Update on my 125 gallon adventure

Well....  Things are moving along slowly.  Here is where we are right now...

I have sold a bunch of the equipment that came with the tank itself in the past week and replaced it with new stuff.  Here is a list of what has changed.  But, before I give you the list, I can tell you that the plumbing is not yet complete.  It should happen this week.  The tanks for the sump and refugium are at the glass shop to be drilled and should be done tomorrow.  The bulkheads are sitting on my desk ready and waiting.

	OLD	NEW
Lighting	440w VHO in the original canopy	Current Outer Orbit Pro 3x250MH and 8x39w T5 (no more canopy)
Filtering	2 Wet/dry filters (one is sold)	Separate 29g refugium and 29g sump
Skimmer	Berlin Hang-on (sold)	AquaC EV-180 w/ Mag-7 pump
Flow	2x Koralia-1s (sold)	2x Vortechs w/wireless controllers
Main Pump	2x Rio2100s (sale pending)	Blueline HD70
Live Rock	200+lbs in okay shape	50+lbs Florida Aquacultured & 50+lbs Marshall Island plus 20lbs from my BioCube
Sand	none (bare bottom)	180lbs total (aragonite, crushed coral)

I got 12 snails and an emerald crab from someone on the forums and the existing fish are doing fine.

The cycle is in process and my ammonia and nitrites are down to almost zero, but my Nitrates are spiking.  Unfortunately, I will have to endure another mini-cycle soon when I replace the old rock with the new rock.  I will be re-curing the new rock for a few days when it arrives tomorrow to minimize the cycle.

The old rock was not as bad as I thought, incidentally.  I scrubbed it all down and dipped it in fresh water before putting it in the tank (and then deciding to replace it).  Last night I saw a few bristle worms, a peanut worm, and a few baby feather dusters.  But, it still has a fair amount of hair algae coming back.  This is going to be a very painful set-up when all is said and done, but I think the end result will be better with the new rock.

Day One - Water, Sand, Rock and... Fish???

Yesterday was a busy day.  I spent most of the time cleaning the rock and trying to figure out what pieces were worth putting back in the tank. 

Not many. 

So, I chose the best that I could, scrubbed them down, dipped them in fresh water and moved them into the empty tank.  Next came the sand.  I put in about 150lbs of aragonite and crushed coral.

Then I took the green (barely salt) water that made the move and filled the tank to about 2 inches below the overflows. Next came the new lights (Outer Orbit Pro) and the flow (2 Vortechs with wireless controllers).

No plumbing right now.  The plan is to plumb everything into the  basement.  Here is a picture of how the plumbing will work (if I can ever find a plumber to help me out.)  I was going to buy a premade sump and a premade refugium from That Pet Place, but they were each $300 and the guy at the store convinced me to buy glass tanks and build them myself.   UGH...  I am not a DIY guy when it comes to this sort of thing, so now I need to go find a glass guy.

This set-up will have many benefits once complete.  First, all of the noise and a lot of the water will be downstairs. That means no pumps to listen to, no protein skimmers, etc. in the living room.  Second, the basement is much cooler.   When fully operational I will have about 180 gallons of water in the system and 60 of it will be down stairs where it is about 65 degrees.  Lastly, and this is the best part, water changes are simply a matter of turning 5 valves.  No siphons, no buckets, no time drain!!!

And, for those of you keeping up, here is a shot of the tank right now.

As the title of the post says, yes there are fish in there.  The tank came with about 6 fish and they have been living (and dying) in the garage.  No one bit the dust yet, but the water in that tank was horrible and the stress on them was terrible.  So, my wife and I decided that they will definitely die in the old water and they have a better chance of surviving in the big tank.  We will see.  I am hoping that they are tough enough to withstand the cycle.  (Nitrogen cycle)  It couldn't be worse than the conditions they were in back in their old home...

Tank Moving Day!

Yesterday was moving day for the tank.  Four of us left at 7:30 and made the 90 mile trek west to Mechanicsburg, PA.  We arrived slightly before nine and I got to the see the tank in person for the time.  Joe, a fellow reefer and friend who went along for the ride, said, "It's not that bad".  LOL  Well, that offended the guy a little but, let's be honest folks, the tank was in pretty bad shape. 

As suspected, much of the rock was covered with hair algae.  The glass tank has some scratches on it (not visible until I emptied and had it home).  And the filtration and flow set-up was a mess.  And, don't get me started on the lights.

The guy I bought the tank from was very nice, but thought he knew all about... well, everything!!!  So, it took a little patience, but no arguments ensued and I let him lead the way. 

I will be changing the entire filtration system along with lights and flow and I will be only using about half of the rock.  Some of the rock is absolutely beautiful. 

I forgot to bring a camera, but I am taking pictures today as I set this beast up. 

It took 2 full pickup trucks to transport the set-up.  One for the tank, stand and canopy and the other was filled with Sterilite tubs full of live rock and water (and one for the fish).

We were on our way home by 11:15.  We could have saved a half hour if he had not talked so much or let us do more, but c'est la vie.

By 1:30, the entire contents of the two truck were fully unloaded in the garage and I had a power head and heater on the fish.  (they remain in the garage).

My wife really wanted to paint the living room so we spent the rest of the day doing that. 

Today I will be moving the stand and tank into the living room and filling it with new sand, existing live rock and a mix of the GREEN water we took from the original set-up and fresh saltwater.

For the next week or so, the tank will run as a self-contained unit.  I plan to run a whole new plumbing system to the basement and I will post more on that later.

Back to work...

I accidentally bought a 125g tank!

