ZJedi's 120g Build
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ZJedi945
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Thanks!
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ZJedi945
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Today was part 1 of 3... the tear down of my 65 gallon. I have to say it is pretty sad to see it being tore apart. I mean just 4 or 5 years ago I started it up as my first tank. I really never had a major issue with it, which for a newb is a pretty awesome thing. I just hope that same luck I had with it transfers to the 120. I am thinking about keeping it but idk.
On to the photos!
I didn't think about getting photos until I had all the fish out and most of the water. Sorry about that :/
First photo is of my "holding" tank... haha not many people say they are using a RedSea C250 for a holding tank hahahahaha. Anyway there is a pretty cool story behind how I got that tank. After I set up the 65 I was looking around at "extras" on CraigsList I could add on, mostly a skimmer. So one day I found what I thought would be a great skimmer and called the guy to see if I could come take a look at it. Luckily he was in the town I live in so I hurried on over and found that the skimmer was junk. BUT he was just cleaning up the RedSea to post on CL. So I asked how much and he said 300.... SOLD THANK YOU SIR! Haha I have had it for 4 years and never had fish in it till today. :) It did need some work... both pumps need replaced, new cooling fans and new t5's. Still to this day I will never get rid of it. Such a great looking tank!
ANYWAY I did find the worst job that needs to be done while moving a tank. Removing the sand sucks! I didn't think it would wore me out like it did. I also saved as many snails as I could. I was surprised on how few I could find. I guess they die off pretty quickly. That and I know there were a lot on the rock I removed.
Speaking of rock I added about 30 pounds of Pukani that I got from my LFS. That stuff is awesome! I was surprised on how little it weight compared to the size of the rock. The Fiji and base rock I removed was SO heavy for smaller rocks. Tomorrow should be where the real fun starts.... moving the new tank into place and loading it up.
For a 'scape I watched the John Ciotti MACNA video from a few years ago to learn a few thing. A lot was pretty neat. I mean I have a film degree on my wall so I knew about some of it. So along with that I have been thinking of some things. Not totally sure what I am going to do but we will see. I am still looking for some inspiration so any suggestions?
On to the photos!
I didn't think about getting photos until I had all the fish out and most of the water. Sorry about that :/
First photo is of my "holding" tank... haha not many people say they are using a RedSea C250 for a holding tank hahahahaha. Anyway there is a pretty cool story behind how I got that tank. After I set up the 65 I was looking around at "extras" on CraigsList I could add on, mostly a skimmer. So one day I found what I thought would be a great skimmer and called the guy to see if I could come take a look at it. Luckily he was in the town I live in so I hurried on over and found that the skimmer was junk. BUT he was just cleaning up the RedSea to post on CL. So I asked how much and he said 300.... SOLD THANK YOU SIR! Haha I have had it for 4 years and never had fish in it till today. :) It did need some work... both pumps need replaced, new cooling fans and new t5's. Still to this day I will never get rid of it. Such a great looking tank!
ANYWAY I did find the worst job that needs to be done while moving a tank. Removing the sand sucks! I didn't think it would wore me out like it did. I also saved as many snails as I could. I was surprised on how few I could find. I guess they die off pretty quickly. That and I know there were a lot on the rock I removed.
Speaking of rock I added about 30 pounds of Pukani that I got from my LFS. That stuff is awesome! I was surprised on how little it weight compared to the size of the rock. The Fiji and base rock I removed was SO heavy for smaller rocks. Tomorrow should be where the real fun starts.... moving the new tank into place and loading it up.
For a 'scape I watched the John Ciotti MACNA video from a few years ago to learn a few thing. A lot was pretty neat. I mean I have a film degree on my wall so I knew about some of it. So along with that I have been thinking of some things. Not totally sure what I am going to do but we will see. I am still looking for some inspiration so any suggestions?
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ZJedi945
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I twas all fun and games before this happened. Sorry the link to the other post will have to do. ICK what a 2 days it has been. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/emergency-cracking-bracing.257480/
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ZJedi945
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Well it's Thursday and I went to pick up the new tank. I do have to say one thing... all Petland locations are not the same, this one is in North Huntington, PA. I mean they had a awesome custom 220 filled with tangs! Blue hippos, Yellow, Sailfin and Scopas if you were wondering. Kurt and his team there were super helpful on ordering and loading this tank.
