My Tank Is Up And Running!!!

[got2lb]

Got my tank full of water this morning! I still need to get it up to temperature then check the salinity. I know it's a little low right now, beacause I didn't add any salt to the last 30 gallons of water I put in to make sure it wasn't too high.

I'll make sure I post some pictures of it either tonight or tomorrow.

What's everyone running for salinity and temperature?

 

[got2lb]

Here's a quick one before I go to work.

 

[acidlittle]

that's a big mama jamma

 

[Duke13]

Is this going to be an aggressive tank?

 

[xroads]

I have had a hard time keeping it up to temp this winter as mine sets in the basement. It is still usually 65-68. I usually try to shoot for 70. I think my salinity is usually 1.023-1.025 if i remember right. Looks nice, where did you get the rock?

 

[waverz]

Matt, good job man, looking real good, salinity should be 1.023 -1.025, and try to keep the temp 77- 80. Also, remember if your using a hydrometer to measure salinity make sure your water is at the proper temp, otheriwse your readings will be off.

Xroads, you know decent heaters are pretty cheap, like 20-30 bucks for a titanium one even. Your water should be warmer than that, always good to run 2 heaters incase one goes out, you always have a backup. I can order you one from champion lighting if you want, just let me know. I'm gonna be ordering in the nexr cpl days, i need a cpl heaters and a few other odds and ends.

 

[Atticus]

1.026 at 80 degrees

 

[got2lb]

It's going to be a reef tank. Mainly Softies and LPS

I've had it running all day with the pumps, lights and heaters, and it's at 80 degrees. The only thing I don't have running is the pump for my skimmer. I'll have to see what it's at in the morning after the lights have been off. I might have to turn the heaters down just a hair as well.

The rock all came from www.reeferrocks.com. It's 100% of their collectors edition base rock. I bought about 110 lbs of it plus another 20lbs of rubble. That's probably 80-90lbs of it in the tank now. Jeremy has 20-30lbs sitting in his 125 curing for me! (Thanks Jeremy!) So hopefully this weekend I'm going to get that from him and It will in turn seed the rest of my rock and I'll have "live rock"

Well according to my cheapo hydrometer I bought at Petsmart my salinity is at 1.013 at 80deg. So i guess I'll def. be adding more salt tomorrow!

I think I'm going to start kind of a build thread on it so everyone can see the specs and stuff on it. I have a few pics I took along the way that I can post.

 

[eng55]

Wow that is some nice ace base rock. I am going to have to order some of that for my 200g that I am setting up. Beautiful tank by the way got2lb.

 

[eng55]

By the way how much base rock did you order from them. Would just like to know how many pounds you have in your tank for comparison. I am thinking about getting like 100pounds or so. Thanks
E

 

[Bullet]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6369081#post6369081 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Atticus
1.026 at 80 degrees

ditto

 

[got2lb]

Background info:

I bought this tank about 7 years ago and originally had it setup with FW stingrays and discus. After the people that owned my apartment complex graciously FUMIGATED my apartment while I was out of town for the week and killed everything in my tank I never set it back up.

I was planning on setting it up as a saltwater tank and just about started buying a bunch of junk. Then I started doing research on the web and found this site. I then came to the conclusion not to listen to anything anyone says at a LFS!

Seeing as I'm on a VERY tight budget (my wife is a full time student) I've been slowly buying things over the last couple years to get this tank setup.

Equipment list:

94gallon perfecto tank (display)
55gallon aga tank (sump)
HOB overflow box, custom made
Mag 12 for return pump
ASM G2 skimmer with Sedra 3500
four 4' 2bulb home depot style shoplights for lighting
2 x seio 1500's (thanks santa!)

Rock:
Roughly 110lbs of base rock from www.reeferrocks.com
20lbs of rubble in the fuge also from reeferrocks.com

Sand:

CAN"T SAY TOP SECRET!!!

Just kidding it's actually white silica sand (sandblasting sand) Yes I've read all there is to read on it!

 

[got2lb]

Here is a picture of the tank the way it looked for the last 4 years or so.

Here's all 110lbs of rock sitting on the kitchen table.

Here's a closer picture with a pop next to it for size reference

A couple close ups of the rock

All 110lbs of rock in the tank sitting dry

 

[got2lb]

A few pictures of the sump/fuge

Crappy picture of the skimmer in the sump

 

[got2lb]

My GHETTO light setup.

And last but not least a couple full tank shots

The last picture is probably the closest to the true color of it. Finally got the white balance figured out on the camera.

I'll post more pictures after this weekend when I get my "live" rock from Jeremy.

 

[got2lb]

I guess I should have put that the dimensions of the tank are 60" long x 18" wide x 21" tall

Salinity is at 1.022 and temp is at 79.6 Getting closer!

 

[flying-pro]

I just moved all of my stuff out of my 65 gallon and 90 gallon and put it in to a 180 gallon.

Best lesson learned was that even if you have 2 year old beautiful live rock that has a ton of purple on it. As soon as you rearrange it you end up with some of the underlying rock out in the open. Also since the rock never gets placed with the top of the rock being in the same orientation even some of you top rock has no color anymore.

If I had to do it again, I would do exactly what you did Matt. Buy Reefer rock, throw some pieces in a buddyââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s tank for 6-8 weeks and then throw that in my tank. Best part about that approach NO HITCH HIKERS ! ! ! Worst part about it NO HITCH HIKERS !!! Funny thing about hitch hikers, some are cool, some are not.

Also Ditto on the salinity and temp. My temp runs from 78.7 at night to 80.1 in the heat of the day with all lights, pumps and fans on.

Tom

 

[waverz]

Matt, thats looking tight yo!

 

[tuffy1845]

tank looks awesome Matt. Great lookin "ghetto" lights.LOL Wish I had your tank,going nuts without ours since it broke. Hopefully only a couple more weeks and we will have a bigger one to replace it.

 

[got2lb]

Just checked and salinity is at 1.025 and the temp is 79.9 That's after having the lights on about 14 hrs straight. It was at 79 when I checked it this morning. I might bump the heaters up just a tad. And maybe add just a pinch more salt but I should be set otherwise.

If anyone is looking for some major water movement. BUY some Seios!!! Man these things rock! I have 2 1500's and man do they move the water.

Flyin-pro: I've basically been planning this tank for the last 2-3 years and I have done a TON of reading and asking questions. I figured that the lack of hitchhikers def. outwayed the bad ones. And like you said why pay for all that live rock when you can have better looking base rock and it's way cheaper. Plus capt. Jer is the man! Seriously if you need rock give him a call and he'll hook you up with exactly what you want. Tell him what sizes you want and he'll do it. (plug)

The next major project is building a canopy. I just threw some scrap plywood together to hold the lights up for now. According to the wife "It won't stay like that!"

I would like to thank all of you for your help, time, and knowledge, with helping me get this setup.

Special thanks to:

Waverz for letting me cure my rock in his tank.
tuffy1845 for the hookup on the lights
Pygmey for having to deal with me trying to get that tank from you!
kau_cinta_ku for the hookup on the 55gal. tank for the sump

Thanks everyone!!!