new (to me) 120g build

tank is cleaned and plumbed, had to redo about 1/2 the plumbing since the previous owner had it setup 1/2 the pipes had to be cut to get the tank separate from stand. I put in pvc unions so can be taken apart for cleaning, since I hear not maintaining a closed loop is asking for trouble.

also ordered some key largo macro rock and fiji pink sand. hopefully it makes it here this week and i can do the aquascaping next weekend.

next step is mounting my lighting fixture in the canopy, and reasearching aquascaping to see how i want to set it up. im leaning towards a 2 island setup so far

 

Looks much better!

 

Looks much nicer. The intakes for the closed loop look like they have white buildup on them. You might to soak them in vinigar to get rid of that before the tank gets water.

I love that size tank though.

 

great score! I love tanks with some depth. also cool sump is the fuge the top container that gravity feeds into sump? will be tagging along for this one.

 

looking good so far. I'll be watching.

 

yea that's the fuge on top that gravity feeds into the sump. leak tsting closed loop and sump plumbing right now. rock/sand will be here thursday, im currently debating if i want to just do a stacked aquascape or do some drilling and use pvc supports


So since this is going in the living room which already has all the home theater equipment on its circuit i put in a new GFCI circuit just for the tank. Of course this required an electrical permit and an inspection . the inspector comes hits the test button of Gfci hits reset button says "looks good" and leaves. that is some high quality inspection i could have ran a 20 amp circuit with 20 gauge wire for all he knows.

 

YAY rock and sand are here. time to start the aquascaping.

very impressed with the macro rock. its so light, and the shapes they sent are very nice.

 

dry portion of aquascape, still have 50ish pound of live rock to move( going to make a small island in front right corner), but my RO/DI unit is in garage and the water is like 50 degrees so i need to warm it up before i put think live rock in.

I was planning on doing some drilling and using PVC but the macro rock was so well shaped and has enough holes that some zip ties made it really stable

time to start filling, bought some H2Ocean salt, for the initial fill since i need so much. in general I have been using the new ESV B-ionic separated mix and love it, but the thought of all that measuring for the 100ish gallons i need wasn't very appealing and i hear H2Ocean is good stuff


oops extra rock in box pick ohh wells

 

tank is up and running, drip acclimating the live stock now. My sea star got exposed a little to air, and i know ive read that will kill them but im not too worried since i know ive seen him climb the glass and expose a leg.

pics as soon as they everything is in (although its gonna look really empty i imagine with only 5 small fish and a few corals)

 

.....but won't it be fun to fill all that "empty" space?

Great job! It will be great to see some "finished" pics and to see you start putting new pieces in.

congrats!