New 180 Build - Mini Coop's Dream Tank

[dansreef]

Not sure yet. Probably glue some of it, but I don't know what to use. I got some purple epoxy from BRS, but I am not happy with it. I used it to put a couple pieces of branch back together, let it dry for 20 minutes, and they came right off still. Not sure if it was user error or what. Any suggestions would be great.

For some of my larger island.... I drilled some holes and then used some heavy duty black zip ties. These things are extremely strong. I then used a two-part beige colored epoxy. Probably the same stuff as you used...but different color. I then let it cure for a couple of days before attempting to move anything. The smaller island is dry stacked. I wanted some flexibility to rearrange that side of the tank. Of course... now the corals have fused some of the pieces after three years.

 

[Big G]

Not sure yet. Probably glue some of it, but I don't know what to use. I got some purple epoxy from BRS, but I am not happy with it. I used it to put a couple pieces of branch back together, let it dry for 20 minutes, and they came right off still. Not sure if it was user error or what. Any suggestions would be great.

Squirt onto rock Superglue gel + Apoxie sculpt + Superglue squirt onto other rock. Now squeeze the rocks together: spray with BSI (Bob Smith Ind) accelerator = instant rock hard setup.
I got both the Apoxie Sculpt (natural color) and BSI accelerator through Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0166FFCC...t=&hvlocphy=9033029&hvtargid=pla-311168498589
https://amazon.com/Apoxie-Sculpt-1-...ywords=apoxie+sculpt&psc=1&smid=AU2FNATHSFHNB

 

[Mini Coop]

Great Build thread! I was in this same place three years ago. I have a similar thread if you are interested....https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/dansreef-new-180-system.185817/page-2#post-4316729 I also struggled with my plumbing a bit. Fortunately there is another hobbyist that was a plumber that helped me out... we have become good friends.

I have two pieces of feedback for you:

a) in one of the pictures it shows what looks like a 20 gal glass tank that will hold your filter socks...that you have also drilled to drain into your sump. Correct me if I am wrong. You may want to drill another bulk head above the first one and install an emergency drain in case the first one clogs. It really shouldn't....but just a nice safety measure.

b) I like your rock scape. Are you planning to clean the back glass of your display? Some people are pretty OCD about keeping the back glass cleaned. Keep that in mind as you set your rock in the display. I have moved mine back towards the glass a bit... to give more open water up front. The fish... would sometimes dwell behind the rock.... where they cant be seen. At the same time, flow all around the rock is really good to have. Also... make sure to set the rock on the tank bottom... before putting your sand in. If you get gobies like I have, they will excavate the sand...which if your rock is not on the tank bottom...could cause rock to shift and tumble.

Great stuff. I am looking forward to seeing how your system progresses.

Thank you so much! This has been a very slow process but all worth it!! The sump is a 44 long. Good thought. That tank will only have filter socks and protein skimmer, so it shouldn't clog at all. I have an Apex, and will have an alarm if anything happens, but maybe I can come up with something just in case!

Thanks, I will check out your thread!! And yes - waiting to put my sand in until rocks are set!!

 

[cycled123]

I like your aquascape. My rocks are currently cycling (already have been cured for 6 weeks) so can't play with them. I picture a similar "scape" in my head and will be incorporating my current nano into it. I've been debating building an arch or using coral to close the gap. I have another few weeks to wait for my tank so am at a standstill. Hubby has a to do list though (build wall support in crawl space and silicone baffles into 75g sump) This is my build thread if you want to follow along.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/cycled123-nano-to-180g.339731/

 

[Mini Coop]

I had to share - they pick up on everything! My 4 year old, making his rockscape for the tank out of play dough.

 

[Flippers4pups]

My aquascape started with all dry Marco rock. It took so long for it to become "live" and get coraline algae, even though I had some "seed" live rock in there. I decided to pull out and place nearly half of the dry into the sump and replace it with "live". Once I did that, it took off.

The way I made my dry rock structures (the left side) was to Invision the way I wanted it to look, then took a masonary bit and drilled holes into each rock.

I then took fiberglass driveway makers and cut them into sticks and inserted them into the holes. Like a puzzle. Then taking quikrete hydraulic cement from HD, made small batches of cement and cemented the rocks with the rods in the rocks. Let the cement dry and then placed them (very carefully) into the tank.

