The 120G has arrived!

[siskiou]

The only good thing that happened today! :)

Though I have belatedly realized that I am crazy and should have stuck with something smaller! (whistle)
Sean and family and Miles and his wife can attest to the crazyness!
But I'm blaming it all on you guys telling me I should get a 120G.

I'll get over it once it's not sitting smack in the middle of our rather small living room.
My husband took it with grace and we are currently celebrating with a nice beer.

This weekend will be busy, emptying out the 40G to make room for the 120.

-Susanne

[CCR]

A 120G, THAT'S ALL YA GOT!!!!!!wooooosssssyyyyyyy LOL Have fun,plenty of bucket's rags, shop vac, extra water (not on floor) AND PIC'S start now!!!!(rock2) (drinking)

[fly guy]

wooooosssssyyyyyyy

This coming from a man afraid of drilling a couple of little holes in his tank (scratch) (laugh)



May the force be with you Siskou :D

[CCR]

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

[spayne]

Though I have belatedly realized that I am crazy and should have stuck with something smaller!
Are you kidding? I saw the tank and it's awesome! Nice and wide! You're going to love that for aquascaping. And someday... you're going to be thinking that the tank is too small! rofl

[siskiou]

You have to realize that we live in a very small house! :D

Anyway, we all three swear that the 120 we looked at at Aqua Serene (we checked out the 75, 90 and 120 there to get an idea of the sizes) was smaller.

But I'm sure I'll fill it up eventually! :)
One thing that's already a problem is that my skimmer is a tiny bit too tall.
I'll have to set it up outside the stand until I can get a different one (in a year ot ten ;)).
I hope it's not too noisy! It's a strange recirc with a mag 7 on it (Terminator).

[siskiou]

Ah, darn!
AGA packed the wrong bulkhead size for the return in at least one of the packages!
It's too large and doesn't fit the 3/4 inch hole.

Edit: I take that back. They pack 3 bulkheads, so you have a choice between a 1 inch hosebarb, or a 3/4 inch for the drain.

Edit2:
Can anyone tell me what the three holes on the top part of the drain/durso pipe are good for?
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b331/siskiou/120G/P1030180-1.jpg

[impur]

Those holes are for letting air into the drain. You can slide that piece up and down to close them or open them more, whichever lessens the sound of rushing water.

[siskiou]

Hm, the only thing I can adjust on mine is the height of the whole standpipe, which means I could have the holes above water or below the waterline, but there is nothing that would cover/uncover the holes otherwise.
The way the piece is dedigned, it can only be slid on top of the movable pipe to a certain point, but then it narrows and can go no further.
I thought the nipple up top was there to let air in?

Do you have the same ones, Miles?

[impur]

Yah i have the same one. Maybe they are extra holes then. I would think they will let too much air in and need to be covered.

[siskiou]

Looking at the thing, I believe the holes almost *have* to be under the waterline for the overflow to work.
It just seems odd to have them there in the first place.

[impur]

Well, the strainer and elbow pointing down are where the water is supposed to enter. Those holes seem to serve no real purpose. Odd.

[siskiou]

The skimmer fits into the stand after all!

Barely, though, but I can get the collection cup off for cleaning.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b331/siskiou/120G/P1030182.jpg

[impur]

Very nice!! I shoulda looked at that crazy skimmer when i was there!! I want to see it in action for sure.

[siskiou]

Here are a few more pics of the very slow progress! :)

Finally, some water in the tank. No salt yet, until I have the plumbing fully figured out.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b331/siskiou/120G/P1030191.jpg

Getting fuller! Notice Fly Guy's rock lifts waiting for the live rock to be added.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b331/siskiou/120G/P1030194-1.jpg

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b331/siskiou/120G/P1030192.jpg

And we hung up the light today! The background is finally on, too.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b331/siskiou/120G/P1030195.jpg

[R-3]

Looks good. Keep it goin. I wanna see how you aquascape with that rocklift. That will make it so much easier. Later Ryan

[mister crabs]

what light are u using? and what kind of skimmer?

[mister crabs]

man i cant wait to get to the valley in the spring.....i am leery of setting up even my 40 gallon right now cuz I dont want to have to move it and cuz everything i need has to be shipped. :( but once i get back to the right side of the mountains i can start convincing the wife we need a 120....lol so for now i guess i will just have to live vicariously thru you guys' tanks! :D

[siskiou]

The light is an 8 bulb Tek fixture with hanging kit and my skimmer is that weird Terminator.
Can't tell you how well that works yet, because I don't even have salt in the water at this point.
Once I have the gate valves and can dial in the "herbie" overflow properly, I can get things going.

