Rich's 125 Reef

[Jlsardina]

Looking good!

 

[rdnelson99]

OK, made some good progress today but I am taking a break because my daughter wants to go our for Mexican food tonight. While I am out I will pick up 2 - 1" 90s and be able to finish the plumbing when I get home tonight.

 

[rdnelson99]

And just as a tease, here is a before and after shot. I still need to put the doors back on but will wait until it is in place, up and running. Hope you like it.

 

[Jlsardina]

It's all looks great

 

[Qube]

Looks awesome!! Great build!!

 

[rdnelson99]

Thanks guys. But I have to admit I lied. I said I would finish the plumbing tonight but I am beat. Time to sit on the couch and drink a cold one of 4.

 

[bigbanker]

Dude, I saw the living room and my jaw dropped! Good thing the wife is out of town! I know i would have been upset! How old is your daughter? will she spill the beans?


Also I'm super excited to see the finished product. Stock plans yet?

 

[rdnelson99]

LOL It is my youngest who is 15. I have two others who are 21. One is in the navy but the other lives at home for the moment. As for spilling the beans, my wife knows about it. I planned it for this week because I knew she would freak if this stuff was lying around for days on end. So, I just need to make sure I get it all taken care of by the time I go to pick her up at the airport on Sunday.

Here is a very over-sized stock list. I know there is no way I can put all this in but listed the things I would like to have. Now I need to start deleting some of it and get it down to a manageable size as well as figure out the order in which things will be added. It will take me a long time to do. Not only because I refuse to drop a bunch of fish in at one time but because I will only be able to afford a fish at a time. LOL

Current Stock List:
1 - Kole Yellow Eye Tang
1 - 6 Line Wrasse
1 - Yellow Coris Wrasse
1 – Blue/Green Chromis
2 – Ocellaris Clowns
2 – RBTA (was one big one up until the past weekend)
1 – GBTA
1 – Maximus Clam
1 – Fire Shrimp
1 – Feather Duster
1 – Tiger Tail Cucumber
1 – Emerald Crab
Various Clean Up Crew (hermits, nassarius and misc snails)

Wish List:

Tangs – White Cheek, Powder Brown, Naso, Orange Shoulder, Scopas (Listed in order of preference – I know I can’t have them all)

Wrase – Cleaner Wrasse, Pink Margin Fairy Wrasse, Scott’s Fairy Wrasse, Orange Black Fairy Wrasse (Listed in order of preference)

Lamarck’s Angle
Red Scooter Dragonet
Mandarin – Red or Green (after pod population is established)
3 or 4 Fire Fish
Royal Gramma
Cleaner Shrimp
Maybe another Fire Shrimp

 

[carey]

Paged up and saw your plumbing shots, and let me say i am JEALOUS! lol Looks so very organized and logical. hehe... Nice job

As far as the stocking, in my opinion 3 tangs are about the max I would put into a 125g, the three I have in mine fit perfectly, I've thought of adding another one but I think that would be too too much. So I would stick with 3.

The other fish look fine, BUT the cleaner wrasse from what I have heard is a devil to keep in captivity, I also wanted one but the more research I did the more I realized I would probably fail at keeping it alive. :-( Also, the scooter can be the same as the mandarin as far as eating, they eat pods as well and are dragonettes. It took me a month to get my scooter to eat and that was in a tiny tank where I could target feed multiple times a day.

Hope i didn't bum you out too much on those fish, just thought you should know.

 

[rdnelson99]

Didn't bum me out at all. That was pretty much the same thing my two most trusted LFS told me when I sent it to them to look over. I intentionally put more than I plan in the list in case they replied with "Are you Nuts???" about anything. That way, I would still know what would work together.

On the tangs, I most likely will only go with two. The cleaner wrasse is nixed. you are the third person to tell me that so I figure I better listen. As for the mandarin and scooter, it will be one or the other if I do either. At the very least, I will give it many months and watch to see what kind of pod population I get before I move on that.

I may actually be adding a fish much sooner than anticipated. I helped a guy a while back and in return he is giving me all the rock from a tank he is breaking down. (Got to love free rock). When talking to him today about coming by this afternoon for pickup, he said the guy buying his flame angle has backed out. He offered it to me for $30 and said in the year he has had him he hasn't nipped at anything. He said he could keep him until this is up and running so I am debating it right now.

