The Rebirth/Rebuild of my 180g sps thread

[Acronuts]

Ultimately I know you guys want to see FTS and side shots so here goes and let me know what you thoughts are.

Rt side on the side panel

Lft side on the side panel

Finally a look at what the aquascape looks like with actinics on only

 

[skinz78]

Looking good, I like the shelves. Makes great places to place clams IMHO!!!

 

[Acronuts]

Looking good, I like the shelves. Makes great places to place clams IMHO!!!

Lol coming from the clam king! Actually the lower shelf I was thinking of acans and blastos.

 

[Acronuts]

This update is a short one
I went ahead and siliconed the star board to the bottom of tank. As luck would have it one of my tubes of silicon bursed from the opposite end and made a big mess.
I took a trip to lowes bought a larger tube of 100% clear silicone and a trigger gun. Boy did it ever make the application easier.

Once that was done I went for rebuilding the aquascape so that I could get it memorized.
For one I made the decision to get rid of middle section. As I was frustrated with the right section I noticed a rock that was shaped just the right way. Shaped enough that when placed at a certain angle, voila made an archway.

Getting the kinks out of the aquascape is very important as once things are mortared you're stuck and pretty screwed. Even though you guys like the rock work I realized that the placement would not work. The rocks would have to be mortared in such a way that it would get too top heavy once the sps's grew. I opened things up a bit and arranged so that the rocks had more stability with each other.

Right side

This is it, FINALLY!! LOL!! FTS

Well this weekend is mortar time and fill up time!

 

[Acronuts]

Update:
Was able to start mortaring the aquascape today. The process was a bit troubling but working fast was the key.
The product from Marco Rocks is good but definitely you need a spray bottle. Mixing small amounts worked for me and a plan of action.
The places you plan on mortaring together need to be sprayed. The product as directed starts to harden within 10 mins. Working fast is key but as murphy's law things will not go right. LOL! I took the material in hands instead of the trowel and made balls about 2 inches round. You place the material then place your rock. Work the material quickly around the rock and crevices because it starts to dry. If you notice the material pulling away spray it with water and add a little more material and bingo the material stayed in place.
Be ready for possible mishaps and excess material falling off! Its ok next day it easily pics off glass or star board.

Tomorrow is filling up day!!!

 

[skinz78]

Very nice, that blends in well!

 

[mjaustin22]

love the rocks, i'm just about to start removing my sand and going barebottom too. Looking forward to seeing it up and running.

 

[Acronuts]

Very nice, that blends in well!

I think it does too. Most likely coralline algae will grow on it as well as encrusting monti's.

 

[Acronuts]

love the rocks, i'm just about to start removing my sand and going barebottom too. Looking forward to seeing it up and running.

Mjaustin you will not regret it. From reefers out there that have BB tanks they look good and function extremely well. Only thing to watch out for are wrasses that like to bury themselves at nite. I have though seen wrasses basically coat themselves with the gel like substance and sleep in a crevice. BTW thnxs for the kudos on the rocks!

 

[Braves Fan]

Its starting to look good. How much of the motar did you buy? I am going the same rt. as you with the dry rock. But I am only going with about 120 pounds of dry rock in a 150g tank. the rest of my rock will be live out of my 125g tank.

 

[Acronuts]

Its starting to look good. How much of the motar did you buy? I am going the same rt. as you with the dry rock. But I am only going with about 120 pounds of dry rock in a 150g tank. the rest of my rock will be live out of my 125g tank.

braves fan I purchased the 10 lbs kit at:

E-Marco-400 10Lb Kit

The package comes with two 5 lb bags and I went thru 1 so far.

 

[Acronuts]

I have two questions that I am not sure about.
Since I am adding some of my old seeded rock to the sump, and adding bacteria,

1. Should I be ok adding a filter sock during the cycle ?
2. Should I be ok adding charcoal to the system yet?

 

[boehm742]

Very nice job with the rock! I just got done adding a pillar to my 180 and i tell you what, it looked like crap until it all came together with the marco mortar kit. It really worked well to tie all the rocks together and make things look more natural as opposed to rocks stacked up. Keep up the good work!

 

[goody]

Great information and procedure for rebuild. Love the rockwork. I am actually going to be tearing down also due to Mojanoes, but I will take this opportunity to upgrade from my 90g to a 150g. I didn't want to risk any mojanoes getting back in the tank, so I am starting with all new rock.

So what is total time fish and coral are in holding tank? And from that pic. of your tank with coral, I'm sure you had pieces encrusted to your rockwork. How did you get those off without breaking your colonies, but not getting the mojanoes near or around their bases?

 

[skinz78]

1. Should I be ok adding a filter sock during the cycle ?
2. Should I be ok adding charcoal to the system yet?

I don't see why not?

 

[Acronuts]

Very nice job with the rock! I just got done adding a pillar to my 180 and i tell you what, it looked like crap until it all came together with the marco mortar kit. It really worked well to tie all the rocks together and make things look more natural as opposed to rocks stacked up. Keep up the good work!

Thank you boehm! The Marco mortar kit does work well! It allows for you to build different formations that would not be possible.

 

[Acronuts]

Great information and procedure for rebuild. Love the rockwork. I am actually going to be tearing down also due to Mojanoes, but I will take this opportunity to upgrade from my 90g to a 150g. I didn't want to risk any mojanoes getting back in the tank, so I am starting with all new rock.

So what is total time fish and coral are in holding tank? And from that pic. of your tank with coral, I'm sure you had pieces encrusted to your rockwork. How did you get those off without breaking your colonies, but not getting the mojanoes near or around their bases?

Unfortunately The majanos were all over the place! The sps's had to be broken into smaller pieces. I gave a lot of suff away with the notion that they give me back a frag at a later date.
Make sure you bleach the entire tank as well. Those suckers can live even in your piping.
Good luck with your upgrade and let me know when you start posting your upgrade build out.
Thanks for the kudos!

 

[Acronuts]

I don't see why not?

Skinz just thought that the carbon and filter sock would pull out the beneficial bacteria.

 

[Acronuts]

Well by the time some of you guys read this it is already Thanksgiving. I certainly hope that everyone had a good day and got to spend it with their families and beloved reef tanks.
Here is my latest update:
I tried to plan in advance for as many things that I would need in order to do this rebuild. From the details of the star board to the bacteria in the bottle.
Time and effort were also on the list and so was Murphy's Law, lol! After waiting 48 hrs for the mortar to cure I started to add salt water.

One of the bridges was in the garage drying and curing so this pic does not show it but gives you a perspective of the depth of the aquascape.

It did take me a few days to fill the tank. You guys know mix salt, wait, test, and then add either more RO water or more salt. I only have a 35 gallon garbage bin and it took awhile. I had no other storage container but have started to think about one. Any of you guys have one or can recommend a company that sells them? It would make my life much easier.
I continued to work on the aquascape and really feel that I am happy with the following:

Voila tank is filled!

Left side

Right side

Middle

FTS with Actinics

Well looks like a few days more of just letting it run then I will start adding the green chromis' and a couple of other fish.
Till then Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!!!

 

[skinz78]

Love it!