Mixed Reef 75gal

[KikoenaiW]

I have questions at the bottom!

Hello everyone! My little story starts Monday, Nov. 3, 2025, so two and a half weeks ago. On my way home from an outing i saw some storefronts that caught my eye, a reptilian store, and a saltwater aquarium store, side by side. I went into both, looked around, and decided on a mission. Fish! To make sure I wouldn’t lose the courage, I went ahead and picked up a 75 gallon aquarium (Imagitarium). I then learned what a commitment this is… Not a cheap hobby either, haha. EVEN SO, I’m committed.

So far I’ve only just started the cycling process, but i have big plans! I realize the rock formation is a little unimpressive but I want to try to pull of the look of a single rock island.

As depicted, im planning on having a gracilaria hayi for a bit of red, as well as anthelia, kenya tree, xenia, zoas, nepthea, toadstool leather, duncan, hammer, bubble, and caulastrea corals. If anyone has advice on why my uneducated plans will fall apart please let me know. The addition of Anthelia and a kenya tree come with the risk of takeover i know, but i’m hoping I can cull the chaos.

For equipment, I was running low on scratch so I decided on a HOB filter instead of a sump, im running two 150W heaters and a chiller connected to an ink bird. I have a protein skimmer, a wave maker, and a small pump to break up the surface a bit for aeration. I’ve got a test kit, some dr tim’s ammonia chloride, some quick start bottled bacteria, and a refractometer. Oh and I got a 75gal/day RO/DI filter that takes up my entire bathroom counter.

Also, i got impatient, so i picked up a betta fish last weekend! His name is Sheik, both after the SSBM character and the painter KatsuSHIKa Hokusai, whom painted The Great Wave Off Kanagawa.

The livestock im planning on having are:
snails (turbo 3,astrea 7,trochus 2)
hermit crabs - blue leg and scarlet, 6 total
shrimp - 2 peppermint, 1 cleaner
emerald crabs - 3
clownfish - There’s a gorgeous pair of Ocellaris on BRS i’ve been eyeing, a couple of Black Snowflakes, im hoping they’re still on the market by the time i’m ready to add fish!
damselfish - 1 chrysipteria springeri
wrasses - 2 fairy, 1 flasher
banggai cardinal fish - 2
chromis - 6
sand sifting starfish, 1 (maybe)
tuxedo urchin, 1 (maybe)
Engineer Goby - 1

I realize that this puts the bio load on the higher end, but I’m pretty sure that with good filtration, and perhaps the eventual switch to a sump, the tank will manage!

A huge thanks to anyone that took the time to read all of this stream of consciousness!
Comments, criticisms, insults, insight, and suggestions are all welcome! I truly hope this community is willing to welcome me with open arms.

A few quick questions I’d love to have answered:
There’s some whitening that occurred on the rocks i put in. I’m not too worried about especially considering it hasn’t worsened, but would love to know why it happened and how to avoid/treat it if need be. Question mark?
Diet! I have a general idea on what everything will eat, but how diverse should everything’s diet be? How much food should I expect to buy each month cost-wise?
Moving! When I move in the next couple years, is it possible to move an entire set up? I haven’t been working out but even if I had been, I wouldn’t feel confident lifting 700 lbs down a flight of stairs. Nor would my 60 horsepower tiny car.
Jellyfish! I know that jellyfish require specific cornerless tanks, but what else would it take? It’s one of the things I’d like to consider pursuing next year after I have this tank fully up and running. Have any of you had any luck?





Why has the app decided to make my text tiny and black all of a sudden?

 

[Ruben's Reef]

Welcome to R2R !!!

Looks like you are already on the way of a good start. You can make your on Build Thread to keep record of your progress. My advice is Patience and a lot of it. Also, look others build threads from fellow refers that can give you some ideas. Happy Reefing !!!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I have questions at the bottom!

Hello everyone! My little story starts Monday, Nov. 3, 2025, so two and a half weeks ago. On my way home from an outing i saw some storefronts that caught my eye, a reptilian store, and a saltwater aquarium store, side by side. I went into both, looked around, and decided on a mission. Fish! To make sure I wouldn’t lose the courage, I went ahead and picked up a 75 gallon aquarium (Imagitarium). I then learned what a commitment this is… Not a cheap hobby either, haha. EVEN SO, I’m committed.

So far I’ve only just started the cycling process, but i have big plans! I realize the rock formation is a little unimpressive but I want to try to pull of the look of a single rock island.

