My 72 gal Bowfront reef tank

[KKaiser4]

I wanted to share my 72gal reef tank with everyone. I quickly outgrew my 36g bowfront tank and upgraded to this 72 gallon bowfront in October. Here are the details if you are interested:

Aquaticlife 4 x 48" T5 lighting
PM RL125 Skimmer
PM R24 sump/refugium
2 Koralia 750's
Mag 8.5 return pump
JBJ auto top-off

Livestock:
False Perc Clown
Blue Hippo Tang
2 Purple Firefish
Bi Color Blenny
Neon Goby
Engineer Goby
mixture of hermits, snails, conch and peppermint shrimp

I have a large variety of corals so I can see what works the best in my tank. So far almost everything is growing well. Most of the corals are frags from forum members around town.

I would like to add a couple more fish, but I am not sure which ones. Any suggestions for which ones I should consider?

Thanks!

1018510186

[CoryDude]

Tank upgrades are always awesome. Personally, I always recommend fairy wrasses when people ask; lot's of color, very active, and not aggressive.

What kind of coral is that at the bottom center?

[txg8gxp]

I like it, lots of rock but it still look nice and open.

[txg8gxp]

I vote chili coral

Tank upgrades are always awesome. Personally, I always recommend fairy wrasses when people ask; lot's of color, very active, and not aggressive.

What kind of coral is that at the bottom center?

[ErikH]

I vote chili coral
+1

Looks great!
I vote for an anthias quad and a midas blenny!

[KKaiser4]

Yes, it is a chili coral. I was nervous about getting it because of some things I read but I must say it is a great coral so far! At night the polyps come out and it nearly triples in size. I had a perfect spot for it with the rock overhang so it gets shade.

Thanks for the comments on the rock. When I did my rockwork I wanted to make sure it allowed the fish a lot of room to swim in, out and around. None of the rock touches the walls of theaqaurium, its all right down the middle of the tank so the fish can swim around on both sides.

I will look into the fairy wrasses. Thanks!

[GsXtC_21]

Very nice, i love your rock setup.. if you dont mind me asking, how old is this tank setup...

As far as fish, what are you looking for: color, variety, unique characters etc..?

Fish i like: bluespot jawfish, flamehawk, definitely get a wrasse, midas blenny and maybe even another tang (just to name a few)

[KKaiser4]

Thanks for the compliments. This tank was setup on October 1st of this year. Some of the water, rock and fish were moved over from my 36 gal which was up and running since the middle of June this year, when I got started in saltwater. I am amazed how fast the coralline has started growing. A lot of the rock is turning purple and I even have purple spots showing up on the glass, power heads and cords already. Several of the corals have already started splitting or showing new polyps.

I am looking for some fish that are active and have nice color. Maybe some reds and yellow. A few I am putting on the list thanks to suggestions are a yellow tang, fairy wrasse of some kind and maybe a small group of anthias. I don’t know enough about anthias yet to pick which species. I will check out the jawfish and flamehawk. I am really not sure how many fish would be acceptable in this tank so I am hesitant to make too long of a list.

Thanks!

[GsXtC_21]

Right now you have relatively smaller fish, so i think the tank could easily suite 10 fish comfortably depending on the size of the fish, and thats relatively speaking of course... One thing you also must keep in mind, is the increased bio load that comes with adding new fish so you need to make sure your filtration setup can handle the extra bio load to ensure a healthy, suitable environment for the fish....

I also have a 72g oceanic bowfront and absolutely love it, so its really nice to see what others have done with this tank, keep up the awesome work....!

[KKaiser4]

I think I am leaning towards a yellow tang, some type of fairy wrasse and then a little school of Anthias if I have room. I think my filtration setup is up for the challenge. Since setting up my refugium I am yet to even get a trace of Nitrates even after going a full month between water changes. Phosphates seem to be stuck at .25 right now. My skimmer is doing a great job but isn’t working at its full potential yet!

I love the bowfronts. My 36G was a bowfront and now this one. I would love to upgrade to the 90 gallon bowfront if I ever find a good deal on one since it will use the same stand, lights and canopy.

Thanks!

[txav8r]

I love bowfronts! I have a 72 gal. also

[GsXtC_21]

Nice, do you by chance have any pics of your sump/refugium setup... Im trying to get some ideas on how to implement a fuge with my setup, the only thing is i have the unfortunate oceanic stand with the single glass door so im very limited on my space...

[Europhyllia]

As far as Anthias goes Bartlett's are great. Beautiful fish and very hardy. If you reconsider on the Midas Blenny the blenny will mostly likely school with the anthias and try and blend in.
Caution for both: both the midas blenny and the anthias can jump. I have a mesh top on my tank to prevent anymore fish jerky...