Upgrades are good!

[GraviT]

It's been a while since I've hung out around this place, so I thought I would share a couple of pictures of what's been going on.

Here's my 55g as of July (2 years old):


Last Sunday, my 120 was "born". The aquascaping is nowhere near done and the sand on the right side is littered with SPS frags that need to be mounted. I switched to 10,000K Reeflux bulbs when I setup this system (55g ran 14,000K CoralVue)


And, what makes it tick?


The sump is actually a 40g acrylic tank that I bought from a LFS that went out of business ($25 well spent!) and added some baffles (pardon the garage mess)...


Isn't this hobby fun?

[CodyW]

Originally Posted by GraviT

Isn't this hobby fun?

And equally expensive


Nice looking switch, twice as much space, can't complain about that

[amcarrig]

Hey stranger! Everythings looking sweet!! I just set up a 180 myself last week so I'll have a few pics to show off myself in a few months

[GraviT]

Originally Posted by amcarrig

Hey stranger! Everythings looking sweet!! I just set up a 180 myself last week so I'll have a few pics to show off myself in a few months

Stranger than what?

It's coming together slowly, but surely. Unfortunately, I neglected the 55 while getting the thing setup so lots of my SPS browned out. So far, the only casualty from the move was my cleaner shrimp, I found him dead last night (R.I.P. Jaques) after 2.5 years of faithful service. I'm gonna miss that little guy.

And yeah, you have to post pics of your tank. I can't even say I'll show you mine if you show me yours cause I've already exposed myself! Love the avatar BTW!

[amcarrig]

Originally Posted by GraviT

And yeah, you have to post pics of your tank. I can't even say I'll show you mine if you show me yours cause I've already exposed myself!

And people say that I'm bad....it's not true....really.

What did you do to the 120 to make it ready for corals in such a short period of time?

[GraviT]

Originally Posted by amcarrig

And people say that I'm bad....it's not true....really.

What did you do to the 120 to make it ready for corals in such a short period of time?

It's true what they say!

It wasn't quite that short of a time period. A month ago, I completed the plumbing and filled the tank with substrate, RO/DI and salt and let it run for a few days. I came into a good deal on some LR from a member of my local MAS, so I went ahead and threw 60# of cured rock & live sand into the tank and tossed in a medium, frozen shrimp. As the shrimp rotted, I monitored the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels until the first 2 had reached 0, then added almost all of the rock from my 55 and let the system sit for about a week and a half. Next, I put about 60% of the sand, all of the LR and chaeto from my existing refugium into the new one and moved the skimmer over. Once I built up the nerve (about 3 days after the fuge move), I made the final transfer by drip acclimating all inverts and corals in large bins and baster acclimating the fish in bags.

I would have really liked to use some of the water and sand bed from the 55, but I was having issues with pyramid snails and poor polyp extension in my SPS, so I decided to cut my risks in those areas. So far, everything is looking great!

[GraviT]

For those interested, I built the stand from scratch..here's a few pictures:

The stand is made from a 2x4 frame, skinned in 3/4" oak plywood:


The doors, which I also made, were hung on hidden hinges. I decided that it would be great to have easy access to the sump for removal and what not, so one side of the stand also opens.


Doors closed, pre-stain:


A few coats of red oak stain and some spar (and more spar, then more spar..you get the idea) later:



Finally a picture of the tank on the stand. By the way, this tank was given to me in trade for a few easy to care for corals (a few mushrooms, a couple frags of montipora digi and a small ridge hammer). Can't beat that!



Not sure why, but the doors look crooked in that shot. They aren't, I checked with a level..hehe

[amcarrig]

I agree, everything is looking great! I've set up tanks using the same process and was able to add livestock/corals within a shorter period of time than "usual". I usually let a "test coral" sit in the tank for a month or so before putting more stuff in

That stand looks awesome!!

[GraviT]

Originally Posted by amcarrig

I agree, everything is looking great! I've set up tanks using the same process and was able to add livestock/corals within a shorter period of time than "usual". I usually let a "test coral" sit in the tank for a month or so before putting more stuff in

That stand looks awesome!!

Thanks!

I put a green BTA, several mushrooms and some zoanthids in for a couple of weeks before anything else.

[Jason McKenzie]

Looks Great GraviT. Aren't Upgrades fun? How many times have you said "What Have I got myself into" Or is it just me