As depicted, im planning on having a gracilaria hayi for a bit of red, as well as anthelia, kenya tree, xenia, zoas, nepthea, toadstool leather, duncan, hammer, bubble, and caulastrea corals. If anyone has advice on why my uneducated plans will fall apart please let me know. The addition of Anthelia and a kenya tree come with the risk of takeover i know, but i’m hoping I can cull the chaos.

For equipment, I was running low on scratch so I decided on a HOB filter instead of a sump, im running two 150W heaters and a chiller connected to an ink bird. I have a protein skimmer, a wave maker, and a small pump to break up the surface a bit for aeration. I’ve got a test kit, some dr tim’s ammonia chloride, some quick start bottled bacteria, and a refractometer. Oh and I got a 75gal/day RO/DI filter that takes up my entire bathroom counter.

Also, i got impatient, so i picked up a betta fish last weekend! His name is Sheik, both after the SSBM character and the painter KatsuSHIKa Hokusai, whom painted The Great Wave Off Kanagawa.

The livestock im planning on having are:
snails (turbo 3,astrea 7,trochus 2)
hermit crabs - blue leg and scarlet, 6 total
shrimp - 2 peppermint, 1 cleaner
emerald crabs - 3
clownfish - There’s a gorgeous pair of Ocellaris on BRS i’ve been eyeing, a couple of Black Snowflakes, im hoping they’re still on the market by the time i’m ready to add fish!
damselfish - 1 chrysipteria springeri
wrasses - 2 fairy, 1 flasher
banggai cardinal fish - 2
chromis - 6
sand sifting starfish, 1 (maybe)
tuxedo urchin, 1 (maybe)
Engineer Goby - 1

I realize that this puts the bio load on the higher end, but I’m pretty sure that with good filtration, and perhaps the eventual switch to a sump, the tank will manage!

A huge thanks to anyone that took the time to read all of this stream of consciousness!
Comments, criticisms, insults, insight, and suggestions are all welcome! I truly hope this community is willing to welcome me with open arms.

A few quick questions I’d love to have answered:
There’s some whitening that occurred on the rocks i put in. I’m not too worried about especially considering it hasn’t worsened, but would love to know why it happened and how to avoid/treat it if need be. Question mark?
Diet! I have a general idea on what everything will eat, but how diverse should everything’s diet be? How much food should I expect to buy each month cost-wise?
Moving! When I move in the next couple years, is it possible to move an entire set up? I haven’t been working out but even if I had been, I wouldn’t feel confident lifting 700 lbs down a flight of stairs. Nor would my 60 horsepower tiny car.
Jellyfish! I know that jellyfish require specific cornerless tanks, but what else would it take? It’s one of the things I’d like to consider pursuing next year after I have this tank fully up and running. Have any of you had any luck?





Why has the app decided to make my text tiny and black all of a sudden?

To answer your question about moving, the best solution would be to drain the tank into buckets and move them that way. Their have been a lot of members who have moved tanks before so maybe they can give you advice! Also, I would start with brand new sand whenever you move. Sand is a pain to move and it's better to start with new sand vs using old sand
Do you have dark mode on or off in the app?

 

[The Ugly Phase]

Off to a howling start by the looks of it and yea i don't even think Eddie hall could lift a 700lbs fish tank down stairs ect so make sure to drain the water have buckets ect but you can look more into that when the time comes

 

[Biokabe]

A few quick questions I’d love to have answered:
There’s some whitening that occurred on the rocks i put in. I’m not too worried about especially considering it hasn’t worsened, but would love to know why it happened and how to avoid/treat it if need be. Question mark?
Diet! I have a general idea on what everything will eat, but how diverse should everything’s diet be? How much food should I expect to buy each month cost-wise?
Moving! When I move in the next couple years, is it possible to move an entire set up? I haven’t been working out but even if I had been, I wouldn’t feel confident lifting 700 lbs down a flight of stairs. Nor would my 60 horsepower tiny car.
Jellyfish! I know that jellyfish require specific cornerless tanks, but what else would it take? It’s one of the things I’d like to consider pursuing next year after I have this tank fully up and running. Have any of you had any luck?

Welcome to R2R and to the hobby! A few things:

First, your image isn't showing on desktop for some reason, so at some point you'll want to fix that. I'll punt on the whitening question, though it's generally not something you'd worry about.

Second - HOB equipment is fine and can definitely support a tank. A sump will make things easier for you long-term, but you would need to either drill your tank for an overflow or install a HOB overflow, and those have their own issues. Having run one in the past, I can't say that I would recommend it. And drilling your tank at this stage of the game is likely not possible, and I'm not sure if your brand can be drilled... so stick a pin in that for now. When you go to your next tank I would definitely recommend budgeting for it, but c'est la vie for now!

