Let's Plan a 120g Upgrade

Hi! You're a girl? WOOOHOOO! I know what you mean about being the only girls. I know of one other one. Nanogurl. I understand what you mean about being the only ones on the board. I feel like that sometimes too. It's nice to find other girls that share the same interests. My boyfriend doesn't really like the reef like me. He doesn't understand about the corals. He likes the fish, but not the corals. LOL. Oh that's awesome that you will cure the rock in the 120 first. That is great.
Are niger triggers reef safe? Oooh they are so beautiful! I love the way they siwm. Will it be safe with your wrasses? I really like snowflake eels. They are really pretty.
The Vortech is awesome. It has more flow right where it comes out of the Vortech. It then distributes evenly in the tank. It does blow sand around, but I have too much sand in my 40. In your tank I don't think you'd have a problem.
 
I wonder what died in your tank? Was it a snail? Your wrasses are very pretty. Speaking of jumping fish, one night my Anthias decided to jump out of the canopy while I was feeding. Thank God that I saw it happen because my cat was right next to it. He just tried jumping again. I really need a bigger tank. I can't wait to see your new 120. It's so exciting. I know what you mean about wanting a large 6' tank. I'd love one. Maybe someday. I don't think Salifert tests are always correct. I know mine isn't. =/
 
Depends on how you define reef safe. They don't bother corals, but shrimp and crabs might become lunch. I've seen some people keep them with clams, but I've read some websites that say they may nip at the clams. So I probably won't chance that.

I have no idea what could have died. The mass I found was bigger than any fish I have, and I don't have anything missing that could be rotting. Not to mention, how it ended up in the sump!

I found the wrasses on diver's den. I got really lucky because the price I paid for my pair is what LA is charging for one now.

I haven't had any problems with my salifert test kits in the past. Anytime I've tested IO salt, I get low calcium like you what expect. So that's why I thought the 50ppm nitrate was so odd. I almost ignored it until I was looking around the sump. I still can't believe my skimmer didn't even react. It's hardly skimmed anything for the last couple of weeks.

What I ended up doing was prepping about 15g of saltwater and then spending the rest of the day emptying the 40 and the 20L sump. I moved the 20 to my kitchen. Moved all of the livestock to the 20. My extra rock is sitting in a rubbermaid with a powerhead and heater. And the 40 is now sitting in my room waiting for the tand and stand delivery. Then I'm going out of town for a while later this evening. So I'll try to get pics up of the tank and stand, and the mess I made clearing out the 40. But then it'll be a little slow going until I get back and can get the 120 plumbed. This will be my first time plumbing a RR tank, so hopefully it doesn't give me a hard time.

One good thing that came out of this though was getting the rock with my BTA turned around so that I can actually see the BTA. And I just tested the 20 this morning. I'm getting 0 ammonia, .1 nitrites, 5 nitrates, 11.65 alk, 390 cal, and 1260 mag.

Stay tuned and thanks for tagging along.
 
You and I might as well be building the same tank. RS180, TEK lights (8 bulb here, going SPS dominant), 120g AGA tank...

I'm going Koralia for powerheads, Eheim 1262 return (1260 would have probably been fine), 2 Phosban reactors. For the Koralias, I have 2 K4s now, and 2 K4s on order.

(Also, sorry but I'm a guy!)
 
hey if you haven't already ordered your light i found out that sunlight supply has a outlet store on ebay....pretty good prices about 60 dollars cheaper.
 
I want to see what I should do about the sump
Click to expand...

Well, I'm going with my old 40br, but I don't think I would recommend it. The fit is kinda tight. The LFS guys that delivered it had to take the center brace off the stand to get it in (although you may have been able to slide it under that brace), and I'm not sure yet whether there's enough room to get a bigger skimmer in there. I can get the CSS 125 in there, and the Euro Reef is only a little big wider, but I need to measure some more.

@ WinnipegDragon: no problem...guys are still welcome around here. Just rare to meet any female hobbyists. How big is your sump? Are you using the AGA pine stand? I'm out of town right now, and wondering whether the ER will even fit later on down the road.

If you're doing 8 for sps, then I should be fine with 6 for a mixed reef.

On the return pump, I think I'm about to order a Mag 9.5. I just can't figure out what justifies the eheim's costing almost 2x as much.

I need to look up the capacity of the phosban reactors. I already have one, not sure if I'm going to need another.

@etrigo29: that's really good to know. I'll look for that.

So the tank was delivered. And I had time to complete the overflows (the AGA instructions are really straight-forward). I already had one drain hose and one return line. I made it to the hardware store, but they didn't have the size I needed for the other drain. So I picked up more flex tubing to finish the other return line and a T to connect the two returns to one pump. So I need to order my return pump, another drain line, and get 2 buckets of salt. Hopefully, I can start filling it with water when I get back home next weekend.

Pics are coming...
 
Well, the noise factor is one reason I went Eheim (although the RS180 will likely be louder than either), and while there are only intermittent reports of failures and defects with the Mags, you just don't hear about that with the Eheims.

I'm building a custom 40" tall stand, so space isn't a concern for me, and I'm having a custom 60g sump made to fit it. The RS is only 24" tall, it should fit in the AGA stand.
 
