120g mixed reef build

aws2266

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Here’s my little, “How I got back into the hobby story.”

While taking our first beach vacation in 10 years I cut my foot on a horseshoe crab. When we got back from vacation we decided to go to our LFS to check out the horseshoe crabs. They didn’t have any but while there we got to looking at the fish and remembering how fun it was to have a marine tank. After much discussion among the family, we agreed to one 55 gallon tank. We found a nice looking tank and stand for cheap, got it cleaned up, and BAM I was in love again. You can find the details of that build here.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/back-in-the-hobby-again-55g-soon-to-be-reef-tank.859006/

My wife and I had agreed to a budget for the hobby. Not two months in I was already exceeding that budget and wanting more. So I had to find more money. I found it by donating plasma. I was a little hesitant at first but it’s a great way to earn extra money and help people. Now that I had extra money coming in I decided to go big, my LFS had a 120g setup for sale. This took some convincing but the wife finally agreed. We would keep the 55g and get the 120g. Went down the LFS and put a deposit down. The plan is to move the contents of my 55g to the 120g and use the 55g for more aggressive fish.


UvVLbBO-V879lTbFmRF0Z7xBqlQhURzfSQYQ7RTdPxBsM_45qLrxmKkgZsay6n6ue3cIUU-l4Sv_yyjFYwrKOfc9Jx_2UwXKDYJN11-X_7F2m1PLo8xHgcudTDQi6ywPmx1MXImO



Now that the plan was in place and the aquarium mine(in layaway), all I had to do was wait and donate plasma….or so I thought. The biggest aquarium I had before this was a 75g and I lived in apartments so I hadn’t given much thought to how much weight a floor could hold. Now that I’m a homeowner and adding around 1,400lbs to my dining room floor I started thinking about it. Can my floor safely support this amount of weight? The answer was a no. While there was little risk of the aquarium crashing through the floor, there was going to be structural issues that would make it unsafe. After much research and consultations with “professionals,” I decided to place two support posts with aluminum bars underneath the two joists supporting the aquarium. I did some blocking around the two main joists to improve the overall strength and cut down on any bounce. Here’s a couple of photos of it finished and a link to my other post about it

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/diy-reinforced-floor.868355/

1nrsGXf8t8HsmLTWehX64puelPEJQ3Kn1NTEX_I3wQBZoM_qfuKGQMzHbjQv-6bq6BIoDW5Yw0kE-8FnJRnvY5a6vuIvAdY_Com1pp2C7h0A6rWTWUDR3zv-NeDpW6FYffZGpEDY
cvkiRBRJz7xOST3frc5TxnCFyFpP8imdcUOwKECA2TcndIRW_GS_644BGhylYHFvhIhdCy_kbafbTgTSEqsfQfW5F_NdwLLPYCZ2xAZiZAGXWAnxsCugQp28IWLXIGw4IbbKGFcg
OcED2yo6UyRBMvSSsPyEIZk4narzCbxBis_KcvcTa87Lqs5DdJHRLARBpwBNqRkGeIXNkBkci-iX-xcmeo5bJ9XnQnoiqkytfVvmWi2mAOOt3eHl20yYK9S1PxneJ2p0RK8mWpTd


Now that the floor was reinforced all I had to do was wait another two weeks to take possession of the aquarium.

Planning to move a 120g tank and stand is difficult. I kept worrying that my wife and 15yr old boys wouldn’t be strong enough to move it. When moving day came it was just my wife, Ethan, and me to move it. Thankfully the LFS loaded everything into our SUV so we only had to carry them into the house. If you’re ever in the Dayton, Ohio area check out Gerbers Tropical Fish, they are an amazing store...more like a warehouse. Their staff is friendly and helpful. Finally, after a month, I got it home. It was just as heavy as I expected but we were able to get it into the house and where we wanted it. Here it is in the dining room where it will stay.

