Rare's 120g

[Rare]

Well, it's been a long search on C.list for a 120g. Had a bunch of flakes (not fish food) dealing with most. Finally yesterday I came home with 120g. I just started with a 50g on 1-01-13 & didn’t think I will want to move to a 120g so fast, but I did.

I thought about doing a saltwater as I have a few friends who do have nice setups but decided I will stay with African ciclids. They are way too cool! I will get a nano reef system somewhere down the line

This 120g was a reef setup and I have plenty or work ahead by cleaning it. I started with the simple things first. Cleaning the pipes,cleaning outside & somewhat inside, inspecting everything, etc. I ran water in and checked for leaks & we are good with no leaks. I fired up the wet/dry filter and that is where I am at now & what to do filter wise.

The noise- The water that trickles down is loud as I never owned a wet/dry so not sure what is normal and what is not. I don’t have any bio-balls so that could be a big reason for the nosie. Not a nosie issue but It is also missing the section of a foam filter when the water exit out the bio balls to the other side. Take it that’s for the pump not to clog up if anything slips by the filter section and also to break the micro bubbles before entering back inside the aquarium.

If not wet/dry system I might go with 2 maybe 3 canister filters & that will be eheim line as the 2080 is dead silent. This is Rare & this my build….




The stand is bigger then I would like but love the room inside

Before and after the clean

Plenty of work as this stuff is hard to break off

Filling the beast up!

 

[librarygirl]

Very nice tank! Looking forward to seeing its progression!

 

[shellieca]

Nice! Can't wait to see the final outcome!

 

[Rare]

Tks!!!!

It's gonna be a very ""SLOW"" setup/bulid.. lol! The T5 I got on the deal is sweet and the little pump push over 1000gph is nice & quiet. I have a very small leak where the connection from the wet/dry to the pump so need to get this out the way.

Can I drop a few gallons of vinegar in the tank and run it through the system for a few hrs? Would it loosen some of the resin on the glass? There is plenty on the glass & I was scraping it with a blade but it’s a lot. Not sure how it got to the front of the glass like that when they had the reef setup. Also the silicone on the glass is a bit funking stuff on it as well.

 

[Coyne]

sounds cool. Im following along in case I ever make a jump like that. Any issues and solutions be very interesting.

 

[Rare]

sounds cool. Im following along in case I ever make a jump like that. Any issues and solutions be very interesting.

lol! No problem & tks!

Well, the connection for the wet/dry to pump was an easy fix! It was dripping a slow drip but I pushed the pipe together very tight as it is not sealed with the pipe glue & now the connection is tight. I did buy 5 gal of vinegar & pour it in the tank. A world of a differences and still have more to clean, but with just the vinegar inside the tank it made it easy to removed the gunk out. After working with it, I then filled it out with water and ran the system & will do this for 24hrs and drained again.

Took out the wet/dry & you can see how it is. It was worst but cleaned as much of it as I could when it was inside. After it was cleaned the noise dropped plenty. Found a fish inside the pipe as well and it was well persevered with all the salts in the system & stiff like a board. Also found the right level for the stand pipe as well...

Wet Dry pipe all cleaned out.

That's better!!!

Back inside & looking good. No leaks!

Not done but look better. Vinegar still runing through

 

[Rare]

Did another clean up and now she looking good. Had a huge help getting it nice and cleaned inside! Nice work, son...

Bought this tarp & placed it inside just in case we get a few mini spills...not that any has happened when cleaning

Looks something like this for now.

Painted the back...Black. This was the touch up pic before the final roll. The paint I used does not smell in the house with is a HUGE plus!

I have 2 T5's light fixture but only one is on and like how the light looks in the water & the background.

 

[Fishanatic]

Did another clean up and now she looking good. Had a huge help getting it nice and cleaned inside! Nice work, son...

Bought this tarp & placed it inside just in case we get a few mini spills...not that any has happened when cleaning

Looks something like this for now.

Painted the back...Black. This was the touch up pic before the final roll. The paint I used does not smell in the house with is a HUGE plus!

