My 215 Oceanic Starphire project
- Thread starter maxalmon
- Start date
maxalmon
New member
Thanks, I can't wait to get the x-mas tree out of the room, park the recliners right in front of the tank and start watching....
I can't believe how much of a beast this tank was to move, took 4 people and everybody was totally paranoid, as I kinda gave them this whole speach about how you can and can't lift the tank....None of the people who helped move the tank have aquariums...
Heres pics of the tank finally in place, this is my second stand/canopy of the same design from this company, I can't even begin to explain how much I love the flip-up top on this canopy..
I'll start filling the tank today, then the fun of moving everything from the 125 over to this tank,
maxalmon
New member
Ok, normally I'm pretty aware of what I'm doing and don't make a lot of stupid mistakes, but when I do, they are usually kinda severe and bad
I was using my normal trash can on wheel to mix water for the new tank. I mix the water in the the trash can and then use the mag12 pump and hook a pipe to it and pump the water into the tank. Because I'm so frazzled with tearing down a tank and setting up a new tank, I removed the tubing from the pump and left it in the trash can and left the pump with it's ball valve sitting straight up, then filled the can with water, instead of pluggin in the heater to heat the water, I plugged in the mag12 pump that was sitting in the bottom of the trash can and within about 1 second of plugging it in, it shot a jet of water that hit the ceiling and then splashed all over the freaking place, it was like a Disney water show, me screaming and scrambling to unplug the pump, what a freaking disaster, salt water dripping from the cabinets and ceiling, took me 2 hours to clean the mess up....so freakin mad
This is the pump and tubing that I use to pump the water into the tanks
Here is where I royaly screwed up, took the tubing off to siphon water from another tank and forgot to lay the pump on it's side, so you can see how it was like a water jet aimed at the ceiling
This is right after cleaning the mess up, thing that sux is that we just waxed the cabinets, what a mess. It shot straight up and then splashed the Island, wall cabinets and then dripped all over the counters and dripped into drawers etc....snort, huff,....argh!!!
I was using my normal trash can on wheel to mix water for the new tank. I mix the water in the the trash can and then use the mag12 pump and hook a pipe to it and pump the water into the tank. Because I'm so frazzled with tearing down a tank and setting up a new tank, I removed the tubing from the pump and left it in the trash can and left the pump with it's ball valve sitting straight up, then filled the can with water, instead of pluggin in the heater to heat the water, I plugged in the mag12 pump that was sitting in the bottom of the trash can and within about 1 second of plugging it in, it shot a jet of water that hit the ceiling and then splashed all over the freaking place, it was like a Disney water show, me screaming and scrambling to unplug the pump, what a freaking disaster, salt water dripping from the cabinets and ceiling, took me 2 hours to clean the mess up....so freakin mad
This is the pump and tubing that I use to pump the water into the tanks
Here is where I royaly screwed up, took the tubing off to siphon water from another tank and forgot to lay the pump on it's side, so you can see how it was like a water jet aimed at the ceiling
This is right after cleaning the mess up, thing that sux is that we just waxed the cabinets, what a mess. It shot straight up and then splashed the Island, wall cabinets and then dripped all over the counters and dripped into drawers etc....snort, huff,....argh!!!
maxalmon
New member
Thanks!........
We start adding the 350+lbs of fully cured LR from the 125, we start the transfer process this Fri or Sat. I have another 75g of fresh SW, we will fill up 5g buckets, then add the cured LR and transport them over to the new tank.
The 125g is in one of my retail stores about 15 minutes away, I want to transport the LR submerged so that die off is minimized. One the LR arrives It'll go into a small kiddy pool and will be gently cleaned to removed any built up detritus, then rinsed in another bucket of clean SW and then into the 215g.
Lights will also be installed on Sat, hopefully the install will be complete this Sat or Sun.
We start adding the 350+lbs of fully cured LR from the 125, we start the transfer process this Fri or Sat. I have another 75g of fresh SW, we will fill up 5g buckets, then add the cured LR and transport them over to the new tank.
The 125g is in one of my retail stores about 15 minutes away, I want to transport the LR submerged so that die off is minimized. One the LR arrives It'll go into a small kiddy pool and will be gently cleaned to removed any built up detritus, then rinsed in another bucket of clean SW and then into the 215g.
Lights will also be installed on Sat, hopefully the install will be complete this Sat or Sun.
maxalmon
New member
Today is moving day.....ARGH....
This is the tank thats being torn down and all the inhabitants moved over to the new 215g. I have a massive Kenya thats 18-22" across depending on the water flow and 2 Umbrella's, one is 19" and the other 17" when fully expanded. 3 Clams and a bazillion zoa's, 24 headed frogspawn it goes on and on as to whats in this tank. I plan on moving most everything in 5g buckets.
This is the established 125 thats being moved
I love the way this Kenya sways and moves with the water flow...
I got this one as a 4" frag.
