My Forever Tank - Plan/Build/Maintain Thread

[JCM]

Looking good so far!

6line wrasses can definitely be aggressive, maybe consider a Melanurus wrasse. Any of the Halichoeres species are good pest hunters.

 

[Bill Amaro]

Looking good so far!

6line wrasses can definitely be aggressive, maybe consider a Melanurus wrasse. Any of the Halichoeres species are good pest hunters.

Thanks... I will add them to my list..

 

[Bill Amaro]

Thanks to a friend who stopped by, we were able to get the tank up on the stand. Next step is to finish up the aquascape joints with sand and place it in the tank so I can figure out what needs to be adjusted... You can see the reflection of my 90 gallon that is on the other side of the room (which I plan to break down once the 150 is up and successfully running).

Going to need to figure out how to take better pics... way too many reflections from the other side of the room...

 

[4kidsandapug]

Here is my first pass of my NSA Aquascape for my 150Gal "Forever Tank". Hard to tell from the pic, but it is about 5" long and 12" wide (tank is 72 L x 18W X 24H). I still need to add sand to the mortar joints, but ran out of mortar.

I am sure there will be some modifications once I add it to the tank.

I have been told, the construction of the tank has been started, so hopefully within the next 4 weeks it will show up at my door.

I recently found your build thread as I’m debating starting one for myself. I just started the build process and have been trying to find aquascaping ideas.

From what I can tell (obviously need to see it in your tank), it looks discoverable. Plenty of small nooks, arches, and space for passthrough flow. I’m still working my way through your thread.

 

[Bill Amaro]

I recently found your build thread as I’m debating starting one for myself. I just started the build process and have been trying to find aquascaping ideas.

From what I can tell (obviously need to see it in your tank), it looks discoverable. Plenty of small nooks, arches, and space for passthrough flow. I’m still working my way through your thread.

This aquascape is still a work in progress... I have posted a picture of what it looks like in the tank, however, I am still tweaking it. If this aquascape interests you, do an internet search for "reef tank negative space aquascape" and you will find several really good videos from some very talented people on how to build one of these.

These are very time consuming to build and require lots of extras such as glue and mortar, so there is a cost involved, but they do come out pretty cool when you are done. I don't have a very strong artistic side, so it took me a while to figure out how all the pieces were attached.

I say to ahead with the build thread. I haven't gotten a lot of feedback on what I have posted, but I now have an living document of how the tank was put together and in my opinion, that is very important for myself and others down the road.

Good luck with your build...

 

[4kidsandapug]

I will do the search for sure, thanks! I’ll also start the build thread as well.

Sorry you haven’t received much feedback in terms of your build, personally I find others ideas and thoughts quite helpful. I’ll stay in touch with you seeing as how I’m beginning back in the hobby myself and relatively new to this forum.

 

[Thaxxx]

Bill,
I think your not getting much traffic because you made this thread in the "general aquarium discussion" instead of the "members tank" build thread. Here's the link...

Member Tanks

Show off your tank and document your progress.

www.reef2reef.com

 

[4kidsandapug]

Started my build thread Bill, if you’re interested.

 

[Bill Amaro]

Started my build thread Bill, if you’re interested.

Can you send me the link to it?

 

[Bill Amaro]

Here is my finished aquascape. Have to say, I am pretty happy with the way it came out. Built lots of caves for my livestock and I believe I have some decent spots for coral placement down the road.

I found building this was very time consuming and pretty expensive (as compared to just stacking rocks). In additional to the rock (ordered 110lbs of Reef Saver Aquarium Dry Live Rock and 3 Large Foundation Reef Saver Dry Live Rock to use as the base. I ended up having about 15-20lbs of Reef Saver Aquarium Dry Live Rock leftover), I used 3 1/2 pails of E-Marco 400, 4 (10oz) bottles of BRS super thick glue, 6 bottles of Insta-set Super Glue Accelerator and 1/2 bag of Bahama Aragonite Sand. Never really got the hang of covering up the mortar joints, so as you can see, some of the joints are visible.

My next step is to add sand to the bottom. Not a big fan of bare bottom tanks and I like lots of sand dwelling creatures as I think it makes the reef tank look more natural.

Definitely not an expert, but if anyone has any questions on how I put this together, more than happy to answer them.

