Hello from North Eastern massachusetts

Hi my name is Joe.. I'm relatively new to salt water/reefs but have been keeping fresh water fish for over 50 years... last march, my wife bought me a 75 gallon tank for my birthday ( I have 5 F/W tanks and an ornamental gold fish pond)... so after a lot of study ( I read a lot) and browsing internet web sites I launched my project... I made a DIY 26 gallon sump/filter/refugium in the basement ( the tank is in the foyer above it) I made a DIY tank overflow to skim the top ( from a design I found on the net)of the tank that feeds the sump, it is self starting so flooding cannot be an issue...high water marks are in the sump so as long as the level never exceeds that mark, no floods can happen ( and it's been tested with the weather lately).. the sump houses a 100 micron sock filter for the return water... a reef octopus 150 skimmer sits in the first chamber.. the water exiting the first chamber goes through a "polishing" fiter as it enters the refugium... the ref. houses 4" of live sand , live rock rubble. macro algae and copepods... excess brine shrimp ( new hatched) go in there after fish feeding is complete...the pump chamber ( #3) contains a Danner 1800 that with calculated head pressure delivers approx. 650 GPH to the display tank...a second pump supplies water to a pair of reactors, ( metered with ball valves) one that house Phose ban and de-nitratre and the other with charcoal..

the display tank was set up with live rock ( 80lbs) and live sand ( 60 lbs).. it houses soft corals.. a pair ( opposite ends of the tank)of 500 GPH power heads control the flow.. LPS and zoa's as well as a red ball sponge.. hermit crabs, snails a tuxedo urchin a pepper mint shrimp, fan worms and countless copepods that have been stocked weekly since the tank was started... it also houses a bubble tip anemone and various reef fishes including a lawn mower blenny, a green spot mandarin and a diamond watch gobie... before I get brow beat for having 3 clown fish... it started as two mated pairs of different species one went through the filter ( before I added the screen).. for 5 months they have been getting along famously.. even sleeping together at night in a tight ball in the corner next to the filter...

food is fed twice a day in the form of frozen ( chopped) table shrimp, Mysis and brine shrimp, flake food , freeze dried krill .. live brine shrimp ( fresh hatched) and monthly re-stocking of pods.. I also "feed" with phyco pure green water ( twice a week) and kent marine phyto plankton and zooplankton mixes ( alternate these filter feeder foods)

lighting is in the form of two sets of t-5 2 bulb10,000 K lights split with actinic in each fixture... a second set of lights each housing 1 t-8 bulb, one is a 10.000 k light the other is actinic and serves as a dawn and dusk light.. the single t-8 serves as day break.. the two sets to t-5's act as mid day and are on for 8 hours.. the day break comes on and shuts off 1/2 hour before and the single actinic start and stops 1/2 hour after that... a 24" led buried in the back of the tank provides a moon light glow at night..there is much more but ;I've said enough. for now

 

Hi Joe and welcome to 3reef.

Great tank. Sounds like you go to a lot of effort to care for your fishes nutritional needs, excellent.

 

Definitely !
Looking good Joe ,,welcome !

 

Love it Joe!!Welcome to 3reef.Would love to see pics of your fw systems and pond!!

 

Thanks for the welcome everyone...

I'll explain a little about he freshie tanks... 2 tanks are set up ( one is actually salt set at 1.023 sg) as quarantine tanks.. both are 20 gallon both with little penguin bio wheel filters ( no carbon) both are cycled and only have a few plastic plants and flower pots as décor ( easy to clean and sterilize) each with a 150 w aqueon heater and a single tube 6000 K T-8 light/bulb and an air stone shared by a common pump.... the third tank is a 10 gallon Betta and guppy tank that I rehomed after my grand daughter lost interest in when she discovered boys... it's fitted with blue sand and a small ( live) chain sword as well as some other plants ( which I have forgotten their names) from cuttings from my main tank.. the 4th tank is a 25 gallon bow front community tank that has all live plants a little penguin bio wheel filter ( and an UGF..old technology I know) 150 W aqueon heater and t-8 lighting And live amazon sword plants and a few others I have forgotten the names of... I trim the jungle once a week... when I do a 20% water change.. for live stock... (if I can remember whats in there as most have been rescued form friends and neighbors)... two green tetra glow fish... 2 rosey barbs... 1 albino cory catfish ( originally my stock about 4 years ago) 1 marble angel ( more on her latter) 5 rasoboras that were given up for dead( by a neighbor) with tail rot...nursed back to health by me...and a Chinese algae eater.. the last tank is a 50 gallon long that is being cycled in a room I'm remodeling right now... it is for Angela. my marble angel.. she has out grown the 25 g. bow front.. it will be her ( and my massive amazon sword) home next month.. when I got her she was the size of my thumb nail.. she is now the size of a tennis ball ( less the fins which would make her the size of a soft ball when she fans them)).. she is massive and needs a space of her own where she can swim...once that tank is ready and she is re-homed upstairs..I'll post some pictures of her new digs... in the mean time I'll post pictures of the other stuff ( and the pond) as soon as I get a chance..

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome... I see a huge difference here from other web sites right off the bat..

 

Looking forward to it.

 

Welcome to 3reef. You will find this is a great forum with great people. I love the reef tank you got going there. I would love to see some pictures of the FW stuff too.