120 Gallon Plexi-Glass Tank Build.

[felixpaws]

Thanks, both of you. I wasn't trying to be rude or anything, I just was putting down what I knew, and was hoping for a "next option". The rocks were in the tank a long time, and the sand i didn't rinse out, before putting in the tank. That could definately be the problem. I'm going to wait, a little while longer, to see if I can remedy the problem, without a full tank break down. My clean up crew is small, also. I might need to get some more snails, and see if that helps. I plan to get a powder brown tang for the tank, at some point, so, that will help with my algae problem, but until then... I changed out my existing wet/dry sump, for a standard 29 gallon tank I had in storage. I was getting frustrated with the lack of space, and the detritus build up. It took, about an hour, and I'm totally happy with it. I'm keeping an eye out for leaks, but none, so far. I changed it to having the flow come in the opposite side, and out the other. Before, I had it opposite where the in/out flows were, in relation to the tanks plumbing. I plan to build a holder for the top off, and maybe for the drain out of acrylic I have lying around. It works, for now. As far as the well water goes, I have not had any problems with it. I don't have to use ro/di, and I'm able to keep softies, lps, and now, sps. I'm using odyssea equipment, mostly, and everything grows great(welllll, I have trouble with the occasional coral, but I attribute that to my inexperience, not the equipment.), with 15% to 18% water changes , weekly. I do get diatoms on the sand, every week, but I attribute that to the sand vacuuming, and the lack of stability, because of that. I dose bulkreefsupply.com 2 part, and use they're carbon & GFO. I use reef crystals, and have used the clearance bulbs from petsolutions.com. I plan to get leds, pretty soon, though. Well water rocks!:thumbsup: People have said you can't do a reef with some of that, and I can tell you that I do. Please, any advice anyone wants to add is welcome. :hi: I may or may not take it, but it might just remind me of something or be the perfect clue I need to help me out. That's what I love about this hobby. People willing to tell you they're experience, and to give advice. Trust me, I don't think I know everything. I just went through the same thing, with my 75, and it cleared up, after a while, and I haven't had a problem, since. I'm hoping that's the problem here. If not, I'll have to address it, by replacing the sand, and cleaning the livge rock. I took some pictures, and I'll post those, as soon as my father uploads them to his computer.

 

[lanimret]

I was not offended man. Just relating info, whether you use it is up to you. I just started the cycle on my new system (thread below yours) and I'll be doing the same as you if I run into any issues. Been doing this awhile, but there are a lot of people here who have been doing it a lot longer than me

 

[felixpaws]

Glad I didn't offend you. Here are some pics. The tank was last cleaned this past Wednesday. I cleaned the glass, yesterday. I'm thinking I'll direct my powerhead at the rocks, and see how much gets stirred up. If I can get it into the sand, then vacuum the sand, I should be okay. If I use rigid airline tubing, connected to reg. airline tubing first, I can suck up as much cyano. as possible, first. Then, do a water change, clean the skimmer, and glass. I've got coral in there, but some aren't too happy. I bought coral for my 75, and the same thing happened with them. After the cyano. was gone, they were "happier". Switching to the 29 gallon seems like an "of course" moment, but it took me a long time to decide to, finally, go ahead, and do it. At first, I thought I wouldn't be able to, but after measuring, and re-measuring, I decided it would work. My stand is kind of funky, so, I couldn't get a 40 gallon breeder, like I wanted. A 30 gallon breeder/long?, I think would work fine, but I had this lying around. I noticed new bubbling in my seams, the other day, after not seeing any new ones for a month. Man, I guess I'm going to have to switch to glass, whether I like it or not. It's just a matter of when, now. The bubbling is along the side seam, on the right. I looked all over it, and didn't find anything else, but this is really disheartening. It's perfectly level, too. I don't know what else to do, other than start with a new tank. The tank is a few years old(at least 3, but probably a lot more.), and I stressed it, by having it un-leveled for a couple months, so, I'm not totally surprised. It just sucks, because I'll have to buy the tank, and stand at the same time, and I still haven't paid this tank off, yet. It'll be paid off, beginning of December. Two months. I have a source for the new tank, but I'm more worried about moving everything over, without casualties. Fish aren't that big of a deal, but the coral might be, and all the live rock. Ugh! At least, then I can rinse the sand thoroughly, and clean the rocks. I'm crossing my fingers on no new bubbling, in the seams, but I don't have much hope for that, at this point. Maybe, I can upgrade to a 5'x2'x2' tank. Well, here's to hoping.:cheers:

 

[felixpaws]

:huh:I tried uploading pictures, and it wouldn't let me.

 

[felixpaws]

I'm having issues, and I don't know if it's my computer or the site. The "select files" box is showing up as a black box, no letters, and I'm getting an exclamation point in a red hexagon showing it didn't upload. Mods.? I'll try, again, in the daytime.

 

[lanimret]

Yah I am having the same issue, I had to crosslink the pics i posted the other day from my own web space. once i did that the forum transferred them and they displayed correctly. Obviously something is up with the file transfer system.

 

[greech]

I am not sure if you followed these instructions but this is the official FAQ thread on uploading pics. I did just try it myself and either there is something wrong with me or the upload format has changed since this thread was written .

