My 75 Build (First Reef)

Idech · Feb 12, 2026

Reefin' Steve said:
Is that a good or bad thing? Before I give my input/mini review

I don’t know. Did they steal it from them ? For you if it’s well built it won’t make a difference. I like my Simplicity skimmer a lot.

Reefin' Steve · Feb 12, 2026

Idech said:
I don’t know. Did they steal it from them ? For you if it’s well built it won’t make a difference. I like my Simplicity skimmer a lot.

I doubt it, SR makes some pretty crazy things like aquarium tables and stuff. I’d lean toward that it’s not manufactured by either, but they’re sourcing from the same manufacturer. Who knows though.

I’ve had a hard time tuning it. Plus, no air valve like I see on the simplicity equivalent. Their stuff is more heavily freshwater based, but regardless.

I bought the entire sump setup because it matched and fit the space perfectly. Sump wise, biggest complaint is proprietary filter sock size (major pain, frequently out of stock)

Reefin' Steve · Feb 14, 2026

Much deeper research on QT methods for both fish and coral/inverts.

I believe it was velvet on the fish. Torch shedding its head, I’m not really sure. Stressed system in general I suppose may have kick started all of it, as with many things reef, no clear answer for it most likely without icp testing, or maybe I just missed something. Like I said, I never would have got all the fish out of that rock work to copper them. Thanks to humble fish for extensive info on diease/QT and my girlfriend for recalling we had fish swimming “playing” in the powerhead flow. The rest really seems to align, but I probably didn’t think so at the time because it advanced somewhat slowly from the first fish to the last, but overall I didn’t have time to react much either without a good LFS.

Just a small advancement I think I made. Everything gets as stout of a quarantine as I can manage from here out. Hopefully never again

vlangel · Feb 16, 2026

Reefin' Steve said:
Much deeper research on QT methods for both fish and coral/inverts.

I believe it was velvet on the fish. Torch shedding its head, I’m not really sure. Stressed system in general I suppose may have kick started all of it, as with many things reef, no clear answer for it most likely without icp testing, or maybe I just missed something. Like I said, I never would have got all the fish out of that rock work to copper them. Thanks to humble fish for extensive info on diease/QT and my girlfriend for recalling we had fish swimming “playing” in the powerhead flow. The rest really seems to align, but I probably didn’t think so at the time because it advanced somewhat slowly from the first fish to the last, but overall I didn’t have time to react much either without a good LFS.

Just a small advancement I think I made. Everything gets as stout of a quarantine as I can manage from here out. Hopefully never again

Sickness is super discouraging, as I am experiencing now. I am not even going to try and QT as chasing the fish with a net plus tearing the rockwork apart is probably all that is needed to push the fish I have left over the ledge.

A friend who knows more about reefing than I do brought cipro over so I can treat the tank. He also brought General Cure and Metroplex with a polymer to bind it to frozen food so I can hopefully treat the fish orally. I haven't lost any fish in 5 days but 2 look really bad and 2 more seem lethargic. I have to look at this as even if I lose the rest of the fish, ( and fish are my 1st love when it comes to my reef) I will still have a tank that has beautiful coral. And that is worst case scenario and I am still hoping for something better than that. I guess that is the perspective you get after keeping a reef for almost 30 yrs.

Reefin' Steve · Feb 16, 2026

vlangel said:
Sickness is super discouraging, as I am experiencing now. I am not even going to try and QT as chasing the fish with a net plus tearing the rockwork apart is probably all that is needed to push the fish I have left over the ledge.

A friend who knows more about reefing than I do brought cipro over so I can treat the tank. He also brought General Cure and Metroplex with a polymer to bind it to frozen food so I can hopefully treat the fish orally. I haven't lost any fish in 5 days but 2 look really bad and 2 more seem lethargic. I have to look at this as even if I lose the rest of the fish, ( and fish are my 1st love when it comes to my reef) I will still have a tank that has beautiful coral. And that is worst case scenario and I am still hoping for something better than that. I guess that is the perspective you get after keeping a reef for almost 30 yrs.

I believe general cure is metro and prazi so I wouldn’t use those at the same time for potential overdose, but I’m not 100% sure.

Do you know what it is? Rally didn’t work for me but the ingredients are effective for a reef safe product

vlangel · Feb 16, 2026

Reefin' Steve said:
I believe general cure is metro and prazi so I wouldn’t use those at the same time for potential overdose, but I’m not 100% sure.

Do you know what it is? Rally didn’t work for me but the ingredients are effective for a reef safe product

You are correct about general cure having both prazi and metro in it. I am trying to use it on their food so dosage is kind of nebulous anyway.

