Diary of my 120

[ReeferRob]

Thought it would be fun to keep a little diary of my future 120.
It sbeen around the basement for just under a year I think? I actually found the tank on the curb! Thats right on the curb.
I finally have an excuse to put it up now, whic is awsome.

My good buddy is taking a job promotion in Chicago and is un able to take the tank with him as he will be living in a tiny appartment for about a year.

He has some truely spectacular pieces that he and I are just unwilling to let go. SO I convinced him to help me set up this 120 to house his corals and fish that are bursting out of a 55.

The plans are to build a stand in my basement that will hold the 120 plus a 30 gallon frag tank, both plumbed into a 55 gallon refugium.

PHASE 1: Clean and inspect tank fro damage and check that it holds water.
This morning using a solution of white vinegar and water I scrapped the insides clean with a razor blade. Being extremely cautious of the silicone to be sure not to damage it. After rinsing the tank I then brought the outside hose down to the basement to fill it before I left for work. I didn't have any news papers to put under it so I used an old bathroom rug to set it on, not only to protect it from the cement, but also to see if and where it was leaking from. Here are a few poor pics, more to come as the project evolves!

Shot of the tank on end scrapping.

Shot filling.

A supervisors inspection.

Full.

 

[143gadgets]

Nice! Can't wait to see it up and running. What are your plans for the tank?

 

[ReeferRob]

Plans...........an endless list. But as far as what we will keep:
he has a massive white bubble unlike anything I have ever seen anywhere. A huge green wall hammer, some spawns, and a massive anemone. He has a Dejardini Tang, two fire fish, a six line, a clown, and a yellow and green clown goby.
New additions will hopefully be a Powder Blue Tang for sure, and another tang yet to be decided or a Niger Trig. Hell the fish list changes by the minute. :hammer:
As for coral mainly LPS, ricordea, and zoos and palys. Mainly big colonies I am sick of putting frags in big tanks and waiting, although fun and rewarding. This time around it will be larger mature colonies.:marv

 

[ReeferRob]

:horse: :horse: :horse: :horse: :horse: :horse: :horse: :horse:
This is what I want to do to my buddy. He decided against our long thought out plans. After all the hard work, time, and my own money. He decided to sell everything to one of his buddies who is converting his pred tank to a reef tank. The same buddy who hasn't been able to keep a single fish alive for more that two weeks, and has been trying for like a year or more. Sold it for a retarded price, which totally infuriates me. I already have over six hundred of my own dollars into this baby sitting project for my supposed friend. He didn't even offer it to me to purchase, just told me to forget about it. Man am I ticked, all I needed was sand some rock, cause we already or I already purchase like 50 pounds and a Mag 12 pump. Some odds and ends like loc-line an overflow and a heater. Only if he told me two days ago, I just ordered my 48" Aquatinic TX5 light, for my tank, which I could have put towards the "Dream 120"
Thanks for listening to my rant.
ReeferRob

 

[ficklefins]

That stinks! Here, give your buddy a few from me too!

 

[ReeferRob]

Okay semi good news. I am not too exited yet cause he could still change his mind again, but wwe are going through with the plans!!!!!

So my major question is, if we were to take everything he has and put it in the 120 how much or if at all of a cycle would there be?

A little history quickly, he has a 55 gallon (which will become the refugium) a three inch sand bed and between 60 and 70 pounds of live rock. System up for over three years.

OR........do we need to get like 60 pounds of sand and some rock now do a mini cycle then add all his stuff? Which would slowly be added anyway as cash becomes more available.

Please I need everyones input, please do not leave without leaving your opinion.
Thanks CZ
ReeferRob

 

[kharn101]

Sweet tank buddy

 

[revhtree]

I think if you add what he has now to the tank, all the water, LR, and sand you will get little to no cycle at all. This is what i would do.

 

[ReeferRob]

Thanks rev thats what I wanted to hear. But I am still looking for others input.
Thanks everyone.

 

[fishes2889]

Lookin good.

There might be a slight spike but i dont see any BIG cycle happening. You should add more LR though.

 

[ficklefins]

When I first started I purchased by rock off someone who was getting out of the hobby. My tank already had sand, and about 5lbs of LR in it at that time (to start life in the tank). I purchased the rock and brought it home and dropped it right in the tank. Things went well and I don't think I had a cycle at all, at least the parameters did not go crazy. A slight increase in ammonia and nitrates/ites but nothing like what you would find during a tank cycle.

BTW, Glad to see it holds water!

If I were you I would go in the following order.

Sand
Rock
Water... very....slowly. This will reduce the chance of a sand storm which wouldn't last long anyways because you have good rock. Good luck and keep those pics coming!

 

[Azurel]

I think I would set up one with out your buddy, this way if he changes his mind again it won't effect you and your tank and buy the corals you want if he will sell them to you. THis way you won't have that problem again. I don't think if you added everything from his tank to yours including water you would have much of a spike at all.

 

[ReeferRob]

Im thinking that we will not disturbe the sand bed in his show 55 which will become the new refugium avoiding any amonia spikes and cloudyness?
We will probably need to go bare bottom on the show for a little while.
Of course we will be able to seed the rock with strong pieces from both his and mine. I have tons of chaeto just waiting to get in there.

I can't wait to get his bubble in my house. It is the most amazing bubble ever and is absolutly enormous. It is waiting to explode and this new home will allow it to do so and thrive once again. I can't wait to post pictures of this thing!! I have never seen anything like it before. Then again build it up and it no big deal? I guess will have to wait a while and see how things pan out.

