New to me 70 gallon reef tank!

Robbiekrause33

Clown Fish
M.A.S.C Club Member
#1
I got this tank from Sean a MASC member off of Facebook. Truly an amazing pick up! And I can not thank him enough. The tank is a 70 gallon reef ready tank with a 30 gallon sump. I will be combining 2 biocubes into this tank. I will be running 2 AI Hydra 26's for lighting a syncra 4.0 return pump. A aquamaxx HOB-1 skimmer it came with a aquac urchin in sump skimmer (I know nothing about these) 1) MP-10 and 2 other power heads I have in a tank. 40-60 pounds of live sand 60-70 pounds of live rock(from both tanks) the sump will get some live sand and any left over rock. All my electrical will be ran to a biocube stand that is next to the display tank I will be cycling live rock In one of my tanks for more. I will be taking sand from my 32 as it was bought 2 weeks ago the rest will be new.

Live stock will be
2 bullet hole clowns
1 blue hippo tang
1 bristletooth tank
1 Christmas wrasse
1 Lubbock fairy wrasse
1 Mondrian goby
1 diamond goby
1 orange spot blenny
1 cleaner shrimp
3 peppermint shrimp
Several sanils
1 sand sifting starfish

To many corals to name

Pictures to come!

Any advice is greatly appreciated!
 

SkyShark

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#2
Awesome. Following along. I’d recommend something other than the blue hippo and bristletooth as they will quickly outgrow a 70 gallon cube. Maybe some cardinal fish instead?
 

SynDen

Administrator
Staff member
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#3
Ya totally agree. Please dont put a tang in that tank, especially the hippo. Hippos need 200g+, or 6ft to live and thrive, and even the smallest tangs need at least 4ft minimum swimming distance, with most tangs needing 6 ft or more. You might be able to do 1 tomini, or kole tang, but anything else I would stay well clear of.
All the other fish you have listed will have that tank heavily stocked as it is, likely need to take another fish or two off that list, but adding a tang on top of it likely would cause no end of troubles.
The sand sifting star also needs alot of sand space to be able to find enough food. Otherwise they are likely to slowly starve. Nassarius snails, or a conch make good alternatives imo.
 

SynDen

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#5
Thanks for all the input on the live stock. I will see what I can do with them as these are all ever small young fish right now
Even as small fish the issues will still be there, but they will increase as they grow. And they grow fast. You will have to get rid of them within a few months, which will only add to the fishes stress.
If you want to make a successful tank to have for many years, I would recommend this as a stock list

2 bullet hole clowns
1 Christmas wrasse
1 Lubbock fairy wrasse
1 Mandarin
1 diamond goby
1 lawnmower blenny
1 cleaner shrimp
Snails, Margarita, Nassarius, Cerith, Astrea turbos

Add the Mandarin last too, and be sure to build a huge pod population for him, with the ability to continually add more, or he likely will starve
If you really want tangs, consider going bigger then. Moving up to a 6' tank opens quite a few more tang options, and going to an 8' opens even more.
 

Mccoc033

Angel Fish
M.A.S.C Club Member
#6
Do you already have all the livestock in the tank? I'm glad you are open to not keeping tangs in that tank. I just set up my 180 and I have noticed the Naso and Scopas use the entire 6ft width of the tank to "play". I can't wait to see pics of the tank.
 

Robbiekrause33

Clown Fish
M.A.S.C Club Member
#7
No but most of live stock is in my biocubes minus a few I will be transferring everything tomorrow or Friday. The only tank I will have is the yellow bristletooth tang all the research I’ve read said he will be one in a 70 until I can upgrade to bigger when I move
 

Robbiekrause33

Clown Fish
M.A.S.C Club Member
#8
Finally got everything transferred over to the new tank all the wiring done and some what neat. Got all the live stock over. It’s a little cloudy from the transfer but after it clears up I’ll post another picture and a picture of all my wiring and power cabinet
 

Robbiekrause33

Clown Fish
M.A.S.C Club Member
#11
I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited to have a tank up and going. It’s a plus plus. I got a bigger tank and my girlfriend tank got more equipment! It was truly a blessing to get this tank hopefully I can pay it forward to some one just starting out!
 

lesserwhirls

Cleaner Shrimp
M.A.S.C Club Member
#12
How are the frags I gave your girlfriend doing? I hope the one in the glass mason jar did ok! I wasn’t sure how well the jar would do in the cool air.
 

Robbiekrause33

Clown Fish
M.A.S.C Club Member
#13
How are the frags I gave your girlfriend doing? I hope the one in the glass mason jar did ok! I wasn’t sure how well the jar would do in the cool air.
They are doing amazing! She can’t wait for her tank to finish cycling. Thank you so much again for everything! I’m still keeping an eye out for a torch for you!
 

Robbiekrause33

Clown Fish
M.A.S.C Club Member
#20
Here’s pictures of everything cleared up and some of the fish and corals in the tank. Some of them will be going to a different tank to free up some room. It’s just their tempary house
 
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