Redoing a 120 gallon tank.

[Saltwatertaylor]

Hello everyone! My name is Taylor. I attend Michigan State University. Last year, I had a freshwater tank with a Piranha. I decided that my love for saltwater couldn't wait any longer. Halfway through the year, I donated the Piranha to my LFS. I started with a 20 gallon tank.
After only a few days, I fell in love with it. After cycling this tank for over a month, I added a Green Chromis. College ended for summer, and I returned home. When I went in the basement and saw my dads tank overridden with Mojano Anemones. It was hard to even look at ; the yellow tang was the only fish to survive this terrible environment and the top of his fin was missing.

Thats the background. I am starting this thread because I am not taking over my fathers tank. It is a 120g. Underneath the tank is a 5g sump, with a protein skimmer in it. I will soon attach some pictures of his tank.

I plan on building a reef aquarium. In the future, I will plan on adding soft corals (haven't thought of any yet. Ideas are greatly appreciated).

My list so far for the tank is
-The current yellow tang ( Put him in a hospital until he is cured )
-2 ocellaris clownfish
- Frogspawn coral
-Bubble tip Anemone
-2 Green Chromis
-Possibly a wrasse
-Possibly a gobie.

 

[wysiwyg]

welcome to r2r . my one suggestion would be to get a bigger sump. fish list looks nice

 

[Steelerfan747]

I agree with the above comments. I would recommend about a 50G sump

 

[Saltwatertaylor]

Wow I am way under the recommended sump size. I will definitely put that into consideration. Thank you two!

These are pictures of how bad the tank got. I cant believe it got this bad -.-

 

[Bentonb]

^ wow... that's insane, never seen anything like it... so sorry

 

[Saltwatertaylor]

The story behind it is that my father was doing a water change and his flamehawk bit him and he had to undergo surgery. After that he came home to his tank completely wrecked like it is now. I cant say I am too sad now I have waited for an opportunity to start up my own reef tank ( which is funded by my dad ) lol.

 

[Steelerfan747]

You are living the dream. I wish I could do a build that would be funded by someone else

 

[Saltwatertaylor]

Lol I really am. I love being home everyday now and just doing whatever I can to this tank. I took these pictures about a week ago and I have made some progress on this tank. I took out all the live rock and I am now going to "bake it".
Despite taking all of the rock out, the tank is still filthy. The crushed coral is a brownish color and so are the sides of the tank. Each day I plan on doing a small water change. The salinity is also way down. I really dont know how the yellow tang is surviving all this, but I cant wait until he has a nice reef and clean water to swim in.

 

[Saltwatertaylor]

After taking all of the live rock out and cleaning off the sides of the tank briefly. This picture makes the tank look alot cleaner than it actually was. There are little anemones left in this tank but I am using a syringe and lemon juice to get rid of them.

 

[BarbH]

Definitly a lot of work ahead of you, looking foward to seeing the transformation of this tank. Also it is great to be able to have someone else funding it, I would say that is just about eveyones dream.

 

[Saltwatertaylor]

A lot of work is an understatement. The paint in the back is chipping. I am personally not a fan of painting tanks so I am going to remove the paint that was on there.
My next little part in this project is to continually clean the crushed coral to make it pearly white . I also need to just wait to have all of the anemone die off from the live rock.
The funding part is good and all, but I just love to be able to restore a fish tank. Its a very fun summer project!

Any suggestions on which coral to use when the tank is up and ready?
Any suggestions on fish when it is all done?
Should I include a clean up crew?

 

[Loki]

First off welcome to reef2reef !

If you are thinking a bubble tip anemone (I would wait until the tank is more mature ~ 6 months - 1 year) you may want to go with different clowns. From what I have been told the occelariois don't pair with bubbles very well.

I also have a 120 and I have two 40 gallon breeders under it. One for a fuge and another for a sump.

The list above looks like a good starting point but I think you have a good amount of time before you get any fish. Yes I would reccomend a clean up crew. I do not like crabs. For me I try to not have any hermits, emerald, etc.

Keep us updated!

 

[AliciaP]

Good luck! Sounds like fun to me! I also steer clear of crabs. I have snails or all different kinds and some stomatella and shrimp. I don't like the hermits anymore, they like to nip at coral and each other and snails, and I'm tired of that lol. Have fun! I look forward to following

 

[Saltwatertaylor]

Yes, I am definitely going to wait around 6 months until adding these corals. Waiting is the hardest part of this hobby. Every week I catch myself going to my LFS just to look at all the fish and check my water levels. I want to clean the tank asap so I can get my live rock back in after they are baked.

I am hoping to have the clownfish breed. If not ocellaris, I like percula aswell. I will have to research other ones as well.

 

[AliciaP]

I have been waiting for two years for my current clowns to get it on! lol

 

[revsgirl]

Good luck!! Lookin' forward to seein' it progress!!

 

[Loki]

I have been waiting for two years for my current clowns to get it on! lol

It might help of you leave the room every now and then maybe they are camera shy.

 

[Saltwatertaylor]

Lol two years! Do they have any viagra additives to add to the tank? lol jk!
I am in the slow but important cycling process. Making sure the tank is completely safe before I add any fish let alone corals is most important right now.

 

[AliciaP]

lol I got them when they were a little smaller than an inch. They were really small. They are 1.5-2in and 3in now.

 

[Cooper32803]

Can't wait to see the transformation and before/after pics! Waiting for the cycle was definitely the hardest part for me! But it also gave me time to research what I want to keep. Good luck with the re-do!