Mess in the living room after emptying out the 40br setup:
100_1892.jpg


Everything set up in the 20L in the kitchen:
100_1893.jpg


The 40 sitting in my bedroom to become the new sump:
100_1891.jpg


The 120
100_1895.jpg


Sump shot:
100_1896.jpg


After getting the overflows done:
100_1902.jpg
 
Oh, marinegirl: I had to stand on a chair to work on the overflows or even reach into the back of the tank. If I'm not on a chair, I can only reach the bottom in the very front of the tank.
 
I just ordered the mag 9.5 and some more flex tubing to finish the drain line when i get back in town next weekend. Then i can start on the slow process of filling it up with water.

Then next week, I'm going to order rock. I think I'm going to do 100lbs of Marco rocks since I'll be out of town again, and I don't want live rock sitting around waiting for me, and I don't want to pay for Saturday delivery for live rock. At the same time I do that, I need to either order the vortech then or order some powerheads and upgrade to the vortech later. We'll see how the bank account looks at the time.

I can seed it with the 50 or so pounds from the 40br. And then I want to try putting together a package from indo pacific sea farms to kick start the biodiversity. I'm going to put some live rock rubble in the sump to give pods a safe haven to breed. So I guess it'll be a true refugium, just without chaeto. I've tried that before, and I've just never been impressed with the results.

Anyway, after it cycles, I'll order lights and make the transfer. Then I can figure out how and where to set up a QT tank.

Finally: upgrade skimmer.

Just solved my skimmer problem. I haven't been sure if the ER RS 180 would fit because there just isn't a lot of space to get stuff in and out of the stand. I know the CSS 125 will fit, and it's 7.25" wide. The ER RS 180 is 8", and I can't order one and then find out it doesn't fit, because marine depot won't accept returns once it's been opened. So...I checked the RS 135, and the skimmer body is only 6" in diameter. That I KNOW will fit. So I'll probably go with that one, unless there are some better recommendations. But since, I've got some time before I have to order the skimmer, I'll double check the measurements when I get home. I just needed to have a back up plan so I could stop worrying about it.

Eventually: AC Jr, moonlights, dosing pumps

And might as well post this now, even though I might get flamed for it. My tentative fish list:
GSM Clown - already have
Pylei Wrasse Pair - already have
- I'd like to add a Scott's and Lineatus fairy wrasse - I think it'll work out with the bigger tank
- Naso Tang - non negotiable
- Blue Tang - not a must have
- Bicolor Foxface - non negotiable
- Pseudochromis - springeri or neon - still thinking about this one...kinda worried about this small of a fish with the eel
- Mystery wrasse - still researching...not sure how well they get along with fairy wrasses
- snowflake moray eel - non-negotiable
- niger trigger - my center piece

I'm going to limit the clean up crew to snails and hope for the best with the niger.

And as you can see from the pics up, I think I need to move my bed over another foot to squeeze in room for my 10g top off tank. No way that's getting under the stand.
 
Hey girl! It sure looks nice! I can't wait to see it up and running. So it's in your bedroom? Do you think you will be able to sleep okay? So you can reach pretty good inside the tank? Does it hurt your armpits? Mine was 30" tall so I think that's why I had such a problem. Let me know about be able to access it. Let me know if the center brace bothers you. Looks exciting.
 
Yeah, my bedroom is the only space I had available. Gotta save the living room wall for a flat panel...one day. I can't wait to see how loud/quiet the AGA overflows are. Standing on a chair, I can reach in just fine...just gonna have to remember to roll my shirt sleeves up. Doesn't hurt my armpits, but my arms may be a bit longer than yours since I'm a few inches taller. Of course, the 120 is only 20" tall. But reaching the bottom back...yeah, might get a little wet. The only thing I noticed about the center brace was that it's a very weak piece of plastic. I had to keep reminding myself not to rest my other hand there while working on the overflows. It just doesn't feel stable. But I'm sure it's just there to keep the tank from bowing...although I don't know how glass that thick would bow.
 
I am picking/ordering equipment for a 125g with a somewhat similar setup, so I am definitely tagging along!

Prob going to go with MH though, although I am finding it tricky to do with a 5' long, 25" tall tank.

I was originally going to do a closed loop system, but the more I think about it, the more attractive the VorTech option seems. The most expensive way to do this hobby is to upgrade in steps, so why not just get something good to start with that you can keep on using (even on your next setup)?
 
yeah not to mention that battery backup will be super nice in the event the power goes out. I ordered mine just a minute ago
 
yeah not to mention that battery backup will be super nice in the event the power goes out. I ordered mine just a minute ago
 
Welcome along. The more I think about it, I'm just going to order the Vortech when I order the rock.

I keep thinking about the battery back up. In the event of a poweroutage, I would really prefer that the return pump and heater were backed up. Those are what I would consider the critical components.

With a 5' tank, you might want to look at the lumenarcs that a lot of people recommend to me. The light spread is supposed to be a bit bigger than the traditional 2x2 of MHs.
 
Every apartment reefer's worst nightmare: I got a phone call Saturday night that the 20L was overflowing. Apparently, something went wrong with the ATO. I talked maintenance through shutting down the ATO. My best guess is that the vinyl tubing I was using got submerged in the 20L and started siphoning water. I'm not sure of the extent of the damage, but I do know that the power strip didn't get wet. Maintenance didn't seem to be making a big deal out of it, and they went ahead and cleaned up the mess for me. Who knows how far off the SG now is in the 20L.

So it looks like I'll be transferring sooner rather than later, and just cycling any new rock in rubbermaids. I also need to figure out how to fool proof that ATO, but I may just make it manual for a little while.
 
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