Phase II

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SparKy697

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
Nov 23, 2006
Messages
1,495
Location
Northwest Indiana
I'm finding that I enjoy the building and developing process at least as much or maybe even more than just looking at the tank, so I thought I would start another build thread and see where it goes.

So after playing with my 29 gallon reef for a little over a year, I decided to move up a bit. Actually this was prompted by coming across a really good deal on a 125 gallon, slightly neglected reef tank.

Please excuse the phone pic:

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Some preparations had to be made to house the corals, fish, and live rock that existed in the tank, so pretty much anything that could hold water was used for the short term. Most of the corals went into an unused, bare bottom, 30 gallon tank.

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Since I was having problems with red hair algae in the 29 and could not seem to win that battle, all the live rock was removed ( that is where the algae seemed to all be growing) and it became a fish nursery for the new tenants.

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It felt like a good time to upgrade the frag tank as well. We now have plenty of room for playing with frags:

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This tank is plumbed into the sump that it will share with the 125.

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That's about it for starters. I still have to build a stand for the tank and many other things so this will not happen over night..... As things progress I will post updates.
 
After doing a little research, I find that this is an Oceanic 135 gallon tank. Not sure if that is good, bad, or indifferent.

Got the tank home finally and have ordered a stand. It ships on the 14th of May, so that gives me a little time to get ready.
 
Your futile attempt to flood my mailbox with PMs has failed again, Mr. Haggard!

I would love to tell you all that my new tank is up and running and show photos of a beautiful tank..... The truth is that it is still sitting in the garage waiting for the stand to show up. I did not build my own stand as I thought I would.

Not having a tank setup has not stopped me from collecting corals for the big day. Neilan, Ziggy, Ebay, and a lfs stop here and there have helped me to start stocking the frag tank. At least I will have things to put in the display without waiting.

The stand should be here in a week (I hope). As soon as I get moving on it I promise to update.

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Feel free to browse the album:
Frags pictures by sparky697_photo - Photobucket
 
It's been killing me..... I just had to find out if my water was as good or better than Neilan's. I sent a sample into aquariumwatertesting.com to see how my dosing and tests compare.

Ammonia (NH3-4) ........................Good ......................................... 0.005
Nitrite (NO2)................................Good ......................................... 0.003
Nitrate (NO3)...............................Good .............................................0.3
Phosphate (PO4) ..........................Good ........................................... 0.05
Silica (SiO2-3) .............................Good .............................................0.5
Potassium (K) ...............................Low............................................. 323
Calcium (Ca)................................Good ............................................ 446
Boron (B) .....................................Low..............................................2.1
Molybdenum (Mo).........................Good .............................................0.1
Strontium (Sr) .............................Good .............................................8.5
Magnesium (Mg) .......................... High........................................... 1525
Iodine (I¯)...................................Good ........................................... 0.06
Copper (Cu++) ............................Good ........................................... 0.02
Alkalinity (meq/L).........................Good ........................................... 3.13

I Win!

This is cool, I think it is well worth the money to do at least once.
 
The reference kit was 109.00 for 4 tests. Knowing that my tests are close to being right as I dose this tank is worth a fair amount of peace of mind.

The one time kit is $40.00. I know it sounds like a lot. Here is my thinking: I have hundreds of dollars invested in corals. I buy ca, alk, and mag. additives so that I can boost things up to the levels that will give them the stuff they need to grow big and strong. I've tested enough water over the years to fill a swimming pool I think, and the one thing that is consistent is the inconsistency of the tests we use. I believe I over dosed a smaller version of my frag tank and killed everything not that long ago and lost much more than 40.00 worth of stuff.

For me, I like having some validation of my methods and tests. Would I do this regularly? No. Would I do it again? I think that I wll send a sample in when I get my display tank on line and adjust dosing to where I think I want it, again just to see that my methods and tests are correct.

Plus, it's a cool looking report!
 
Neat, if it's allowed post the company and address.
 
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