PGA's 90 Gallon V2

[pga7602]

It's time for a reboot! Prior to the reboot, my tank has been doing great and corals have been growing and coloring up. What has become an issue over the years is that I started with a pretty nice scape and kept adding rock as space was needed to mount corals. Rock after rock until it turned into an old school blob scape. Even with monthly cleanings, I am unable to reach a lot of detritus piling up in back of my tank where the rocks are leaning on the back glass panel.

Here's what I was dealing with.

The first task was to create my dreamscape. My two big goals for this project was flow and height for acros. Secondary to that, I wanted a huge amount of floor space for LPS and softies. And while we are at it.. I wanted to go BB again!! You can start to see the bald spots I've created in the sand bed. Only taking away a little at a time.

With the plan in mind, I started by using pure dried tonga and acrylic sticks to shape the structure. After busting a few drill bits, I realized that I needed a hammer drill and some nice masonry bits.

There....

Now the fun begins...

 

[miralami]

Following.

 

[hersheyb]

I'm kind of in the same boat lol, but too much work.. maybe you'll inspire me.

 

[Antonee]

Good luck and gotta love harbor freight tools


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Browncoat]

Looking forward to seeing the progress. I really liked going BB when I tried it once but missed having a pistol shrimp.

Sent from my SM-J700P using Tapatalk

 

[s2k]

Just show the final product since you’re done already

 

[HenryTran]

Haha

 

[nay]

Whats the name of the bright orange and yellow piece on the lower left conner?

 

[Smite]

Nice, looking forward to this developing. Where did source the acrylic rods?

 

[solitude127]

Just show the final product since you're done already

The suspense. Lol....

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[pga7602]

I'm kind of in the same boat lol, but too much work.. maybe you'll inspire me.

I think I did read somewhere you had tonga right? How far did you get?

Looking forward to seeing the progress. I really liked going BB when I tried it once but missed having a pistol shrimp.

Sent from my SM-J700P using Tapatalk

Funny thing is that have switched back and forward numerous times. I can't even say how long I can keep it BB. I want the flow and the look at the same time.

Just show the final product since you're done already

Get outta my thread party pooper!

 

[pga7602]

Whats the name of the bright orange and yellow piece on the lower left conner?

Thats a oregon mummy eye chalice that has been morphed by growing right next to the pink boobie chalice also pictured.

Nice, looking forward to this developing. Where did source the acrylic rods?

Thanks! You can find the rods on amazon. Just search acrylic rods.

The suspense. Lol....

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Exactly!

 

[Joe Kelley]

Very nice!

 

[hersheyb]

I think I did read somewhere you had tonga right? How far did you get?


Funny thing is that have switched back and forward numerous times. I can't even say how long I can keep it BB. I want the flow and the look at the same time.


Get outta my thread party pooper!

not far... a bit shameful.. I did get some tonga, was going to build a structure, but it was just too much work so I ended up just stacking them in whatever space I could to add more surface area for more corals =(.

 

[pga7602]

not far... a bit shameful.. I did get some tonga, was going to build a structure, but it was just too much work so I ended up just stacking them in whatever space I could to add more surface area for more corals =(.

It literally took 3 weeks to put together. Drilling and cutting with a tile saw to create all the angles and cement points.

 

[pga7602]

:dance:

It's time to speed things forward. From the point I figured out how to used the hammer drill to make the holes on the tonga branches to completing the structure took a little over 3 weeks. Mistakes were easy to hide do the the small size hole I chose (3/16).

After completing the 2 structures, I dropped them into some rubbermaid bins for a full cycle. This was a rock swap project, so it's important that everything is cycled. It's also good to note that in anticipation of this project, I had beefed up my sump with 2 large marine pure blocks. The Marine Pure blocks will act as my primary biological filtration.

While that was going, let's fast forward to 2 weeks later....

Time to pull out the old. It was disgusting to see the amount of rock I had dropped into my display over the years just to create acro mount points. You can literally smell the dead spots where wasn't any flow. I started out with 50lbs and we must have pulled out over 90lbs of rock that day. :sad2:

After rocks were pulled out, I hooked up my shop vac and sucked up everything until the tank was bone dried.

With the help of my best reefer friend Jimmy007, we lowered the new structures into the display. Then... total fail...

The primary structure was too big to fit through the eurobrace!!!!!!

 

[pga7602]

:idea::idea::idea:

So Jimmy and I started panicking and finally made it work by flipping the rock structure upside down and re-positioning after it was inside the tank. Each moment was nail biting since one drop could be the end for my tank.

With zero room to spare we made it! That's Jimmy007 filling it back up.

 

[hersheyb]

WOW a lot of work... how did you managed your livestock during this time? how long was the tank down?

 

[pga7602]

WOW a lot of work... how did you managed your livestock during this time? how long was the tank down?

That's a good question. I'm not very good at keeping things alive outside of the display, so I planned it out very carefully so that the livestock were out of the tank for no more than 5 hours. Here's a quick sequence if you are interested:

1. Drain half of tank into a Brute (skimming the top level only so that the water is as clear as possible).
2. Drain 20 gallons into a 27 gallon "sps/clams" rubbermaid bin. Powerhead running
3. Drain 5 gallons into an "LPS" bucket Powerhead running
4. Drain 5 Gallons into a "softies" bucket
5. Pull all rock with corals out. Using a tile saw for sps removal then quick raise before putting dropping them into their bins/buckets.
6. Pull out remaining rocks.
7. Pull out fish and disburse them into the containers mentioned above.
8. Drain rest of water and throw away.
9. Shop vac everything till it's bone dry.
10. Drop in new rock.
11. Pump back all water from Brute in #1
12. Add new water to make up the rest.
13. Enjoy!

 

[Rakie]

What are the dimensions of this tank?