 

[4kidsandapug]

Started my build thread Bill, if you’re interested.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/90gal-mixed-reef-new-beginning.817129/post-8789111

sorry, been pretty busy and no time to check things

 

[Bill Amaro]

Started to cycle my tank. Using Dr. Tim's one and only. Based on his recommendation, I have the salinity set to 1.016 and the temp set to 84.5.

 

[4kidsandapug]

Started to cycle my tank. Using Dr. Tim's one and only. Based on his recommendation, I have the salinity set to 1.016 and the temp set to 84.5.

I went with fritz turbo 900. Double dose of 4oz, so 8oz total. Already deep into diatom phase. I went ahead and ordered some more fritz.

 

[Bill Amaro]

Started to cycle my tank. Using Dr. Tim's one and only. Based on his recommendation, I have the salinity set to 1.016 and the temp set to 84.5.

So, 1 day and 19 hours into the cycle, here are my parameters:

Ammonia 2+
Nitrite 12PPB/.012PPM
Nitrate .76

I am testing Ammonia with Red Sea and Nitrite and Nitrate with Hanna.

So, it looks like the cycle has started. Since this is an upgrade tank, I don't have any reason to rush/force the cycle.

Will be interesting to see what tomorrow's numbers are.

 

[Bill Amaro]

I went with fritz turbo 900. Double dose of 4oz, so 8oz total. Already deep into diatom phase. I went ahead and ordered some more fritz.

I used Dr. Tim's on my first tank, so I decided to use it on this "Forever" tank. I still have about 2 oz in the bottle, so I most likely add that in a few days. Do you plan on running lights at all. I don't plan on moving my lights over until the 3rd or maybe even the 4th month. Trying to follow the 4 month WWC cycle process.

 

[4kidsandapug]

I used Dr. Tim's on my first tank, so I decided to use it on this "Forever" tank. I still have about 2 oz in the bottle, so I most likely add that in a few days. Do you plan on running lights at all. I don't plan on moving my lights over until the 3rd or maybe even the 4th month. Trying to follow the 4 month WWC cycle process.

Idk about Dr Tim’s. I heard good stuff but have never tried it. I read a ton of stuff, and I’d say about 75% says to cycle with lights off however, I’m using kessil Ap9x lights and I’m using the “acclimation” light cycle they have preprogrammed to cycle. It’s technically for fish acclimation but I figure I can get the diatoms to grow faster and then overdosing fritz turbo to get through it faster. I did post some of my pics to your thread.

 

[Bill Amaro]

Cycle Update: 5 days 15 hours

Ammonia 2+
Nitrite 81PPB/.081PPM
Nitrate 1.37

Looks like my cycle is slowing moving forward. I was hoping that my Ammonia would have dropped below 2 at this point, but it hasn't. Nitrite and Nitrates are going up as expected.

 

[Bill Amaro]

Cycle Update: 7 days 12 hours

Ammonia 1.6
Nitrite 200+PPB/.2+PPM (Exceeded Max Hanna Range of 200)
Nitrate 1.71

Moving along as expected. I have a real hard time with the Read Sea Ammonia test kit determining the closest color match. Not sure how accurate 1.6 is, but the color is starting to be less intense, so it is moving downward.

 

[4kidsandapug]

Cycle Update: 7 days 12 hours

Ammonia 1.6
Nitrite 200+PPB/.2+PPM (Exceeded Max Hanna Range of 200)
Nitrate 1.71

Moving along as expected. I have a real hard time with the Read Sea Ammonia test kit determining the closest color match. Not sure how accurate 1.6 is, but the color is starting to be less intense, so it is moving downward.

It's pretty obvious when you hit 0 with the Red Sea tests (which I'm using). I was struggling with the lower green shades of ammonia, but once it hits that yellow 0 you'll notice.

 

[Bill Amaro]

It's pretty obvious when you hit 0 with the Red Sea tests (which I'm using). I was struggling with the lower green shades of ammonia, but once it hits that yellow 0 you'll notice.

I agree... why I use Hanna checkers for almost everything, I like the "number" vs. trying to match colors. I think my cycle is on track and I am pretty happy with the numbers so far I have allocated 3-4 weeks for the cycle to finish before I transfer my first fish over. However, my 3D printer needs some parts, so it may be even longer...