The right side was all "live" rock. To keep it "live" I took it out wet, drilled it the same way and just used the fiberglass rods to stack it.

All worked very well. Sorry for the highjacking, just wanted to explain how I did my aquascape.

 

[Mini Coop]

My aquascape started with all dry Marco rock. It took so long for it to become "live" and get coraline algae, even though I had some "seed" live rock in there. I decided to pull out and place nearly half of the dry into the sump and replace it with "live". Once I did that, it took off.

The way I made my dry rock structures (the left side) was to Invision the way I wanted it to look, then took a masonary bit and drilled holes into each rock.

I then took fiberglass driveway makers and cut them into sticks and inserted them into the holes. Like a puzzle. Then taking quikrete hydraulic cement from HD, made small batches of cement and cemented the rocks with the rods in the rocks. Let the cement dry and then placed them (very carefully) into the tank.

The right side was all "live" rock. To keep it "live" I took it out wet, drilled it the same way and just used the fiberglass rods to stack it.

All worked very well. Sorry for the highjacking, just wanted to explain how I did my aquascape.

Not hijacking! I love it!! So thankful for your input. I am having a hard time now with patience. I want to get it up and running now that the plumbing is done. My 120 was just stacked. I had nothing connected, and it never fell. I was lucky I suppose. Trying to decide what I need to connect and what I don't. But I don't want it falling.

 

[Fudsey]

One suggestion, you will want your drains to end below the water line. If not, it will make a lot of noise and splash a lot. You don't need to make it permanent just put a coupling at the end and slide a short piece into the bottom, it will stay. At least mine have yet to fall out and have been running since September. That way you can remove it to change out socks

 

[Daniel Waters]

On your rock scape, you might want to consider having a few larger holes. I like doing this as it allows me to see through to the back glass, which adds a sense of depth for me. Secondly, the larger holes are great because fish will swim in and out of them, which I find more visually appealing and interesting. You may not be able to do this depending on your rocks and how they are supporting each other. Bonding some smaller pieces together might help where you might be able to remove some of the middle pieces. Or you could chisel out some large holes in some of the rocks. The size of the hole will depend on the type of fish you have. I have a purple tang that loves squeezing in and out of this one open area between two rocks. And all my tangs love having caves. These types of things can help create more sleeping areas for fish also.

 

[andy71]

Your rockwork layout looks great! (except for that odd branch there, lol )

 

[Mini Coop]

Your rockwork layout looks great! (except for that odd branch there, lol )

HAHA - thanks! I will open it up a little tomorrow and see what it looks like second go-around. But I do like the layout. Thanks for reading through my thread! I am excited to keep updating! I will probably get my branch out of the curing tank tomorrow just to get an idea of how it will really look - so stay tuned!

 

[Mini Coop]

QT water is mixing!!!!!!!!!! I will have the QT and the coral/invert QT set up by tomorrow. Just trying to find the SG from Liveaquaria. I ordered my first fish for QT tonight. I figure the tank will cycle for a while (unless I decide to do the big time bacteria thing, then it will still need to settle with just a few fish still) and they will QT for about 6 weeks or so.

I got a bonded pair of cardinals and a bonded pair of wheeler shrimp goby's with their red banded shrimp. My husband picked them out because they look like candy canes! lol. Not the goby's I expected to get but I like him having a say in some of the fish we get!
I will separate them from their shrimp for QT, but they will get back together soon!

 

[andy71]

HAHA - thanks! I will open it up a little tomorrow and see what it looks like second go-around. But I do like the layout. Thanks for reading through my thread! I am excited to keep updating! I will probably get my branch out of the curing tank tomorrow just to get an idea of how it will really look - so stay tuned!

It was fun seeing the progress, especially since I haven't seen much progress on my own build!

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say the right branch will look great there!

QT water is mixing!!!!!!!!!! I will have the QT and the coral/invert QT set up by tomorrow. Just trying to find the SG from Liveaquaria. I ordered my first fish for QT tonight. I figure the tank will cycle for a while (unless I decide to do the big time bacteria thing, then it will still need to settle with just a few fish still) and they will QT for about 6 weeks or so.

