So after being a member and enjoying all of your eye candy for YEARS , I am finally getting started making one of my own! Buying another’s up and running 120G which has dual overflows, an aqueon sump, sb reef pro 32 timer light, mag 12 pump, Coralife 125 skimmer, 2 200 watt heaters, and mix of sand- live, “chips” ( help me out here), and play. Has 150 lbs of live rock that’s been running for 2 years with two tangs, two wrasses, 2 clowns, and bunch of invertebrates. Unknown if I’ll be taking Home any livestock. And am leaning towards not taking any even if given the opportunity. Currently rock was setup in a mound, not a fan. Which brings me to the few questions I have to start with : 1)any advice on making the move? I bought a few totes from HD to place the live rock in, will submerge in the tank water, and wrap in newspaper? 2). Given the current setup any glaring pieces of equipment I’ll need to reef? Ran out and got a 100GPD ROdi system, and will take home basic test kit and some salt from sale. 3). Will want to aquascape the mountain of rock. Taking the rock out of submerged water or the running tank to shape it.... will I need to re-cycle the tank? ... I’m sure many questions to come but you guys are the best and wealth of knowledge on here so I’ll be good!
120G, input needed
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starypotter
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Well first congrats! Can't help much with equipment since I'm not too savvy on that stuff. But I did just do a mini move, not that big though. Lots and lots of smaller containers, that stuff gets HEAVY, I used a bunch of 5 gallon buckets, and a couple 10 gallon tanks that I had when I transferred my 29 to a 75 this past weekend.
I submerged mine but I was only moving things within my living room so I put a tote in one spot filled it and left it there, but when I bought a bunch of live rock I just brought a bunch of buckets and covered it with a lid so it wouldn't dry out too much. You'll probably want to rinse the sand, now a lot of people say to completely chuck any and all sand that's ever been in a system. I think that's a bit extreme, if I were you I'd put it in some buckets, filled half way so you have room to move around, and rinse it with some saltwater so the bacteria doesn't all die, but the cloud you'll create is crazy. My tank was somewhat new only a few months and it took a while for my water to clear because of all of the kicked up detritus. Plus you keep the sand you keep all the good little critters in there like worms and things. I like my spaghetti worms and I'm sure there's a bunch in that system.
You'll probably get a mini cycle from the die off, not everything is going to make it bacteria wise, but it's still far from starting fresh. Just make sure you monitor things closely if you have plans of putting any living critters in there right away, might want to pick up some prime which you'll want anyway for your QT.
Speaking of, I do notice there's no QT on that list. So you're going to want to pick up a setup to do a QT, if you're in the US, Petco is having a $/gal until this weekend where you could pick up a 20 long or something. I'm personally going to run 2 QTs, one for inverts and coral, one for fish. I also go rock from another reefer, the thing is you don't know how well they QTed everything so you've probably got a decent chance of some not so good buggers in there which is something you'll need to keep in mind. Even if you properly QT every fish invert and coral you get, you might still end up with sick fish because nobody knows how well that person ran their QT which is why I ran a... not quite 76 day fallow but I think it'll actually be close to it by time I get my fish in there. Something to keep in mind since I'm currently having the internal debate on if I should make sure I do a 100% by the books fallow or not.
Flippers4pups
Fins up since 1993
Sounds like decent, well rounded set up.
Keeping the rock completely submerged is the right thing to do. I've in the past taken live rock and drilled holes with a masonry drill bit. Taking fiberglass driveway markers from Lowe's/home Depot, cut them into sticks and place them into the holes in the rock. Allows you to build "collums" and can keep your rocks from falling later. Here's a example of my right side of my tank that was done that way:
I would rinse the sand or start with new sand. Ether way, keep a couple cups full of untouched sand to "seed" the sand bed.
My personal experience with those "Coralife" skimmers is a tolerate/hate relationship. When they work, it's okay. When they don't, you'll want to throw it in the trash can. They are unpredictable and even after hours of messing around adjusting them, the next day they will flood your floor! Much better skimmers out there!
Keeping the rock completely submerged is the right thing to do. I've in the past taken live rock and drilled holes with a masonry drill bit. Taking fiberglass driveway markers from Lowe's/home Depot, cut them into sticks and place them into the holes in the rock. Allows you to build "collums" and can keep your rocks from falling later. Here's a example of my right side of my tank that was done that way:
I would rinse the sand or start with new sand. Ether way, keep a couple cups full of untouched sand to "seed" the sand bed.
My personal experience with those "Coralife" skimmers is a tolerate/hate relationship. When they work, it's okay. When they don't, you'll want to throw it in the trash can. They are unpredictable and even after hours of messing around adjusting them, the next day they will flood your floor! Much better skimmers out there!
Thanks for the info gents ! Thinking I may ditch the sand minus a small cup as said, for health and cosmetic reasons. Thanks for the heads up on the skimmer 
. I’ll have to grab the fiberglass rods from depot, I purchased reef some reef epoxy when I got the RODI. Attached is a photo as she sits. Will be sanding and white washing the stand and making new “ barn style” doors to match the kitchen/ dining room decor....small price to pay to make her happy. Also would it hurt after I’m done scapeing to add some of the bottles bacteria/ cycle in a bottle to boost the good bacteria in the system?
. I’ll have to grab the fiberglass rods from depot, I purchased reef some reef epoxy when I got the RODI. Attached is a photo as she sits. Will be sanding and white washing the stand and making new “ barn style” doors to match the kitchen/ dining room decor....small price to pay to make her happy. Also would it hurt after I’m done scapeing to add some of the bottles bacteria/ cycle in a bottle to boost the good bacteria in the system?
starypotter
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Couldn't hurt to add bacteria, might not need it though.Thanks for the info gents ! Thinking I may ditch the sand minus a small cup as said, for health and cosmetic reasons. Thanks for the heads up on the skimmer
