JCPatella's 90g Reef Build - Page 7

asonitez · #**151** 12/30/2007, 11:41 AM

looking good. Only thing i would tell you is to make sure that you tested for leaks and that your prepared to get the floor wet lots of time as your configuring and adding things to the sump etc.... I know.. I did this many times.

jcpatella · #**152** 12/30/2007, 01:47 PM

I've tested for leaks the whole way through! Of course, there are always the unplanned events, though....

I used at least 12 towels yesterday and spilled at least 10 gallons on the floor throughout the day. I don't know how people with carpet do it!

Theexp · #**153** 12/30/2007, 02:39 PM

I'm upgrading my 65 to a 90 gallon as well. I was looking at the same tank (offset overflow). Have any tips for the move? Well the tank is looking good, Good luck on everything else.

melev · #**154** 12/30/2007, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jcpatella
I used at least 12 towels yesterday and spilled at least 10 gallons on the floor throughout the day. I don't know how people with carpet do it!

We don' need no stinkin' towels, maaan. Da carpet, she sucks eet aaall uuppp.

Reeftanks6 · #**155** 12/30/2007, 08:44 PM

jcpatella got a ? can i see the back of your overflow if you can get a pic of it just want to see hoe yours is setup so i can get a reference on mine

jcpatella · #**156** 12/30/2007, 08:49 PM

The new 90g or the old 55g?

Reeftanks6 · #**157** 12/30/2007, 08:50 PM

the new 90g

jcpatella · #**158** 12/30/2007, 09:08 PM

This pic (from the previous page) is really the only good picture I have.

Basically, the return is 3/4", which I used locline to direct into the tank. There is the durso standpipe that came with it which I expected to remove. It works GREAT, which is good - the last thing I wanted to do was try to silence gurgling or flushing.

Reeftanks6 · #**159** 12/30/2007, 09:18 PM

ok thanks take a look at my thread

jcpatella · #**160** 12/30/2007, 09:41 PM

D-DAY!!!!!

We woke up at around 10:00 and went straight to the LFS. We got two nice pieces of live rock. One was 20# and the other was 10#. This makes up a grand total of 85-90# in our system. It was all pre-cured and had been at the store for a while. I brought it straight home and dropped in right in the 90g.

I started off the day by unhooking all the plumbing. I kept all the water from the 55g during the process, because I knew I would use it in the 90g. Established water is a good thing.

I put all my live rock in garbage cans (filled with tank water, of course), with heaters in them. This is also where I put my chaeto.

As soon as I got all of it out, I went fishing! The fish and the corals all went in the same trash can. I knew this could be stressful, but I don't have that much livestock. Had it been anemones or more aggressive fish, I'd have split them up. There's less animosity when everyone is stressed together!

At this point, there was nothing left but the sand. I had been planning on reusing my sand, but I didn't know it'd be such a painstaking process, just to save a little bit of money. Let's just say I'm not sure I'd do it again!
I kept a ziplock bag full of established sand. I brought the rest outside and hosed the hell out of it. It was disgusting. The water was a dark brown, but by the time I was done with each bucket, it would be milky white water. This is how I judged when I was done rinsing.

I want a SSB in the 90g, so there is about an inch of sand in the entire tank. Luckily, there was a little left over, so I used it for my RDSB in the sump.

I also hooked up my skimmer and put the chaeto in the sump. There are some things I still need to do to it, but here is what it looks like now (gotta love a clean sump)!

I turned the return pump on a crossed my fingers...... and EVERYTHING WORKED WONDERFULLY!!!! I honestly couldn't believe it. I was expecting some kind of slow-down!

Now that everything was working well, I placed all the live rock in the display tank. I wasn't even going to try aquascaping today, so I just put all the pieces along the bottom. I drained about 45 gallons of new salt water from the 90g and filled it back up with the water I saved from the 55g. I figure this would help me prevent a large cycle and also provide a familiar environment for the animals.

ALMOST DONE!

jcpatella · #**161** 12/30/2007, 09:44 PM

Now that the majority of the work was out of the way, onto the delicate part - ACCLIMATION! Over the course of the day, the temperature of the water in the trashcan had slowly dropped. I guess I should have been paying closer attention, but I'd rather them a little too cold than BURNING. This would, of course, slow down acclimation, as I had to match temperatures that were now farther apart.

I decided to separate them into four different salt buckets.

Bucket 1: Ocellaris clown, pi$$ed off frogspawn, bubble coral, and snails.