Paged up and saw your plumbing shots, and let me say i am JEALOUS! lol Looks so very organized and logical. hehe... Nice job

As far as the stocking, in my opinion 3 tangs are about the max I would put into a 125g, the three I have in mine fit perfectly, I've thought of adding another one but I think that would be too too much. So I would stick with 3.

The other fish look fine, BUT the cleaner wrasse from what I have heard is a devil to keep in captivity, I also wanted one but the more research I did the more I realized I would probably fail at keeping it alive. :-( Also, the scooter can be the same as the mandarin as far as eating, they eat pods as well and are dragonettes. It took me a month to get my scooter to eat and that was in a tiny tank where I could target feed multiple times a day.

Hope i didn't bum you out too much on those fish, just thought you should know.

 

[Dary421]

Wow,...looks wonderful Rich,... Your detail towards the plumbing etc looks like it was beautifully thought out well in advance....im sure the wifey is going to love the whole setup once she gets thru the Initial shock when she walks in for the first time,...after that she'll probably start taking credit for the whole project when her friends come over.

 

[rdnelson99]

...after that she'll probably start taking credit for the whole project when her friends come over.

So not only did you just celebrate a milestone birthday, you obviously have celebrated many anniversaries too. With a wife and three daughters, I always get the last word. "Yes dear".

Anyway, thanks for the compliment. I like the way it is coming together. This afternoon I picked up about 60-70 lbs of live rock and maybe 30 lbs of dry rock. All free. Thats the best kind. The live rock is sitting in the 150 gallon stock tank in the family room and I am about to go wash the dry rock and get it in there as well. Then it is time to finish the plumbing and leak test the whole nine yards with tap water. While that is happening I will start on getting the electrical the way I want it. Sure hope those LEDs get here soon. By the way, my fav LFS had a 10th anniversary sale this past weekend. I won a brand new Marineland LED fixture. Not sure what kind but maybe it will work for my fuge. Again, free is the best kind. LOL She was closed today but maybe tomorrow I can get over and pick it up.

 

[redsea]

Your completely right, free is better!

Stock:

Yeah, I wouldn't go with the Cleaner Wrasse either.

I think that the white cheek is hardier than the Powder Brown, so I would go with that one (unless I mixed them up, I don't think so though).

 

[Jlsardina]

Your completely right, free is better!

Stock:

Yeah, I wouldn't go with the Cleaner Wrasse either.

I think that the white cheek is hardier than the Powder Brown, so I would go with that one (unless I mixed them up, I don't think so though).

Both those tangs are on my Ich list as more prone than others. Of course- the one that tips the list is the blue hippo

 

[rdnelson99]

Plumbing complete and leak checked. There is a reason you do your leak check outside in the driveway. Glad I remembered it. Forgot to plumb a valve ahead of the skimmer. Pretty cool watching 1650 gal/hr shoot out the top of the skimmer. hehehehe With a little head scratching and digging for left over parts, it wasn't too bad cutting one in. Here are a couple of pictures of the completed plumbing. You may wonder why the outside of the canopy is brown but the inside is white. I painted that gloss white so any stray light will be reflected back into the tank. If it were brown, a lot of that light would be absorbed by the canopy and never make it to the tank.

 

[Jlsardina]

Plumbing complete and leak checked. There is a reason you do your leak check outside in the driveway. Glad I remembered it. Forgot to plumb a valve ahead of the skimmer. Pretty cool watching 1650 gal/hr shoot out the top of the skimmer. hehehehe With a little head scratching and digging for left over parts, it wasn't too bad cutting one in. Here are a couple of pictures of the completed plumbing. You may wonder why the outside of the canopy is brown but the inside is white. I painted that gloss white so any stray light will be reflected back into the tank. If it were brown, a lot of that light would be absorbed by the canopy and never make it to the tank.

I did the same thing with my canopy! I almost even started thinking about aluminum foil. Lol. But that idea didn't last

 

[Qube]

Really nice work with the plumbing!!

 

[Jlsardina]

Wanna plumb my new sump next week? Lol. I hate plumbing with a passion. But I want the larger sump.

 

[rdnelson99]

Lets see.....free trip to Florida......chance to see your set ups and maybe the new store...... LOL

My wife is in Daytona right now. Wish I could have gone along but.....

 

[NyteGTI]

following along, great build. and to mimic everybody else's comments, your attention to detail in the plumbing is amazing.