saltwater aquarium build

[troybuckle]

 

[troybuckle]

 

[troybuckle]

 

[Jimbo662]

Gorgeous tank!!!!

 

[Ted]

Tank looks great...:Cheers:

 

[troybuckle]

Hi All,

So. I have been 100% MIA for that last few years lol. Just to give an update, this has what has been happening:

• Me and my father in-law (who was only available 1.5 weeks a month), along with occasional help from my father (lives in a different town) and my brother in-law, built my new house from September 2014 until a few moth ago Jan 2017 when we finally finished. I literally worked on this every day after work and every weekend and holiday during that time frame and I only took a total of 2 one week holidays off to attend family weddings out of town. My point is I had 0 time for any hobbies or breaks… it was the hardest thing I have ever done.
  
  
  
• During that time, my Tank was at my brother in-law’s house, while we lived in a small temporary apartment. Unfortunately, there was very little upkeep or maintenance done on this tank during the last 1.5 years specifically because I didn’t live where the tanks was and my brother in-law didn’t have much interest in it either. However, I am very grateful that he kept it at this place while I couldn’t.
  
  
  
• So, my point is… it’s time for the tanks next move to our new house! Now, the conditions in the tank are not the best anymore, I only have one clown fish remaining, a fair bit of algae growth and a massive growth of red mushrooms. However, I am going to bring this tank back to its former glory and show my progress in doing so.
  

Once again I am going to lean on the support and help from this form and show you guys how I make out. So, the move starts this weekend and more pictures will follow.

 

[Becky]

Welcome back to the forum! Wow, sounds like you've been very busy. Glad to see you back :)

 

[troybuckle]

So, the tank has been moved… I will give a breakdown of how it went. Sorry the pics are crappy… taken with my phone. I wanted to show you guys this so you can see how bad it can get and hopefully how things can still be turned around.


Friday

• Removed the Light Fixture, cleaned it, and fixed a loose connection with one of the T5 tube connectors. Also fixed one of the legs what was slightly broken.
  
  
• Removed and clean the outside of the skimmer. Disassembled the motor and clean the re-occurring clog which makes the skimmer 10x louder
  

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[URL=http://s241.photobucket.com/user/jennaelainebarney/media/tank%202.png.html][/URL
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This is the clog in the skimmer, so small, but causes it to become so loud!




Saturday

• Disconnected the Reef Keeper lite, removed all electrical from the stand
  
  
• Drained the tank out, moved all the live rock to a tub in my garage. Managed to keep about 15g of the original water, kept about 3 gallons or so in the tank (along with the clown) and dumped the rest. Once it was down this low it smelled very bad.
  
  
• Scraped and cleaned all the glass. Removed the black background and clean it.
  
  
• Cleaned the powerheads and all the other equipment.
  
  
• Cleaned the stand and brought it to my new house
  
  
• Set up the tank, and added 15 gallons of new water, placed half the live rock in along with a powerhead and heater.
  

[URL=http://s241.photobucket.com/user/jennaelainebarney/media/tank%204.png.html][/URL
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[URL=http://s241.photobucket.com/user/jennaelainebarney/media/tank%207.png.html][/URL
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[URL=http://s241.photobucket.com/user/jennaelainebarney/media/tank%208.png.html][/URL
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Poor little guy, still not sure if he is going to make it, the bottom got stirred up a lot

[URL=http://s241.photobucket.com/user/jennaelainebarney/media/tank%209.png.html][/URL
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[URL=http://s241.photobucket.com/user/jennaelainebarney/media/tank%2011.png.html][/URL
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[URL=http://s241.photobucket.com/user/jennaelainebarney/media/tank%2012.png.html][/URL
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[URL=http://s241.photobucket.com/user/jennaelainebarney/media/tank%2014.png.html][/URL
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[URL=http://s241.photobucket.com/user/jennaelainebarney/media/tank%2013.png.html][/URL
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As you can see the tank was in very bad condition.. and the red mushrooms have taken over the entire tank.


[URL=http://s241.photobucket.com/user/jennaelainebarney/media/tank%2016.png.html][/URL
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New location!!

[URL=http://s241.photobucket.com/user/jennaelainebarney/media/tank%2019.png.html]

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Sunday

• Moved the rest of the live rock into the tank along with the 15g of original water
  
  
• Added the rest of the equipment and set up the reef keeper lite
  

[URL=http://s241.photobucket.com/user/jennaelainebarney/media/tank%2017.png.html][/URL
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Monday

• Arranged the rocks
  
  
• Set up the canister filter (added more rubble to it that came from the tank). My canister filter only contains live rock rubble in its baskets. I think this filter is very good because it adds a few more gallons of water to my system along with more flow.
  

[URL=http://s241.photobucket.com/user/jennaelainebarney/media/tank%2021.png.html][/URL
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Now, I still have a few things to do with the tank:

1. Fix the moon lights (broken wires)
   
   
2. Change out the t5 bulbs (5 years old…) I know…
   
   
3. Get new water testing kits.
   

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[Becky]

Looking better already! Fingers crossed the clown makes it.

 

[troybuckle]

Looking better already! Fingers crossed the clown makes it.

Yes... I am not sure he is going to pull through...

So I did a water test last night (now my API test kit is 6 years old, so I don't trust it much anymore):

• pH 8.2 but according to my Reef Keeper probe its 7.23 (not sure which is correct at the moment)
• Ammonia .025ppm
• Nitrite 0ppm
• Nitrate 80ppm
• SG - 1.020

I do believe that I will be getting a ammonia spike followed by a Nitrite and Nitrate spikes as well, I stirred up the bottom so much during the move that I feel that this will be the case for sure, I may even kick off a cycle. Also, I am having trouble with me temperature probe and maybe even my pH probe, and I can need replacments...

Good news is I just made this order last night:

1- ATI Purple Plus T5 - 36″ – 39W
2 -ATI True Actinic 03 T5 - 36″ –
3 - ATI Coral Plus T5 - 36″ – 39W $27.95 3 $83.85
Kent Marine Pro-Scraper & Pro-Scraper II - Replacement Stainless Steel Blades
Red Sea Marine Care Test Kit

 

[troybuckle]

Got my order in


Here is a before pic of the tank with the old lights



And here is a pic with the new lights

 

[troybuckle]

So I have another test kit in and I have done a few more water test over the last few days and I have the following results

• pH 8.2 but according to my Reef Keeper probe its now at 7.54
• Ammonia .00ppm
• Nitrite 0ppm
• Nitrate 50ppm with the Red Sea test kit, so it's off the scale of both this kit and the API kit
• SG - 1.022 I got it up a little with a weather change a few days ago.

I am going to do another 5g water change within the next day, to try and help get the nitrate down...