Aaron's 125g Move/Build - 1st Timer Here!

[Lizardgi]

Hello,

I went to the sellers house tonight to pick up the RO Unit to begin making water in preparations for this weekend's move/setup.

The unit appears to be in great condition and I had it installed in no time. I'll eventually permanently attach it to my cold water tap and a drain, but for now it just draws from and drains into a wash sink which works fine. This model included the 4 gallon storage tank which is a great convenience!

He also threw in the rest of his supplies that he won't need to get him through Saturday. Included were two air pumps (won't be using), a heater (will be using for making saltwater in garbage can), API saltwater testing kit, carbon, standard florescent light (won't use), hydrometer (will be getting a refractometer soon, do I need to buy calibration fluid or is that snake oil?), ich attack stuff, pro-buffer, dried seaweed food, and dried large krill in an unmarked can.

What else do you suggest I have on hand as far as meds go both for immediately after the move and going forward?

 

[BL1]

It looks like they gave you a hydrometer, I would replace that with a refractometer. Hydrometers are notoriously inaccurate and you can end up having your salinity out of whack and never knowing it.

 

[Lizardgi]

I'll be upgrading to a refractometer before the week is up. Do I need to buy the special calibration fluid for it, or is regular distilled water all that is needed?

 

[BL1]

I've been told that regular RO/DI water won't give you accurate results for calibration. The calibration fluid should only cost an extra $3-5 though (I have seen a few times the calibration fluid included with the refractometer).

 

[PRC]

Just in case you don't know....do not put that ich medication in your tank. It also looks like some of those parts are for a freshwater tank, so make sure that test kit is for saltwater.

Build looks great btw.:D

 

[ccCapt]

Great setup. Looks awesome. :)
I have the exact same RO/DI unit and it works great!

 

[Lizardgi]

Just a few updates -

After 32 hours of brewing fresh water, I've finally got two garbage cans full and am currently aging my first batch of saltwater. My refractometer arrived today and I'm quite happy how easy it is to use.

I also got my marco rocks today, they look great! These will simply be used as base rock below the existing live rock.

 

[cageburn]

awesome! always encourage marco rocks :) looks great!

 

[Lizardgi]

Hey Guys,

I'm happy to say the move went really, really well. I'm dead tired and don't have much time for pictures, but I'd thought I'd leave you with a full tank shot before I call it a night. I'll have more pictures and updates tomorrow. Thanks!

 

[Lizardgi]

Alright, it looks like everything made it through the first night.

I ran a few more tests this morning:

Temp - 79 (Past owner always kept it at 80)
Specific Gravity - 1.025
pH 7.8
Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates all 0 ppm

Should I get something to try and buffer the pH a bit higher, or will it rise a bit once the tank gets established?

 

[Bifferwine]

That looks great! pH is just fine at 7.8. It will be the lowest if you measure it in the morning. It will be the highest if you measure it at night. No need to mess with it at 7.8.

 

[BL1]

The tank looks great, I like the black sand too.

 

[BryanS]

Good looking tank

 

[dcantucson]

I love the look of your tank with the black sand. Good job!

 

[reeffreak]

I agee,it looks exceptional with black sand.

 

[ErinCahir]

Your tank looks great! I love the in-wall tanks...

 

[mennazeher04]

I love the black sand. The tank looks great and looks like everything went smoothly so congrats and cant wait to see it progress.

 

[Lizardgi]

Thanks for the positive feedback everyone! My apologies for not posting much the last few days, all the free time I have to devote to the tank is spent working on it!

Everything has been going great since the move! pH is up to 8.2 and Ammonia, Nitrites, and Nitrates are still at 0. I'll get more pictures on here in the next few days, but I've finally got a handle on the actual tenants of my reef. They include:

Ocellaris Clownfish - He's doing well and eating anything I give to him!
Pencil Urchin - I lost him for a few days but finally saw him out foraging last night! I think he may be digging in the few inches of sand he now has. Previously he didn't have more than a 1/4 inch of substrate.
Black Brittle Sea Star - Hides in the rocks during the day but saw him out last night paroling. The wife isn't a big fan, but I think he's a neat addition!
Two Small Peppermint Shrimp - Doing well
Emerald Crab - Only seen him once since the move
Lots of Hermit Crabs and Snails

With the new substrate and only one fish, there isn't too much food to forage for for the cleanup crew. I've been dropping rocks with seaweed squares banded to them and they seem to really enjoy that. How do I go about making sure the sea star and urchin get food if they only come out late at night?

 

[Lizardgi]

Finally time for some pictures!

I wasn't able to take any during the actual move, I tried to simply focus on getting things moved as quickly and safely as possible!

Final stand setup in place

The tank fits!

Filling with water and rockscaping

 

[Lizardgi]

Most of my pictures look darker than the tank actually is. I had to do a faster shutter speed to capture more colors and reduce blur without having blown-out whites.

Full tank shot from the back. I still have a bit of cleanup to do including re-working some of the electrical. For now the system is connected to two different GFCI outlets on different circuits, just in case one trips, the other will keep the system going until I find out.

Full tank shot from the front with better camera skills than before:

Right side of tank:

Left side: