Aaron’s 120 Journey

arichmond1003 · Feb 18, 2020

Hey guys, I wanted to start a thread of my build to show and share me progress, as well as any tips or suggestions that you guys might have as my tank grows and matures. My goal for the tank is a reef setup, full of different corals, fish, and inverts.
Here’s my list of equipment/materials that I’ve used so far:
Main Tank:
120g no name tank. 4’x2’x2’ with dual overflows
2 IceCap 3k gyres
Simplicity 1600 DC Return Pump
Cobalt Mini-MJ 404 Water Pump
Reef Octopus eSsence S-130 Protein Skimmer
Jager Truetemp 250w Heater
Neptune Apex
ATI Sunpower 48” 8x54w
Reef Brite Lumi Lite Blue Actinic LED Strip 48”
Reef Brite Actinic Blue XHO LED Strip 48”
Cooling Fans for Hood
No Name Acrylic Sump
No Name Acrylic Ato Reservoir
PVC for Plumbing
About 90 lbs of rock
5 bags of Bahamas Oolite Sand
Red Sea Sea Salt
Quarantine Tank:
Bubble Magus QQ1 HOB Skimmer
Aqua Clear 50 HOB Filter
Jager Truetemp 75w Heater
Copper Power
Other Misc. Materials:
2 Brute 50gal trash cans
MJ 1200 Pump
BRS 5 Stage RODI
Tubing for Water Changes

I’m sure I’m missing a few things but that was the start! Everything that I’ve purchased is used except for the trash cans, protein skimmer(the one that came with the sump crapped out), the 2 small pumps, rock, and sand. All in all I’d say I have about $1000 invested so far MAX. No the tank and stand aren’t the best quality but it definitely doesn’t look bad. I couldn’t have done this build without my brother, a valued member on here. He brought the tank and a bunch of equipment up from Florida to Alabama.
Wish me luck!

Peace River · Feb 18, 2020

Great dimensions for the main tank! I also just bought a Reef Octopus Essence 130 skimmer. It looks like you are off to a really good start - good luck!

Fishfinder · Feb 18, 2020

Hey buddy. I didn’t know we had pictures of all this going down. You’ll be there in no time. Coral next week

arichmond1003 · Feb 20, 2020

Update on the tank!
I did make the first post kinda late, not going to lie. But here we are:
It’s of today I’ve had 4 fish in the tank for a week. I have 2 Black and White Ocellaris Clownfish and 2 Wheeler's Shrimp Gobys. They went through a 2 week quarantine using copper power while the tank was settling in and running some kinks out of it. I blew a ballast, thanks to heat in the hood so I added fans for heat exhaust, and my original protein skimmer I had took a dump. That’s when I ordered the essence. That’s what happens when you buy everything used I guess ‍

While the fish where in quarantine I didn’t add anything to the display, I just moved Powerheads around to limit the sand kicking up and basically made sure all of the equipment worked as it should. The day I dropped the fish in I added enough Dr. Tim’s One and Only for a 60 gallon tank. Why 60 when I have a 120? Well I after discussing it with my brother I didn’t want to add so much bacteria to a tank with zero food in it to break down, I didn’t want to start a bloom. I also added a hand full of various snails and crabs, I chose red leg and dwarf blue leg hermits as well as Banded Trochus, Super Nassarius, Ana two Mexican Turbo snails.
Everything in the tank remains alive and happy. Fish are extremely active, eating a ton, and very social. It’s just time to raise that NO3 and PO4 for some corals!
Oh, there’s also two other fish in quarantine, but those pics will come soon.

arichmond1003 · Feb 27, 2020

Two weeks ago today I put 4 fish in the tank and they are doing great! No3 is still low but PO4 is climbing, probably due to leaching from the new rock.... water changes should help.
BUT, I came home yesterday to eggs on my glass witch I awesome.

Also, my two tangs go in this weekend!
Happy reefing!

Fishfinder · Feb 27, 2020

Love the gobies. That water is crystal clear

arichmond1003 · Mar 6, 2020

Tank update!
6 weeks into the tank and here’s where I’m at:
6 healthy happy fish, I added two tangs. I put a white tail bristletooth and a yellow tang in the tank.

I also placed frags that I brought home from Florida while visiting, in total. I’ll post up pics tomorrow or the next day as they open up and become happy corals again.
Happy reefing!

arichmond1003 · Apr 7, 2020

Hey guys been a while sense my last tank update... working retail with this virus has been no fun, but thankful to still be working. This post is going to be relatively long so bare with me...
After introducing corals and struggling to get nutrients into the tank I bought some more fish, currently in qt. I’m seeing growth from my zoas, lost my birds of paradise, everything else is alive, but struggling. I lost a Clown fish due to a freak accident but all of my other fish are happy and healthy.
I did find an issue with my tank, I don’t know why or how but my salinity fell to 25 or 1.018 specific gravity. Im unsure of why or how, I did one water change about 2 months ago and I typically check my salinity weekly when I test water. I’m thinking my skimmer is eating it, but lesson learned and I’ll be monitoring it daily. Pics to come soon!

Mastiffsrule · Apr 10, 2020

Happy Friday night, builds looking good. Nice to have family to help.

keep us posted

arichmond1003 · Apr 10, 2020

Here are some pics from about a month in with coral, before salinity crashed.

Salinity is about halfway there...
Zoas are back to growing but slowly, sps minus the Acros are bleaching and that makes me think it might be a lighting/placement/nutrient issue and my Euphyllia is retraced A LOT. Yes my nutrients are very low I don’t have enough fish in the tank, but because only half of my sps is bleaching it’s making me think it’s a lighting issue. Ideas? Comments appreciated!

arichmond1003 · Apr 15, 2020

Hey guys! New additions where added to the display a few days ago, wanted I make sure they where happy and healthy after coming out of QT before posting. We added a Kaudern's Cardinal, has 2 but one was lost in QT, and a pair of Azure Damselfish.

I also picked up a few fish from my lfs today to start a new QT. We picked up a Royal Gamma, Black Ocellaris, Christmas Wrasse, and a McCosker's Wrasse. The lfs was trying to convince me to get a dwarf angel...they’re so pretty but I don’t know if I want to take the chance with my coral....