70g tall.. More pictures

[edshas2]

Well i used to have a 29g biocube, Last summer our air conditioner went out and i was forced to take it down, friend of mine was able to take most of my stuff and i ended up giving him a great deal on everything. Around November i found a deal here on maast for a 70g tall, i was going to set it up right away. But with Christmas around the corner was forced to postpone till new year. January came around and i noticed the wall i was going to put the fish tank on had some water damage. A water pipe going to the outside hose had been leaking. Was able to fix that. Now the carpet was damaged by the water so i pulled it out and installed tile. This took me a long time had never done it before and did it by myself on days off. Now i am finally finished and was able to set up my tank today.

Tank is a 70g tall 36x18x25. bottom drilled. 30g sump with quiet 1000 return. 2 koralias a 4 and 3 for water movement, 250MH 14k bulb for light and octopus skimmer not running yet. Heres a few pictures..

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c332/uknowbest/IMG_2674.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c332/uknowbest/IMG_2673.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c332/uknowbest/IMG_2676.jpg

Well this is preliminary rock work may change a thing or two but happy with the way its looking.. 2 questions.

I have 2 39w t5 light with reflectors and a glow ballast. Im not sure if im going to install these in the canopy. If i do its going to be a tight fit. Could i just run this tank with the MH and get good color or will i have to use the t5s.

Also for the sump i want to grow macro algae, what is a good light not to expensive that i could use for this purpose?

thanks everyone, and thanks (bbqbilly) for holding coral that ive been buying even though i didnt have a tank...

[KING]

Nice start..Lighting looks good as is..may heat the tank up with the mh..but always worth the try..any holes in the canopy?for a fan or let heat out>

[edshas2]

the canopy is open in the back so hopefully that will help with heat.

[KING]

I had a 135gallon..It was 6 feet long..I had 2 250mh an it would get up to 83..A friend always told me to drill holes on the side to help with the vent.But i never got around to doing it.. But with it open< It would stay at 78..but the light was way to bright to keep open when i was home..lol

[BBQHILLBILLY]

HEEES BACKKK. congrats on the tank and great looking floor. You have to get a fan with MH but put them on a timer. Then when off T5s turn on.

You could probably limit the heat by reducing MH time. Increment 1 hour at a time and see what temp you get.

[Europhyllia]

oh those dimensions are awesome! Love it. I bet this will turn out great!

[RayAllen]

Love the tank, great dimensions on the 70gs. Rock rock looks good too. Maybe go a little taller unless you plan on growing tall SPS. Look forward to the progression. Happy reefing!

[Mr Cob]

everything looks great bro, looks like you did a nice job on the tile as well

[RayAllen]

what brand of bulb did you go with on the 14k MH, color looks good

[edshas2]

Thanks for the compliments @rayallen I will probably try to make it a little taller or put some tonga rock pieces near the top, Im not sure what brand that bulb is, it came with tank its about 3 months old...

Well the cycle has started, theres a little bit of a sour smell in my house, Im currently at work but my wife called me to let me know, I had the sand and rock in buckets in my garage for about 6 months, i rinsed the sand but im sure there is still alot of dead things on it and rock.. Should i do about a 20g water change just to combat smell or leave it alone?... Also for lightning i dont need lights on while im cycling right?

[reefreak]

yeah do a water change and no its not necessary to have the lights on

[Mr Cob]

I don't like to do a water change until I see the parameters declining...ie amonia, nitrite and nitrates, if they are still climbing leave the tank alone until they start declining.. but then only do small water changes. You are trying to let the tank stabilize which means no drastic changes. Though, if the smell is that bad it's better to have a happy wife and do a water change.

I also like to cycle the tank as it will be...which means correct temps, flow, rock scape in place and done, and a standard light cycle.

[BBQHILLBILLY]

carbon helps with smell

put some in a sock and let it hang in the flow in sump

[CoryDude]

Agree with BBQ and Rob...no large water changes till you see the ammonia drop and carbon is great for cleaning up the smell.

Another thing I'd recommend is a dose of probidio's bio-digest. It cut weeks off my cycle time and I still think a diversified bacteria population is the key to a successful tank.