You'll likely want more wavemakers as you get deeper into everything - I have 4 on my 75g tank, all set to produce random flow. For now you likely don't need more than what you have.

You didn't mention lighting - what do you currently have to provide light? Corals and algae are photosynthetic organisms and most need relatively powerful lighting. On my tank, I have 3 Radeon XR15 lights and a hybrid T5 fixture with space for 4 T5 bulbs, and that gives me enough power to keep basically any kind of coral at any point in the tank. You don't have to go that hard to keep the corals you mentioned, but you will likely need more than a basic light.

For your stocking list: You're way understocked on invertebrates, somewhat overstocked on fish. I realize it's just your "what I'd like to have" list, so you're not actually anything yet. So as far as what you should have:

snails: Bump this way up, though not all at once. In my tank I have 2 huge zebra turbos snails, 4 Mexican turbos, about 20 astrea, 10-15 cerith snails, 5 nerites snails, 3 conchs and about 20 nassarius snails. Plus a money cowrie and uncountable numbers of dwarf ceriths.
hermit crabs - This is fine. Scarlet hermits tend to be better and more reliable, I'd probably have 4-8 total hermits with an emphasis on Scarlets.
shrimp - 2 peppermint, 1 cleaner. This is fine.
emerald crabs - 3. Again, fine.
clownfish - There’s a gorgeous pair of Ocellaris on BRS i’ve been eyeing, a couple of Black Snowflakes, im hoping they’re still on the market by the time i’m ready to add fish! Clowns are a staple of reef tanks, every tanks needs some!
damselfish - 1 chrysipteria springeri. Great fish, they'll also eat certain parasites (flatworms).
wrasses - 2 fairy, 1 flasher. Fine, but be careful with these. Google "wrasse compatibility chart" to choose the right ones.
banggai cardinal fish - 2. Proceed with caution. If you get two that are different genders, they'll be fine. If you get two that are the same gender, one will kill the other. Also kind of boring, but that's my personal opinion.
chromis - 6. No. Chromis don't school well in captive settings. What happens most of the time - you start off with 6, you end up with 1. So let the other 5 live, only pick up 1 for your tank.
sand sifting starfish, 1 (maybe). No. Sand-sifting stars only belong in mature aquariums, and even then a 75g won't provide enough surface area for them to scavenge enough. If you're looking for something to stir up your sand bed, the conchs I mentioned with your snails are a better option.
tuxedo urchin, 1 (maybe). This is fine.
Engineer Goby - 1. Proceed with caution. If your rocks aren't resting directly on the floor of your tank, the burrowing activity of engineer gobies can cause your rockwork to collapse with potentially disastrous consequences.

To address your other questions:

For the rock whitening, I'll punt until I can see actual pictures. Likely nothing to worry about, but could be.

For diet: Most of your desired fish have basically the same diet. A good frozen blend (LRS Reef Frenzy, for example) will take care of most of it. TDO Chromaboost pellets are also a good option.

Moving: Moving a tank is a giant pain, but it's been done multiple times. Always drain your tank COMPLETELY before moving - tanks are not engineered to take the strain of moving while supporting the load of water. When it comes time to move, look up the best way to do it. But in general - drain the tank completely, store livestock and rocks in holding bins/buckets, move to the new location, set everything up again. The tank should be the last thing moved and the first thing installed. Do not be afraid to hire help for this, but do your research first - plenty of people have hired movers that haven't been trained on how to move a tank and have suffered a cracked tank because of it.

Jellyfish: Yes, jellies need to be in their own dedicated tank without corners. You're usually better off getting something specifically designed for them. I haven't run one myself, but I know plenty of people have. No jelly should be in a reef tank, ever.

 

[BryanM]

I have questions at the bottom!

Hello everyone! My little story starts Monday, Nov. 3, 2025, so two and a half weeks ago. On my way home from an outing i saw some storefronts that caught my eye, a reptilian store, and a saltwater aquarium store, side by side. I went into both, looked around, and decided on a mission. Fish! To make sure I wouldn’t lose the courage, I went ahead and picked up a 75 gallon aquarium (Imagitarium). I then learned what a commitment this is… Not a cheap hobby either, haha. EVEN SO, I’m committed.

So far I’ve only just started the cycling process, but i have big plans! I realize the rock formation is a little unimpressive but I want to try to pull of the look of a single rock island.

As depicted, im planning on having a gracilaria hayi for a bit of red, as well as anthelia, kenya tree, xenia, zoas, nepthea, toadstool leather, duncan, hammer, bubble, and caulastrea corals. If anyone has advice on why my uneducated plans will fall apart please let me know. The addition of Anthelia and a kenya tree come with the risk of takeover i know, but i’m hoping I can cull the chaos.