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forum...-1-Proper-Way-of-Attaching-and-Posting-Photos

I use photobucket to post pics. It's free and much easier than going through the attachment process. I'll go chat with some of the other mods on this and report back. In the meantime, if you are still having trouble shoot me a PM.

As for the well water, I'm glad its working for you. For me I just don't want to have to question my water source if things go south. Too many variables already.

I have never used an acrylic tank but I have had a tank blow a seam (and then a panel) before and I can assure you that is no fun. If you think the integrity of the tank is compromised I would swap it ASAP. Maybe you can find a good deal on a used glass tank?

 

[felixpaws]

I'll try, again. Yeah, having iit blow a seam is not what I want, but it may be inevitable. The problem is, I need to pay this tank off, first, then I can think about getting a replacement. 2 Months left, on the payments. My kole yellow eye tang is doing well, but I haven't actually seen it eat anything, but algae off equipment, and glass. I put in some dried algae, on a veggie clip, but don't know if he got it or the other animals. I had the same problem with my yellow tang, when it was still alive. He should adjust, after a little while. The seams aren't going to blow, yet, but at some point in the future. It's a very slow process, so, I should have a little while to save up(hopefully). My bed is right next to the tank, so, it is sort of nerve wracking, but the seam bubbling is minor. It's just that I see new bubbles. If they were the same ones I had, I wouldn't worry, but new ones means that something is wrong, so... Anyway, the new sump is working well. No leaks. Yea! The cyano. is not as heavy as it was, since I suctioned it out, the last two weeks. I figure, a few more times suctioning it out will cure it. I change my carbon, and gfo, weekly, so, that should help, too. The glass is getting a nice coating of green algae, every week, since I started suctioning out the cyano. I see that as a positive sign, since the same happened on my 75. I'd rather use RO/DI myself, but I don't have a choice. I'm living with my parents, for financial reasons, and they won't allow me to use that much water. I'm looking into using a DI unit, alone. Any suggestions? I can't use the waste water to water plants or flush toilets, since I'd have to store the waste water, as well as my change water. I'm looking into the used tank, thing, but it's not looking good. There aren't a ton of reefers out here. It's a small city, and most of the reefers don't know each other. We just started a southern Idaho section to our club, but so far, it's slow going. I'd love to meet more reefers in my area, though. Any advice on my setup? Please, let me know what you think, even if you think it sucks. :

 

[felixpaws]

Just bought 3 more blue/green chromis, and a blue eyed tang, and acclimated them for an hour. I was considering a tomini tang, but found this one at my lfs, and had some credit, from trading in some frags. Still need to get some more Antias, but I'm that much closer to having all my fish, for this tank. They had a cool anthias at my lfs, but I didn't have enough credit, and cash to get it. I plan to frag some more stuff, to get some more credit, to get it, but it'll be a little while, before they're ready to trade in. Even with the cyano., my trumpet coral is splitting, again, already. My sps, in my 75, are doing well. They have grown, noticeably. I think, the new bubbling on my 120 was due to the powerhead on that side, by that seam. It was there to up the water flow, behind the rock wall, but it most likely was pushing on the seam, almost like the water was not level. So, I removed the powerhead. I didn't really need it, I just had it there, because it came with the tank, and I didn't want to waste a powerhead. I will do a water change, vacuum out the cyano., change my gfo, carbon, vacuum the substrate, clean the skimmer, and the glass. It sounds like a lot of stuff to do in one day, but to a planted tank enthusiast, it wouldn't seem like that much, and a lot of the equipment is the same or could be easily changed out for a reef tank. If you've ever considered getting into reefing, now is a great time to be a reefer! (Although, if you've never dealt with a plexi-glass/acrylic tank before, I'd suggest some research, before getting an acrylic tank.)

 

[felixpaws]

Here are some updated pictures of the 120, and a few of my established 75 gallon. Hopefully, I'll be able to upload these. Still dealing with cyano., in the 120, but it has abated some, so, hopefully, it will stop, soon. I went through the same thing, with my 75, and this tank had established live rock, that got cooked, in a barrel, because of a faulty heater. It didn't kill all the life, plus the tank had cyano. issues, when I bought it. I hope the problems will be taken care of, with good maintenance. I just bought new bulbs, for the compacts, and T5's. I received the compacts, today. All worked, yea!!! I should get the T5's, tomorrow. I, also, bought myself some stunner strip reflectors, which, will come with the light bulbs. The lighting should get much better, now. I found my purple top Psuedochromis' head, in my skimmer's needle wheel impeller, during routine maintenance.:thud:Apparently, he got sucked down the overflow, and into the pump. Either that or he died, and then got sucked in. I bought a yellow tang, and another anthias, and both are doing well. I bought a bunch of anthias, over time, and all but the 3 I have now, have died. I won't buy anthias, anymore. Switched over to the 29 gallon sump. Added a trash can, with chaetomorpha, and two 50/50 bulbs over it. I drilled holes into the trash can, for water to get in, and circulate. I change GFO, and Carbon, every two weeks, change out more than 10% of the water, per week, with reef crystals. I feed a wide variety of frozen, dried, freeze dried, gel foods, as well as dried seaweed. My tangs seem to be pals with my wrasse. Literally, they follow him/her around, like puppy dogs. Enjoy the pictures!