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My new 90 gallon
- Thread starter jsantoli
- Start date
Bought a case of salt from Dr. Jim today, along with four 5 gallon boxes of water from Will @ A.O. I am going to make 75 gallons with the salt I bought and add the 4 boxes of water to throw in some of the bacteria. I also got 80 lbs. of black sand. A day with some plumbers and I should be set to add water and sand.
Hawkeye said:Hey - did anyone know that black sand has metallic particles that are attracted to the Tunze 6200 magnets???!!?!?
I dropped a magnet in the sandbed and what a mess.
oh i forgot to update - black Friday - purchased 100 pounds of black sand. ;D
Hey Joe, did you see this in Hawkeye's build? Read his 120 thread. Maybe you could test your sand. Curious if you have the same sand and/or the same results with a magnet?
Taz
Don't put the magnet directly on the sand - try it thru the bag first - see if the magnet sticks to the bag. My mag float "kinda" stuck to the bag. When I dropped the tunze 6200 magnet (the super strong ones) - it attracted the black sand like a science project.
I still like the look though - just not sure how in the long run the sand's metal or magnetic properties will impact the tank.
Hopefully you will have different results!
I still like the look though - just not sure how in the long run the sand's metal or magnetic properties will impact the tank.
Hopefully you will have different results!
If the sand is ferromagnetic (attracted to magnets) and will conduct electricity….you attach little magnets to all your fish. A magnet passing through a field generates electricity. We can solve the world energy problem, of course, one living room at a time. ;D
My friend who gave me the rock in my nano gave me the rest of his spare rock that used to be in his 72 bow front. I bought the egg crate to line the bottom of the tank and used the putty to try and make some sculpted rock forms. I still need to figure out how I am going to attach everything to make it look good.
I watched Merv use the thorite stuff but I dont have any of that. I was thinking about drilling and using the coat hangers though and possibly putting some putty around the plastic to hold it tighter. The putty dries real hard, and pretty quickly too. Building the vertical isnt hard, I dont know how I am going to connect the arches with just the putty though. I also think I remember someone using the reef glue and accelerator but I could be wrong with that one, maybe Mikenapoli
Thanks a lot Phil. I dont know if I should add some more rock or leave it like this. I do like having all the open space in the front to put corals in the sand, and the way it is set up it leaves a ton of swimming room for the fish, and also a good amount of area to add corals to the rocks
I see no reason why you cannot leave the tank as is - in a 'minimalist' set up. The only thing more rock buys you is the potential for detritus (aka crud) to collect in the back. Yes there is the positive of some anaerobic bacteria buried in the rock somewhere - but I would bet your nitrates go up more via the detritus then can be reduced by the added rock. If you get more rubble - you could use it in the sump to help create more zones for copepods and amphipods to reproduce.
Anyways - leave it like it is. You're adding sand right? that will provide more volume for bacteria to grown on.
Just don't go crazy with the fish - take your time- eventually you'll find the "ideal" community/parameters.
oh one last thing - you might want a "LIVE" piece of LR that is covered in coralline to help kick start your batch. I would do that after your rock has cured (is it cured?)
Anyways - leave it like it is. You're adding sand right? that will provide more volume for bacteria to grown on.
Just don't go crazy with the fish - take your time- eventually you'll find the "ideal" community/parameters.
oh one last thing - you might want a "LIVE" piece of LR that is covered in coralline to help kick start your batch. I would do that after your rock has cured (is it cured?)
It is dead, its the same thing I started with in my nano tank and it didnt need to be cured. It was in my friends tank and he took it out and left it in his garage for a few years. I have 80lbs of sand to add in, and I plan on getting 20-40 more lbs. I have a good amount of rock in my nano that I plan on using also, but this has to be up and running and the nano swapped in the 90 first.
Looking good Joe!
So the 1" x 4" oak that the lights are attached to didnt seem to look as good as I had hoped. I like the fact that I can reach my arm in though so it got me thinking. I was letting a lot of light out of the tank also with the 8" of gap between the tank and the lights. So I went to home depot and bought 1" x 10" oak. I also got 4' of 1"x2" oak. Here is what I did. It is purely cosmetic and slips over the existing light canopy and I made the small oak pieces to fit around the ballasts. I also added the 45 degree pieces in the corners to hold the piece square.