UmUoe7FfT0ZgK3BscSEtUiL5WRMAr8jvW8jQa0j_RLJlTDVf9mXbe2WLsrEd-NDpGwXXATbSBMI-IXB3KDVkJmgn0B7J5HgPfRh0RpT0txhL1xISZhYM8piwhdT0XXMDMfE8VVDO
 

OrchidMiss

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Here’s my little, “How I got back into the hobby story.”

While taking our first beach vacation in 10 years I cut my foot on a horseshoe crab. When we got back from vacation we decided to go to our LFS to check out the horseshoe crabs. They didn’t have any but while there we got to looking at the fish and remembering how fun it was to have a marine tank. After much discussion among the family, we agreed to one 55 gallon tank. We found a nice looking tank and stand for cheap, got it cleaned up, and BAM I was in love again. You can find the details of that build here.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/back-in-the-hobby-again-55g-soon-to-be-reef-tank.859006/

My wife and I had agreed to a budget for the hobby. Not two months in I was already exceeding that budget and wanting more. So I had to find more money. I found it by donating plasma. I was a little hesitant at first but it’s a great way to earn extra money and help people. Now that I had extra money coming in I decided to go big, my LFS had a 120g setup for sale. This took some convincing but the wife finally agreed. We would keep the 55g and get the 120g. Went down the LFS and put a deposit down. The plan is to move the contents of my 55g to the 120g and use the 55g for more aggressive fish.


UvVLbBO-V879lTbFmRF0Z7xBqlQhURzfSQYQ7RTdPxBsM_45qLrxmKkgZsay6n6ue3cIUU-l4Sv_yyjFYwrKOfc9Jx_2UwXKDYJN11-X_7F2m1PLo8xHgcudTDQi6ywPmx1MXImO



Now that the plan was in place and the aquarium mine(in layaway), all I had to do was wait and donate plasma….or so I thought. The biggest aquarium I had before this was a 75g and I lived in apartments so I hadn’t given much thought to how much weight a floor could hold. Now that I’m a homeowner and adding around 1,400lbs to my dining room floor I started thinking about it. Can my floor safely support this amount of weight? The answer was a no. While there was little risk of the aquarium crashing through the floor, there was going to be structural issues that would make it unsafe. After much research and consultations with “professionals,” I decided to place two support posts with aluminum bars underneath the two joists supporting the aquarium. I did some blocking around the two main joists to improve the overall strength and cut down on any bounce. Here’s a couple of photos of it finished and a link to my other post about it

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/diy-reinforced-floor.868355/

1nrsGXf8t8HsmLTWehX64puelPEJQ3Kn1NTEX_I3wQBZoM_qfuKGQMzHbjQv-6bq6BIoDW5Yw0kE-8FnJRnvY5a6vuIvAdY_Com1pp2C7h0A6rWTWUDR3zv-NeDpW6FYffZGpEDY
cvkiRBRJz7xOST3frc5TxnCFyFpP8imdcUOwKECA2TcndIRW_GS_644BGhylYHFvhIhdCy_kbafbTgTSEqsfQfW5F_NdwLLPYCZ2xAZiZAGXWAnxsCugQp28IWLXIGw4IbbKGFcg
OcED2yo6UyRBMvSSsPyEIZk4narzCbxBis_KcvcTa87Lqs5DdJHRLARBpwBNqRkGeIXNkBkci-iX-xcmeo5bJ9XnQnoiqkytfVvmWi2mAOOt3eHl20yYK9S1PxneJ2p0RK8mWpTd


Now that the floor was reinforced all I had to do was wait another two weeks to take possession of the aquarium.

Planning to move a 120g tank and stand is difficult. I kept worrying that my wife and 15yr old boys wouldn’t be strong enough to move it. When moving day came it was just my wife, Ethan, and me to move it. Thankfully the LFS loaded everything into our SUV so we only had to carry them into the house. If you’re ever in the Dayton, Ohio area check out Gerbers Tropical Fish, they are an amazing store...more like a warehouse. Their staff is friendly and helpful. Finally, after a month, I got it home. It was just as heavy as I expected but we were able to get it into the house and where we wanted it. Here it is in the dining room where it will stay.

