Started putting together my second reef tank, been away from the hobby for about 8 years or so. I picked up a 190 gallon tank with stand, canopy , and a 75 gallon sump. The sump alone being bigger than any previous tank I've ever had. I'm taking this slow and not rushing a thing with this one. I'm going to try and list most of the steps I took and if anyone has any advice or critiques for me please lay it on.
1. Reinforced floor by doubling up joists and adding 2 load bearing walls on either end of doubled sections.
2. Cleaned tank out using vinegar and air drying for a few days
3. Picked up approx 150lbs of tonga branch rock, dry and dirty off craigslist for $1/lb
4. Bleached rock for about 30 hrs in two brutes with pumps for circulation.
5. Rinse dry repeat.
6. De chlorinated with prime for another day
7. Muriatic acid dip for a few hrs/ baking soda neutralization.
8. Rinse dry repeat.
9. Added sand and rock to display
10. Filled with RODI. Took about 4 days!
11. Added my return pump, a jebao 12000 and a pair of jebao rw20's for circulation
12. Added salt and a half dozen jumbo shrimp.
13. Up to day 12 of cycle. Ammonia reading zero and nitrite beginning to fall.
For the next week or so I'll be working on setting up my plumbing a bit more to my liking so that I have a valve to dump water into my waste line and be able to pump both RO and salt water up from my basement. I can't imagine doing a 40 plus gal water change with 5 gallon buckets. Also I should be receiving my skimmer, a super reef octopus 3000 , this week as well as 3 165 watt Galaxy Hydro LED fixtures. I'll get some pics up as soon as possible.
1. Reinforced floor by doubling up joists and adding 2 load bearing walls on either end of doubled sections.
2. Cleaned tank out using vinegar and air drying for a few days
3. Picked up approx 150lbs of tonga branch rock, dry and dirty off craigslist for $1/lb
4. Bleached rock for about 30 hrs in two brutes with pumps for circulation.
5. Rinse dry repeat.
6. De chlorinated with prime for another day
7. Muriatic acid dip for a few hrs/ baking soda neutralization.
8. Rinse dry repeat.
9. Added sand and rock to display
10. Filled with RODI. Took about 4 days!
11. Added my return pump, a jebao 12000 and a pair of jebao rw20's for circulation
12. Added salt and a half dozen jumbo shrimp.
13. Up to day 12 of cycle. Ammonia reading zero and nitrite beginning to fall.
For the next week or so I'll be working on setting up my plumbing a bit more to my liking so that I have a valve to dump water into my waste line and be able to pump both RO and salt water up from my basement. I can't imagine doing a 40 plus gal water change with 5 gallon buckets. Also I should be receiving my skimmer, a super reef octopus 3000 , this week as well as 3 165 watt Galaxy Hydro LED fixtures. I'll get some pics up as soon as possible.
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