The Coombomb

[rainsong]

I have decided to convert my planted freshwater tank to a saltwater tank. Here is a photo of the 145 gallon tank (with 40B sump). Over the past month, I sold the plants, the fish and the lights (except for 1).

 

[rainsong]

Polishing out the scratches on the acrylic tank when I have a chance .... long way to go and a lot of elbow grease ...

 

[rainsong]

Polishing complete ... or should I say ... I am done with polishing.

 

[rainsong]

Purchased and assembled a new Lifereef skimmer (svs2-24). Wet tested it in a 10 gallon tank with tap water.

 

[CMMorgan]

WOW! That was a stunning planted tank. If you can do that in fresh, I cannot wait to see what you do with a reef!!!

 

[rainsong]

Got the FijiCube baffle kit for my 40b sump. Installing the baffles was challenging for a couple of reasons. 1. The 40b was wider than the standard Aqueon tanks, so the baffles needed a lot more silicone to fill the gaps. 2. I had originally taken off the center brace of the cabinet to install the sump. The brace is screwed and bonded - so I did not want to take the brace off again. This meant I had to work on the baffles while the sump was in the cabinet.

The silicone application is untidy but I will be happy if it works. My first wet test was a failure and I had to dry out the sump and reapply more silicone. I hope to wet test again this weekend.

 

[rainsong]

Water change station complete. I plumbed the RODI inlet to the fresh water inlet of my water heater. This makes me kinda worried about coming home to a flooded garage some day.

 

[rainsong]

Worked on my reefscape this weekend. Marco rocks and www.gluemasters.com thin superglue. I purchased two 16 oz. bottles of the thin superglue .... only to find out later that the 16 oz. containers are thicker (100 cps) than the smaller bottles (05 cps) although they have the same labeling. The 100 cps glue was definitely more difficult to use ... it would tend to flow around Marco rock powder rather than through it. On the positive side, I did not have to deal with fumes and heat that others have mentioned. I purchased Quikrete hydraulic concrete from HD to supplement the joints. However, once I started working on this, I realized how hard it was to apply the cement and what a mess I was making. I gave up on using cement.

 

[rainsong]

 

[revhtree]

Can’t wait to see this progress!

 

[rainsong]

QT tank cycling. I used FritzZyme Turbostart 900 and it instantly started processing ammonia and converting it to Nitrite. I hope to see the rest of the cycle proceed quickly (but will wait and make sure). I have been researching sources for fish and have decided to order a pair of ORA clowns through LiveAquaria (fish are shipped directly from ORA). I have also started compiling my QT protocol based on online reading (very controversial!) and purchasing all the things required.

 

[rainsong]

Got 120 lbs of special grade Aragonite dry sand. Ended up using about 60 lbs. washed sand thoroughly and got it around the rocks.

 

[rainsong]

4 months in ... I assume this is the normal "ugly" phase?
(Photo taken with white light ... tank usually under blue).

 

[rainsong]

2 years later ... tank went through bubble algae, aiptasia, GHA/bryopsis ...
I just added a pair of Maxspect XF330s and that seems to have helped immensely. I am starting to see coral growth.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

2 years later ... tank went through bubble algae, aiptasia, GHA/bryopsis ...
I just added a pair of Maxspect XF330s and that seems to have helped immensely. I am starting to see coral growth.

Tank looks great!