Bucket 2: Pajama cardinal, blue reef chromis x 2, green striped mushrooms, ricordia, feather duster, snails, and hermit crabs.

Bucket 3: Firefish x 2 and hermit crabs.

Bucket 4: Cleaner shrimp. All alone! He's a delicate little bugger, so he got special attention.

I slowly drip acclimated the shrimp for about 2 hours. After drip acclimation, I put him in a zip-lock bag and floated him in the tank for another 15 minutes. HE'S ALIVE!!! And doing great.

For the other buckets, I'd pour a little water from the display tank every 10 minutes or so.

After about 1/2h, I put them in the display tank.

DONE!!!!!!

I still had to aquascape, which we did today. I'll post more pictures of that later, though. There are a couple of changes that I still need to do, so I'm not considering the build over just yet. The transition is, though!

I'm glad you guys enjoyed the build this far. We'll be adding more corals and fish soon! And as usual, we're always open to suggestions!

Later!

NanoGurl · #**162** 12/30/2007, 09:47 PM

Great job!

I bet you feel a lot better tonight!

jcpatella · #**163** 12/30/2007, 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by NanoGurl
Great job! I bet you feel a lot better tonight!

Thanks! We would feel better, but we spent about 3 hours aquascaping! Overall, yes. We are very happy it is done and everything survived. YAY!

Reeftanks6 · #**164** 12/30/2007, 09:55 PM

looks great

NanoGurl · #**165** 12/30/2007, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jcpatella
Thanks! We would feel better, but we spent about 3 hours aquascaping! Overall, yes. We are very happy it is done and everything survived. YAY!

lol... i know.. the aquascaping is the best and worst part. Really happy everything surived for you!

Reeftanks6 · #**166** 12/30/2007, 10:09 PM

what kind of camera do you have because mine is horrible i think it might be time for a new one

melev · #**167** 12/30/2007, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jcpatella
This pic (from the previous page) is really the only good picture I have.

I agree.

melev · #**168** 12/30/2007, 10:37 PM

On a more serious note, you did a great job both in how you made the change, as well as your documentation.

Washing sand it rough, especially if the weather is cold outside. But look at it - it paid off so well. Your new clean sump, everything working and livestock enjoying their new & improved diggs...

What are you going to do for them in 2008?

Rustylugnuts · #**169** 12/30/2007, 11:37 PM

I 2nd melev very cool documentation. If I run across anybody askin how to move I'm going to send em here to pg7.

jcpatella · #**170** 12/30/2007, 11:43 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Reeftanks6
what kind of camera do you have because mine is horrible i think it might be time for a new one

Kodak EasyShare Z650. About 2 years ago, it was $275. It's honestly not THAT great of a camera, but it does the job!

jcpatella · #**171** 12/30/2007, 11:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by melev
I agree.

That's probably the funniest post I've read on RC! But of course, I agree!

lilchris · #**172** 12/30/2007, 11:55 PM

Great job dude. I would like to offer some advice, if I may. The only thing that caught my attention was the clear return hose that you have. You may want to change that due to algae issues you may encounter from your refugium light. That is the only thing I see that you may want to re address. Just my advice. Other than that cool man. You have a cool wife. Shes a REEFER, I mean a KEEPER.

jcpatella · #**173** 12/31/2007, 12:10 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by lilchris
Great job dude. I would like to offer some advice, if I may. The only thing that caught my attention was the clear return hose that you have. You may want to change that due to algae issues you may encounter from your refugium light. That is the only thing I see that you may want to re address. Just my advice. Other than that cool man. You have a cool wife. Shes a REEFER, I mean a KEEPER.

Ahhh, that is a very good point. I didn't think about that. I'll have to tackle that pretty soon. Thanks!

jcpatella · #**174** 12/31/2007, 12:10 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Rustylugnuts
I 2nd melev very cool documentation. If I run across anybody askin how to move I'm going to send em here to pg7.

Thanks! I've learned so much here at RC - this is my way of giving back!

My wife is currently taking pictures of the aquascaping we did today, so those will be up in a bit!

jcpatella · #**175** 12/31/2007, 12:18 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by melev
What are you going to do for them in 2008?

I'm making dry ice bombs tomorrow night!

You mean, after that?

I have an itch for something that's controversial, picky, and craps a lot. How about I treat my skimmer to more fulfilling skimmate and get a tang for the tank!

Other than that, I really need to get more coral. If I only had a brain!

I'm going through a ricordia phase right now, even though I just have one.

So many ideas and so little money!