This is the tank thats being torn down and all the inhabitants moved over to the new 215g. I have a massive Kenya thats 18-22" across depending on the water flow and 2 Umbrella's, one is 19" and the other 17" when fully expanded. 3 Clams and a bazillion zoa's, 24 headed frogspawn it goes on and on as to whats in this tank. I plan on moving most everything in 5g buckets.
This is the established 125 thats being moved
I love the way this Kenya sways and moves with the water flow...
I got this one as a 4" frag.
maxalmon
New member
I was originally going to go low tech on this tank to prove a point that you don't have, to have the latest and greatest pieces of equipment, I was going to go skimmerless. Just a tank, some lights good water flow and lots of LR and a sump. (the 125 hasn't had a skimmer for 9 months)
Now I've changed my mind, I have way to much money invested in livestock, couple grand just in micromussa's, toss in the Tyree's watermellons and a few more, Aussie acans and other little bits and pieces, and then there are all the SPS in my frag tanks that I want to add to the 215, so this new tank will have the following
Euroreef skimmer
auto topoff
MRC calcium reactor
Now I've changed my mind, I have way to much money invested in livestock, couple grand just in micromussa's, toss in the Tyree's watermellons and a few more, Aussie acans and other little bits and pieces, and then there are all the SPS in my frag tanks that I want to add to the 215, so this new tank will have the following
Euroreef skimmer
auto topoff
MRC calcium reactor
Chihuahua6
Premium Member
Wow, love the huge colonies. I can't wait to see the new tank with the corals in it. How long have you had that Kenya? How long was the 125 set up?
maxalmon
New member
I've had the Kenya for about 12-14 months and the Umbrellas for maybe 18 months... I can't belive how many corals I had in the 125 and how they had grown, found a bunch of stuff that I thought was gone but was just out of view.
OMG....What a royal pain this has been, not really complicated or anything, but just messy and lots of work....can't really hire a moving company or anything, or I would have )))
The first wave of buckets have been moved and ready for adding to the tank, this move consisted of all the major corals and LR that had no live organisms attached, as I had to create the base for the aquascaping. There were a total of 8 five gallon buckets and 2 large coolers that had the corals in zip lock bags. I also had a 80g pool setup to empty buckets as I want to sift thru all the stuff for snails, critters etc that I want to keep.
This was a major operation as I had to aquascape and move at the same time so I spent most of yesterday looking at all the LR to figure out how I wanted things arranged, for the most part it went off fairly easy as I just placed the LR where I thought I wanted it and then started placing corals
I worked from right to left and now have 1 more trip for the other LR to complete the left hand side of the tank, nice things is that the corals that were just placed have already opened , only thing that sux is my frogspawn broke into 3 pieces, it was about the size of a basketball bw
Here is the first truckload of buckets
This is the tank with a pile of LR in the L corner that I have to arrange and then place the corals
This is a pic after the aquascaping and now I have to make 1 more trip to get the other LR to finish the L side of aquascaping and pick up a few things that may be floating or roaming around the tank, I know there are tons of misc zoa's, still have to get the fish and the lights. (lighting fromthis tank is the lights for the new tank)
OMG....What a royal pain this has been, not really complicated or anything, but just messy and lots of work....can't really hire a moving company or anything, or I would have )))
The first wave of buckets have been moved and ready for adding to the tank, this move consisted of all the major corals and LR that had no live organisms attached, as I had to create the base for the aquascaping. There were a total of 8 five gallon buckets and 2 large coolers that had the corals in zip lock bags. I also had a 80g pool setup to empty buckets as I want to sift thru all the stuff for snails, critters etc that I want to keep.
This was a major operation as I had to aquascape and move at the same time so I spent most of yesterday looking at all the LR to figure out how I wanted things arranged, for the most part it went off fairly easy as I just placed the LR where I thought I wanted it and then started placing corals
I worked from right to left and now have 1 more trip for the other LR to complete the left hand side of the tank, nice things is that the corals that were just placed have already opened , only thing that sux is my frogspawn broke into 3 pieces, it was about the size of a basketball bw
Here is the first truckload of buckets
This is the tank with a pile of LR in the L corner that I have to arrange and then place the corals
This is a pic after the aquascaping and now I have to make 1 more trip to get the other LR to finish the L side of aquascaping and pick up a few things that may be floating or roaming around the tank, I know there are tons of misc zoa's, still have to get the fish and the lights. (lighting fromthis tank is the lights for the new tank)
maxalmon
New member
The new tank had been setup for about a week using LS and and about 100lb of fully cured LR from one of my existing tanks. I tested water each day and there were no major changes, I also added some basic corals to see if there were any problems. Over the last week all corals were healthy and eating with good polyp extension. The plan was to use the other 400lbs of LR from the existing tank so that I wouldn't have a cycle, this was accomplished by transporting the other 400lbs of LR and corals in 5g buckets so that there was no or minimal die off. I don't expect a cycle in the tank as I'm using healthy LR from an existing tank. I've used this method before and it's worked perfect everytime
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