It kind of looks like the clown and cardinal have velvet and they are the worst 2 fish. The foxface and midas definitely have ich although they have improved. I kind of figured that I need to risk hitting this hard if I am going to save any of them. I do need to watch my biofilter however.

Reefin' Steve · Feb 17, 2026

vlangel said:
You are correct about general cure having both prazi and metro in it. I am trying to use it on their food so dosage is kind of nebulous anyway.

It kind of looks like the clown and cardinal have velvet and they are the worst 2 fish. The foxface and midas definitely have ich although they have improved. I kind of figured that I need to risk hitting this hard if I am going to save any of them. I do need to watch my biofilter however.

I agree if you think it's velvet and or ich, but more so especially velvet. Once I lost one fish they just went almost sequentially, but think some fish were more resistant than others.

What's your ideal scenario for long term? The tank will have to go fallow as far as I know... get the fish to a stable state then try to get them out for QT? Especially with the use of reef safe meds, saving the fish is probably plausible but the tank will still have it. Just curious. Definitely check out humble fish, there's a lot of great info here but I don't think anyone has really done the things he has in terms of experimentation and testing meds and studying fish diseases, IMO.

Rally has formalin in it, but definitely doesn't kill corals. I think I was just too late, it shipped slow of course and once you see velvet, it's nearly already too late. Prazi and Metro wouldn't be primary treatment for velvet but might provide some relief.

It might be worth it to try to catch them. My new rocks will 100% be able to be lifted out after my experience. Once my fish were gone, I already knew I was basically going back to square one for multiple reasons (much less expensive this time thankfully). Good luck saving them.

vlangel · Feb 17, 2026

Reefin' Steve said:
I agree if you think it's velvet and or ich, but more so especially velvet. Once I lost one fish they just went almost sequentially, but think some fish were more resistant than others.

What's your ideal scenario for long term? The tank will have to go fallow as far as I know... get the fish to a stable state then try to get them out for QT? Especially with the use of reef safe meds, saving the fish is probably plausible but the tank will still have it. Just curious. Definitely check out humble fish, there's a lot of great info here but I don't think anyone has really done the things he has in terms of experimentation and testing meds and studying fish diseases, IMO.

Rally has formalin in it, but definitely doesn't kill corals. I think I was just too late, it shipped slow of course and once you see velvet, it's nearly already too late. Prazi and Metro wouldn't be primary treatment for velvet but might provide some relief.

It might be worth it to try to catch them. My new rocks will 100% be able to be lifted out after my experience. Once my fish were gone, I already knew I was basically going back to square one for multiple reasons (much less expensive this time thankfully). Good luck saving them.

Thanks for your input Reefin' Steve. Yes I am very familiar with humblefish's protocol and I have great respect for him. I have tried the QT and TTM but just never had much success with it.

There are 2 very different methodologies when it comes to fish keeping in a reef and I have had much more success with the other method. However, I will be the first to admit that there is definitely risks with the way I do things which is evident by what I am going through now. I have been keeping reefs since the late 90s and the only other incident of a disease breakout that I experienced was in a newly set up 90g in 2000. My current tank is also only 6 months old although the rock is all from my former tank. It didn't even go through a mini cycle although I do still have diatom outbreaks, which should have cued me that this 75g display is not as settled as I thought. I believe I added fish too quickly in this tank and that was a foolish risk.

My method is to 1.choose healthy fish. 2. Reduce and minimize stress as much as possible. I have done that in the past by keeping fish in an acclimation net for a day/s or so with macroalgae so they can adapt to the water condition without being bullied but release them as quickly as possible into an enviroment that feels more natural. I believe from now on, I will put new fish in the 20g aquarium in the cabinet of the display, then move them for a short acclimation in the display. The 20g has been the home for my aged percula clown that was given to me but this morning my ocellaris passed so the old percula can be moved to the 75g when the tank settles down. The 20g is an establish tank with rock and macroalgae to help a new fish/s feel safe but could serve as a QT. I would not administer meds except in their food and probably only if they began showing signs of disease. I want their own immune system to have a chance to strengthen and them to fight stuff off naturally. 3. I feed live/frozen food to help with gut health which is where a lot of immunity comes from. 4. And this is a new one for me; I will run a UV sterilizer when introducing new fish.

I could be wrong (because I have never had velvet before) but I expect to lose only one more fish; the Midas blenny. All the other fish are still eating and not showing symptoms. I will let the tank settle for a couple months and then add my percula clownfish. I will probably add water from the 75g to his 20g before I actually add him to the 75g. Then I may let the 75g display run months before adding anymore fish. That is the plan from here.

