gweston's 125 + build thread, my first large tank.
- Thread starter gweston
- Start date
Anyone want to help move a 125g long this Saturday 4/28 in Gardner MA? The time will be coordinated with those who would like to help out, and their availability.
I probably need 2 others. I have myself and one other so far. I moved this tank with two people, with difficulty, from a truck to the basement. The tank is in my basement already, and just needs to move through a doorway to the basement man-cave. No stairs to traverse. A very short distance. I may try to rent suction/handle thingamabobs if the local rental place has them.
I can provide beer and pizza
I probably need 2 others. I have myself and one other so far. I moved this tank with two people, with difficulty, from a truck to the basement. The tank is in my basement already, and just needs to move through a doorway to the basement man-cave. No stairs to traverse. A very short distance. I may try to rent suction/handle thingamabobs if the local rental place has them.
I can provide beer and pizza
The sump room has a screened basement window that I can open to let air exchange. I want to run an air line from the skimmer to outside, and possibly a bathroom fan or something on a humidistat to vent outside. At the moment I am mostly relying on a dehumidifier. I've had the sump running now for almost a week and the humidity level in the basement has been pretty good so far.
I drilled, and started plumbing the 20H last night. It fit perfectly in the corner. I'll post a pic a bit later today. I hope to have it plumbed in and filled with sand/water by tonight. It'll work great as a refugium. Thanks for the tank/stand!
I drilled, and started plumbing the 20H last night. It fit perfectly in the corner. I'll post a pic a bit later today. I hope to have it plumbed in and filled with sand/water by tonight. It'll work great as a refugium. Thanks for the tank/stand!
Yep I am seriously determined at this point! After some 2 years this thing is finally coming together.
The fuge is online as of last night. So 120 gallons running. 125gals to go! I have some more pictures to post, I will as soon as I have the time. Pics of fuge and some of the 40B stand.
I made a few minor mods to the various drains to quiet things down. I also had a 'flushing' problem with the 40B due to too much back-pressure. The drain mod plus turning down the flow a little bit fixed it. When the 125 is plumbed in, that excess power from the return pump will have somewhere to go ;P You will see the cap and airline tube silencers in the pics I will be posting later.
I am pretty satisfied so far with the Mag18 pump. It should do fine I suspect with everything running. The bean overflow on the 125 though should be able to support far more flow than the return will provide. So I am eying a pump upgrade at some point. I was looking at an upper end Water Blaster ~3000gph, but an external high pressure pump may be better. Need to save the pennies I guess as they aren't cheap.
The fuge is online as of last night. So 120 gallons running. 125gals to go! I have some more pictures to post, I will as soon as I have the time. Pics of fuge and some of the 40B stand.
I made a few minor mods to the various drains to quiet things down. I also had a 'flushing' problem with the 40B due to too much back-pressure. The drain mod plus turning down the flow a little bit fixed it. When the 125 is plumbed in, that excess power from the return pump will have somewhere to go ;P You will see the cap and airline tube silencers in the pics I will be posting later.
I am pretty satisfied so far with the Mag18 pump. It should do fine I suspect with everything running. The bean overflow on the 125 though should be able to support far more flow than the return will provide. So I am eying a pump upgrade at some point. I was looking at an upper end Water Blaster ~3000gph, but an external high pressure pump may be better. Need to save the pennies I guess as they aren't cheap.
Pics of 20H Fuge I set up last night.
~40lb of the super fine Marco Sand in there. This stuff is SUPER fine. If you ever use this, wash it VERY thoroughly and carefully (you can easily wash the stuff you want away it is so fine grained). The sand had a couple clay-like clumps in it that I found a bit bothersome. After carefully washing, removing the few clay clumps I found, plus making sure to skim off any other undesirables such as leaves (yeah leaves were in the sand), I added it to the fuge. The foggy water in the fuge cleared up quickly as it was diluted with the sump. It then cleared out nicely overnight. Did I say, WASH this sand very well? The first few buckets had foamy nastiness you do not want in your tank. When the foam was washed out, it was cloudy. I then SLOWLY ran water in the bucket and let it overflow. When it was somewhat clear, I then added it to the tank. Once clean though, it looks quite nice. I'm still 50/50 whether I'd use it in a display.
The 40B has Caribsea Fiji-pink sand. Expensive, but in my opinion the grain size, color, and quality is excellent. The 125 long display will have Caribsea special grade reef sand (more coarse). I hear it goes great in reef tanks, but its appearance is so-so. A lot of people seem to love it though.