UmUoe7FfT0ZgK3BscSEtUiL5WRMAr8jvW8jQa0j_RLJlTDVf9mXbe2WLsrEd-NDpGwXXATbSBMI-IXB3KDVkJmgn0B7J5HgPfRh0RpT0txhL1xISZhYM8piwhdT0XXMDMfE8VVDO
This is absolutely amazing and hysterical and literally EVERYTHING!!!
I am beyond tickled to follow this post!

Unfortunately, I can't follow suit and donate plasma (or any blood for that matter) to make money for my reefing addiction.... I'm on the "no fly list" as my blood tried to kill a man once....

BUT, as an infusion nurse, I can't believe I didn't think about this sooner!!!!
 
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aws2266

aws2266

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I can’t believe your wife and kid helped you move a 120! My older brother helped me with mine and I could visibly see him struggling. He works out too! I’m just a monster no big deal for me…
Ha Ha Smile GIF by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

We got four suction handles and I took one end and the wife and boy took the other. I don't know if we could have gotten it further than we did. Almost a straight shot from the car to our dinning room. There's no way I'd attempt to move an aquarium that size without the suction cup handles. $40 to rent them overnight. Best money I ever spent.
 

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This is absolutely amazing and hysterical and literally EVERYTHING!!!
I am beyond tickled to follow this post!

Unfortunately, I can't follow suit and donate plasma (or any blood for that matter) to make money for my reefing addiction.... I'm on the "no fly list" as my blood tried to kill a man once....

BUT, as an infusion nurse, I can't believe I didn't think about this sooner!!!!
I'm O point of sale thus the world would drain me like dracula if they could!

To the op, did you decide your new stocking yet? Gonna run two tanks? And like I mentioned in your other thread, moving the 120 isn't TOO bad. My next size up (210g) I'm paying someone, lol. My near 50 year old back is catching up to me as of late, so the thought of moving aquariums much like couch beds is coming to a close.
 
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OrchidMiss

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I'm O point of sale this the world would drain me like dracula if they could!

To the op, did you decide your new stocking yet? Gonna run two tanks? And like I mentioned in your other thread, moving the 120 isn't TOO bad. My next size up (210g) I'm paying someone, lol. My near 50 year old back is catching up to me as of late, so the thought of moving aquariums much like couch beds is coming to a close.
I'm also O+, but I have high anti-A antigens apparently.
I used to donate every 56 days, until someone had a severe reaction and they traced it back to my blood.
So now I'm useless....
 
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aws2266

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I'm O point of sale thus the world would drain me like dracula if they could!

To the op, did you decide your new stocking yet? Gonna run two tanks? And like I mentioned in your other thread, moving the 120 isn't TOO bad. My next size up (210g) I'm paying someone, lol. My near 50 year old back is catching up to me as of late, so the thought of moving aquariums much like couch beds is coming to a close.
I'm slowly narrowing down my stocking list. Right now I'm looking to add a Foxfac lo, yellow coris wrasse, and another clownfish for sure. I really want a powder brown tang and a purple tang but the responsible side of me says not to. We'll see which side wins out. Once I have my stock moved from the 55g to the 120g, I'm going to use the 55 as a predator tank.

I feel ya on getting old. I'm 41 and my wife is 51, we contemplated hiring a couple big guys to move the aquarium for us. In the end, we thought we'd give it the old college try since the LFS was loading it and all we had to do was unload it. There's no way I would have attempted it without those suction cup handles. I'm missing a few fingers on my left hand so it's hard to get a good grip sometimes.
 
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aws2266

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This is absolutely amazing and hysterical and literally EVERYTHING!!!
I am beyond tickled to follow this post!

Unfortunately, I can't follow suit and donate plasma (or any blood for that matter) to make money for my reefing addiction.... I'm on the "no fly list" as my blood tried to kill a man once....

BUT, as an infusion nurse, I can't believe I didn't think about this sooner!!!!