[siskiou]

I did some more work on the tank this weekend.
The gate valves have arrived and the "Herbie overflows" are nicely dialed in.
Ah, the silence (if only it weren't for the somewhat noisy mag7 that came with my used skimmer. Not bad, but noticable.)! :D
I hope this Terminator skimmer works! I still have no idea how this design without a collection cup is supposed to get the skimmate into the external skimmate bottle.

I added my meager amount of cycled rock from the 40G, that has been sitting in a rubbermaid tub in the kitchen for the last few weeks.
Obviously, I need a lot more LR, and larger pieces than I currently have, too!
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b331/siskiou/120G/P1030200.jpg
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b331/siskiou/120G/P1030198.jpg
Notice Flyguy's rock lifts!
I'll leave the tank barebottom until I have all the rock I'm going to add.
This current rock still sheds a bit, and it's easier to clean the stuff out without sand.
Once things have settled down and nothing much comes out when I blast the rocks, I'll add a shallow sandbed.
Currently circulation is three MJ1200 and the Eheim 1262 return pump.
I haven't added the penductors to the returns yet, but hopefully tomorrow.

[impur]

Looks good! Lets see under the stand too. :D

[fly guy]

Looks great Suzanne!! Cant wait to see it fill up all the way.

Dont forget...........if any of those individual lifts arent needed for support(which many of them arent), yank em out of there as you start to stack the rock and realize which ones exactly arent needed ;)

[siskiou]

Looks great Suzanne!! Cant wait to see it fill up all the way.

Dont forget...........if any of those individual lifts arent needed for support(which many of them arent), yank em out of there as you start to stack the rock and realize which ones exactly arent needed ;)

I will once I have all my rock.
My current pieces are so small that a lot of the outside lifts are only supporting it by one of the "spikes" of the lift. So, they may look as if they aren't needed in the picture, but they actually are.
Any advice how to hide these later?

[fly guy]

A tiny bit of overhang on the lifts on the edge makes sure to cast a shadow that makes them much harder to see...........this can either be accomplished by taking a large pair of wire cutters and making a little dimple in the underside of the rock so that the rock CAN overhang the rod by a inch or so.......a 3/4 masonry drill bit can do the same thing.
To do it without any rock chipping needing to take place you can either use rocks that are big enough to lay down with a slight overhang, OR have two smaller rocks in your hands, lay one down with the slight overhang, and then another on top of it to haold it in place.
Although, i must say, just a little bit bigger rocks is the way to go.
Regardless of what you do, once you throw the sand in there, you will see that everything is much harder to see anyway, whether or not it is in a slight shadow.

[siskiou]

Looks good! Lets see under the stand too. :D

Here you go!
Not nearly as organized as your's, but it'll do.
I still need to get a hose for the skimmate, which I'll be getting today.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b331/siskiou/120G/P1030201.jpg

The "channel with the LR pieces in it will be a frag area later, with pc lighting over it.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b331/siskiou/120G/P1030202.jpg

Oh, and does anyone have an idea what to put underneath the skimmer that will not become a nitrate factory down the road?
I stuffed a filter sock underneath, which really helps with the noise, but it might cause problems later.

[Nyles]

I put rubber cups under mine, or you can do any type of soft plastic that will act as a isolator. Tank looks nice!!!

[impur]

Mouse pad!

Looks good! That skimmer is crazy, i'm gonna have to come over and see it in action soon.

[siskiou]

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b331/siskiou/120G/P1030203.jpg

ATO set up!
I may try to find something a little less tall with similar volume, but for the time being this is good enough.
I really like the switched outlets! It makes testing things out so much easier!

Now I have to figure out where the air bubbles in the tank are coming from.
One culprit is one of the MJs (I'll never know how a powerhead can spew out bubbles every few seconds even when a foot under water!), but it looks like I'm getting some air through the return, too.
Just through the right side, though! The return goes through a SCWD, but that seems to be air tight, and I don't see any moisture or salt creep anywhere along the line.
Could the locline be the culprit?

