JCole's box of rocks
- Thread starter JCOLE
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Sounds like a great plan! All I’m going to say is my arms hurt just from thinking about washing that much sand lol
It is actually 8'x4'x2' but who's counting anyway
I spoke with them and they said they only the only ones in the industry to do double bonded seams and they will also round out the edges. Don't know about the double bonding but it sounds good at least.
I am going to talk with them today and see if they can send me pictures of some of the seams on their tanks.
Tell me about it and I just purchased another 120lbs of sand...smh. So make that 560lbs left to go
Going to look like this by next weekend!
LolTell me about it and I just purchased another 120lbs of sand...smh. So make that 560lbs left to go
Going to look like this by next weekend!
View attachment 32371401
Thanks for helping me with this. Never owned an Acrylic tank like this before so I don't know much about them. I reached out to the builder yesterday and asked him about the seams. He mentioned Museum quality seams before I even could. He said they use a 2 part epoxy and go heavy on the top and bottom seams and those won't be as nice but they are for strength and not looks. I will have sand and a canopy so I am not worried about those seams. He did say all side seams will be museum quality. I asked him to send me some examples and this is what he sent. What do you think?
So I am in quite the struggle here. Need some thoughts and opinions from everyone. I am contemplating tearing down the existing system and starting from scratch with the new tank. I originally wanted to plumb everything into my new 300 gallon sump for the next month or so and then move everything to the sump when the new tank gets here. However, I am having second thoughts and thinking of starting with a clean slate.
I used Vibrant twice in the past and for some reason, I just feel it is lingering in the tank and bound to the rocks. I also have Aiptasia and bubble algae. While they are controlled by fish and inverts, they are still there. I know that it is virtually impossible to stay clear of these forever but it would be nice to not introduce them from the start.
My dilemma is if I combine the systems now and use all of my existing rock with the new rock then I will jump start the diversity and not have to wait for the new system to cycle and establish bacteria, etc. On the other hand, starting from scratch will allow me to take my time with the new system and make sure everything is right and ready before adding what I want back into the system. I can add only the corals I really want in the system as well.
If I did start from scratch then when the time comes I am thinking of doing the following. Remove most corals from my rock work and place them in the sump or frag tank of my existing system. If corals are too big and have to remain on the rock then I will relocate the rock and coral to the 100 gallon sump on the existing system. There they will wait until the new system is ready for corals and then I will cut small to large frags of my existing corals to mount into the system. The remainder of the rock will be bleached and dried in the sun for future use down the road if needed.
What do you all think? Do I need to step away from the ledge and come back to reality?
I used Vibrant twice in the past and for some reason, I just feel it is lingering in the tank and bound to the rocks. I also have Aiptasia and bubble algae. While they are controlled by fish and inverts, they are still there. I know that it is virtually impossible to stay clear of these forever but it would be nice to not introduce them from the start.
My dilemma is if I combine the systems now and use all of my existing rock with the new rock then I will jump start the diversity and not have to wait for the new system to cycle and establish bacteria, etc. On the other hand, starting from scratch will allow me to take my time with the new system and make sure everything is right and ready before adding what I want back into the system. I can add only the corals I really want in the system as well.
If I did start from scratch then when the time comes I am thinking of doing the following. Remove most corals from my rock work and place them in the sump or frag tank of my existing system. If corals are too big and have to remain on the rock then I will relocate the rock and coral to the 100 gallon sump on the existing system. There they will wait until the new system is ready for corals and then I will cut small to large frags of my existing corals to mount into the system. The remainder of the rock will be bleached and dried in the sun for future use down the road if needed.
What do you all think? Do I need to step away from the ledge and come back to reality?
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with your thought process. I know there was a massive thread on another forum about how Vibrant is just algaefix rebranded. I never got into it as I never used the stuff but yea.
With that said, if you start from scratch, I can’t help but to suggest live rock. However, if cost is prohibitive due to tank size, it wouldn’t hurt to order a small batch of live rock to seed dry rock with all of the good bacteria.