For equipment, I was running low on scratch so I decided on a HOB filter instead of a sump, im running two 150W heaters and a chiller connected to an ink bird. I have a protein skimmer, a wave maker, and a small pump to break up the surface a bit for aeration. I’ve got a test kit, some dr tim’s ammonia chloride, some quick start bottled bacteria, and a refractometer. Oh and I got a 75gal/day RO/DI filter that takes up my entire bathroom counter.

Also, i got impatient, so i picked up a betta fish last weekend! His name is Sheik, both after the SSBM character and the painter KatsuSHIKa Hokusai, whom painted The Great Wave Off Kanagawa.

The livestock im planning on having are:
snails (turbo 3,astrea 7,trochus 2)
hermit crabs - blue leg and scarlet, 6 total
shrimp - 2 peppermint, 1 cleaner
emerald crabs - 3
clownfish - There’s a gorgeous pair of Ocellaris on BRS i’ve been eyeing, a couple of Black Snowflakes, im hoping they’re still on the market by the time i’m ready to add fish!
damselfish - 1 chrysipteria springeri
wrasses - 2 fairy, 1 flasher
banggai cardinal fish - 2
chromis - 6
sand sifting starfish, 1 (maybe)
tuxedo urchin, 1 (maybe)
Engineer Goby - 1

I realize that this puts the bio load on the higher end, but I’m pretty sure that with good filtration, and perhaps the eventual switch to a sump, the tank will manage!

A huge thanks to anyone that took the time to read all of this stream of consciousness!
Comments, criticisms, insults, insight, and suggestions are all welcome! I truly hope this community is willing to welcome me with open arms.

A few quick questions I’d love to have answered:
There’s some whitening that occurred on the rocks i put in. I’m not too worried about especially considering it hasn’t worsened, but would love to know why it happened and how to avoid/treat it if need be. Question mark?
Diet! I have a general idea on what everything will eat, but how diverse should everything’s diet be? How much food should I expect to buy each month cost-wise?
Moving! When I move in the next couple years, is it possible to move an entire set up? I haven’t been working out but even if I had been, I wouldn’t feel confident lifting 700 lbs down a flight of stairs. Nor would my 60 horsepower tiny car.
Jellyfish! I know that jellyfish require specific cornerless tanks, but what else would it take? It’s one of the things I’d like to consider pursuing next year after I have this tank fully up and running. Have any of you had any luck?





Why has the app decided to make my text tiny and black all of a sudden?

Corals can sting each other, and a standout here to me is the bubble coral. It will need a lot of room.

 

[KikoenaiW]

Welcome to R2R and to the hobby! A few things:

First, your image isn't showing on desktop for some reason, so at some point you'll want to fix that. I'll punt on the whitening question, though it's generally not something you'd worry about.

Second - HOB equipment is fine and can definitely support a tank. A sump will make things easier for you long-term, but you would need to either drill your tank for an overflow or install a HOB overflow, and those have their own issues. Having run one in the past, I can't say that I would recommend it. And drilling your tank at this stage of the game is likely not possible, and I'm not sure if your brand can be drilled... so stick a pin in that for now. When you go to your next tank I would definitely recommend budgeting for it, but c'est la vie for now!

You'll likely want more wavemakers as you get deeper into everything - I have 4 on my 75g tank, all set to produce random flow. For now you likely don't need more than what you have.

You didn't mention lighting - what do you currently have to provide light? Corals and algae are photosynthetic organisms and most need relatively powerful lighting. On my tank, I have 3 Radeon XR15 lights and a hybrid T5 fixture with space for 4 T5 bulbs, and that gives me enough power to keep basically any kind of coral at any point in the tank. You don't have to go that hard to keep the corals you mentioned, but you will likely need more than a basic light.

For your stocking list: You're way understocked on invertebrates, somewhat overstocked on fish. I realize it's just your "what I'd like to have" list, so you're not actually anything yet. So as far as what you should have:

