Revamping My 40B (5 year old tank)

[DannaM]

Tank related news: I glued some lino i had spare from when i redid my bathroom into my cabinet to make clean up of drips easy. FW test tomorrow now i can connect my pump.

 

 

HAHAHA After all the other similarities we've discovered....I did the same thing. Only mine was left over kitchen vinyl lol.

 

Can't wait for you to get this thing wet !!!!!

[phoenix91]

Great minds and all that!

 

It should have been wet with fw today but the seal on the overflow leaked a bit so i had to reseal it. Going to test the overflow tomorrow and do the fw test over the weekend if all is good.

[gena]

Looks great! How do you reseal it? Just undoing and redoing it tighter, or did you use a product with it?

[phoenix91]

well to be honest it's a bit of a botched reseal. It was already sealed to the tank so i've just siliconed another layer over the top of the inside of the box.. hoping it works. If it doesn't then i will consider taking the whole thing off, taking it apart and sealing it up again from scratch. I think where i failed is the when i sealed the edges of the box together i forgot to put a bead of silicone over the joint so i went back in and did that. Luckily i have very tiny hands to i could just reach inside past the plumbing.

 

I'm waiting until tomorrow before i test it again to give it time to cure.

[phoenix91]

The new reagents for my Red Sea pro mg test drives today, kudos to BRS for getting it out so quickly. I tested and ended up with mg of 1440 ppm, it seems high. It might be a mistake I made when doing the test, maybe I read it wrong or something so I'm going to test again tomorrow now I've had a practice test. I really need to get some different ca and alk test kits. Ugh, they can go on my never ending list of crap to buy for my hobby. Need more salt too.

[gena]

well to be honest it's a bit of a botched reseal. It was already sealed to the tank so i've just siliconed another layer over the top of the inside of the box.. hoping it works. If it doesn't then i will consider taking the whole thing off, taking it apart and sealing it up again from scratch. I think where i failed is the when i sealed the edges of the box together i forgot to put a bead of silicone over the joint so i went back in and did that. Luckily i have very tiny hands to i could just reach inside past the plumbing.

 

I'm waiting until tomorrow before i test it again to give it time to cure.

Oh....I was thinking one of your bulkheads was leaking. Sorry . Too much going on today for me!!!!

[phoenix91]

No worries. Everything is sealed and working they way it's supposed to so water test!

 

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It's going to take me a little while to get the balance between the return and the overflow right but i will.

 

Now i have to wait until at least next week to move it all to my house, my parents are on vacation and my car isn't big enough to transport the stand. Oh well. it's a good job i'm patient.

[gena]

So awesome. I'm excited for you .

[phoenix91]

Thanks Gena! I'm surprised but it's so quiet, i was sure there would be more splashing or water noises.

[gena]

Thanks Gena! I'm surprised but it's so quiet, i was sure there would be more splashing or water noises.

That's great! I had to do some modifying (with help) to get mine quiet. It's perfect now. No loud splashing, but a quiet soothing/relaxing sound of water.

[phoenix91]

I have zero things to do t work today so I thought I'd work on the rock scape. I only ordered 15lbs of base rock from RC, I still need to pick up some new live rock to seed the tank once its wet, which should be this weekend . So my tank is looking a bit bare.

 

I'm going to try and get new glue and epoxy today and stick what I already have. It's hard to see with all the crap in the workshop.

 

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My aim is lots of swimming places for the fish, with hideouts for Bingley who likes a cave or two. I like having a bridge for some reason, and having the whole thing angled slightly for depth. I also want good clearance between the rocks and the tank walls, for growth space and to clean the glass, my 20 g has no space in some places and that bugs me.

 

Where there's the big open space, I'll either get live rock and make a tallish structure or I was thinking of one of those pre made Eco friendly clay structures, they're a bit pricey but I kinda like how they give lots of open space and seem to have loads of room for corals. Either way I can figure it out. If I had been going to reuse the big rock in the 20g it could have gone there but with flatworms and those damn green palys I think that rock is going to be dried and maybe put in the sump once its free of life. I do have my mushroom rock I might use too, if I can't get rid of the majanos and flatworms I'll just hack a few mushrooms off and toss the rock out.

[SpringFever]

Nice work on the stand. I wish I had built mine without a center brace in the front. Are you planning on keeping the rubber-maid for the sump?

[gena]

Looks great! I love the arch .

[phoenix91]

Nice work on the stand. I wish I had built mine without a center brace in the front. Are you planning on keeping the rubber-maid for the sump?

Thank you. I was going to brace it down the front but added side braces and top and bottom braces instead, I wanted to have full access to the cabinet. I've actually picked up aheavy duty 27 gallon plastic tub,its not as tall as the Rubbermaid tub and hs a bigger footprint. I've filled the Rubbermaid tub with Rodi water and it is bulging significantly, i glad I decided not to use it. I had the black tub filled last week and not much happened.

 

Looks great! I love the arch .

