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wcn84's 75 Gallon FOWLR Build

8K views 23 replies 12 participants last post by  aSpiritusSancti 
#1 ·
Okay well things are finally moving with my 75 gallon FOWLR build (with a 29 DIY sump). Here are a couple pictures of all the building materials. I have started to silicone the baffles in the sump and it should be ready to go by this weekend. I will be picking the pvc up for the plumbing this week so I can give everything a freshwater dry run this weekend. I picked up the display tank this weekend and put the lighting fixture on top to see what it would look like (picture below).

I will continue to post pictures as I get everything up and running!
 

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#3 ·
very nice! is that rock actualy dry rock or did you go out and pick it. it looks like the kind of rock that would raise your ph so just watch it so u dont get a ph spike :p its gonna be awsome! (that sump is bigger then my whole tank o_O)
 
#4 ·
The rock is from Marco rocks. It is the Key Largo that a lot of members here have gone with. I'm very pleased with size and shapes of what they gave me. I'm going to seed this with some live rock from my LFS. I'm still a long way from fish and won't add any until everything is stable. My freshwater display is 29 gallon so having a tank this large is pretty exciting for me.
 
#5 ·
oh ok, just wanted to make sure :) that is a big change from 29 to 75!
 
#7 ·
very nice, i like it beacuse its like an island of rock not just a big pile in the back :p
 
#11 ·
Okay well there has been some progress from the day that I put the live rock in. I have posted some pictures below and think I may be developing some algae problems. Not sure what type of algae the brown or green is. If anyone has any idea please let me know. I have 5' of sand (around 16 or 17 lbs) in the refugium and plan on buying some macro algae for the fug soon. I also think I may have a diatom bloom going on but there isn't as much as I thought there would be so I may be wrong. I have attached pictures of the algae blooms and the sand where I think there are diatom blooms going on. Any insight would help.

Here are my current test results:

Temp 78
SG 1.023
PH 8.2
GH 180
KH 180
NH3/NH4 0
NO2 0
NO3 0
Alk 2.2 milli equiv/L
CA2+ 480
PO4 .25 mg/L
 

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#16 ·
All the green algae seems to just be some sort of macro algae from the live rock. It's kind of neat looking and it always with the current from the sump return and powerheads. The newly added CUC is starting to work on the algae. I added 5 blue legged hermit crabs and 6 astrea snails so far. I plan to add a little more to the clean up crew Thursday or Friday. Here are a few pictures of the current stage of the tank. I am setting up the quarantine tank on Thursday night.
 

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#18 ·
Here is the planned stocking list:

Midas Blenny (Ecsenius midas)
Canary blenny (Meiacanthus atrodorsalis)
Longnose hawkfish (Oxycirrhites typus)
Firefish (Nemateleotris Magnifica)
Pair of Green Chromis (Chromis viridis)
Royal Gramma Basslet (Gramma loreto)
Longfin Fairy Wrasse (Cirrhilabrus rubriventralis)
Flame Angelfish (Centropyge loricula)

The firefish is in the main tank already after spending time in Q.

Currently, the pair or Chromis are in Q and are looking and eating very well.

I have attached a few updated pics.

 

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#22 ·
Me either. I can't imagine how exciting that will be after such a long wait. Setting up healthy fish tanks is definitely not for people who are not long in patience. Good for you for taking your time and doing everything right.
 
#23 ·
Problems and Solutions

Well it's been a long time sense I have updated and have encountered one massive problem and several small ones but the tank is finally back on track. I had a broken bulk head in the overflow of the tank which lead to leaking problems. The stand I had the tank on did not have access to the bottom of the bulk heads and thus all the rock and water and fish had to be removed in order to figure out and fix the problem.

After spending the better part of two days and running in many problems the tank was returned to a new stand with better access and all the plumbing is back to normal. During the process of taking out all the rock the Bi-Color Psuedochromis completely disappeared. About an hour after all the rock and water was returned to the main tank he mad his first appearance in about 6 hours. He must have wedged himself in a piece of rock i was removing and did not come out again until the everything was returned to the tank.

Its now three weeks later and I discovered today that I have 4 baby snails on the front glass of the aquarium. Apparently through all that I lost no life and gained a few baby snails.

Below is a before and after of the whole tank, a few pictures of the Hawaiian Hawkfish and the Flame Angel, and a few picks of the tiny snails.
 

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