snails: Bump this way up, though not all at once. In my tank I have 2 huge zebra turbos snails, 4 Mexican turbos, about 20 astrea, 10-15 cerith snails, 5 nerites snails, 3 conchs and about 20 nassarius snails. Plus a money cowrie and uncountable numbers of dwarf ceriths.
hermit crabs - This is fine. Scarlet hermits tend to be better and more reliable, I'd probably have 4-8 total hermits with an emphasis on Scarlets.
shrimp - 2 peppermint, 1 cleaner. This is fine.
emerald crabs - 3. Again, fine.
clownfish - There’s a gorgeous pair of Ocellaris on BRS i’ve been eyeing, a couple of Black Snowflakes, im hoping they’re still on the market by the time i’m ready to add fish! Clowns are a staple of reef tanks, every tanks needs some!
damselfish - 1 chrysipteria springeri. Great fish, they'll also eat certain parasites (flatworms).
wrasses - 2 fairy, 1 flasher. Fine, but be careful with these. Google "wrasse compatibility chart" to choose the right ones.
banggai cardinal fish - 2. Proceed with caution. If you get two that are different genders, they'll be fine. If you get two that are the same gender, one will kill the other. Also kind of boring, but that's my personal opinion.
chromis - 6. No. Chromis don't school well in captive settings. What happens most of the time - you start off with 6, you end up with 1. So let the other 5 live, only pick up 1 for your tank.
sand sifting starfish, 1 (maybe). No. Sand-sifting stars only belong in mature aquariums, and even then a 75g won't provide enough surface area for them to scavenge enough. If you're looking for something to stir up your sand bed, the conchs I mentioned with your snails are a better option.
tuxedo urchin, 1 (maybe). This is fine.
Engineer Goby - 1. Proceed with caution. If your rocks aren't resting directly on the floor of your tank, the burrowing activity of engineer gobies can cause your rockwork to collapse with potentially disastrous consequences.

To address your other questions:

For the rock whitening, I'll punt until I can see actual pictures. Likely nothing to worry about, but could be.

For diet: Most of your desired fish have basically the same diet. A good frozen blend (LRS Reef Frenzy, for example) will take care of most of it. TDO Chromaboost pellets are also a good option.

Moving: Moving a tank is a giant pain, but it's been done multiple times. Always drain your tank COMPLETELY before moving - tanks are not engineered to take the strain of moving while supporting the load of water. When it comes time to move, look up the best way to do it. But in general - drain the tank completely, store livestock and rocks in holding bins/buckets, move to the new location, set everything up again. The tank should be the last thing moved and the first thing installed. Do not be afraid to hire help for this, but do your research first - plenty of people have hired movers that haven't been trained on how to move a tank and have suffered a cracked tank because of it.

Jellyfish: Yes, jellies need to be in their own dedicated tank without corners. You're usually better off getting something specifically designed for them. I haven't run one myself, but I know plenty of people have. No jelly should be in a reef tank, ever.

Wow thank you so much for all of the info and help! I have included a picture of my tank :).

Whoops! I forgot to include my lighting. It's on its way! I got a Glowrium 72W "Smart Reef Coral Light Saltwater Aquarium Light". I haven't seen a ton of info on Glowrium, but I also haven't seen anything bad about them, and it was a pretty cheap option. I'm also definitely hoping to get another wavemaker to put on the other end.

Snails- I'll definitely get more then! I figured my numbers were low but I was nervous to type a higher number haha.
Hermit Crabs- Maybe a couple more, and I'll definitely get more scarlets than blue legs.
Wrasses- I'll be careful thank you! Is there a certain flasher species that I should look for in your opinion? I'm looking at the Fairy Wrasse chart posted in this thread: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/compatible-wrasses-and-how-many.1002903 , and based on availability when I'm ready to get them, I'll certainly get one that isn't aggressive. I'll also only get one of each. I appreciate the point in the right direction!
Banggai Cardinal Fish- Yeahh I was already on the fence about them, if they're boring then I'm just gonna go ahead and remove them from my list.
Chromis- Got it! Only one.
Sand Sifting Starfish- I swear I wasn't going to add them for a long while, but I'll definitely get Conchs instead!
Engineer Goby- Rest assured, my rocks are resting on the bottom and they are very stable, especially the base ones.

And of course thank you for your responses to my other questions!

 

[KikoenaiW]

Corals can sting each other, and a standout here to me is the bubble coral. It will need a lot of room.

The only coral that will be near the bubble is the toadstool leather, which will be 5-6 inches away, and from what I know can resist LPS somewhat well? Is this adequate? The duncan will be ~6 inches above it, as well, but it will be facing away from the ledge anyways, so I'm pretty sure that it won't affect the bubble.

Thank you for your advice!

 

[BryanM]

The only coral that will be near the bubble is the toadstool leather, which will be 5-6 inches away, and from what I know can resist LPS somewhat well? Is this adequate? The duncan will be ~6 inches above it, as well, but it will be facing away from the ledge anyways, so I'm pretty sure that it won't affect the bubble.

Thank you for your advice!

Sounds pretty reasonable to me.