120g Reboot and Fishroom (1 Viewer)

[flipside]

Hey everyone!

So, I think things have normalized enough in my life to start an actual fishroom this time. I'm basically just setting up the old tank in a room, with a lot of the old equipment. This will not be my main display tank, but it will serve to grow some sticks.

I wasn't going to do a build thread because... lord... My life has been up and down, and moving around, the past couple of years... but this time, I have some help while I'm not around to tend to things.

I actually started setting up the fishroom around mid-to-late March. Here's a video I did of the tank clean up: https://youtu.be/8Ig1WcJdrm4
Don't be too harsh on me! It was done with a camera and cheap editor app (which I'm still figuring out).

This tank will be barebottom (BB) because those that know me know that I've had better experiences with BB tanks. I "LOVE" the look of sandbeds, but they just never work for me.
Oh... Yup... did a video on what I chose to do, here: https://youtu.be/8Ig1WcJdrm4

When anyone reseals a tank, they always worry about the "leak test!" Here's my video of that: https://youtu.be/Tc_VafoAfIY

And finally, here's a video of salt water mixing in there. I think it took a few days to fill because we didn't want to leave it unattended for too long. This video show a few goodies I've added to the tank as well: https://youtu.be/zO1cCQxScxU

Few pearls of wisdom:

1. Yoga mats make great place mats for sumps... plus they are cheap!
2. Never leave old live rock outside under a trees. (LOL! Inside joke if maconbits reads this).
3. There is no generic substitute for good/new equipment.

To end on a great note, here's a few pictures from my FB page. These are taken with my phone, so the quality is no where near how they look in person:

There's a ritteri in there too, but he's being a butt.

 

[tinman]

You are in Sugar Land too?

 

[flipside]

Yes! Most of the time, I'm there. I'm in The Woodlands the other part of the time. This setup is in Sugar Land, though.

You're closer by! I may have to pick and pilfer when you're fraggin' man!

 

[Diesel]

Glad to see you back on the wagon again, Leo.

 

[tinman]

Yes! Most of the time, I'm there. I'm in The Woodlands the other part of the time. This setup is in Sugar Land, though.

You're closer by! I may have to pick and pilfer when you're fraggin' man!

I am always fraggin'

 

[Danrod2256]

Thanks for the update! I purchased a 210 gallon and was wondering what would be the best way to remove the calcium deposits. I used about 20 razor blades on the glass, but was unsure how to remove it from the black acrylic.

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[Diesel]

Thanks for the update! I purchased a 210 gallon and was wondering what would be the best way to remove the calcium deposits. I used about 20 razor blades on the glass, but was unsure how to remove it from the black acrylic.

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Welcome to marsh my friend.
That's a really good question and many of us can answer that but maybe it's better to start your own build thread as you'll get a lot more traffic for your specific questions.

 

[flipside]

Thanks for the update! I purchased a 210 gallon and was wondering what would be the best way to remove the calcium deposits. I used about 20 razor blades on the glass, but was unsure how to remove it from the black acrylic.

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Man.... we've all been there. My pleasure and thanks for following along.

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[RR-MAN]

You were never really gone but...welcome back Leo!!!

120/g makes a perfect reef tank. GL with it.

 

[d2mini]

You were never really gone but...welcome back Leo!!!

Who???????


ohhhhhh ya... you seem vaguely familiar.

Welcome back, sir.

 

[flipside]

Thanks guys! Feels good getting wet again!

So, here's some other shots I have of other items.

Just a bunch of Chinese pumps and my Ozone. This is just temporary. Still got a lot of things to do for the wiring.

I'm using the little skimmer to inject my O3 this time. I stuffed a sponge down the middle of the collection cup, and added a bunch of lignite carbon. I never smell it, but I'm keeping my ORP between 310-320 for now.

The fish so far are as follows:

2 Snowflake Clowns (saved at Petco)
2 Wyoming Whites Clowns from Lee
4 Chromis (Got from Andy, but started with 5)
2 Bangaii Cardinals (Got from Andy, but started with 3)
1 Goldrim/Whitecheek Tang
1 Standard Foxface
1 Standard Sailfin (saved at Petco)
2 Blood Red Fire Shrimp
1 Ritteri

I'll probably add a CUC later. I've had no algae issues whatsoever. I don't even need to clean the glass but once a week (if that).

