New 120 - Rock on Saturday

New 120 - I Got Pics Now!

So I'm almost ready to go with my new tank. After being out of the hobby for about three years due to a home move followed by a MAJOR renovation I'm ready to get moving again.

I had a very nice Oceanic 90G with an overflow, two Hamilton 250W pendants, a good-sized sump, an older AquaC 180 skimmer, Bakpak refugium, all the fixings. But I was never happy with the front-back depth of the 90. Not enough room for a good live rock setup. Additionally, the new tank is going in a formal living room where pendants hanging from the ceiling and a funky thing on the back of the tank would not go over well with wifey. So I decided to sell the whole bundle. I sold it to a really nice guy in Tampa for $900. He got a good deal, I got it out of my garage so it worked for everyone.

In its place I decided to go with a 120G Oceanic. I believe that a 120 is the perfect size for a reef tank. Water changes fit in a single Rubbermaid 35G trash can (a 180 really needs two and that's a pain), it is 24" front-back so has a lot of room for rockscapes and it is big enough to make a good statement.

I have a 50G sump leftover from my last 180 so I decided to use that. How could I EVER fit a 50G sump under a 120? Well I didn't. During the construction I had a drain and return line plumbed through the wall into the garage and my sump and pump sit in there. We don't use the garage for car storage so no nasty fumes will get into the tank. I'm a little worried about heat, but have an old 1/4 horse chiller that I will hook up if needed (and if it still works!).

To help combat the heat, I went with the new PFO Solaris 400W LED lights. Expensive, but when you work out the power usage, heat build up, savings on lamp replacements, etc., it actually isn't so bad price-wise... break-even after about 5 years

For a protein skimmer I'm using the newer model AquaC EV180 powered by a Mag 9.5. An Iwaki 40 is my main pump. This may change, though. It makes enough noise that I can hear the hum through the block wall and into the living room! I think I need to go with a quieter pump.

I've got a couple modded Maxi-jets for my wave maker and a 15 gallon fuge that I still need to set up. The bummer is the fuge will drain back into the sump, meaning stuff needs to pass through the Iwaki to get back into the tank. Oh well, you can't have everything.

Everything (minus the fuge and wavemaker) has been up and running for a couple weeks. I've got a sand bed and a couple pieces of live rock in there as an initial seed. This weekend I'm picking up about 130 lb of live rock that's been curing at a local store for about a week - really nice stuff and I got the pick of the shipment so got some premium pieces. Following getting those in and letting things settle for a while, I'll place an order from IPSF for critters.

Almost there...

 

sounds good Rocketman!!!! now let's see some pics

 

Ya man....wheres the pics!

 

Sounds like a great well thought out plan, except one thing.............WHERE ARE THE PICS???? LOL Things have changed since 2005. Part of the "membership" is to post pics.

 

Trust me, either you post pics, or suffer the wrath of Luna. He's a big proponent of pics. It's pretty much post pics, or deal with his incessant abuse.

I love pics just as much as the next guy, but it's because of folks like Luna, I don't have to ask. He does it for me.

 

Waiting patiently for pics....LOL >>>>>

 

The disease has spread, but no, not to me, i am safe, as long as i stay in my bio suit nothing will get me, nothing, ever........

 

Here is one... I couldn't wait until Saturday so went out and bought a bunch of coral, live rock and fish!



jk

This is from my old 180. I'll get pics up after I get the rock in and the sediment settles. Probably either Saturday night or Sunday morning.

 

I got some great tonga rock on Saturday and got my tank all set up.

Here are pics of my equipment:

This is a pic of the living room:


Closeup of the tank:


Under the tank... where is everything?


Here it is. Sump in the garage. I still have to set up my refugium, which is what the empty barb fitting will go to.

 

I love the look of Tonga rock. Won't having the sump in the garage cause temperature problems?