Rick's 1st SW Tank - 125G Build

[AquaRick]

Hi Everyone,

So I'm finally setting up my 125G tank tonight. I finally "finished" skinning the frame for my tank:

After Skinning:

There is still some moulding/edgework to do. This will have to wait until i buy a miter saw in the next few weeks. I really don't feel like making those cuts without one. The front of the frame has a platform with wheels that will allow me to pull out the 40g Sump and work on it as needed for PWC and maintenance etc.

I got most of my gear from Carey's group buy:

I bought a few pumps and smaller items from my LFS earlier today.

Tonight i'll be setting up the frame and tank with some live sand (Yeah it's a gimmick but i got a steal of a deal on it....cheaper than regular aragonite from my LFS). I mixed my salt water yesterday morning and should be good to go.

To start, I'll be using:
160 lbs of live sand (about a 3" sand bed in the tank)
90 lbs of pukani base rock
15 lbs of tonga branch base rock
25 lbs of live fiji rock
2 Koralia 1400's

(I'm planning on buy another 30 or so lbs of shelf rock from BRS in the next few days)
Since i have yet to buy my skimmer, I haven't completed my sump. Ive got the acrylic baffles cut, but am waiting to place them until the skimmer arrives.

I want to start cycling tonight. I have the Ace brand ammonia on hand.
My first question is do i need to set up the sump with live sand, rock, and return pump as i cycle? Or can I wait to set up the sump later once the DT is cycled?

I've got a decent stock list, but will do a bit more research on a few fish before i finalize what i want etc.

Thanksin advance for you help with this!

 

[carey]

Hiya!

I think i would put in everything, including the sump stuff before you start cycling. It will bring to life the rock in the sump and the sand in there.

Looks like you got a good start going, keep us posted!

 

[matthewh133]

Welcome mate, looking forward to progression!

 

[AquaRick]

Thanks guys. Yeah I knew i should have had my sump ready to go at the same time. Oh well, i'll let the DT run while my skimmer comes in. Thanks Carey.

 

[AquaRick]

Lighting Question:

I was pretty much deadset on getting an 8 bulb 60" T5 fixture. Now i'm not so sure. It seem though halides run hotter and use up more electricity that they do a better job than T5s.

I'd appreciate some input as to what lighting fixture would work the best for growing the gamut of sps, lps, clams....the whole 9 yards.

Thanks!

 

[Ausfish]

Can't you prepare the sump without the skimmer? It would need to dry for a while anyway, no?

 

[AquaRick]

Can't you prepare the sump without the skimmer? It would need to dry for a while anyway, no?

I definitely could...I just haven't decided on what skimmer to purchase yet. Since i don't know the skimmer's footprint, i haven't siliconed the baffles yet.

 

[Ausfish]

Look into led/t5, might be a good option

 

[Kio707]

I have a 8 bulb T5. Love it. Plenty of light and my corals are loving it!

 

[AquaRick]

I was poking around, and found the AI Sol LED system. Seems pretty awesome. I like the programability it offers as well as the light output. I ended up calling the AI rep and found out they're comming out with a new product in the next month or two codenamed "Phoenix". This system will be better suited for my needs since the led lenses won't spread as much (no 70 angle LEDs on new fixture compared to the Sol). I think i'm going to hold out a few months and pick up 3 of these bad boys.

AI Sol “Phoenix” is a new cheaper, brighter and wireless LED light from AquaIllumination

 

[AquaRick]

So set up everything last night. Took a look at the tank right now and realized i should have cleaned/soaked the base rock prior to putting it into the tank. Water looks dirty as sin and i'm going to have to siphon the junk off the surface of the sand.

Any suggestions to clean this up besides PWCs? Or should i just wait until i get my sump\skimmer going early next week?

 

[boardsurfer]

I have a 8 bulb T5. Love it. Plenty of light and my corals are loving it!

That's what I'll be doing with my current 125gal. I have a canopy and know it would get too hot in there with 3 halides + T5's (even with fan canopy build-ins as an exhaust). I'm going to go for the 8 bulb T5's that someone already mentioned in this forum, with the following bulbs:

ATI Blue Plus
ATI 12000K Aquablue
ATI Blue plus
KZ Fiji Purple (this can be replaced with ATI purple plus)
GE 6500K Daylight (you can keep one of the bulbs that come with the fixture for this)
ATI Blue plus
UV Lighting 10000K AquaSun
ATI Blue plus

Everyone is different, but I like the white-blue look, and I hear they're fine with corals.

 

[AquaRick]

That's what I'll be doing with my current 125gal. I have a canopy and know it would get too hot in there with 3 halides + T5's (even with fan canopy build-ins as an exhaust). I'm going to go for the 8 bulb T5's that someone already mentioned in this forum, with the following bulbs:

ATI Blue Plus
ATI 12000K Aquablue
ATI Blue plus
KZ Fiji Purple (this can be replaced with ATI purple plus)
GE 6500K Daylight (you can keep one of the bulbs that come with the fixture for this)
ATI Blue plus
UV Lighting 10000K AquaSun
ATI Blue plus

Everyone is different, but I like the white-blue look, and I hear they're fine with corals.

Yeah, Mr.X suggested the same 8 bulbs. I think i want to try out the new AI LED fixture coming out. I'm a bit concerned about how much heat the MG emit.The fact that you can fine tune each LED module and set a timer for each module sounds really appealing. You get the shimmer effect as well as a lower electricity bill. I may add a couple blue/purple actinic ATI lights to give a bit more color if needs be.

 

[redsea]

So set up everything last night. Took a look at the tank right now and realized i should have cleaned/soaked the base rock prior to putting it into the tank. Water looks dirty as sin and i'm going to have to siphon the junk off the surface of the sand.

Any suggestions to clean this up besides PWCs? Or should i just wait until i get my sump\skimmer going early next week?

Very cool rockscape! Congratulations on your first SW Tank!

 

[Ausfish]

I would net out any bigger pieces before you turn on the pump, then do I water change to get the fine particles out.

Do you mind me asking how much the led fixtures are going for?

 

[AquaRick]

I would net out any bigger pieces before you turn on the pump, then do I water change to get the fine particles out.

Do you mind me asking how much the led fixtures are going for?

Thanks for the tip! The sols are already reduced to $399 (were $525) per module. The new "phoenix" modules will sell for $499.

 

[AquaRick]

So after setting up the tank last Wednesday, I was able to test the parameters today (Went out of town and also bought the wrong test kits on accident). Besides the tank water looking a little yellow, cloudiness is gone and pretty clear.

Parameters for today are as follows:
pH 8.0
Ammonia .5ppm
Trites 2ppm
Trates 10ppm
Salinity 1.024

I honestly didn't expect these results so quickly. I started the fish-less cycle tonight. Apparently 1 cup of the janitor's strength ammonia goes a long way. Ammonia is off the scale. I will definitely use 1/4 cup next time and see how that goes. Any advice during a fish-less cycle?

 

[AquaRick]

So looks like i totally over dosed on the ammonia. Didn't realize is was such strong stuff. One wiff and I should have known to put in less. Going ahead with a 50% water change to bring the ammonia levels down. Hopefully that will get things going in the right direction.

 

[carey]

Don't feel bad, I overdosed my first sw tank by ALOT! I mean I added like half a cup of ammonia. LOL I had to do several water changes to get it down to 8ppm.

 

[Ausfish]

I'd say so too, fortunately you're cycling fishless so no harm done