Regarding corals, I don’t see an issue with the plan. I could only suggest if your only taking frags of existing colonies, to maybe try to sell out the rest, either to other hobbiest or the LFS instead of bleaching it out.
I hope this helps some!
With that said, if you start from scratch, I can’t help but to suggest live rock. However, if cost is prohibitive due to tank size, it wouldn’t hurt to order a small batch of live rock to seed dry rock with all of the good bacteria.
Regarding corals, I don’t see an issue with the plan. I could only suggest if your only taking frags of existing colonies, to maybe try to sell out the rest, either to other hobbiest or the LFS instead of bleaching it out.
I hope this helps some!
I am currently curing about 300lbs of dry rock in my 300 gallon sump. I have dumped a lot of bacteria including live mud and sand from IPSF and Aquabiomics. Hoping that will help jump start the diversity. I have another 120lbs of dry rock I need to wash up and start cooking. I plan to order some more as well. If I go all new dry rock then I think I will order more of the Live Mud and Sand to mix in with my sand when I start up the system.
I would only bleach the existing rock. All corals will either go into my existing sump/frag tank or it will go to other hobbyists for the future.
So much to kick around right now. Part of me wants to combine the system to get some stability right out of the gate and part of me wants to start fresh without introducing anything from the old system.
For sure. Good luck.
I know @jda had serious acro losses from using vibrant. I'm pretty sure he had success afterwards just stopping the product and not a total redo. Maybe I'm wrong about that. As for the rest I would definitely ditch any rocks that have aiptasia.
I think I am going to keep the rock. There doesn't seem to be a lot of info on whether Vibrant or Polyquats last a while in saltwater. I have been talking to some others and it is the consensus that once the polyquat is bound then it more than likely becomes inert. My corals for the most part and growing and I should be fine. I am just concerned that when I go to move the rocks and disturb them then it could release something into the water, etc. I am not concerned with the Aiptasia. My Copperband in an Aiptasia mowing machine. It should make short work of them in no time.
Yep. The fact RHF believes it is good enough for me.
My old sterilizer was leaking. I took it down to see if I could fix it. It had some nasty white crud in it.
I said forget it and bought a new one. I will need a new one anyways for the new system. It is the RK2 XFL5-150H. This thing is a beast!! Almost 79" long and 5" wide.
I said forget it and bought a new one. I will need a new one anyways for the new system. It is the RK2 XFL5-150H. This thing is a beast!! Almost 79" long and 5" wide.
Just precipitate from the heat of the bulb I would think.
Could be. It seemed like sediment(maybe detritus) and clay like from being pummeled by UV. Either way, I really needed to upgrade for the new build and this helped me make a quicker decision.
The distributor pulled a fast one and tried to charge me $689 to ship the UV sterilizer! Needless to say, I canceled that order. Turned out to be a good thing because I picked up a better UV sterilizer and decided to grab a beast of a Bioreactor as well.
I went with the Emperor Aquatics(Pentair) Smart HO 120 watt UV sterilizer. Still a beast and should be adequately sized for the new system.
Also, picked up a beast of a Bioreactor. It is the Bashsea 8-30 and this thing looks AMAZING! It allows the media to stay in suspension with air current at the bottom while allowing me to slow/speed up the water flow as needed. What's nice about this is I have full control over the nutrient load. If nutrients are low then I can open it up and speed the flow. If nutrients are low then just slow it down and let the bacteria go to work.
This is a video of their 8-24 model in action.
I went with the Emperor Aquatics(Pentair) Smart HO 120 watt UV sterilizer. Still a beast and should be adequately sized for the new system.
Also, picked up a beast of a Bioreactor. It is the Bashsea 8-30 and this thing looks AMAZING! It allows the media to stay in suspension with air current at the bottom while allowing me to slow/speed up the water flow as needed. What's nice about this is I have full control over the nutrient load. If nutrients are low then I can open it up and speed the flow. If nutrients are low then just slow it down and let the bacteria go to work.
This is a video of their 8-24 model in action.
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