~40lb of the super fine Marco Sand in there. This stuff is SUPER fine. If you ever use this, wash it VERY thoroughly and carefully (you can easily wash the stuff you want away it is so fine grained). The sand had a couple clay-like clumps in it that I found a bit bothersome. After carefully washing, removing the few clay clumps I found, plus making sure to skim off any other undesirables such as leaves (yeah leaves were in the sand), I added it to the fuge. The foggy water in the fuge cleared up quickly as it was diluted with the sump. It then cleared out nicely overnight. Did I say, WASH this sand very well? The first few buckets had foamy nastiness you do not want in your tank. When the foam was washed out, it was cloudy. I then SLOWLY ran water in the bucket and let it overflow. When it was somewhat clear, I then added it to the tank. Once clean though, it looks quite nice. I'm still 50/50 whether I'd use it in a display.
The 40B has Caribsea Fiji-pink sand. Expensive, but in my opinion the grain size, color, and quality is excellent. The 125 long display will have Caribsea special grade reef sand (more coarse). I hear it goes great in reef tanks, but its appearance is so-so. A lot of people seem to love it though.
Thanks Rob, Brian and Chuck! Huge help getting the tank moved over!
Working on the aquascape. Final plumbing connections on the back. Then in goes the sand and water. It'll probably take a few days due to all the water I need to make.
I also have this little guy coming by FedEx tomorrow morning. Not my pics, from the seller. I'll have some better pics hopefully by tomorrow. Its a 2" G. Smithii Mantis.
Working on the aquascape. Final plumbing connections on the back. Then in goes the sand and water. It'll probably take a few days due to all the water I need to make.
I also have this little guy coming by FedEx tomorrow morning. Not my pics, from the seller. I'll have some better pics hopefully by tomorrow. Its a 2" G. Smithii Mantis.
My new Mantis Shrimp that arrived this morning. It is in temporary holding in a large specimen container. PVC to hide in. Snacks (snails,hermits). Pics aren't great as he was being acclimated in lower light. If I can get a better pic, I'll post. I need to try to identify if it is a male or female.
Name: Zod. G. Smithii, ~2".
Name: Zod. G. Smithii, ~2".
Its filling but SLOWLY. Rock and sand are in there. I probably have about 25 gallons of water in there. I made another 10 this morning before going in to work. I have a 55g drum and 30g brut can in the basement I need to turn into an RODI/salt mixing set up. I suspect it'll take a couple more days to finish filling the way things are going.
Is the tang ok? How big is he? Any idea what he has? If you need meds. I have all sorts of stuff to treat most anything. Maracyn-2, Prazipro, Cupramine (and test kit), Formalin, plus some others. Currently the only hospital tanks I have on hand is a 5gal and a 10gal tank. The 10gal is well cycled (running for some 3+ months now). Maracyn-2 is great stuff for bacterial infections. I stick to that and Prazipro. I try to only move to cupramine or formalin if those are ineffective, or if I identify the disease as requiring one of those treatments.
If a large QT isn't available.. then med dips and/or a medicated food may be worth a shot.
Is the tang ok? How big is he? Any idea what he has? If you need meds. I have all sorts of stuff to treat most anything. Maracyn-2, Prazipro, Cupramine (and test kit), Formalin, plus some others. Currently the only hospital tanks I have on hand is a 5gal and a 10gal tank. The 10gal is well cycled (running for some 3+ months now). Maracyn-2 is great stuff for bacterial infections. I stick to that and Prazipro. I try to only move to cupramine or formalin if those are ineffective, or if I identify the disease as requiring one of those treatments.
If a large QT isn't available.. then med dips and/or a medicated food may be worth a shot.
focus
Non-member
That's a lot of water to make!
He seems fine for now the scratches aren't real deep so hopefully he won't pick up an infection, at the moment he doesn't have anything. He is close to 6" a big boy. I agree Maracyn was my go to antibiotic increasing my c dosage and some fresh nori should help. I'll make sure he his eating properly (veggies) until he heals up.
He seems fine for now the scratches aren't real deep so hopefully he won't pick up an infection, at the moment he doesn't have anything. He is close to 6" a big boy. I agree Maracyn was my go to antibiotic increasing my c dosage and some fresh nori should help. I'll make sure he his eating properly (veggies) until he heals up.
DemiseAngel
Non-member
Looking good!
