gemini aquarius(t)
Always Learning
I am going to try to update this everyday, so get used to seeing it 
Background story:
I have had tanks since I was 12 (19 now) and I have loved the sea, and the creatures it houses, for as long as I can remember. I have had countless different tank sizes and flip-flopped between them as I moved, and I move a lot!
I have had everything from a 1 gallon tank with a snail and some hermit crabs to a 40 gallon breeders set up with SPS. However, nothing bigger than 40 gallons has ever been set up. And nothing with a sump.
For me there was something special in having smaller tanks. It felt more intimate. I learned every nook and cranny, every sponge and tube worm growing on your rock. I felt like I was more "in tune" with my tanks. However, I also love fish, and as you may know, there are some strict limitations that coincide with having a "nano" tank. No tangs. No butterflys. Not many wrasses. No non-pygmy angels. No anthias. Not to mention the limitation in pure quantity. Also, there are a lot of water quality issues that come along with smaller tanks too. More fluctuation with almost every parameter known to man.
Basically, there are some downsides.
So when my friend Rob (Zoomster) was selling his 67 gallon tank with a built in overflow, I knew my chance had come! I wanted a sump so badly, and the 24" depth on the 3' long tank made my imagination churn with thoughts of Tank-Of-The-Month-worthy aquascaping and a whole other side of fish keeping that I had yet to experience. My mind was set, it had to happen.
However, life changes and when I moved out of my mother's house and into my girlfriend's where her mother wouldn't allow a betta bowl, let alone a full-blown saltwater masterpiece (or at least thats what I tried to sell it as), my plans were shut down instantly. I was depressed but I was working at a LFS so I got my fix of this addiction about 6 days a week. Then that changed too and I had no way to deal with the fact that I went from having at least one tank for every day of my life since the age of 12 to not even getting to look at one once per week. Its not a good feeling.
Fast forward 10 months.
My mom and I moved back in together and I resurrected the hope and plans of the glorious 67 gallon that I had dreamed about so many months earlier.
Mike (theBanker) loaned me his acrylic scratch removal kit and I was off buffing before I had even finished moving all of my stuff into the new place (my room still has boxes).
ENTER DANNY (Deadmanh)
We became friends through spearfishing and then closer friends when we realized we knew of each other through ReefCentral. Double hobby buddies, cool. We are both complete deal trolls and rarely do new posts come up on any of the common forums that we do not see within the hour. So while I was cleaning my betta bowl (I had to have a fish immediately when I moved in just because I could) I got a call from Danny.
"Hi"
"Xavier, I found you a 120 gallon. Go buy it."
I laughed, thinking yeah right, just go buy a 120 gallon tank? youre crazy!
In fact I may have said just that...
"No bud, I dont have room for that"
"No you need to go look at it, its cheap"
He explained the details and I asked my mom if I could set it up, she gave me the okay (WEIRD) and we were setting up a pick up arrangement. Called my friend Zach, who is a DARN good friend for all I have put him through with this tank.
So I drove to San Bernadino from Dana Point at about 10pm, got there at 11:30pm and started loading up.
I was in bed around 2:30 for work at 8 that morning. Rough night.
Anyway thats a long story without any pics... Here you go!
That was the tank when I got it. Such a good deal though, could have had walls covered in aptasia and nudis and I still would have been happy.
Now the cleaning process;
Glass tank
Paint the back
Stand cleaning
Paint the stand
Remove the rotted plywood bottom of the stand
Get new wood cut the right size
Get a mat for the bottom
Nail it together
Repaint the stand
Paint the canopy
Paint the inside of the stand for water protection
AH!!! I WANT THE TANK SET UP
Plumbing
WATER!!!!!!!
Thats pretty much where I am now. Today I finished putting water in the tank and I put some rocks in the tank that came with it after sitting in a garbage can for a month or so and now it is in my living room.
Like I said I will try to keep this thread updated daily, as far as responding, and update with any relevant information when something interesting happens. I deem what is interesting
Thanks for reading! It's late and I have a final tomorrow so the last thing I want to do is study.
