120 Long Tank! (Build Thread)

[jwh0818]

Whats a good thing to clean the tank with? There is a lot of built up stuff inside the tank that is hard to get off and I have been scraping it off as of right now. So what can I do to get the inside cleaned up?

Vinegar works to remove old scum. Full the tank up with water and add vinegar. Forgot the correct ammount but I would add half a gallon for that size tank

 

[baron1282]

I don't know about filling the whole tank up again, just to drain it all out again to add the salt water later. Would adding it to a spray bottle and just spraying it on and letting it sit overnight work?

 

[Gregcoyote]

It has to soak. But it's the safest stuff to use, otherwise it's a stronger acid.

 

[jwh0818]

I don't know about filling the whole tank up again, just to drain it all out again to add the salt water later. Would adding it to a spray bottle and just spraying it on and letting it sit overnight work?

You can spray it on and scrub it but filling it is way more effective honestly. Get a bucket and put a half gallon of vinegar and 2 gallons of water and get a scrubber and soak it and do it that way. Might work pretty good but I always just filled the tanks

 

[jwh0818]

It has to soak. But it's the safest stuff to use, otherwise it's a stronger acid.

+1 I always just soaked mine. Works pretty good too.

 

[baron1282]

Ok, OK!!!

Time for another update!

The tank stand is finished. The hood is finished, the tank is finished!! Now all I got to do is fix some plumbing issues, refill the tank to clean the glass and drain it.

I am so close! I am waiting for the Power Head I ordered, I got a large one, because I am going to use my two nano's for the other side and one large one on the other.

Question!

Here is my Stock list. (Fish I already have)

1. Lunar Wrasse
1. Yellow Tang
1. Yellow Eye Tang
1. Coral Beauty
1. Blue Spotted Puffer
1. Spiny Sea Urchin

If I wanted to do some easy low light coral would I need to get rid of any of my fish? I heard the Puffer would be the one I really need to get rid of, but everything else should be good right?

This is the light I have, that's why I can't do a lot of high light corals. Plus I don't want any corals that are hard to take care of. I would want forgiving ones.

T5 Quad 60" Timer Aquarium Light Marine Coral Reef Cichlid LED 320W Odyssea | eBay

 

[huma-huma]

id say the puffer is questionable. depending on its individual personality and taste preference. i have a valentini saddle puffer that does fine with corals. also same can be said for the coral beauty. i have one as well that doesnt touch corals.

 

[baron1282]

What would you suggest? I love the frog spawn!

 

[Gregcoyote]

Any of the euphyllia including frogspawn should do fine with your setup. They also mix well, so separation isn't a big issue. I also have a 15 year old coral beauty that has never touched polyps, but he does pick, so clams aren't an option for me.

 

[Sniperhank]

I keep a coral beauty in a mixed reef with 3 clams. The only thing I have ever seen it do is pick at algae 'near' coral that upsets them. In hindsight, I wouldn't have chanced getting a dwarf angel once learning more and discovering some of the more colorful fish available, like the orange back wrasse I picked up about a month ago. Much more reef friendly and soooo colorful.

 

[Gregcoyote]

That's the clam problem I had. They would peck around the clam and that mad them angry...then dead.

 

[baron1282]

Thanks, I will consider corals, but the real thing I want to do with my tank is A LOT of swim space. Some rock and than a lot of swim space with some caves so the fish can hide when they want.

Well, it is finished I am going to set up everything as is right now with the water in it and run everything just to get use to how the sump works and run vinegar throughout my system to help clean it all. Just the pump and old sump, not EVERYTHING. I am taking the Bio-Balls out of course. I am going to change the Bio-Balls over a course of time as I do not have enough money right now to go full rock in the wet dry.

So here it is is.

Would running Vinegar though the return pump be ok you think? The only thing I will have running is the return pump and the HOB overflow. I just want to test it out to get a feel for how it all works before setting it up. I was going to put vinegar in to help clean out the tank and make the glass sparkly! LOL

The little clip on fish is 2in for comparison. I feel bad because I didn't know there was small star fish on it before I put it into the freshwater. Just the little tiny white ones, but still.

I have come a long way with this thing, and I am glad that the one hard part is done. I am just hoping it will be a good transition like the last time I move the fish to a new tank.

 

[Sniperhank]

We normally clean our pumps and powerheads with a vinegar solution at 1-10 ratio.

 

[baron1282]

Sweet! Thanks SniperHank! Happy to know that it will work out good! All I got to do is clean the tank and the pump and I figure I got all that crap in the tank with the hose I used, it will be a good time to get it all cleared out.

Here is another view, it is without water. When I move out and get a Bigger tank, I am going to redo the stand and hood, but for it being a basement tank it is good enough. It is already 100 times better than when I first had it!

 

[Oscarr19]

It's looking great! Can't wait to see it completely done.

Vinegar is a hobbyists best friend

 

[Grizz]

All your hard work is paying off. Looking good, it wont be long before you can sit back and enjoy!

 

[baron1282]

Ok for my 120 gallon I got six 1.3 gallon jugs of distilled white vinegar. Is that enough? That's close to 8 gallons.

 

[Grizz]

Thats plenty just be ready to smell up the house lol

 

[baron1282]

I got two more gallons. LoL

 

[baron1282]

Welp, I am stupid. I was doing some plumbing to my HOB overflow, and I broke the bulkheads. I was gluing in place a "T" section to bring both of the bottom holes into one, as my wet dry only is a one hose connection. So long story short, I got to wait and order new bulkheads.

Also any advice on how to make sure this HOB overflow does not flood my home? I heard stories about it and I am kind of worried, but I was told that if done right it is rare. I know that they use suction and if that siphon were to fail, the water pumped back to my tank could overflow. I was reading I should NEVER use one, but it's all I got!

This is it.

Eshopps PF-1000 Overflow Box - Up to 150 gal. | thatpetplace.com

I got pics with the planned set up on how it will work. Tell me what you guys think! Yes, I broke it, don't ask. LOL I will just have to cut the ends off and redo it with the new ends. Lucky for me that it's only a 15 dollar fix.

The website also said to never use a canister unless you clean it every single week, and I found that to be untrue, I clean mine once a month with no issues. LOL