reggiepe's 75 gallon rebuild

[reggiepe]

Hi all. Just did a total teardown and rebuild of my 75 gallon reef over the last 4 days. I discovered nearly 2 weeks that I had a nitrate issues and through 10% water changes every other day, I did not seem to be able to get it to come down at all. I started moving some rockwork and found the culprit. There were actually two really dead spots that the vortechs could not get flow in. This was my nitrate factory. My reef had also been setup for almost 25 years with 2 teardowns (when I moved and upgraded to a 75) over that time period. It seemed to be a long over due task. Through those 25 years, my very first coral colony of cabbage leather had taken it's run of the tank and I felt I wanted to get alot more diverse. I had also heard that leathers could inhibit growth and / or kill other inhabitants of a closed system. The only thing that I think that had great growth was the leather. So, the main colonies were taken out and delivered to the LFS for sale. I kept two small lobes of it just because I like the look of it.

My original tank was a 38 gallon and it was built into a false wall in my den. This was a hole in the wall that was only 3 feet wide. When I upgraded to the 75 gallon I did not want to cut out the wall anymore. So what I have is some depth around the left and right side. This also hides the Vortechs on each side. These are the first pictures that I have taken in years.....so, enjoy and comment away :)

Full Tank Shot

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/dz8x5yUh3T62XLV1M6peyQ?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_rDPQiFqlbT4/S1Oa5MpXYVI/AAAAAAAAFuo/SLyArYxjxmY/s800/DSC02288.JPG" /></a>

Center

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/YS1sPw_2HFGQQWReYwj2pg?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_rDPQiFqlbT4/S1ObHDQQjXI/AAAAAAAAFvM/HQUtgW5_s8A/s800/DSC02295.JPG" /></a>

Right Side

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/icn1mkHVQm1VYcMiVu5SKA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_rDPQiFqlbT4/S1ObFcSzPEI/AAAAAAAAFvo/t6esvq9TAgY/s800/DSC02294.JPG" /></a>

Left Side

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Lo13OU-w1edgDIcSYe8gLQ?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_rDPQiFqlbT4/S1ObNApQL0I/AAAAAAAAFvg/-NYZJHqWGEg/s800/DSC02298.JPG" /></a>

[mdemuth]

Very nice coraline growth

[reggiepe]

Thanks. Before the teardown, I had the growth that is showing on the overflow on alot of the rocks. I turned the rocks around so that I could place corals on them and they have a chance to get a foothold before the coralline starts again.

[jb61264]

Nice tank!...what are the dimensions of your 75? do you run any macro in your sump?

[reggiepe]

Thanks jb! Standard 75 gallon dimensions... I think. 48 x 18 x 20...give or take. No macros in the sump...just a skimmer, heaters, and a return pump that is plumbed through a chiller. Real simple setup. The lighting is just a pair of 150w 20k halides supplemented with PC actinic. I am looking to change the PC's out for a T-5 HO fixture. I like the way that actinic on a T-5 can really make colors pop better than with PC actinic supplementation.