Rachelle's 180 gal build

[RandJ]

The first 50 gallons of water and 100 lbs of rock in the tank. Hopefully get the rest in tonight and aquascape done and sand in tomorrow. All of the rock has been curing in totes for a few weeks or is coming from my existing 75 gallon.

 

[Gti_Leo]

thats awesome what are the dimensions of it? is it a standard 72x24x24 or is it 84 long

 

[RandJ]

Standard 72x24x24.

Aquascaped today with 150 lbs of rock. I have more to add later but it's currently in the 75 gallon. Also added 180 lbs of sand. Unfortunately it's now to cloudy to take any pictures. Will add them soon along with water parameters.

 

[carey]

That is gonna look spectacular! Can't wait!

 

[Rscomia]

I want one LOL

 

[hackteck]

It's gonna look great when your done , your gonna have so many choices for live stock with such a nice sized tank gonna be a lot of fun

 

[Gti_Leo]

wicked thats the same tank that i want i would go with a standard 125 but a 180 has the extra 6 inches to make a nicer aquascape

 

[RandJ]

We are up to 130 lbs of rock and what I hope is a decent start of an aquascape. It's still a little cloudy but looking better.

 

[Hinds04]

Looking good, I will be putting in a huge in-wall tank in my basement remodel

 

[Henry405]

Just out of curiosity, what kind of filter system are you planning on using? If its a sump, how big?

Very nice tank, love the aquascaping so far

 

[RandJ]

For filtration we have an eshopps rs- 200 sump. I have 30 lbs of live rock in the compartment with the protein skimmer. We are using a mag drive 1200 gph for the return pump and want to put some Chaeto in that compartment, but haven't been able to locate any locally yet. May have to order some.

Current parameters:
Ammonia 0
Nitates 0
Nitrites 0
Ph 8.3

Should I be seeing any kind of cycle yet or do I need to add an ammonia source? The rock should have minimal die off since I've had it in totes for a while.

 

[Gti_Leo]

if you had it in totes then you should have much die of. do a mini cycle and wait about a week to see if you get any spikes in ammonia. maybe add a shrimp to see if it gets broken down into nitrates

 

[RandJ]

Still no ammonia spike when I tested last night. If I don't see anything tonight may add the shrimp Wednesday. Is that a good plan?

 

[Henry405]

how is your nitrate? if its at zero, its for sure no ammonia was there. If it was dry rock, I THINK you won't have much ammonia release from them. For a 180g tank, I think its recommended 3-4 shrimps.

 

[RandJ]

So a tiny bit of ammonia started showing tonight .25. I'll see where it goes tomorrow then decide on the shrimp. All the rock was sold to me as live rock. Some of it was in my 29 gallon, some in my 75 gallon, and the rest in totes with a heater and powerhead.

 

[RandJ]

Oh and I also put an old filter pad and bio-wheel in the new tank as well to try and assist with bacteria. That stuff went in Saturday.

 

[Gti_Leo]

i'm currently curing dry lace rock in a bucket and it took 5 days for ammonia to show up. its at .5 ppm right now and there is still a mossy growth on it thats breaking down

 

[Henry405]

personally, I wouldn't add the old filter pad and bio-wheel unless it stays in this tank. adding the filter pad and bio-wheel and taking it out later is the same as adding 20lbs of LR into your tank to cycle and taking it out. You want all of the bacteria on the LR in your DT and not take it out after the cycle.

My wording is kinda sloppy, if you dont understand it, ill try to explain better xD

 

[RandJ]

Im following you Henry. I can take them out today and complete the cycle without them. Or there is a possibility I guess that one of them could stay in the sump with the return pump. It would just be laying in there but would still have the bacteria present.

The other thing is, I will actually be adding a lot more live rock once I can break down the 75 gallon.

 

[kurtyboh]

How much lr total do you have for it then