125 gallon journal...planted

Finished cleaning tank.

Here is a photo of the tank completely cleaned. I finished the tank and stand, and now I am ready to tackle the annoying part, gravel. The gravel I got was terribly dirty and it might take me until tues to finish it. I also took a pic of a 10 gallon that is holding the plants I got when I purchased the tank. Had no other area to place them so I hope they survive.

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Tank in place

My father got home so he helped me move some stuff around including my old tank that is housing my discus and angels. I drained it about 50%, my dad and I were able to move it slowly to another part of the room. I have the new 125 in place where it will call home. My plan is to slowly add everything back into this tank, get water into it and let it heat up enough to add the fish. Once the tank is about 82 degrees, I will allow myself to add the fish. I will be using about 30 gallons of old tank water that the fish are in, and adding it to the new water. I still haven't touched the gravel yet. I am dreading how long it will take to clean 150 pounds of disgusting 2 year old gravel. sigh, wish me luck.

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Wide shot of whole room

Here is 4 photos of my room. I have a 20 gallon planted, a 45 gallon housing 2 discus, 2 angels that will be going into the 125. The 45 gallon will probably sit or be sold.

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Gravel assembly Line

I know some people will look at this like I am crazy. I have a system with this gravel. It consists of 4 stages.
1. Bucket with a bleach mixture. (kills anything attached to the gravel.)
2. Strainer with extremely hot water. (removes any unwanted dirt, debris)
3. Bucket of clear cold water. (lets me see if the gravel is actually clean)
4. Dry bucket for gravel to dry. (dry the gravel before I add it to tank)

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Dawn soap is the soap to use. It is the soap that is recommended for the standard "spritz of soap and water" remedy which is the first defense for mites and other plant pests. Other soaps leave residue and aren't as reliable, Dawn soap kicks butt :)

What an incredible cleaning job, not to mention an amazing find! I hope I die of old age with a tank full of beautiful plants like that...

Seriously I'm sure I'll keep fish until I'm 100 ;)
 
Gravel looks

Here are a few photos of what the gravel looks like clean. Remember, this gravel is years old and was completely black and basically mud. I had it go through a 4 step process to get it to look like this. This is just 1 layer. I have 150 pounds of this stuff to clean.

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Remember, I am mixing flourite in with the gravel. It should be here tomorrow.
 
Haha ya Ive been watching your 75 gallon evolve as well geek. Your budget is a little higher than mine, and your tank is looking fantastic. Im about half way done with the gravel, I should be done by tonight. I just ripped a 1 inch slice into my finger some how. A sharp piece of gravel I assume. A little blood just makes me work faster.
 
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