fluval set to like 74 and the Eheim set to 75 but I am showing 80-81 degrees on all thermostats. I have 3 because I didn’t trust any of them very nervous though and not having the best luck cooling it. I floated a bag of ice in it before adding fish the other day as well and still barely made a difference. Went from 80 down to 79. Makes me a little nervous if anyone has advice - I guess turn down heaters another degree each and wait? I suspect the lights causing the heat to go higher as well so am nervous to set heaters too low for night time when the lights kick off.
I will say I am LOVING the mushroom coral. Extremely satisfying - he was all shriveled up and tiny tiny. I mean a little more than an 1/8” on arrival. However within 20 min of being put in the tank he opened right up the whooole way very cool to see and made me feel good like my tank feels good for him lol made me feel like I’m doing some things right haha anyways today - it’s only been one day of him in the tank - I swear he’s gone from barely 1/4” in diameter to darn near 3/8” when fully opened. Very satisfying. Pic attached
Still trying to get the clowns to eat lol

 

[BVF]

Enjoy, this is almost exactly how we started our tank.

 

[Judson_f]

Got the clowns to eat finally, keeping the feeding a little light until I get a clean up crew. Managed to get the temp stable at 79.3-79.6 degrees - very slowly lowering it to 77. The clownfish I am fairly certain have already begun to pair. They were put into the tank Saturday around 4pm, and since Monday night they have not left each other’s side. I mean literally swim almost touching side by side most of the time. They’re similar size so I can’t tell which is the female yet, but most interestingly enough they picked the very front left corner of the tank to hang out every night. They’ve brushed back a lot of the sand bottom to form a little dish/cup depression right under the edge of the rock they like the most and stay there all night every night side by side. I’ve seen one of them pick at the sand/rock pieces here and there which I’ve read the female does to clean for a clutch but cannot bring myself to think that’s what they’re actually doing this fast. All parameters are still the same, mushroom is doing great and clearly the clowns seem to be as well. Hopefully not just over excited. Today the Duncan arrives and I’ll get that frag glued in here soon.

 

[Salty_Dreamer]

Hello and welcome to your new obsession! Haha
For the blue photos I adjust the white balance on my camera, or there are filters that you can buy to cover your lens with. If using a cell camera, there are clip on filters.

 

[Judson_f]

Hello and welcome to your new obsession! Haha
For the blue photos I adjust the white balance on my camera, or there are filters that you can buy to cover your lens with. If using a cell camera, there are clip on filters.

Thanks for the pointer!!!

 

[ElementReefer]

Checking in to see how your tank is doing!

 

[quentin17110]

Aqueon 75 gal tank
Smartfarm G5 light x2
Fluval fx4 canister filter
Fluval E300
Eheim jager

i think that’s all the important equipment. I bought the Eheim as a backup to the Fluval in case it went out … but then i realized my tanks left side was 82 degrees and the right side was about 73. Even with good circulation. So I set up the backup Eheim on the right side with more circulation. Anyways total new guy. Tried my best to do the most research I could. Cycle log below:

Day 2 tests
pH ~8.3
Ammonia 2.0 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm

Day 4 tests
pH ~8.3
Ammonia 2.0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm

Day 6 test
pH ~8.2
Ammonia 2.0ppm
Nitrite .5-1.0ppm

Day 8 test
pH 8.2
Ammonia 2.0ppm
Nitrite 2.0ppm

Day 10 test
pH ~8.2
Ammonia 1.0ppm
Nitrite 3.0ppm
Nitrate 20ppm

Day 11 test
pH ~8.3
Ammonia 0.5ppm
Nitrite 3.0-5.0ppm
Nitrate ~20ppm

Day 15 test
pH ~8.2
Ammonia .25ppm
Nitrite .50ppm
Nitrate 20ppm

Day 17 test
pH ~8.2
Ammonia .25ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5.0ppm
ADDED ~2.0ppm ammonia

Day 18 test
pH ~8.2
Ammonia .25ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5.0ppm

Day 23 test (Oct 11)
pH ~8.2
Ammonia .25ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5ppm

Day 26 test
pH ~8.1
Ammonia .25ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5ppm

Day 27 (Oct 15)
Add:
Midnight lightning Ocellaris x1
Phantom clown Ocellaris x1
Mushroom coral x1

Just started a 75 gallon, are you happy with the hydra ? I try to get feedback on them for a 75 gallon ?

