Need an advice on moving my 180

[beaslbob]

H@rry's alive and well. Getting ready for cataract surgery in the morning!

wishing you well.
unfortunately you will be able to see more clearly my ugly mug. LOL

 

[Tomoko Schum]

A little update here.

My tanks are still sitting in my sun room and rocks are still curing. It's taking a long time because I have been running around to get my old house on the market. My realtor is such a task master and keeping me very busy unfortunately.

My rocks outside were doing very well until I left for Florida for conference. When I came back after four days, some rocks were turning dark green. No hair algae but some spots, where sunshine was hitting, were very green. This may be a sign that cycling is almost done. However, I decided to cook/clean up the rocks via Dr. Randy's method since I did not want to start an algae garden. I know it's rather drastic, but this way, it's like starting with dry rocks. There were still a lot of sponges hanging on the rocks to my surprise.

I also tried to clean up the bottoms of the corner overflow boxes where a rubber gasket meets the glass under the bulkhead fitting. I was amazed to find a very thick mat of dry crud at the bottom. It was like an inch thick and gray. If felt almost like paper mache. Since they were soft and crumbly, I broke them up and scraped them out with my fingers.

Then I cleaned the thread of one of the bulkhead fittings with vinegar. The nut on it was so hard to unscrew when I took the tank apart, but after cleaning it with vinegar, the nut screwed on (and off) very easily. I am going to soak the remaining bulkhead fittings in vinegar along with Durso pipes since they are stuck and I cannot get them apart. I hope they will come apart after soaking, but if not, I suppose I will simply put them back into the overflow the way it is.

Is there anything that I should do before I put the pipes back together?

It was so hard to take the bulkhead fittings and flex hoses apart when I moved the tank. I am dreading that the tank won't come back together easily. It's silly to feel this way, but the task feels daunting... I am hoping and praying that I can put the tank back together without a problem or a leak. Please keep your fingers crossed for me.

 

[H@rry]

Do the gaskets for the bulkhead fittings seem soft (not hard or cracking)? If it were me I would try to find new gaskets or make new ones from gasket material from the parts store. Make sure the surfaces (glass - gasket - fitting flange) are free from any trash or sand. Some people say to only tighten it hand tight. I take an extra 1/4 turn with a pair of channel locks. If your bulkhead fittings don't leak I think you will be fine.

Good luck.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

Thank you, Harry. Sam cut all four gasket from new rubber for me. They are slightly thicker than the old ones, but otherwise they are exact same sizes. The old ones do not look or feel bad, though.

 

[beaslbob]

I was just goona say that I have some 1/4 gasket material. But too late.

I'm sure you'll get it all back together. Sure can be a pain at this point tho.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

Here is an update on my rebuild of my 180.

I got my stand modified slightly so that the nut on the bulkhead fitting will go up easily. The top plate on my tank stand had too small openings to make it nearly impossible to put the bulkhead fittings together.

Reilly helped to slide the big tank by 3 inches or so and cut the holes wider. Harry told me that the 180 gallon tank should be easy to slide although it was difficult to lift, and it was!

As soon as the primer that I put on the exposed wood surface dries, I can put the bulkhead together and test the tank for water tightness. I hope it's okay since Two men and a truck was very gentle with the tank when they moved it almost three months ago.

The next step is to build a new sump. The current one is too tall for my stand.
Does anyone need a well-built custom sump? It's a 40 breeder size tank (the same foot print), but it's 18-1/4 inch tall instead of 16 inch tall. Ocea Aquarium custom-built it for me when they were still in business. It has thick glass plates and rather heavy.
It's free to good home as long as you can come and get it.

Tomoko

 

[beaslbob]

Here is an update on my rebuild of my 180.

...
Harry told me that the 180 gallon tank should be easy to slide although it was difficult to lift, and it was!
...
Tomoko

Gee. I guess you should have simply slid it to the new house. LOL

Glad things are progressing nicely.

Does this mean we will have a narc club meeting there soon?

 

[Tomoko Schum]

I have live rocks and saltwater in my 180 now. I need probably 10 or 15 more gallons of water before I can run the main pump to circulate the water between the tank and the sump. I washed my old sand and tossed them into the tank today, too. I suppose that the tank will go through a small cycle. It's getting ever so close. Today was my birthday and I got some gift cards from LiveAquaria! I will be ordering some fish soon

 

[H@rry]

 

[H@rry]

Good to know that the tank is wet. Glad there was no issues.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

Thank you for the birthday wish and all the encouragement that you've given me, Harry!
My tank is up and running now!
The return pump and ATO are functioning well.
I need to get Calcium reactor and a brand new DC skimmer pump, which has been sitting here since Christmas, up and running next.
I also need to hook up a GFO reactor, but I am not in the greatest hurry on that one yet.
I have to take this opportunity and clean all my powerheads, too.

 

[beaslbob]

happy birth day.

Glad the tank's running. (or at least just standing there. )

 

[Tomoko Schum]

I got the DC skimmer pump running now. It is literally silent and producing tons of fine foam.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

My tank is cycling. The pH is 8.1 to 8.2. No ammonia detected, but the nitrite is high (somewhere in the middle of the color chart) and the nitrate is between 5 to 10.

So I am not ready for fish or snail yet... I would like to add some cheatomorpha soon (Beaslbob?)