Spirit of 75

[ianryd]

My current setup

75 Gallon Mixed Reef
Fish (and their nicknames my wife gave them)
-Pair of True Percula Clown Fish (Nemo and Nemette)
-Pair of Firefish Gobies (The Unicorns)
-Lawnmower Blenny (Grampa)
-Scooter Blenny (Flying Mantis)
-Blue Sided Fairy Wrasse (Rainbow)
Corals (Forgive any misspellings)
-Green Gonnaporra (Can't seem to keep it happy)
-Various Zoanthids
-Green Plate (My BTA stung it and it now has 2 strips of flesh left)
-Rose BTA
-Jack-o-lantern Leptasteris
-Green Birds Nest
-Chalice (dont remember what kind)
-Galaxia
-Various Acans
-Ricordia
-Kryptonite Favia
-I dont know what the one on the upper right corner is

Lights
-T5, 2x 10k, 2x Blue Actinic (For growth) in wave point fixture
-Current USA LED (For ramp up/down and viewing light)

Filtration
-Wet/Dry sump with filter pad, bio balls, and protien skimmer

Flow
-2 Hydor Koralia pumps on Wave Maker timer alternating 15 seconds each
-2 smaller current USA pumps set for various pulses and strengths.

Stay tuned for the story of this tank!

 

[NY_Caveman]

Looks great! Thanks for sharing and welcome to R2R!

 

[ianryd]

After a 5 year break from reefing, I decided to set my tank back up. This was in the summer of 2017. The tank was a 95 gallon wave front. I decided to just put big aggressive fish in it because corals were a pain from what I remembered. Everything was going great until I brought home an Emperor Angel that brought on an outbreak of ich. Long story short, I lost everything but a damsel. I was ready to give up. I just lost $1000 worth of fish in a week. But I decided to just let the tank keep running, and ran it through a 2 month fallow period. In this time I also set up a 30 gallon QT. If I was gonna do it again, I'd do it right I told myself.
So in April 2018 I started adding a few fish, and some LPS corals. I had the reef bug again! Soon more fish and corals were added. Fast forward to December 2018, and we were rearranging the bedroom(where the tank is). It was decided that the 95 wave was too bulky, and a 75 gallon would be a better fit for the room. Sure, I'd lose volume, but maintenance would be theoretically easier and less expensive.
So we made the switch. I saved most of the sand and rock and put all the critters in the QT. I used about 30 gallons of water from the old tank to start, and filled the rest up with RO from my LFS. I transferred all the critters with no problems short of one-the scooter blenny, "Flying Mantis" was nowhere to be found. I figured he stowed away on a rock and just hadnt come out yet. 3 days later there was still no sign of him. "Did the BTA eat him?" I wondered. So I went to clean out the QT, and as I was siphoning the last bit of water I saw something move under the crushed coral! It was Flying Mantis! He was alive! 3 days in an inch of water with no heat or food and he was still alive! I got him out and acclimated him to the new tank, and he was back to normal the next day!
The Spirit of 75 has been up and running since December 15 2018 with no major issues to report. My next post will be about my goals for this tank in 2019. Stay tuned!

 

[ianryd]

The 95 Gallon Wave Front. It was a cool tank but it was just too big for the room.

 

[ianryd]

Did some aquascaping/rearranging of rocks and corals and glued down some new frags last weekend. I went to reefstock in Denver and got a few Acans, zoas, RFA, and a duncan. I also picked up a Green Slimer Acro to try but it turned brown within a week. I think my lights may be not quite strong enough. I also forgot to post the Lobo, bowerbanki and favia I got from WWC about a month ago. Also from my LFS picked up a blue digi and some GSP I want to grow on my back wall. All my corals seem really happy with their placement, and I feel like I have a pretty good variety in the tank for now. It's a blizzard here in Denver today so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the power doesn't go out.

 

[ianryd]

Upgraded the sump! Got rid of the old setup with filter pad and bio balls and Got an Eshopps r-100. I really like it so far. My rio pump fit just right, my skimmer fits too. Only thing that didnt fit is my heater. So if anyone has a recommendation let me know! I plan to use the fuge to grow macro algae and maybe keep CUC. I set up a gravity fed ATO controlled by the float included in the sump.

 

[ianryd]

Here are a few pics of my ATO setup. Super simple. 5 gallon bucket filled with RODI water with an outlet and a shutoff valve. Gravity fed to the Float Valve that came in my Eshopps R-100. It aint pretty but it works like a charm. I'm gonna look for a cabinet or something to put the bucket in eventually. My salinity is much more stable now.

 

[ianryd]

Tank update! A few weeks ago I won the Tunze Stream 3 giveaway here on R2R-Lucky me! Let me just say-this powerhead is awesome! After experimenting with a few locations and settings I settled on placement in the back left corner. I get great flow throughout the whole tank, and this thing makes a pretty nice wave. It replaced my 2 Hydor Koralias on a smart wave controller and a couple IC Loop pumps. It is super quiet too. Literally only hear the sound of the water being moved. I did a little moving of corals last weekend, so here is an updated FTS.

 

[ianryd]

Been a while since I updated-lots has changed! I upgraded my lights to 2 AI Hydra 26 with diffusers from 3d Reefing, and the difference in coral growth and coloration is amazing! I can finally keep acros no problem. I also added a small aqua medic powerhead to randomize flow. I removed/added/lost a few fish, my current stock is a pintail wrasse, exquisite fairy wrasse, firefish, pajama cardinal, royal gramma, and yellow watchman goby. I have a tailspot blenny and citron goby in QT right now which will be added when they are ready. I think I'm about maxed out on space for corals, so I'm gonna let these guys grow out for a bit. I'm getting a light case of dynos, so I've stopped skimming temporarily to help raise nutrients. I don't really try but my nutrients have always been super low in this tank. I change 10% water every month or 2. Heres a few photos for your viewing pleasure!