Thanks. I always like an arch, RC included that piece, I didn't have to break it or anything, it looks like a very small bridge. I have an idea for the other side of the tank but what I wanted to order is out of stock. One of these http://www.aquariumspecialty.com/ceramic-rock/cerameco/vidarock-artisan

 

Either the bonsai or the tower looking rock, I thought I could sit one on top of the 2 rocks where mushroom cave is, then the devils hand would be at the bottom of a tower.

[gena]

That rock is awesome! I bookmarked that place for the future .

[phoenix91]

Gena, the site selling that awesome rock emailed me back and said they are so far 6 months back ordered with the company that makes it and can't tell me when it will be restocked as they can't get hold of a rep from cerameco. Looks like its either out of business or they can't keep up with demand.

 

Moving day is finally here!

 

My back hurts from lugging the stand and tank and all that crap from work to my house, it travelled by van but getting it into and out of the van was hard.

 

My living room is a right state! And it makes the 20 g look tiny.

 

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Before water

 

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I've got about 10-15 gallons more water to make, so in about 3 hours it will be up and running with the pump on and saltwater in it! Then I have to get some seed rock so it can start cycling. I'll probably get that tomorrow.

 

The doors aren't finished yet but that's just cosmetic details really.

[DannaM]

I LOVE scapes that have a reef area and a large sandbed area....going to look Sooooo cool when it's wet and has the lights on

[phoenix91]

Tank is almost all the way full! Got to fill up the sump and then it's ready to go. I was planning on putting one of those cerameco clay structures in that space to fill the void but I'm kinda liking it the way it is. I'll be getting a little school of cardinals and they might enjoy the swimming space. I can always put my seed rock into the sump out of the way.

 

Or I might have a small rock there with the devils hand in so it can get as big as it likes right out in the open.

[gena]

That's a bummer about the rock! I DO like your idea of have the devils hand in that open spot to grow SUPER GINORMOUS and fill the space. That would be impressive .

[phoenix91]

The more i think about it the more i am convinced to leave that area as a devils hand grow out space; it does mean that when i move everything over i might have to take a few things to the lfs for credit or sell them. I'm thinking my frogspawn might need to go, it's so hard to get the flow right for that coral, its either too stringy and touching everything or it's scrunched up and annoyed. I don't mind, i'll definitely try to be a bit more selective when placing corals and such.

 

I'm also thinking that at the end of the rock structure next to the open space would be the perfect place for a clam, i wouldn't get it right away i'd wait until the tank matures a bit first.

 

The hammer in hammer hospital is looking so much better, it's getting colour back nicely. I moved it's buddy over to keep it company and dipped both to remove pests so i can actually say i have a pest free salt tank.

 

 

Oh and my new heater arrived today so i can finally get on with this cycle, I'll be buying live rock tomorrow if the snow doesn't get too bad.

[phoenix91]

Tank is hopefully cycling, it's pretty boring and I'm not going to test anything until next week.

 

Pic of the sump, again boring but I like how it's turned out, it's nice and simple.

 

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The cabinet still doesn't have proper doors, there's an issue with the wood for the door front, it's sat so long that its warped slightly.

 

I was at the lfs on Friday and they had the cutest little school of pajama cardinals all swimming around, I can't wait to get mine! I'll be getting them from live aquaria instead of the local place, they're cheaper even with the shipping.

 

The only real issue I'm having with the tank is keeping the temp down, I've got the heater set at 76 and the tank temp is at 78/79, the heaters only rated for 40-53g and I've got over 60 gallons total. Oh and the first few days before the live rock and the lid on the sump I was having massive issues keeping the salinity steady, It took me a few days to get a handle n ow much to top off the first few days I was going through over a gallon a day.

 

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[gena]

Moving right along .

 

I love your sand...it looks so soft and clean. I wish I went with a finer sand like that.

[phoenix91]

Thanks. I used aragonite sand, almost 2 bags of it. I have it in the 20 too and it does tend to clump slightly the longer it sits.

 

I'm considering placing an order with gulf live rock to get 10lbs to put in my sump to help get this thing going. I was planning on putting a fuge in the sump area and have a 3 gallon tank i could use. I'll see if the tank fits tonight and maybe place an order tomorrow.

[phoenix91]

Tested twice In the last week

Ammonia 0.50 on the first test and 0.25 on the second,

Nitrite and nitrate are both 0. I think the cycle is still just getting going.

 

Also got a tub of rubble rock from marine depot, 6lbs of awesome small rock to go in the sump for like $16. I've put my spare 3 gallon with the hole drilled in the back Ito the sump to create a fuge area with not a lot of flow, the water is flowing in and out the drilled hole. The rubble rock went In there and I will get macros to put in there too.

[gena]

Did you end up ordering the live rock? I'm not familiar with that place...do you have to pick up the rock at the airport when ordering from them? I remember quite a few years ago there was a place in Florida that everyone was recommending, but they ship in a bucket with water and you have to pick it up at the airport...no delivery. Too much hassle, but the rock did sound nice!!!!!