That sucks. My wife can't donate either. She lived in England for a few years during the mad cow outbreak. I feel pretty fortunate I'm able to donate. It's been a trip though. The first place I went to donate had a bunch of people quit and basically shut down. The second place I went to wrecked my arm every time I went in to donate. They had issues finding my vein and I'd had to take a week or two off because of bruising. I almost stopped donating and gave up on this aquarium because of them. My arm would hurt from the process there. I decided to give it one last shot and went to a place a friend recommended. They are pros and get my vein on the first try. Found out my vein is a little crooked, once they account for that they have no issues finding it.

My hat is off to you for being a nurse. I can't imagine how rough it is to do your job and keep a smiling face for your patients.
 

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I'm slowly narrowing down my stocking list. Right now I'm looking to add a Foxfac lo, yellow coris wrasse, and another clownfish for sure. I really want a powder brown tang and a purple tang but the responsible side of me says not to. We'll see which side wins out. Once I have my stock moved from the 55g to the 120g, I'm going to use the 55 as a predator tank.

I feel ya on getting old. I'm 41 and my wife is 51, we contemplated hiring a couple big guys to move the aquarium for us. In the end, we thought we'd give it the old college try since the LFS was loading it and all we had to do was unload it. There's no way I would have attempted it without those suction cup handles. I'm missing a few fingers on my left hand so it's hard to get a good grip sometimes.
I love my Foxface Lo, he's a scarycat, but overall a good fish in the tank. I recently pulled the trigger on a PBT (Brown), got him/her from a fellow reefer @ work that was downsizing. It is a great fish to watch swim, but already a tail swatting nemesis.
 

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aws2266

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Cleaning this bad boy has been fun. I started out spraying a citric acid solution on everything and using a little elbow grease. Got me nowhere on the coralline algae. I ended up soaking the whole thing with a water and vinegar solution. Everything cleaned up after soaking for about 24hrs. I have the day off tomorrow so I'm gonna finish rinsing the sand and cleaning the sump.

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Spent today cleaning up the rest of the setup. Found the pump on the skimmer will need replaced. It’s a bubble magnus 5 and is barely working. My buddy Bellz decided to try and help but spent most of the time sleeping.

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That sucks. My wife can't donate either. She lived in England for a few years during the mad cow outbreak. I feel pretty fortunate I'm able to donate. It's been a trip though. The first place I went to donate had a bunch of people quit and basically shut down. The second place I went to wrecked my arm every time I went in to donate. They had issues finding my vein and I'd had to take a week or two off because of bruising. I almost stopped donating and gave up on this aquarium because of them. My arm would hurt from the process there. I decided to give it one last shot and went to a place a friend recommended. They are pros and get my vein on the first try. Found out my vein is a little crooked, once they account for that they have no issues finding it.

My hat is off to you for being a nurse. I can't imagine how rough it is to do your job and keep a smiling face for your patients.
Why have I never thought of this lol , I’m o- and I had to block LifeStream due to calling me like 10 times a day
 
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Picked up 100lbs of dry rock this morning and did some aquascaping with the boys. Pretty happy with the end result. Still waiting on my return pump or we’d be filling it up too.
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Time to get wet. My return pump came in last night and I've spent the morning hooking everything up. RO unit is hooked up and working its magic. We'll see how long it takes to fill this bad boy up.

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Big day yesterday. Started filling the 120g one 30g bin at a time. Had a big meeting at work so I was only able to make one, but today should be clear for me to finish filling it up. While getting ready to add salt to the mix my cat decided to take a dive. Normally the lid is on and they sit on it from time to time. She got a big surprise.

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The other big thing was I pulled the trigger on a powder brown tang. I was sitting at 70/20 on getting one but my wife showed me our LFS had them for $30 off with some small ones to choose from. To top it off she offered to get it for me as an early Christmas present. He's beautiful and has great personality. Until the 120g is ready he's hanging out in my 55g. I get it they shouldn't be in a tank that size, but he's a small young one and will only be in there till the 120g cycles. He's been at my LFS for at least a month in a tank smaller than a 55g. He's getting along with all the fish. My Stark's Damsel is afraid of him. Won't be on the same side of the tank and has been hiding in the rocks. Figure it's just getting used to each other. No signs of aggression, the tang appears to ignore the damsel.


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