125 FOWLR build

thanks again for the help, it will stay dark untill i get my big als package then. i really appreciate all the comments, i'd be lost without this forum!

~Will.

 

its in! i'm really happy with the stand and how it fits. only problem is whomever did the cut out failed to make it square and my canopy has to be shaved down before i can go any further with it. good thing i test fit it 8)



~Will.

 

got it about 3/4 filled with r/o di saltwater with more brewing at the moment. not sure if i like the rock work yet, but i gotta see it under some lights to be sure. my very own sacrificial damsel honored decided to honor us with his presence in this pic.



on the left is what i hope to be an eel cave with a cove on top of it, and the right i left more open for the lion to hunt and get his butt kicked by the sacrificial damsel. the sand around the cave got stirred up pretty bad when i was adding water, i'll smooth it out tomorrow when i add the rest of the water and fire up the wet/dry.

~Will.

 

Looking good man! I have re-aquascaped about 2 dozen times already, and its still not right to me. Good luck with yours and keep us posted! K+ for ya!

 

did you build the space that the tank sits in or was it already there? if so why didnt you make it flush on both sides?

 

will...that is looking really good!!!! I'm lovin it!

 

that space was already there and if it was truly square the tank would sit flush with the wall . . . and that was the plan. but whomever built that cut out decided to be lazy and let it taper in enough that the tank has to be 1" out from it for the canopy to fit . basically its 73" wide at the front and 71.5" in the back. thats something i couldn't measure until i got the huge tv that was in there sold and out the door, what sucks is the stand was 90% done by then.

~Will.

 

cycle started 5/14/09 with around 100# of established aragonite sand and a 20# bag of bio-active aragonite sand, over probably around 140# of live rock, and fresh ro/di salt mix (instant ocean) water.

readings taken on may 15th, and 17th were identical

PH - 8.4
SG - 1.022
Ammonia - .5mg/l
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 5 or 10mg/l (its hard to tell dark yellow and light orange apart )

does this sound about right?

~Will.

 

got some work done on the canopy, mostly lighting. i re-wired the 36" NO t5 double fixtures so the whole unit would act more like 4 x 72" bulbs rather than 8 x 36" bulbs . . . does that make sence? i also found a really ghetto yet effective reflector in foil tape. i had some extra around from my reptile hobby days and this stuff seems like it will work great. the light in the pics being reflected is about 20' away straight up and is a regular 8' t12 shop light.





with any luck i should have this installed by the weekend.

~Will.

 

sooo now my ammonia is 0, along with nitrites, and nitrates holding steady at 5-10, and i'm a little over a week into this cycle. should i add in a shrimp to decomp to spike the ammonia, or just let it be with the single damsel?

the canopy is at 95%, and tomorrow it'll get finishing touches done and hopefully get installed. i'm also going to try to get a sump / fuge setup with an ATO going this long weekend. should i chain the sump / fuge to the wet/dry, or just use a spare overflow and have it pull from the other side of the tank?

~Will.