I haven't needed the chiller because I added a portable AC to the room. Here's a picture of it:

Even running the ATI for 7-8 hours a day, the temps stay, on average, 77 degrees.

 

[FarmerTy]

That setup looks great! Did you run ozone on your last tank? I've always been open to running it but never had to up to this point.

 

[below radar]

Setup is looking good! Really hope to have a fish room in my next house.

 

[flipside]

Hiya Ty!

I didn't use it last time, and I had algae issues galore. This time I'm trying a different method of dosing the O3, but the result will be the same.
I'm used-to using Ozotech's, with dryers, pumps, and reactors. I typically DIY'd the reactors and dryers. I decided to try this "bulb" type ozonizer, based on a recommendation from a friend of mine that lives on a farm in Ohio. He used this exact ozonizer on his well water.

So far, I'm pretty impressed with it. Time will tell, but I've yet to see any hair algae, and doubt I'll see any cyano.

Oh, and thanks for stopping by my thread and see ya' Saturday.

 

[FarmerTy]

Nice! Let me know what you think about it after some use. I'm been on the fence for a long time about diving in with ozone. I don't think it'll take much to convince me to run it but always curious about people's experience with it.

The frags look great by the way and ready for their new homes. I'm looking forward to meeting you and all the other reef nerds this Saturday!

 

[flipside]

It was nice meeting you and your wife, Ty. Though, I didn't have much time to talk shop... or talk much. Sorry about that. I'm usually a chatterbox, but I had to meet Tin for some other frags I wanted. Pleasure, and thanks for the hookup! Next time, I'll drive to you because I really need me a Wahoo's Outer Reef Burrito and a couple of double-doubles with animal fries from In-and-Out. LOL!

Tin, always a pleasure man! Your setup has the fattest fish I've seen in the Houston area, by far! I had no idea that cardinals got that big! My tank is loving the corals, and they settled the "best" out of all the corals I got this weekend. Could be that they are all softies.

Andre, you're tank was amazing, too! I like that your approach is very similar to what I'm used to seeing, and your colonies speak for themselves!

So, yeah... Saturday was a long day. I clocked over 300 miles on my truck (loving the ecodiesel) and scored over 40 corals. Tinman, ATXAcroFarmer, and PSXerholic... Thanks guys!

Hmmm... wonder if I should start dosing now. LOL

 

[FarmerTy]

It's like Christmas in May! No worries at all, it was hectic for me as well. That's why they have awesome forums like this that we can all chat the day away and try to avoid work with.

 

[flipside]

LOL! What's funny is, I still need about 40 more corals to get it where I need to be. I'll be doing blastos, acans, zoas, brains, lobos, etc... on the floor. May see if I can get some chalices to grow down there, as well as monticaps. The bennies of running BB. Anyway, you're a good man. I appreciate the honest (and more than generous) deal you gave me for mass buying.

Oh, forgot to mention that I'm getting weird readings from my ozonizer, here lately. My tank went a couple of days without running the skimmer. I did this on purpose because I needed more nitrate and phosphates. Well, for some reason, my ORP can't get back up to it's normal levels anymore. I was aiming for 315-325 to be on the safe side (I always aim low, at first), and now I can barely get up to 270. I ordered a new bulb and a new lab grade probe from Neptune. I used a BRS lab grade probe this last time (first time), and I'm still unclear if it's the ozonizer's bulb ($62) or the probe ($90). I'll report back when I figure it out.

I made a frag rack to hold all the new buys until I feel comfortable with placing them in their permanent homes. So far, I see polyps on all, but I am getting some moodiness from the "harder to grow" corals. We'll just have to see.

 

[FarmerTy]

I appreciate the kind words sir and happy to do business with you anytime.

What has your pH done during this time when the skimmer has been off and your ORP has been dropping?

 

[flipside]

False alarm man. It's back to normal again. I have no idea what that was about, but I'm assuming my ORP was re-stabilizing. They say it can take up to a week for that. Either way, my numbers are spot on again. Weird...

In other news, Tinman forced me to come over to his house and get more coral! 8 pieces to be exact (small colonies, really). My poor tank.

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