 

[ReeferRob]

Okay, plans are changing yet again.

The news from tonight is that the tank is straight up being given to me. :marv No investment help from him, just the hopes that one day I will sell some of his corals back to him when he is settled and ready to accept.
This causes a few problems
1 How to pay for the wood to build the stand and plumbing?
2 How to pay the electic bill and salt and bulbs and everything?

The answers to these questions are grilling me. My boss says he has tons of wood at his house and I am welcome to it. Secondly a fellow employees father works at Home Depot. Not much help since they don't give their employees any discounts at all. But he also being a fixer uper type of guy, supposedly has lots of wood I can use.

If not this stuff really isn't that expensive but man have I dumped a ton of loot into my own 55 this month as it is. Its hard to justify it to my fiance. But I always say "Its easier to get forgiveness than it is to get permission":hammer: :hammer:


I also stripped down my mountain bike and am selling all my mint XTR parts on ebay. I used to be fortunate enough to ride four days a week. But after having a kid three almost for years ago where is the time to leave the house? Plus a $4,000 dollar mountain bike to pull a kiddie trailer back and forth to the park is just rediculous.
A
s for the electric bill thing and salt and stuff.
I hate to think about it, but I might have to break my 55 down and combine into one. Cutting down on electricity sort of. Not really cutting down but one big tank is easier to justify than two.
I think that when I do build the stand I will build it extra big to accomodate a 30 gallon tank I have and turn it in to a frag tank to possibly help offset the cost of this monster. Like salt and bulbs and food. Of course plumbing it all together.
Its hard to consider this option as I told my self I will never ever break down or sell my first reef tank. Kinda sentimental thing. But I may have to bite the bullet.
Thanks for listening it always help to get your thought out of your head and clear it up a little.

 

[ReeferRob]

Todays Updates

Well I scored some wood from a buddie! A little favor for a favor type thing. Being a bicycle mechanic by trade he needed some work on his bike. So instead of doing it at work and giving my boss the money I did it on the side.
Just a little hydro disc brake bleed, a hub adjust and some other odds and ends. In trade he brought me 4 8' 4x4's and 8 8' 2x4's! With that and some plywood from some other projects the build off began this swelltering hot day just after water changes to my 55 and my buddies 55 accross town.
This little deal scored me some brownie points with the little lady since I am "not allowed to spend a dime or buy anything for any tank for a long time" so she says.

So after completely saturating my shirt, two hats, and my shorts in this hellish heat the stand is done, up, and leveled. Done as in assembled, not done as in painted, paneled, and doors. But its up!!!
The tank is filled brought a couple nuggets of rock from by buddies tank with the water from the change and added it to the tank. Not sure if this will help but it probably will not harm anything by adding a few pounds. I just wanted to make sure not to take too much from his system and cause a weird reaction.

On to the pictures...................oh ya camera not here.
Stay tuned for updates tonight when she gets home.

 

[ReeferRob]

Assembly Day!

First a rough copy of the plan of what is going to go down. A 120 gallon show, a 30 gallon frag tank, and 55 gallone refugium.

Time to cut some wood.

Now the wood is all cut, time to haul it into the basement and screw it all together.

Just screwed my last screw.

Now time to get the tank up there and get it filled and everything leveled.

Finally done time to take myself to the store and get a slurrpy!!

 

[ReeferRob]

Sorry I had to share this photo because it is too cute. I was freakin out for a minute. I couldn't find the pup he wouldn't come when I called him. I thought he slipped under the fence again. I was freakin then out of the corner of my eye I saw the slide wiggle. And there he was cooling off. The funny thing is that I haven't shown him the water yet as a fun place to play and cool off. Smart little man found the cool shady spot in the pool:hammer:

 

[ReeferRob]

Updates7/19

This week there has been some major progress!!!! This project is coming along quicker than I had expected. Changes, changes, changes. The electrical layout and the plumbing layout has changed from the above drawing. I would share it but its in my head.
Gotta love Ebay, broke down my mountain bike like I was thinking and have been selling off parts to pay for this project.
Tuesday I added 90 pounds of sand and 10 pounds of live rock. Oh and three Cromis to kinda help speed things along. Just in case your curious these were in the main plan to have anyway as they are great community fish. They help let the other fish in the tank know when it is safe to come out of hidding and help eat up all the scraps. So don't get worried people I am not one of those cycle and toss guys. i also bought a Mag 12 pump, hope its enough??
Wednesday bought and did a little pre plumbing as it can not be finished until the refugium is up.
Wednesday I also ordered a skimmer, a bigger overflow box, a few gadgets, big old bucket of charcoal plus bags, Tech I, Prime, Reef-Roids and so on.
Today I added another 20 pounds of live rock and added the thirty gallon frag tank with sand.
I built a shelf for a 10 gallon sump of fresh top off water, and a box for the fuge to sit on so it is easier to level when it gets here.
I added a little more crown molding to the stand aswell. Finishing the stand is the very last thing on the list to do, but I had the saw out and there is alot of crown molding left in the garage from when I did the kitchen!
Here are a few pictures of the progess, many more to come in the next two to three days. Waiting on UPS.
Plumbing fun.

 

[MarvinsReef]

looking good..

 

[ReeferRob]

Some new toys showd up while I was at work today!
Things are coming along quickly now! What do you guys think, should I mod the skimmer and put a gate valve on there?
The thing didn't even come with a manual, how do I adjust the thing?
The overflow has two bulkheads, should I keep them seperate? If I join them somewhere it would slow the drain right?