I got a bonded pair of cardinals and a bonded pair of wheeler shrimp goby's with their red banded shrimp. My husband picked them out because they look like candy canes! lol. Not the goby's I expected to get but I like him having a say in some of the fish we get!
I will separate them from their shrimp for QT, but they will get back together soon!

Fish on the way is exciting! That's awesome that you got some bonded pairs!

I think I'm going to start doing copper on day 1 in fish QT for those which aren't sensitive to it. I've had bad luck with new fish having velvet lately, and by the time they show symptoms, it's too late. You'll probably have better luck than me at liveaquaria though.

 

[andy71]

(I didn't get any of my fish at liveaquaria.)

 

[Mini Coop]

It was fun seeing the progress, especially since I haven't seen much progress on my own build!

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say the right branch will look great there!

HAHA - go out on a limb . .


Fish on the way is exciting! That's awesome that you got some bonded pairs!

I think I'm going to start doing copper on day 1 in fish QT for those which aren't sensitive to it. I've had bad luck with new fish having velvet lately, and by the time they show symptoms, it's too late. You'll probably have better luck than me at liveaquaria though.

I have had some bad luck with LFS livestock lately. I haven't tried Matt's Corals yet - the new place in Gahanna. Looks like a solid set up but I wanted to get my cardinals, and they aren't doing another order until the second week of January. So, I used my fish money with live aquaria. I usually let my fish hang in QT for 2-3 days before I start copper, then I get it to therapeutic levels over the course of 3-4 days. Sometimes I do Prazipro first - more for observation and see how they do with that treatment that is not as harsh first.

 

[andy71]

I have had some bad luck with LFS livestock lately. I haven't tried Matt's Corals yet - the new place in Gahanna. Looks like a solid set up but I wanted to get my cardinals, and they aren't doing another order until the second week of January. So, I used my fish money with live aquaria. I usually let my fish hang in QT for 2-3 days before I start copper, then I get it to therapeutic levels over the course of 3-4 days. Sometimes I do Prazipro first - more for observation and see how they do with that treatment that is not as harsh first.

Matt's Corals is great. I was just there a few weeks ago for the first time. I think every LFS is plagued by the same problem: the wholesalers and collectors have parasites in their system, and that results in parasites at the LFS. The LFS keeps the fish in hyposalinity or copper which prevents infection in the store, but then when they get back into normal salinity, the ugly truth comes out.

That sounds like a smart QT treatment approach.

 

[Philt56]

Someone suggested something similar to this for connecting rocks.
https://www.amazon.com/InstaMorph-Moldable-Plastic-6-oz/dp/B004MFLU4Y
Apparently there are different brands that are the same material. You put it in boiling water to soften into a gel, put it on the rocks and it quickly cools into a hard plastic. There was one thread on reef2reef about it also.

 

[Mini Coop]

Someone suggested something similar to this for connecting rocks.
https://www.amazon.com/InstaMorph-Moldable-Plastic-6-oz/dp/B004MFLU4Y
Apparently there are different brands that are the same material. You put it in boiling water to soften into a gel, put it on the rocks and it quickly cools into a hard plastic. There was one thread on reef2reef about it also.

That looks awesome. Do you think it’s ok with saltwater?? No bad effects over time?

 

[BigKid4788]

I have had some bad luck with LFS livestock lately. I haven't tried Matt's Corals yet - the new place in Gahanna. Looks like a solid set up but I wanted to get my cardinals, and they aren't doing another order until the second week of January. So, I used my fish money with live aquaria. I usually let my fish hang in QT for 2-3 days before I start copper, then I get it to therapeutic levels over the course of 3-4 days. Sometimes I do Prazipro first - more for observation and see how they do with that treatment that is not as harsh first.

Have you tried Reefsysyems coral farm? Great place for corals and has a small selection of fish. I purchased many corals from him in the past. Very helpful if you have questions. Service can be slow but its because he spends time with his customer. He also has a 900 gallon reef to look at while your waiting.
Good luck with your build!

 

[Mini Coop]

Have you tried Reefsysyems coral farm? Great place for corals and has a small selection of fish. I purchased many corals from him in the past. Very helpful if you have questions. Service can be slow but its because he spends time with his customer. He also has a 900 gallon reef to look at while your waiting.
Good luck with your build!

I am thinking about going there! Hopefully make a trip next week.