[BBQHILLBILLY]

I need some updated pics sir.

admin can we move this to med tank build thread

[edshas2]

Been almost a month running this tank, i added most of my corals that my friend was holding for me around the second week, added a few hermits and 5 nassarius snails. Just bought what i was told where 2 small pink skunk clowns but i think there actually orange skunk clowns this past friday. They are eating but have separated. One stays on the left and one on the right of tank, both of them stay right near the top corner of there side of the tank not really swimming around yet. Just did a 5 gallon water change today. Have some hair algea that i pulled of the back walls but not to bad. The only problems i see right now is im getting alot of water evaporation and my tank temperature seems to swing a bit from 74.5 in morning to 78 when lights turn off. Heres a few pics of my progress.
FTS
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c332/uknowbest/IMG_2915.jpg
Pretty cool feather duster has been around for about 3 years now
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c332/uknowbest/IMG_2918.jpg
Orange Yumas
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c332/uknowbest/IMG_2919.jpg
2 Different types of duncan and green tip yuma.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c332/uknowbest/IMG_2920.jpg
Yellow figi toadstool.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c332/uknowbest/IMG_2925.jpg

[Mr Cob]

Looks great, nice pics too. Love that duster.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

[edshas2]

So after my failed garlic experiment I have added some fish into my display again. I caught a sergeant major damsel at the coast 2 weeks ago and hes been in the sump doing fine. today i bought a true percula and a misbar ocellaris, they seem to be getting along. I will also be adding a skimmer to the sump hopefully this weekend if i have time. I also need to find some macro algea's for my sump, Here's a few new pics.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c332/uknowbest/IMG_4287.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c332/uknowbest/IMG_4273.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c332/uknowbest/IMG_4293.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c332/uknowbest/IMG_4292.jpg

[BBQHILLBILLY]

Nice setup . Are those Rainbow zoas?

[Mr Cob]

looks awesome, what's the plans with the overflow? Mount corals? Nice open canvas there :)

The oscar cup was a nice touch too. lol

Nice setup bro.

[edshas2]

Thanks.. Don't know what zoas those are but they are nice. Also never thought about putting anything on overflow till now. What would you suggest?

[allan]

I put a green slimer and gsp on mine.

Those clowns are nice, dude. If you're ever in the area, and you still need macro, I can spare a baggy.

[edshas2]

Just an update on my tank Its been a few months since i last updated this, Battled red cyano its finally going away, still have some green hair algea on a couple rocks but that seems to be diminishing also. Im pretty fully stocked right now, Just sold of some coral today to make a little more room, I had to make a cover for the back of my canopy and around the overflow i lost 2 fish when they jumped out. Coral seems to be growing pretty good.
Current fish list:
1 yellow eye kole tang
1 midas blenny
1 target mandarin (just recently began to eat frozen food)
2 clown fish (percula and misbar)
1 yellow head jawfish
1 lubbock fairy wrasse (newest addition)
2 cleaner shrimp
1 green bubble tip anenome (split once)

Full tank shot
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c332/uknowbest/IMG_5285_zpsb208d7b7.jpg

Miami hurricane chalice with about 20 eyes
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c332/uknowbest/IMG_5316_zps8e1346da.jpg

Monti Setosa got some small frags from shane (bbqbilly) its been growing pretty good. Alot
more orange than what picture captures
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c332/uknowbest/IMG_5340_zpsaa649dc2.jpg

Gbta hosted by female clown who doesnt let male get near it
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c332/uknowbest/IMG_5320_zps62465dcd.jpg

[edshas2]

A few more pics.

fish getting hungry
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c332/uknowbest/IMG_5385_zpsd65bbcbf.jpg

love my midas
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c332/uknowbest/IMG_5379_zps8114e704.jpg

and last my lubbock fairy wrasse.. pretty cool fish also
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c332/uknowbest/IMG_5371_zps818475e1.jpg

[BBQHILLBILLY]

Awesome pics

[hobogato]

wow, that is really coming along nicely! great job :shades:

[Mr Cob]

Beautiful, amazing pictures!

Sent from my HTC VIVID using Tapatalk

[CoryDude]

I love your kole yellow eye tang and of course the Midas is beautiful too.