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I've started my changeover

MikeNapoli

MikeNapoli

I'm doing the 55 to 120 change over a little earlier than I was going to.

So far I've:

- Taken down the 55 gallon tank
- Put fish in one 10 gallon tank
- Put Corals in two 10 gallon tanks
- Live Rock in two 25 gallon rubbermaid containers
- Sand in two 5 gallon buckets
- Turned the 55g into my sump using EPDM and 1/4" glass baffles
- Ran all pvc without glue
- Started glueing all plumbing ....

I've run into a snag. One of the T-conectors i got is threaded instead of smooth and now I have to wait until HomeDepot opens tomorrow to get another one. I also glued one of the elbow conectors in the wrong angle so I need one of those as well.

The fish and coral have been in the tanks since this morning... so far everything is ok. My Goby did however manage to jump out and he's back in the tank with 2 layers of eggcrate over them.

I hope I don't suffer any loses over night.



For tomorrow:

- Finish glueing all plumbing
- add water
- test run the tank
- arrange rock with epoxy and acrylic rods
- add sand
- wait for all the sand to settle
- test water
- add fish

I doubt i'll be able to get to add the fish tomorrow but hopefully by monday.
 
mynd

mynd

Totally Awesome.. I love the build.. That part of the process is so awesome. It's like putting together a puzzle that actually functions in the end. Unfortunately I don't really care to do puzzles. But I love the build. :)

Post some photos when you can and good luck!
 
MikeNapoli

MikeNapoli

I will definatly be posting pictures ... I've taken pictures every step of the way.

Also there are no loses this morning. I'm very happy and it looks like everything is ok for now.

I went to home depot and got the pieces I needed and finished glueing. I'm about to start adding water and then take my rock out and start playing around with some ideas.
 
MikeNapoli

MikeNapoli

If anyone has any tips on stacking the live rock I would appreciate it ... it doesn't seem to be working out with the acrylic rods and drilling... the rock is too brittle and just seems to break away.

I'm not sure what i'll be doing now as far as my aqua scaping.
 
S

Subliminal

NJRC Member
Personally, I think drilling,glueing, etc is kind of a bad idea.

You never know if you're going to like the scape, and you never know if you're going to have to dissassemble or move around the structure.

You have to get fish out, or you get an invert that falls between the cracks, or...well, who knows. Maybe your tank cracks and you have to pulls stuff out.

Of course, that's just my opinion.

Oh, and also, say you get corals growing all over something and you have to move stuff and the corals are attached to the rock and the rock is attached to each other.

Anyway, good luck!

damon
 
MikeNapoli

MikeNapoli

I went with the old fashioned stacking pieces that fit method. Seems to have worked out but the way I originialy intended to the rock was to drill them and use acrylic rods that would slide out when I wanted to move them.

The rock was just too brittle. I was using a concrete drill bit but no big deal. It worked out.

I just added my water and i'm waiting to make more RO because I ran out.

My fish are doing ok for now and my corals are all doing good under my old t5 fixture.

My next step is to test run the tank and then add sand .. let it settle and so on.
 
C

chase33

I too dislike the idea of glueing rocks together. I stacked mine and knock on wood, it seems to have worked out well. There are more caves and tunnels than I even thought after completion.
 
MikeNapoli

MikeNapoli

I suffered my first loss and it was a big one. When I got home from work today I found my watanabe angel dead. Of all the fish I didn't want to lose, it had to be her. Oh well.

Hey Will, if your reading this I'll be needing another watanabe but this time make it a pair of male and female.

Pretty pissed right now.

OK the sand is about 80% settled and all my plumbing looks fine. Tomorrow I will do the electrical work and finish the change over by acclimating all my fish and corals.
 
mynd

mynd

Hello there,

For those of you who don't know what a Watanabe's Angelfish is. There you go. It is really unfortunate not only because it is an expensive, rare fish, but because we try to keep things alive in our homes and sometimes there are mishaps. I am very sorry to hear of your loss. I really hate when things die. :(

However, the new tank will be operational shortly and all the rest will have a brandy new home in which to swim. Good luck with it! Can't wait to see some photos when you are done.
 
J

jazzsam

Sorry to hear about the loss. I hope things have been improving since then? Let me know if you need a hand with anything.
 
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