Well folks I finally pulled the trigger on a larger tank, almost inadvertently. I offered a low amount for a Buy it Now set-up on eBay and they accepted my offer.

My initial response is "Oh crap".... now what do I do?

This is a 125g tank, drilled with overflows. The description was not too helpful as to what gear is under the hood. Here is what I do know.

There are no MH lights, only fluorescent tubes, so they will be replaced.

The tank is overfilled with live rock and I will probably be selling off some of it.   The rock has nice coraline algae growth, but also appear to be completely covered with green algae. Not sure if it is hair algae or not.  That means more work.  I will have to make a new batch of salt water, clean the rock with a toothbrush and rinse it and then put it back in the tank.

The plumbing underneath looks to be a wet/dry filter on one side, possibly a protein skimmer in the middle and another wet/dry on the other. (I will see what I can do to use what's there or replace it over time.)

So, while I have gotten a great deal, my work is definitely cut out for me...

Also, I am not sure what my wife thinks about all of this.  It means that I will be gone all day Saturday to pick this thing up and I would have preferred a system that was NOT running, so that means more time.  It also means that there are probably many components that will need to be replaced.  The good news is that I can sell the older stuff off to pay for the new gear.

Anyway, Saturday is the big day!  Three of us will be heading 90 miles west with a pickup and an SUV.   I will take lots of pictures and keep a little diary.  But, in the meantime, here are the pictures from eBay.

That's all for now.  I will post again this weekend when I get back with the tank.

Top Ten Most Costly Mistakes You've Made With Your Reef

Just recently I talked about the Top 10 from Reefkeeping Magazine.  Well, the October issue is now out and their Top 10 list does not disappoint.

This month's Top 10 is related to the costly mistakes we have all made.  Take a look. 

In the meantime, here is my favorite from this month's list:

My most costly mistake was telling my three-year-old daughter that I wanted to get more sand for my reef tank. She got some and added it for me... right out of the cat’s litter box.

On the hunt for the BIG Tank!!!

Well, the time has come to buy that tank.  I have been hunting them down for about 4 months now and my wife has made the call on the stand and canopy.  Now, comes the fun part.  I really wanted to buy a used set-up.  Much like cars, these tanks lose value the minute you put a drop of water in them.  In fact, here is a comparison of the prices you can get items for NEW versus used:

	NEW	USED
210g AGA Aquarium drilled with 2 overflows	700.00	400.00
Stand and Canopy	930.00	500.00
ASM G3- Protein Skimmer	325.00	150.00
Metal Halide Lighting Set-up (3x250w)	750.00	350.00
Wavemaker	135.00	35.00

So, now you can see why I want to find a used tank.  Well, I have been searching both craigslist and eBay in the Philadelphia area and I have "watched" a hundred tanks change hands. I found one that I really liked, but by the time I realized what a deal it was and how nice it was...it was gone.

So, now I am looking at a used one (see table below).  The color is all wrong for the stand and canopy, but the price is great!  If I get this one, I will have to spend a significant amount of time sanding it, and refinishing it. 

My other option is to order a new one.  If I order a tank, it will not be 210g.  It will most likely be a 150 or 180.  I am looking at two different brands right now.  First, there is the AGA tank with the Classic Series stand (mission Maple).  That is the one that my wife and I both like.  The stand and canopy would look nice in the living room.  The other option is Glass Cages (www.glasscages.com).  They make beautiful tanks and I have only heard good things about them.  The other benefit with them is that they will customize the tank for you.  But, I will have to stain the stand myself.

Here is another chart that shows my options right now.  Maybe you can help me decide.  For comparison, they are all 210g set-ups drilled with overflows.

	Used Tank	AGA	Glass Cages
Tank	$900	699.99	$970 (includes, glass covers, bulkheads)
Stand	included	629.99	475
Canopy	included	299.99	200
TOTAL	$900	$1630	$1695

Now that I have laid it all out, I think the best thing to do is to buy the used tank and move on....  I will talk to my wife an give you an update as to what will really happen.

The Fight Against Bubble Algae

I have been having an ongoing battle with bubble algae in my tank for the last couple of months.  For those of you unfamiliar with this type of algae, it spreads very quickly.  Here is a small image that I found on the net.   Anyway, it starts as a single bubble and arrives in your tank primarily from your live rock or on the rock or plug attached to any coral you acquire.  Removing it is very difficult.  You can not break the bubble itself or it will release spores that will cause its exponential growth throughout your tank.  Well, I was doing well in the beginning.  A small bubble cluster appeared and I removed.  Another group popped-up a week or so later and I removed that.  I then ignored a another cluster for a few weeks and it grew significantly.  When I decided it was time to remove it I noticed that one bubble was popped, most likely by my cleaner shrimp who is generally a nuisance.  Well, I popped another one while I was trying to remove it and BAM!, I have bubble algae in about 8 different places now and there is a particular cluster that is about 2 inches in diameter and in a place I can't easily reach.

So, I picked up an emerald crab last week.  Emerald crabs are very cute and generally hide in the crevices of the rock work during the day and blend in rather well.  At night they wander out and eat bubble algae.  They are complete herbivores and peacefully co-exist in a reef tank. 

But, here is the issue.  In order to eat the algae, they must pop it.  That is why I avoided the purchase for so long.  They essentially create a never-ending cycle.  They break the algae and eat which releases spores and creates more algae which they break and eat, etc etc etc.

So, we'll see what happens.  But, I want to solve this problem because this piece of live rock is beautiful and will most likely be the center piece in my large tank.  So far, I have noticed a few popped bubbles. 

Remind me for an update.