A Saga: Nikki's 120 gallon

[NaH2O]

Hope ya made it without much trouble weather wise.

We made it Sue - thanks for asking. A couple of trips to the basement with shoes & blankets, and my daughter was disappointed that she didn't get to cover her head.

Here are a couple of more pics. We have hooked up my refugium to the sump. A maxi-jet 600 pumps water up to the fuge, and water is gravity fed back to the sump. My fuge is going to serve as a pod palace and storage for extra live rock. There is approx. 20 gallons there:

A shot from above - there is another Maxi-jet 600 in there for circulation:

Tomorrow will be one week with rock curing, and the cycle is moving right along - ammonia and nitrites are at the highest reading on my test kit, and nitrates are at 25ppm. I have not performed any water changes, yet. Salinity is 35ppt (refract) pH is 8.10 (pinpoint) temp is 79F (pinpoint)

 

[CarlaW]

How come I can see tywraps all over the place!!!!!!!! Just kidding, looks as tho things are proceeding nicely. Darn, that is some neat lookin rock, where did you get it?

 

[NaH2O]

Charlie, you may want to see if any of the sponsors are carrying it now, but here is a link to a place online: http://www.drmaccorals.com/sys-tmpl/fijirock/view.nhtml?profile=fijirock&UID=10082 - it is Pukani Live Rock

 

[tankgirl]

Nikki, the new tank is looking awesome!!! The scape looks fantastic, too. How bout more pics, like from the side and stuff?

 

[zeltar]

Quick question for you Nikki:
Did you just drop your rock in the tank or did you dip in another container first to rid of the hitchkikers?

 

[NaH2O]

The first night my rock sat in the tank in my basement (no skimmer, poor circulation). I was waiting for a couple of friends to come help with the aquascaping. If anything survived that cess pool - I'll be amazed. No rock dipping of any kind (although I swore I was going to do it with this rock...lol). The aquascaping took ~5 or 6 hours of total work with just the rock (there abouts), so I hoped any hitchhikers would have made their way out by then - as the rock just sat on a tarp on the floor. Also, I haven't performed any water changes, so the ammonia and nitrites are off the chart. There was an urchin on one of the rocks that didn't make the trip, but other than finding several urchin spines and some empty clam shells, nothing I noticed. I have been checking the tank at night - nothing yet. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Tankgirl - Thanks! I'll get some side of the tank pics taken and posted. I think it will help getting the overall effect.

 

[NaH2O]

TG - I took these for ya - I still don't think the pics represent the aquascaping very well at all. Oh well, maybe once I have lights on the shadows will help visualize the ledges.

A shot from the side of the tank:

A shot from the front of the tank:

A close up of one of the islands:

A close up of the middle:

Tank is moving along on the cycle process. The water is starting to clear, skimmer isn't working as hard, and my ammonia is starting to come down. Not too much longer before a water change!

 

[Dr B]

Yea Nikki it doesnt look like anything! Neither do my pics.
It is really hard to get depth in the photo isnt it? I wonder if there is a way to get depth out of the pictures...

I see one of those zipties!
I like how you got the rock nice and away from the back of the wall... really nice. And you did get some nice pieces. A lot of rock lately that I have seen is pretty dense and ugly.
And yea when you get some lights on it post some more pictures please!

 

[MtnDewMan]

Looking good Nikki. I really like how you are taking things slow. Getting the tank cycled before the inhabitants. Patience is a virtue in this hobby. Your tank will turn out great for it.

 

[acropora]

Looking good Nikki, nice job. Kudos on th carpentry and stand. Good luck with all.

 

[Curtswearing]

That water is starting to clear pretty good and Ammonia is dropping. Woo Hoo!!!

Thanks for the update.

 

[reefaddict]

120 saga

Nikki,
i just want to say thanks for this thread because for someone like me who is on the verge of buying and setting up my first reef tank,your step by step "saga" teaches me more about set up than all these books that i have been reading ever have.
mike l.

 

[NaH2O]

reefaddict - thank you for that compliment! You really don't know what that means to me. Since you are setting up your first tank, here is a link to The Nitrogen Cycle Explained. I am posting my water parameters through the cycle as an example of how the process works.

Can't wait to see your future tank in progress!

 

[Scooterman]

What a Clean looking Tank!
Now how long can you keep it that way?

 

[SueT]

Hi Nikki, what kind of lighting are you going to use?? Have you gotten that far yet???

The tanks looking great, I can't wait.

 

[NaH2O]

Hey Sue! I am using 2-250W Ushio 10K MH, and 2 VHO actinic 03s. I was getting concerned about having a heat issue, as my tank was running nearly 80F without lights on. I added a fan to the sump, and it dropped my temp to 77.9-78.2F range. I turned my lights on for 9 hours yesterday, and the temp reached 81F right at 9hours. I still need to add a fan to the fuge area because the side cabinet seems "stuffy", and might have a slight contribution to the overall heat (my fuge is about 20 gallons).

 

[CarlaW]

When you install the fans, are you just goin to have blow continuously or are you gonna put them on a timer coinciding with the lighting period? I also want to know if you'll have the fans blowing across the surface. I believe I might have the same problem with heat, so can you keep us updated on these?
Is your house air conditioned?

 

[NaH2O]

My house is air conditioned. I believe the thermostat is set at 75F. The fan is blowing on the sump surface. In the canopy, I have 4 - 4in fans blowing out. 2 blow out the top and 2 blow out the back. I also have several 4 inch holes drilled in the top of the canopy. I do not want to have a fan blowing across the surface of the tank/bulbs, as I don't want to create a change in bulb temperature. The fan in the sump is just a cheap 6" fan that I had in the house. I think I will put the fan on a timer with the halides - that is something I am going to play around with.

 

[mattseattle]

i have a question why is it that you donj't want to create a change in the temperature of the bulbs? is there a negative effect on the bulbs or something else i don't know?

thanks!

 

[CarlaW]

Well, I think that's a pretty good idea. I don't have the canopy, so the air moves thru that pretty well. Thanx for the description tho.
Is 9 hours gonna be your total photo period with the halides?