120 Gallon Setup Has Begun

[synthesis]

I vote for new full tank shots

 

[marino420td]

As you requested.

Not the best shots but they are the latest ones I have. The second picture is the view from my favorite seat on the couch. The best seat in the house!

 

[Chaotic Reefer4u]

Marino, you have some awesome skills...keep up the good work!

 

[Mizer67]

Very nice. Great woodwork and rock work. Are those pictures with just the MH or MH and actinic? And are the colors in the pic fairly close to what you see in person? That is the lighting setup i was planning if I ever get around to my 120 so I'm curious. Thanks.

 

[marino420td]

These shots are with both MH and VHO's running. They are pretty close to the real color but I'm always playing around with my camera trying to get it exact. My closer shots in my 11/19 post above are dead on.

 

[supertech3]

Nice job, keep us updated with your new additions

 

[Greg manton]

the tank is looking good i wish i had a big enough tank for a naso props

 

[marino420td]

Unfortunately, the Naso got sucked onto the intake of my closed loop and died. I can't decide if I'll buy another and get a different tang. The tank is still a work in progress. I just discovered that some of my sps have redbugs.

 

[marino420td]

I finally got around to adding a simple auto top off to this system. Brute trash can to hold ro/di water connected to the sump equipped with a kent float valve. So far, seems to work great.

No pumps or electricity. Hopefully it will remain reliable. Sure beats manually topping off the sump every other day.

 

[marino420td]

Some updated pictures

Superman Frag I bought from a local reefer

Redbug corals

Full Tank Shot

 

[Mizer67]

Sorry to hear about your Naso. What a shame.

 

[marino420td]

Latest News:

Yesterday I added a Seio 1100 powerhead to get a little more flow in the tank. I keep reading on here that flow is the key with sps. I hate the way it looks but thought I would try it.

I have been adding Baking Soda dissolved in ro water to increasemy Alk. Level started at 2.5 meg/l and I now have it up to 3.66 meg/l. I want to get it up to 4meg/l.

I also bought a Phosban Reactor but haven't installed it yet. Not enough hours in the day.

No new livestock. But I did lose one of my anthias. It mysteriously disappeared! I have searched everywhere and can't find a trace. I'm beginning to think that I have a deadly hitchhiker but I have not seen one. But I have had many snails die, my Naso died and now an Anthias has disappeared.

 

[boydx6]

Your tank setup is awesome. Thank you for posting from the start-up to now. You have a tank that everyone else can only dream of having.

 

[jscarlata]

i don't even know what to say, i was mesmerized by this post, including the stand build post. for someone with only 2 years of reef experience you're sure as heck know what you are doing. I am sooo glad i read thru this post, as i'm slowly planning my 120 setup and you covered a lot of things that i wasn't sure of, so a big thanks to you from another beginner fwiw. I dont think i have the room to do everything as grand as what you have, but i'm going to try and mimick as much as possible. My tank is all going to be in a wet room with just a cutout in the wall for viewing. I guess my question is if you have all that room behind the tank in a spare area, why not put the whole tank in that room?

 

[marino420td]

Thanks for the compliments, jscarlata. I didn't build the tank into the wall because that is a load bearing wall in my basement. My house is two stories on top of that and I just did not want to get into cutting a hole into this wall. I would have preferred an in-wall setup but then I would not have built this nice stand. It all worked out.

Good luck with your setup.

 

[Lizard333]

Nice looking tank! I just got done reading the whole thread and am really impressed. Very nice job on the stand as well! Keep up the good work.

 

[marino420td]

Small Update

I bought a Phosban Reactor and haven't gotten it installed yet. End of the year is a really busy time for me at work. Throw in the holidays and the tank has not been a priority.

Plus I bought a large bucket of Seachem Phosguard to use but have now read where many reefers shy away from this stuff because it can leach something back into the tank. I need to investigate this more. I hope to have this installed and running this weekend.

I got a gift certificate to a local LFS for Christmas and I think I'm going to buy a Royal Blue Tang. The kids have been wanting one of these and they have a really nice one. But of course, I'll have to see what else they have before making the final decision.

On another note, I was lucky enough to win a $25 gift certificate from my local Petco by entering my 65 gal in a tank photo contest. Don't get me wrong, not much stiff competition but I'll take it. The only problem is the certificate is for fish only. I don't really like buying fish from Petco but I'll watch until they have a nice specimen. Here is a picture of that tank.

I still have redbugs in the big tank and finally got my hands on some interceptor. I hope to dip my corals this weekend to try to beat these things.

I also have a jelly-like, filmy substance on my return lines and rocks. I'm thinking it could be dino's but I'm not sure. I'll try to get some good pictures and post for advice.

This is a work in progress. Nobody said it would be easy.

 

[DrBDC]

Trick on fish from petco is to find out what day they recieve shipments. Then go there that morning and while they are still floating check them out and get it before it ever touches their water.

 

[jscarlata]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8841669#post8841669 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by marino420td
Thanks for the compliments, jscarlata. I didn't build the tank into the wall because that is a load bearing wall in my basement. My house is two stories on top of that and I just did not want to get into cutting a hole into this wall. I would have preferred an in-wall setup but then I would not have built this nice stand. It all worked out.

Good luck with your setup.

thanks! the stand is absolutley gorgeous, as i'm sure you've heard many times. I would love to do somethign like that, but it would take me too long and i know myself, at some point i'll make a mistake and have some water spillage, so i'd rather keep it all in the wet room, my house is old, and there are several drains in the concrete floor of the basement, so any spillage where the tank is going to be located will make its way to a drain and not ruin anything. besides which ther eis already a slop sink and easy access to all my plumbing so i can tap in and add a spigot right by the tank. Its also an unfinsished room, so no ceilings to worry about, so running electrical, circuits will be a no brainer.
anyway, i'm not trying to hijack your thread...once again, this thread has helped me in many ways, so again, thanks much for posting it all, i've learned a TON from your efforts.
john

 

[Cuby2k]

Yeah that's cool about the gift certificate from petco but be careful. I bought two clowns from them 2 weeks ago and placed them in isolation. I just buried the last one yesterday.

Never again.