75 Gallon Reef Tank Build from Scratch

Thanks guys.......... I mean girls lol. I fed them about 1/4 of a frozen food cube and they seemed to eat a little of it, but I think they fed them at the store this morning too.
 
Project for tomorrow...... buy a turkey baster. So the basic process should be to cut off a 1/8 chunk of food, let it thaw out and then suck it up with the baster right??
 
Ya, I usually can break off a small enough piece so I thaw it in some tank water and just toss what is leftover, or I spot feed the corals with it.
 
i feed my clown, blue velvet damsel, my 6 line, and my chromis with a whole cube of food, but all my acans, frogspawns, hammers, and ricordias eat that aswell
 
Once I get some more fish I will be doing that as well, since I only have the 2 one cube will last me a whole week lol.

I think it is safe to say that with the addition of my first 2 fish I am ADDICTED!!!
 
So I woke up this morning, checked on the fish who seemed to be doing and discovered I also have some species of White Brittle Starfish. Should I take this little guy out and trade him for something at the LFS because I don't want him to deplete me sand bed and starve!!??
 
I've noticed most people's first fish are a pair of clowns. But I was told to add them last because of aggression. ?
 
I thought that they were only aggressive against "like species" say if you had 2 percs and then tried to as a tomato clown or something. Hopefully Fish will will chime in later on and help us out.
 
So I woke up this morning, checked on the fish who seemed to be doing and discovered I also have some species of White Brittle Starfish. Should I take this little guy out and trade him for something at the LFS because I don't want him to deplete me sand bed and starve!!??

Most likely a micro brittle. He'll be fine. And serpent stars generally do well in our tanks. It's the sandsifters you have to worry about.

And yes, clowns are aggressive, but really only when you go in their little area. Every once in awhile you'll come across someone who has to take a pair of clowns out because they're super aggressive, but it's not very often.
 
I think it depends a lot on the species, the percs and ocellaris clowns are pretty mellow and can be added first, but if you wanted to keep tomatoes or maroons, then you had better add them last.
 
The Percs seem to be doing great this evening! I adjusted the angle on both of my powerheads so that they would blow more towards the front glass because the Percs would just swim in the back of the tank away from the flow. The Percs are now racing all over the tank! It is hilarious, especially when they catch waves off the returns. They ate a little this evening but most of it seemed to blow away before they could seem it.
 
Tanks looking good Burch!! I had to add a second clown just to get my first to move out of the corner. Now they swim all over the place.
 
UGHHHHHH! I have microbubbles and I can't seem to get rid of them. :frustrat:

My first thought was the the protein skimmer was the culprit so I turned off the protein skimmer and that significantly decreased the amount of micro bubbles in my DT but alas they are still coming out of the return lines and on occasion the returns will blow out a big puff of them.

Then I changed the positioning of the skimmer return, turned the skimmer back on and holy microbubbles Batman!!! Still lots of bubbles. So I disconnected the skimmer again and they almost stopped.

My next thinking was that the vibration of the return pump was causing them so I disconnected the pump, put on the suction cups, reconnected the pump and double checked my fittings. ANNNNNNNNND still bubbles arghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

Well it was back to the thinking couch to smoke things over hmmmmm? So after some thought I disconnected the return pump again and discovered a small crack in the outlet of the return pump where my piping screws in to the top of it. So guys could this little crack be enough to cause my microbubble problem even if it between the outside of the pipe/teflon tape and the inside of the pump outlet?
 
Oh almost forgot!!!! On a good note the Percs seem to be enjoying their new home and 1 of the little guys has decided to host the entire left hand side of my overflow lol.
 
Well wouldn't you know after I typed out that rant on my microbubble problem I would figure out what is wrong. So they way my sump is designed, there is a small cut out on the bottom of the last baffle that allows the water into the return section. The way my pump is situated, the suction from the pump creates a mini whirlpool that eventually creates a large bubble that is pulled into the pump hence the microbubble problem. A little twist of the inlet and the problem is greatly reduced. So no I just have to monitor the situation and possibly get some foam to act as a bubble trap and figure out the skimmer.
 
Why is going to the fish store like going to Walmart? I went to the LFS intent on purchasing some foam to solve my microbubble problem and some more frozen food since I left mine out all night. Well long story short I am now the proud dad of a 3 inch One Spot Foxface. After an hour long acclimation he is now happily swimming about his new home and exploring. I even saw him nibbling at my live rock and tring to chase down a floating piece of nori. I will post a pic of him when he settles down. Cheers!!!
 
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