 

[Judson_f]

Checking in to see how your tank is doing!

WELLLLL. My wife and I took a vacation to Hawaii for 2 weeks. So it went about 3 weeks without much maintenance - my mother would only top off water and feed the fish so .. came home to a really gross algae covered tank been home for two days now so with work haven’t had much time to do anything besides some light scrubbing. This Saturday I plan to scrub it out really good, let the canister suck all the junk up, then do a large ish (30-40%) water change & clean out half canister filter elements. Would like to get a protein skimmer to help with cleaning & fight the new algae outbreak but not sure what type I’d be able to make work on this stand. I really probably will make a much larger fish tank stand myself this spring because once I’ve got it all down I do plan on upping to a 100-150g tank and using the 75 as a sump.

 

[Judson_f]

Just started a 75 gallon, are you happy with the hydra ? I try to get feedback on them for a 75 gallon ?

Not 100% sure which part you’re referring to as hydra - can’t remember if that’s the name of the lights or maybe a spell check change from jager. I will say that I am satisfied with everything I just listed for sure. If talking lights - they could be better as far as hardware but you get what you pay for and they’re waaay cheaper than any other lights I’ve seen. I definitely like those. The heaters are doing their job - for sure yeah I’m happy with all the components I had said in that post and would recommend

 

[Judson_f]

So today marks day 135 of having this fish tank going. ~4.5 months
I’ve been battling the new tank algae outbreak. I also just got married and took our honeymoon in Hawaii for two weeks!

GREAT for the home tank attitude - wife saw the Maui aquarium and all the coral reefs etc etc and seems to be a little more into my tank with me
Bad for the home tank conditions - I had been trying to control the algae and being gone for 2.5 weeks mom was only feeding tank.
Over the last weeks I’ve been back I have scrubbed away at the rocks little by little, re arranged some a little bit - looks so much better now - did a regular water change (15%) and added a small frag with 18 zoa polyps on it. Bare handed, no ppe nothing at all and so far been about 50 min and I’m completely fine. Lol

the mushroom looks a LITTLE bigger but not much, color looks a little better too but it was tiny tiny when I got it so. Prob just growing a little bit

clowns are doing great, finally a pair. We named them salt & pepper - the blacker one (pepper) must be the male. Keeps doing the seizure thing to the other fish. But they’re funny

im also dumb - I had light cycle set for like 7am-7pm. Idk where on earth the sun blasts full force for 11 hours a day. So. I reduced it to 6 hours full light & extended the sunrise and sunset feature to an hour. Crossing my fingers that along with better & more frequent husbandry will be enough … hopefully. Might order some more snails. Few pics if I can get them to post next

 

[Judson_f]

 

[ElementReefer]

I pick up zoa frags bare handed, no ill effects. I would not frag them though without protection.

emptying the skimmer, now THAT makes my eyes water

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I like the clowns you have!!

 

[Judson_f]

I like the clowns you have!!

Thank you!! We named them salt & pepper

 

[Judson_f]

Tank has been running for 136 days
Added a small zoa colony from a LFS, my shroom is starting to show a TINY bit of growth.
Water temp is 78 degrees
Ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate color appeared between 0-5ppm, pH 8.2
Tested ammonia with Red Sea kit, rest is still API, gonna order nicer kit for nitrate and phosphate next. Still having to manually clean algae here and there. Struggling to get pic of new zoas due to my placement of them lol but low light and low flow so I put them on the edge of a rock I moved to the bottom - it’s been about 24 hours and a couple have opened on the outer edges of the frag. Otherwise the rest have like - half opened. I think they’re still acclimating to the light honestly. Will attach pic. I got Red Sea coral food I think it’s ABplus or something - I’m gonna mix a little with tank water and turkey baster feed them starting tomorrow. I want this shroom to pick up the pace with growth lol

 

[Judson_f]

Another pic