I have 2 T5's light fixture but only one is on and like how the light looks in the water & the background.

I must say, I am impressed by the change Looks way better!!!

 

[Rare]

The lights running were for a coral reef & since this is a cichlid tank what will be the best light to run on these that. I believe these are 36 inch last time I measure them or should I just stick with these?

 

[Rare]

Tks, Fishanatic!

 

[Rare]

Cleaned out pool filter sand very well as you can see it's not getting cloudy. I have about 50lbs going to clean another 50lb and in it goes. Working on another filter system by this Tues/Wed I should know what I will be getting.

Sand Fall - YouTube

 

[Fishanatic]

Cleaned out pool filter sand very well as you can see it's not getting cloudy. I have about 50lbs going to clean another 50lb and in it goes. Working on another filter system by this Tues/Wed I should know what I will be getting.

Sand Fall - YouTube

That's really nice! Good work

 

[Shanny]

Love the pic of your son cleaning! Lol. I'll be following!

 

[Rare]

Tks, Shanny! The little man is always trying to help and we both make more of a mess in the water dept. When filling and cleaning the other aquarium he pulled out the hose and we had water in the living room. We got it all cleaned up before mom came home..

Fishanatic, this pool filter brand had me cleaning the sand more than the other brand I had. Home Depot didnt have any and went to Ace hardware to get another brand. Maybe it's in my head but did seem to take longer to clean

 

[Fishanatic]

Tks, Shanny! The little man is always trying to help and we both make more of a mess in the water dept. When filling and cleaning the other aquarium he pulled out the hose and we had water in the living room. We got it all cleaned up before mom came home..

Fishanatic, this pool filter brand had me cleaning the sand more than the other brand I had. Home Depot didnt have any and went to Ace hardware to get another brand. Maybe it's in my head but did seem to take longer to clean

I guess its hard work. Don't you have to replace it every year or two because it isn't sharp anymore?

 

[Rare]

The roughness is what makes the sand efficient when they use it as a pool filter. Over time like you stated the roughness is smoothed out -& the filter's efficiency goes down. I want the smooth stone, but not sure how long it will take in the aquarium since it's not moving. The cichlids in my tank seem fine digging and spitting them out and from time to time brushing their bodies on them.

I ran my hand through the sand many times when cleaning it and dont feel a sharp edge and took out as much of the small stuff out when cleaning. When I dump from one bucket to the other I can remove plenty of the fine sand. I read a few have been using the sand with no problems for a few years...Or maybe I have this whole thing backwards...lol

 

[Rare]

Not much has happened but there is about 100lb of sand in there now. Added the first drift wood I bought for the 50g but that wasnt happening for that tank and went to a different project and well this is where it went. I have some rocks now holding it down and will see if it will get waterlogged or not. The new sump comes in Wed and the old one goes out.

I have so far 5/6 groups of the cichlids I will be getting. either 4 each or 5 each unsure right now as the list grows. One of them that I had to give the AXE from the list was the Melanchromis Chipokae.... They are no from what I read and saw.

Also, the wood has an opening at the end and on top so they can swim free in and out. Im going to try and make a few caves to put under the wood. If that doesnt work out I will get the cichlids rock but not a big fan of it or it really hasn't grown on me.

 

[Rare]

I was happy to see the UPS, but not happy with what I saw inside. The seller sent me a fast reply & is now taking it up with UPS since it was insured by him. (AWESOME) I will keep you update on how it goes. A little setback for now..

 

[redsea]

I was happy to see the UPS, but not happy with what I saw inside. The seller send me a fast reply & is now taking it up with UPS since it was insured by him. (AWESOME) I will keep you update on how it goes. A little setback for now..

I am really sorry about that Rare, that's a bummer. However, I am extremely glad that the seller is being great in this situation.

 

[Rare]

RedSea, same here & tks! The seller has 100% Positive (537) feedback and why I went for it. I tend to stay away from e-bay for large stuff like this, but I was looking for one and there it was.