New to the hobby, what do you think?

Looks really nice. Very clean and algae free. Keep it up

 

Looks great!

 

Looks nice

Go slow moving the rock and or sand in till a few more months. I say that because if your tank hasn't cycled yet you may see a death spike in parameters IMO.

I've been told by my LFS that 1.025 is high.. IMO i think 1.022-1.023 is best IMO.

You may want to get reef tests... for most if not all trace elements.

Overall nice looking tank. Great layout and design.

Seems IMO i would not buy much more and let what you have grow for a few months.

Thanks for asking,
Mike

 

yeah i like your rocks and the way you arranged them is awesome. im guessing that your in for some algea yet but all will be well. you will have lots of enjoyment out of it.

 

Great Looking tank. Just great. I like. What kind of filtration you running? I saw the HOB skimmer.

 

The general rule of thumb is to not add anymore than one fish every 10 to 14 days (unless you have a mated pair and have no choice). This gives the bacteria in the tank a chance to grow and catch up to the needs of the new bioload.

Now, it looks like you have started adding corals. You have chosen some easy ones and that is good. I would like to know what kind of lighting you have and what kind of skimmer you are running if you don't mind. A 75g is hard to fit a good solid HOB skimmer powerful enough to handle a full blown reef tank.

Looking at the pictures, it looks like you are lacking in flow. I see two powerheads that probably do about 120GPH each and your skimmer is probably putting out about 150GPH. Totalling this out, you have roughly 400GPH in a 75g tank. The internal turnover is thus 400 divided by 75 = 9.3x. The goal in a reef tank is about 50x give or take. I have read in books the number 10x. I, and most others, will take issue with this number. There are SPS dominated tanks out there with flows over 100x. So keep that in mind. Look at the Koralia series of powerheads. You could easily put four Koralia-3s in there and feel good about things. If, in the future, you added a sump/fuge with a return that did 500GPH, it would get you to 50x. That's a good number. Not only do corals like it, the fish do too. And algae doesn't, which is uber-important. Cyano will be coming soon to a tank near you if you do not increase your flow (IMO of course).

Now the sump issue. IMO, a 75g tank really needs one. I have had a 75g and a 90g in the last year. I have run a 20 gallon long sump/fuge with both. Running a sump allows you to store pretty much all your equipment (heater, skimmer, powerheads, a few macros in an attached fuge to control PO4 and NO3). Lots of possibilities. If you have no idea what a sump or a fuge is, we can guide you through the set up. There are dos and don'ts of course......those later if you are interested.

So overall, your tank rocks. I like it. Very nice sand. Nice rock. You have some nice coral pieces as well. Welcome to the addiction and, more importantly, Welcome to 3reef. Good to have you here.

By the way.....my posts tend to ramble when I get on a roll. Sorry for the long post.

Peace.......John.;D;D;D;D

 

Thanks everyone for all the advice. Ive setup and learned the minimal amount I know through my LFS which is owner only operated. This is my first tank and this setup seems to work good for now. Obviously now that Im a little more into it and have a little more knowledge....Yeah a sump/fuge would be nice. Im not sure off the top of my head which light I have it was around 350 and has 2 blue long bulbs and 2 white ones...I run them for 8hours then they shut off. If I go ahead and decide to do a sump setup which Im more inclined to do Im sure I will slam you guys with questions. Thanks.

Oh yeah. I am using 2 Maxi-Jet MP1200 (20w 295gph) powerheads and the skimmer is a CPR bak-pak 2r+
Right now my tank stays around 79-80 degrees and summer is just starting. I have a chiller coming in pricy but I don't want to stress over high temps during the summer. This should be a peacefull hobby

Lighting NOVA T5 model number 1122

 

Welcome to the reef! That was a quick cycle, but hopefully you'll get lucky and all will go well- enjoy the hobby, it's addictive!

 

What is the average timeframe for a cycle? M guy told me to run the tank with the pumps and the skimmer for about 2 weeks, then I brought water samples in and he checked them and said I was good to go.

 

Your cycle might me another few weeks with your heavy load. You still need much more flow. Get 2 or 3 Koralias. If you get 21 of them get the Koralia 4's for a 75 gallon and place in opposite corners pointed down and at the opposite corner. You have a lot of fish for a new tank. Good Luck