I totally get it if you think its a poor one. Everyone needs to do what they think is best and I wish you and your reef great success!

Reefin' Steve · Feb 19, 2026

Late posting, but here are some photos from RAP '25

Reefin' Steve · Feb 24, 2026

What do we think?

vlangel · Feb 25, 2026

Looks very nice!

Reefin' Steve · Feb 27, 2026

I'm still just staring at the scape trying to make sure it what I want this time, no rush this time.

anyone got any suggestions for changes additions? I know its hard to judge a scape by ictures, but you guys that are following post by post have probably seen alot of them to know. Reactions from local people and other places online have been mostly positive, with only one suggesting that it was basically not fish friendly (will stress them)... ideas?

vlangel · Feb 27, 2026

Reefin' Steve said:
I'm still just staring at the scape trying to make sure it what I want this time, no rush this time.

anyone got any suggestions for changes additions? I know its hard to judge a scape by ictures, but you guys that are following post by post have probably seen alot of them to know. Reactions from local people and other places online have been mostly positive, with only one suggesting that it was basically not fish friendly (will stress them)... ideas?

A lot of folks have good success with the minimalist scapes and as the coral grow out they aren't so minimalist so I wouldn't worry about that. I would start with the shy quiet fish first and as the coral grow and make more hiding spots start adding the more assertive fish species.

Red_Beard · Feb 27, 2026

looks good! coral really will fill all that out and you won't see much of the rock after a while. Just make sure you have enough space to mount the corals you really want and go for it

Reefin' Steve · Feb 27, 2026

Red_Beard said:
looks good! coral really will fill all that out and you won't see much of the rock after a while. Just make sure you have enough space to mount the corals you really want and go for it

The “arms” are narrow in spots, but I think you could cut the stalk off a frag plug and glue it just about anywhere provided it’s a relatively flat spot that faces up. I’ve considered adding another arm or two to it for a little more cover / to break a chase if fish were aggressive, but overall to my eye, I like it. I don’t want to make it too busy either. The depth of the 75 is definitely kind of limiting. The solid line on the paper I have below it is 3” off the glass and the dotted line is “I can just fit a scraper in there”

Red_Beard · Feb 27, 2026

Reefin' Steve said:
The “arms” are narrow in spots, but I think you could cut the stalk off a frag plug and glue it just about anywhere provided it’s a relatively flat spot that faces up. I’ve considered adding another arm or two to it for a little more cover / to break a chase if fish were aggressive, but overall to my eye, I like it. I don’t want to make it too busy either. The depth of the 75 is definitely kind of limiting. The solid line on the paper I have below it is 3” off the glass and the dotted line is “I can just fit a scraper in there”

I feel your pain. I gave up trying to get a scraper on the backside after a while. Now i am breaking off limbs on some of my acros to clean the front. Fills up faster than you'd think.

Reefin' Steve · Feb 27, 2026

Red_Beard said:
I feel your pain. I gave up trying to get a scraper on the backside after a while. Now i am breaking off limbs on some of my acros to clean the front. Fills up faster than you'd think.

I’m considering piecing together another build, but after how much I put into this one I can’t imagine how long it would take and how much it would cost for a big tank.

One of my only local friends has a marineland 180 reef ready he just tore down, I could get it for $500 but I’m also kind of hesitant on a used tank (and I don’t love corner overflows… I like the modular marine I put in this one a lot). I’ve considered getting it just to have, but I don’t want it to sit around forever either. But, I would love to have a 180…

It probably wouldn’t be the best move.

vlangel · Feb 27, 2026

Reefin' Steve said:
I’m considering piecing together another build, but after how much I put into this one I can’t imagine how long it would take and how much it would cost for a big tank.

One of my only local friends has a marineland 180 reef ready he just tore down, I could get it for $500 but I’m also kind of hesitant on a used tank (and I don’t love corner overflows… I like the modular marine I put in this one a lot). I’ve considered getting it just to have, but I don’t want it to sit around forever either. But, I would love to have a 180…

It probably wouldn’t be the best move.

Don't end up like me with aquariums/equipment in the basement just taking up real-estate.

I always keep something back in case of a seam failure or major leak. However over the 25+ years I have been keeping reefs I have accumulated too much. I am seriously going to rehome a lot of my stuff as I am realizing at 66 years old this is my last mid-size tank. I seem to average keeping a tank about 10 years so my next tank will probably be a nano.