my unexpected 125g build

[huma-huma]

So if you don't know yet, I've been dreaming of a decent sized saltwater tank for quite some time now, just never could fully swallow the thought of all the money needed. ......well my girl woke me up 2 days ago to the news that her old friend was selling her 125g saltwater tank for 350 bucks ...with everything included!!! That's th a 125g dual overflow tank,black wooden stand, sump, full length light hood (not sure how many bulbs), sand, water, AND 4 fish!!!!!( Of which one is a marron clown) and live rock......I don't have any specifics in terms of the lights,sump, amount of rock, or filter type.....but I will on wednesday. The tricky part is figuring out how we are going to transfer all of this safely over to our house (we are about 3 miles apart). Well either way, this isn't so much a build as it is a "redo" I will upload pics tonight possibly. oh and 2 questions, is a rodi a must?? And If I xfer everything including the water, I would assume I don't need to cycle correct??

 

[carey]

I would highly recommend getting an ro/di machine especially if youre going corals.

You might have a mini cycle from die off due to the moving, I would monitor the parameters carefully for a few days after the move.

 

[aaronalam]

You can use treated tap water but it's highly recommended you use RO-DI water.

I personally wouldn't use the water, you never know what's been in there but that's a decision that you'll have to make.

If you do choose to dump the water, obviously the fish need a safe place, do you have any kind of holding tank you could use for them? You could just put some of the old water in a tank, even store some of the live rock in there and keep the fish happy while you cycle fresh water?

Congrats on the tank, look forward to seeing it!

 

[Maya]

We bought a used tank off craigslist. When we moved the tank (over an hour away) this is how we did it.

Emptied as much water as possible into rubbermaid totes. Took us about 8 of them and probably 6 five gallon buckets. Loaded the live rock into the totes,
keeping it wet the entire time. We used a small bucket to move live rock to the totes. Put the fish and inverts into 5 gallon buckets so we could use some small air pumps to keep the water oxygenated.
We loaded everything that was live into the back of my SUV and I kept the temp at about 78 degrees. The tanks we broke down and packed into the back of my husbands truck and covered it with a large tarp that we tightened down. We saved 75% of the water. When we got home we set everything back up after cleaning the tanks, pumps, and power heads. We lost no livestock and experienced no ammonia spikes or mini cycles. We did a PWC that day and a PWC the next day as a precaution but our water parameters stayed really consistent. Just make sure everything stays submersed and you should be fine.

 

[huma-huma]

carey-- i was contemplating the rodi, was hoping there was a way around it, but idk if itd be more cost effective to go with a rodi and eat the extra water usuage up in my bill or just simply buy 5 gallon containers of distilled water. . idk.. i do have an empty 55g and 2 10's as well that i could possibly use to house the rock and fish while cycling, im going to buy an API master salt test kit and test the parameters beforei even touch it at her house. . if parameters are in check, ill simply save the water in totes ( only have to go like 3 miles). . in terms of transportation, the rock is all staying submerged 100% of the time, as to minimize dieoff. . heres some pics. . .if someone could id the light hood, id GREATLY appreciate it.

**after studying the pics a bit, ive noticed that the current setup is probably not the most ideal setup, im going to get it transported and settled in then look to upgrade any subpar aspects..

 

[huma-huma]

 

[huma-huma]

ohh another question too...i want to eventually get a Volitan Lionfish (my whole reason for attempting salt) and my girl wants a dog-faced puffer, all the compatability charts ive checked said they can co-inhabit...an thoughts??

 

[Sarcothelia]

You can use the excess water to water plants, lawn or whatever. Also heard people wash their clothes with the waste water as well (it's not sewage water or anything, but it has higher concentrations of metals, dissolved organics that you wouldn't want to be drinking).

The 4 fish you have would have to go if you got a lion. Also, neither are reef safe so if you ever wanted any sort of coral you can't have a lionfish or a pufferfish. If it is just a FOWLR you want you can have a puffer so long as you have no crabs or snails. Keep in mind a lionfish will eat anything that fits in its mouth.

 

[huma-huma]

Blahhh, was hoping to eventually move into coral. Those are some steep requirements for a single fish, ohh well, he's the one I want. Guess imma have to do some research and see what I can put in there with him. Anybody know what brand the hood is?

 

[huma-huma]

Going to look at the tank tomorrow!!! Soo excited! will def get some more specific info on the tank and setup....let you know soon

 

[huma-huma]

Have to wait till saturday now to see the tank the guy wants to "talk" to me about the tank.....I'm wondering what he's gonna talk about

 

[nottooslow]

can you get a better shot of the light? it kinda looks like theres a label or something on the front of it.

 

[huma-huma]

Well, went to see it today and all I can say is WOW!!!! We spent an hour there just bsing about the tank and whatnot. Ok here are some specifics the hood is a 72" aqualife, it has 4 cf bulbs total, 2 10k's and 2 actinic, also has 6 moonlight leds built in, split into 2 switches to control left and right halfs.. Also has an Emperor 400 HOB filter for stability. An in sump protein skimmer with a custom built refugium. Dual overflow setup with 4 wide angle jets total. About 80-100 lbs of sand and 150 lbs of live rock. 2 seperate in tank water heaters. And also 2 PH's , one in each upper front corner. Sorry I didn't get the names of the heaters,ph, but I was too excited to ask. He also has a buttload of food and cleaning supplies he's gonna throw in too. Of which a reef master test kit is included. he turned all the lights out and switched on the moonlights......I was mesmerized. Imma work on uploading.2 pics real quick. Comments are appreciated

 

[huma-huma]

 

[huma-huma]

Sorry for the crappy pic, only had my girls droid x with us, the emperor hob was runnings, obviously creating ripples, which created a crazy looking lighting effect on the rocks below

 

[huma-huma]

wow such a lively build thread lol. oh well im gonna be transfering our new tank this sunday gonna use our empty 55g for a holding tank until i can get the 125 settled in and stable

as a side note, will prob be having a few SW fish up for sale within a week, but gonna keep that to the classified ads

 

[aaronalam]

Looking forward to seeing it setup!

 

[Maya]

Can't wait wait to see it up and running.

 

[huma-huma]

Some more fantastic news, just amazingly sold my laptop afte only a single day on craigslist, moneys a lil tight right now on bills so I sacrificed a few worthy electronics to offset the price of this tank, have the money for the tank and also contacted the seller, tank is mine and just waiting for them to contact me back about a good pickup time, hopefully no later than sunday.
And also decided that we are gonna sell the maroon and yellow clown and get 1 orange ocellaris and a b&w perculla, a lawnmower blenny, and baby volitan lionfish... I know a lot of you are gonna say bad idea on the lionfish, but if the clowns reach adult size as the loinfish does, he should leave them alone.....

 

[huma-huma]

Update** relocated my 20g long dt from the living room to out bedroom, seeing as to how our livingroom doesn't have a wall with 72" of uninterrupted width, going to close off one window and place the tank along the same wall. After relocating the 20g, I proceeded to remove the box stand I was using, it appears my Rena Smartfilter 55 wasn't exactly "smart"....as to it was slowly leaking water onto my stand and then soaking the carpet, upon moving my stand, there was a big patch of black mold growing in the carpet, I proceeded to use the carpet scrubber and some bleach to safely remove the mold.....only the bleach was a bit too strong. Woke up this morning to a discolored carpet in the corner of my livingroom whoops.....still haven't heard from the seller, trying not to nag him and upset him. Prob gonna be picking up tank this weekend