My new 65g SPS dominant tank build!

[Twillyg21]

Came to check out your tank thread to discover three of them! Sorry to hear about the dino troubles but glad you got it under control. Looking forward to watching all three grow out.

Go big or go home right!

The dinos freaked me out for sure! All the horror stories within this forum of people battling them for over a year and even giving up on the hobby completely!

It was cool to learn how to use a coffee filter to test if it really was dinos.

However, I will now recommend the black out/UV sterilizer/Copepod/no water change/nutrient dose method to anyone who is struggling!

Thanks for commenting!!

 

[Twillyg21]

Put a clown triggerfish in the big one mwahaha.

It's my favorite fish I've ever kept and I will recommend it to anyone who asks.

Just showed a picture of this fish to my wife and she said, “YES.. that one. I want that one!”

Appreciate the suggestion! I will research this fish as a possibility for sure, but my wife is already sold!

 

[Twillyg21]

Wow that's a lot of tanks in one build thread! I'm a little late to the game but have a few comments. I'd consider lowering your aquascape a bit in the 65g. If your going for a tank full of sticks you probably don't want the rock going more than half the height of the tank. You might find them growing right out of the water with little room to grow in on that aquascape. Maybe remove the top layer of rock. Also, make sure that scape has some depth to it so you have lots of room to mount and space out frags.

I really love the rock work you did on your 125, that tank is going to look awesome when you fill it up!

I should have mentioned, the 125 is already full of water and is a few weeks into a fish less cycle I just installed the lights 2 day’s ago. Water is super clear, was cloudy (and stinky) when the bacteria was doing its thing for sure!!

 

[Vette67]

The 75 gal mixed and 65gal SPS are in the same room, and the 125 is in the basement.

I started the 65 gal about 6 weeks ago, the 125 is about 3 weeks in, and my 75 gallon mixed reef is 6 months old.

When I dive into a hobby it consumes my mind and I research and study, problem solve and find every piece to the puzzle that I can find!

My kids and wife love it too! We also have 2 freshwater tanks and a 75 gallon turtle/fish tank!

The turtle shares a room with my 75 and 65!

I wish I had that kind of room in my house. I’ve taken over the basement for my filter room, but I don’t have much room upstairs in my living room. I have a 6 foot 180 gal there, and I could maybe squeeze a 7 foot tank in that spot, but it would have to be a custom build, so big bucks.

My wife and kid like the tank, but don’t get into it nearly as much as I do. This has been a 20+ year ride for me. And I hope I never lose interest. I’m constantly tinkering with plumbing or whatever to try to make it better. Seems like you got bit by the saltwater bug too. I hope everything goes well for you.

 

[Twillyg21]

I wish I had that kind of room in my house. I’ve taken over the basement for my filter room, but I don’t have much room upstairs in my living room. I have a 6 foot 180 gal there, and I could maybe squeeze a 7 foot tank in that spot, but it would have to be a custom build, so big bucks.

My wife and kid like the tank, but don’t get into it nearly as much as I do. This has been a 20+ year ride for me. And I hope I never lose interest. I’m constantly tinkering with plumbing or whatever to try to make it better. Seems like you got bit by the saltwater bug too. I hope everything goes well for you.

I did for sure!

Thank you!

 

[Albertan22]

Thanks for the tips and kind words!

I see what you’re saying about the rock work in the 65g. Any thoughts on how to break apart the rocks that are mortared? ‍

It’s a pretty deep tank though too. As it is right now, there is 10” between the highest rock and the surface

I’m so excited about the scaping in my 125g! Thanks for the words!

I’ve never tried to break apart mortared rock. You may just have to leave it be if it doesn’t break apart easily. I’m sure you can make it work for you if needed.

 

[LivinTheSwreefLife]

Just showed a picture of this fish to my wife and she said, “YES.. that one. I want that one!”

Appreciate the suggestion! I will research this fish as a possibility for sure, but my wife is already sold!

Awesome! I do feel obligated to give some disclaimers on why I said "mwahaha"... While they are beautiful and delightful (mine was the most social fish I ever had), they get big, can be bullies to other fish, and like to rearrange the rock work. If you're ok with those things then go for it!

 

[DeniseAndy]

Love the 125 rock work. The 65g is too much rock for me, but for the sps could be really nice. If you are going for lots of encrusting montiporas, will be very nice.

 

[Twillyg21]

Love the 125 rock work. The 65g is too much rock for me, but for the sps could be really nice. If you are going for lots of encrusting montiporas, will be very nice.

That’s an awesome idea! Yeah, I didn’t take into account the shape of the tank. I stuck with the 1 lb of rock per gallon, but is a narrow/deep tank (36” wide and 30”deep)

65 lbs of rock

 

[Twillyg21]

A few shots of the 125 from this morning!

 

[Twillyg21]

Dinos are back in my 65g...Uhg! I have a sand sifting goby that dug up all the sand (made a pile about 9 inches tall) and shortly after that the Dinos came back.

I just got Dr. Tim’s Dino treatment and I’m going to give that a try.

I’m going to pull my few fish out in the morning and move them to my QT tank just as a precaution. I might add them to the 125 instead of putting them back in the 65g. All but the sand sifter. Him I might return to the LFS. :/

 

[Twillyg21]

Let the ugly stage begin!

 

[Twillyg21]

Came to check out your tank thread to discover three of them! Sorry to hear about the dino troubles but glad you got it under control. Looking forward to watching all three grow out.

So... about the three tank...

three tanks was WAY too ambitious, especially with a job where I work 65 hours a week.

Here’s the bad news first:

All three tanks were cooking great until a few life events happened, namely I had abdominal surgery and we got two puppies.

The puppies were challenging for sure and the water changes and tank maintenance plummeted. Along with that, my jobs travel restrictions were lifted and I had to go on the road for awhile and often.

Then in December, I had surgery which made any tank maintenance impossible (including water changes) for about 8 minutes weeks.

needless to say, all of my SPS died, some of my LPS, and a few fish. My 75 gal had a bubble algae outbreak that overtook the whole tank! Also, I discovered about 100 Aptasia growing in my HOB overflow and had been sending babies to my DT.

My 125 became infested with red bugs and flatworms, and I do mean infested! At first glance it looked like a maroon-ish coralline algae. On very close inspection, the color was a result of SO MANY red bugs and worms!! One HOB overflow stopped working, my skimmer cracked and broke, and my return pumps started failing on each tank as a result of no maintenance.

My 65 gal lost a few SPS but otherwise flourished.

For anyone who wants multiple tanks, my advice is to think about not only the maintenance time and expense when everything is going right, but to think about the commitment in terms of if all hell breaks loose and everything starts crashing, are you able to invest the time to fix everything, as well as the money to do so. I did not.

Now for the good news:

I worked with my local LFS where I source all of my coral and consolidated everything that survived into my dream tank build!!

I now have my Red Sea 3xl 900 tank with all of the fixings!! Everything is automated, I built redundancies for everything, and I got all of my dream items.

I will start a separate build thread for the new tank, but I thought I’d jump back in with updates and my words of caution. More to come soon!

T