Tonight I do all of the prep work. AKA drilling, putting the black back on, installing the overflow box and plumbing it. Ah crap as soon as I said that I forgot I need to head to lowes to get unions..... Well gives me something to do while I wait for the silicon to cure for the overflow.
Tonight I do all of the prep work. AKA drilling, putting the black back on, installing the overflow box and plumbing it. Ah crap as soon as I said that I forgot I need to head to lowes to get unions..... Well gives me something to do while I wait for the silicon to cure for the overflow.
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ZJedi945
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Well I got the holes drilled.... First off it took about and hour and a half to drill 3 holes. All of these videos on showing how to drill are ether wrong or I had the dullest bit on the planet. Second I will finish the prep work tomorrow and do the switch Saturday. I will try and document the steps for the prep work a bit better since I did not show these before.
PS: This little drill press attachment.... buy one if you need to drill a tank. $25 on amazon....
PS: This little drill press attachment.... buy one if you need to drill a tank. $25 on amazon....
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ZJedi945
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I was able to finish the prep work for the tank. Surprisingly it did not take as long as I thought it would.
Since my side thing is vinyl decals I have tons of it laying around. So I used some black vinyl to cover the back and side of the tank. I have never had an issue with it and only takes about 30 minutes to be totally ready to go. Waiting for paint to dry sucks. :P
The hardest part today was installing the overflow box. Special thanks to @hybridazn to giving me a height to go off of. I am about 1.5 inches down from the black plastic trim. I did apply a lot of silicon around the return loc-line if you were wondering.
Pro-tip: If you are using aquarium silicon do it in a well ventilated area. It isn't like normal stuff (GE silicon 1), there are some bad fumes that come off of it.
Since my side thing is vinyl decals I have tons of it laying around. So I used some black vinyl to cover the back and side of the tank. I have never had an issue with it and only takes about 30 minutes to be totally ready to go. Waiting for paint to dry sucks. :P
The hardest part today was installing the overflow box. Special thanks to @hybridazn to giving me a height to go off of. I am about 1.5 inches down from the black plastic trim. I did apply a lot of silicon around the return loc-line if you were wondering.
Pro-tip: If you are using aquarium silicon do it in a well ventilated area. It isn't like normal stuff (GE silicon 1), there are some bad fumes that come off of it.
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ZJedi945
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HA I already switched out the black velcro for 3m double lock. It is a HUGE improvement and I can see it lasting for a long long time.
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ZJedi945
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Upgrade Day Redux!
So for the second Saturday in a row I am upgrading to a 120.... weird. Feels like I just did all of this. One thing is for certain. The rock work and everything else is clicking this time! I guess last Saturday was a practice round.
I am MUCH happier with the rockscape this time. I find it amazing using the same rock what you can come up with. The first time was a big blob... this time I have a nice cave system running through the whole 'scape. I will show that once the water clears up.
Added more sand this time since I had a bag of OceanDirect laying around from my first build. Since it was SUPER FINE oolite I used it as the base after I placed the egg crate down. So that brings the sand total to around 180lbs.
So for the second Saturday in a row I am upgrading to a 120.... weird. Feels like I just did all of this. One thing is for certain. The rock work and everything else is clicking this time! I guess last Saturday was a practice round.
I am MUCH happier with the rockscape this time. I find it amazing using the same rock what you can come up with. The first time was a big blob... this time I have a nice cave system running through the whole 'scape. I will show that once the water clears up.
Added more sand this time since I had a bag of OceanDirect laying around from my first build. Since it was SUPER FINE oolite I used it as the base after I placed the egg crate down. So that brings the sand total to around 180lbs.
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ZJedi945
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Thank you! Yeah I had to get this thing up and running as fast as possible since I tore down my old tank.
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Big thanks for the compliment! There is a huge cave running through the center of the rock. I might down the road order some Pukani from BRS and cure it to add more on the top. I will take some better photos once the water clears and I have the lights on it.
Here is a photo of the "old" (last weekends) 'scape.... New one is soooooooooooooo much better!
ReefQueen
Amphiprion Admirer
Everything turned out awesome! The "new" scape is great too:) I agree with the new petland, it is a nice one. Hopefully it stays that way! Are you planning on adding another radion?
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