James's supercharged 120 build

[james1990]

I asked the question wrong I'm at work. would the 800w be efficient for my water volume?

 

[james1990]

I also need some clarification on another topic...

I'm completely torn on transferring over my nano to the new tank or not.

I have really nice established rock in there full of bristle stars, All different types of beneficial algae, and encrusting sps. but on some of the rock I have red mushrooms, star polyps, xenia, etc..

do I move over the rock that has no visible nuisance corals or am I playing with fire? I did have like 3 aptasia's on one piece but my peppermint shrimp ate them within a day and I never saw them again.

I want to avoid a long nasty cycle by using my nano and I grew attached to the livestock.

any help is appreciated. I also read about people putting their rock into the fuge to seed the cured rock

 

[james1990]

going to pick up sand today and get this cycle going. any recommendations on sand? I was thinking Carib sea Fiji pink

 

[MjG2000]

Looking good, tagging along.

 

[empire]

If you want to come to
Nj I have some caribsea floor special grade sand. What are you going to do to control humidity in the closet? Will it be a problem?

 

[james1990]

thanks. I just picked up a bag of fiji pink and 2 bags of Bimini pink. I think the fiji will blow around too much with the high flow but the Bimini is a little bigger. going for a 2" bed.

 

[james1990]

first I painted the room with shower grade paint. than bought a hydroponic grade humidity and temp controller. I also ordered a Panasonic wall mount bathroom exhaust fan that will be controlled by the controller. a portable AC will be controlled as well when it gets hot in the attic. I insulated the wall dividing the sump room from the attic, as well adding another attic exhaust fan. I THINK I got all bases covered but well see.

 

[empire]

Sounds like it. You really got this planned out nicely bro.

 

[james1990]

So I finally got my hands dirty with something other than PVC primer & glue. I used the 10lb Marco 400 mortar kit and of course cooked pukani rock. I'm leaving the aquascape pics as a teaser because the live sand is clouding up the tank.

so I jerry rigged I filter floss trap

 

[james1990]

I really liked working with the Marco rock mortar kit. you can adjust the consistency with the amount of liquid you add. the rocks held after 10-15 minutes and cured after 24

 

[james1990]

I wanted to go minimal on the aquascape to give SPS room to grow. I also like the look of an open sand bed.

 

[james1990]

I never had a problem with the tank clouding up after adding the carib sea live sand. I dropped the whole bag in the tank and opened it up on the bottom. the tank was 70% clear after 3-4 hours

 

[james1990]

And today. man iv waiting along time for this!

 

[james1990]

After those shots I added the live bacteria to jump start the cycle. I went to Aquarium Village and they really hooked me up. they gave me this stuff that they use in their tanks to kick start the cycle as soon as possible. way more potent then the normal Bio spira product from instant ocean. it was more expensive but I found it worth it.

it must be kept refrigerated, and a food source must be added 2-3 days after the addition.

 

[Rickyrooz]

Very nice rock work

 

[MikeC]

Looking good James

 

[Exotic Reefs of NJ]

Nice work buddy

 

[rideit6578]

looks awesome! love the rock work

 

[james1990]

thanks I'm glad you guys are feeling it. I. going to start testing params and see where I'm at

 

[MWoodhill]

what glue did you use to adhere the rocks together? I've tried epoxy which has never worked well. Did you use some regular garden/rockwork glue/cement?

I wanted to go minimal on the aquascape to give SPS room to grow. I also like the look of an open sand bed.