[impur]

Yah locline definately lets in air. Might be it. How much water does that res hold? You should run the topoff water into the sump. It will mix better IMO.

Next time you are over in my area stop by and i'll give you some cheato. I need to trim it again.

[siskiou]

Yah locline definately lets in air. Might be it. How much water does that res hold? You should run the topoff water into the sump. It will mix better IMO.

The container holds about 10G, and I can't run it into the sump because it will create a syphon with the top-off container taller than the sump.
Otherwise I would.

Darn about the locline!
Any ideas what to use instead?
Or can I silicone around everything outside the water?




Next time you are over in my area stop by and i'll give you some cheato. I need to trim it again.

Thanks! :)

[impur]

Even going thru that aqualifter pump it creates a syphon?

Can you fully submerge the locline? I think after it gets some saltcreep around it it should seal up fine. I wouldn't silicon it, they you can't move em.

[siskiou]

Even going thru that aqualifter pump it creates a syphon?

Yep! Basically, the pump starts the syphon by filling the tubing, and then it keeps merrily running even when the pump turns off.
The water comes out drop by drop running it up to the tank, and it's right by the return so I think it mixes just fine that way.



Can you fully submerge the locline? I think after it gets some saltcreep around it it should seal up fine. I wouldn't silicon it, they you can't move em.

I'll have to get some more plumbing to submerge it completely, but I'll give that a try.
And I'll put a T instead of the SCWD to see if it's really airtight. One thing at a time to narrow it down. :D
Things never seem to be easy, though.(flame)

[siskiou]

I threw a few frags into the tank today.
They've been happily growing under pc lights in my 20G for a few months, and I hope they will like the T5s and not shrivel away.
I put them fairly low in the 120G.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b331/siskiou/120G/P1030229.jpg

This one's been fighting with some GSP right next to it, but I think the polyps will recover now.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b331/siskiou/120G/P1030221.jpg

And can somebody tell me what this little frag might be?
I got it browned out from Sean, and it's been sllloooowly growing and changing color.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b331/siskiou/120G/spsfrag.jpg

[impur]

Nice pics, that bristle worm is coming out in the background for a treat ;)

Looks like an acro. Can't really tell what type yet.

[Michael7979]

Yeah frag is to small to tell from just the picture. Looks like things are moving right along.

[siskiou]

It's been a while since I updated.

Yesterday, I added my second load of rock (Totoka from ebay, got it really cheap, don't really know much about it but it was cheaper than base rock so I went for it). Had it cooking in a tub for a couple of months.

It looks really pale compared to the Fiji rock that's been in the tank for a while.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b331/siskiou/P1030266.jpg

The shapes are very different from the Fiji, too. Lots of nice shelves for corals and very easy to stack!

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b331/siskiou/P1030264.jpg

Now I need to learn what settings to use on the camera to take better pics! :D

[tidalsculpin]

That is some nice looking rock. Was it cured upon purchase?

[tidalsculpin]

I guess you mean curing when you say cooking. Very open rock.

[siskiou]

Yeah, sorry, I meant to say "curing".

It was uncured when I got it. $2 a pound incl. shipping.

BTW, are you still interested in anything like xenia for your school tank?
I've got plenty! :)

[tidalsculpin]

Oh yeah!(clap) I'll PM you. Maybe I could come by this week.

[siskiou]

A few more pics, mostly of the new fish.

The Whitecheek tang (sold mostly as Powder Brown) has been in the tank for a couple of days, the Scribbled Rabbit fish for a couple of months.
The pictures are not great. For some reason everything looks flat, no depth.
Would appreciate tips how to take better pictures of my tank!
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b331/siskiou/P1030410.jpg
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b331/siskiou/P1030408.jpg
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b331/siskiou/P1030407.jpg

[Nyles]

TURN OFF THE FLASH, HE HE HE

[siskiou]

Flash off does not work for me.
Everything just looks washed out and the true colors of the fish don't show at all.

[Nyles]

pm me and I will come over and show you how its done, maybe I can show you some tricks and see how are contractor friend treated you?

[uhuru]

looking good! I notice some familiar frags in there - so tiny in your big tank LOL!!

[siskiou]

Yes!
I acclimated them slowly on a frag rack and finally glued them into place a couple of days ago.
So far, everything is looking good and no casualties! :)
Thanks again!
I bet they looked a lot bigger in their previous home. ;)