Here are the pictures you are waiting for. All taken on my iPhone, sorry about the quality.
Background story:
I have had tanks since I was 12 (19 now) and I have loved the sea, and the creatures it houses, for as long as I can remember. I have had countless different tank sizes and flip-flopped between them as I moved, and I move a lot!
I have had everything from a 1 gallon tank with a snail and some hermit crabs to a 40 gallon breeders set up with SPS. However, nothing bigger than 40 gallons has ever been set up. And nothing with a sump.
For me there was something special in having smaller tanks. It felt more intimate. I learned every nook and cranny, every sponge and tube worm growing on your rock. I felt like I was more "in tune" with my tanks. However, I also love fish, and as you may know, there are some strict limitations that coincide with having a "nano" tank. No tangs. No butterflys. Not many wrasses. No non-pygmy angels. No anthias. Not to mention the limitation in pure quantity. Also, there are a lot of water quality issues that come along with smaller tanks too. More fluctuation with almost every parameter known to man.
Basically, there are some downsides.
So when my friend Rob (Zoomster) was selling his 67 gallon tank with a built in overflow, I knew my chance had come! I wanted a sump so badly, and the 24" depth on the 3' long tank made my imagination churn with thoughts of Tank-Of-The-Month-worthy aquascaping and a whole other side of fish keeping that I had yet to experience. My mind was set, it had to happen.
However, life changes and when I moved out of my mother's house and into my girlfriend's where her mother wouldn't allow a betta bowl, let alone a full-blown saltwater masterpiece (or at least thats what I tried to sell it as), my plans were shut down instantly. I was depressed but I was working at a LFS so I got my fix of this addiction about 6 days a week. Then that changed too and I had no way to deal with the fact that I went from having at least one tank for every day of my life since the age of 12 to not even getting to look at one once per week. Its not a good feeling.
Fast forward 10 months.
My mom and I moved back in together and I resurrected the hope and plans of the glorious 67 gallon that I had dreamed about so many months earlier.
Mike (theBanker) loaned me his acrylic scratch removal kit and I was off buffing before I had even finished moving all of my stuff into the new place (my room still has boxes).
ENTER DANNY (Deadmanh)
We became friends through spearfishing and then closer friends when we realized we knew of each other through ReefCentral. Double hobby buddies, cool. We are both complete deal trolls and rarely do new posts come up on any of the common forums that we do not see within the hour. So while I was cleaning my betta bowl (I had to have a fish immediately when I moved in just because I could) I got a call from Danny.
"Hi"
"Xavier, I found you a 120 gallon. Go buy it."
I laughed, thinking yeah right, just go buy a 120 gallon tank? youre crazy!
In fact I may have said just that...
"No bud, I dont have room for that"
"No you need to go look at it, its cheap"
He explained the details and I asked my mom if I could set it up, she gave me the okay (WEIRD) and we were setting up a pick up arrangement. Called my friend Zach, who is a DARN good friend for all I have put him through with this tank.
So I drove to San Bernadino from Dana Point at about 10pm, got there at 11:30pm and started loading up.
I was in bed around 2:30 for work at 8 that morning. Rough night.
Anyway thats a long story without any pics... Here you go!
That was the tank when I got it. Such a good deal though, could have had walls covered in aptasia and nudis and I still would have been happy.
Now the cleaning process;
Glass tank
Paint the back
Stand cleaning
Paint the stand
Remove the rotted plywood bottom of the stand
Get new wood cut the right size
Get a mat for the bottom
Nail it together
Repaint the stand
Paint the canopy
Paint the inside of the stand for water protection
AH!!! I WANT THE TANK SET UP
Plumbing
WATER!!!!!!!
Thats pretty much where I am now. Today I finished putting water in the tank and I put some rocks in the tank that came with it after sitting in a garbage can for a month or so and now it is in my living room.
Like I said I will try to keep this thread updated daily, as far as responding, and update with any relevant information when something interesting happens. I deem what is interesting
Thanks for reading! It's late and I have a final tomorrow so the last thing I want to do is study.
Here are the pictures you are waiting for. All taken on my iPhone, sorry about the quality.
