New Tank

[SSalty]

Well, It's going to be a very busy day tommarow. I will be swapping everything out of my regular 55 to my new drilled 55. My LFS friend will be helping me so I don't have to worry about anything, well... atleast I hope not:bounce: We will also be replacing all my old sand/CC with atleast a 2 inch sand bed. Don't worry every animal will be housed in a 10 gallon tank while everything levels out. I am sure my tank will go through another cycle. I am real excited to get everything up and running. Here are some pics, I actually painted the backround on the new tank, this will be nice, no salt creep or water spots between the tank and backround. Here are some pics.

The temperary home, I picked EVERYTHING up for 50$, Tank, stand, filter, light, heater.

And a before picture.

If anyone has some words of wisdom, please share.

 

[55king]

look good if you have any ? just ask cuzz i am the 55 king

 

[JellyMan]

hey salty take the substrate, water and filter media and use it in the 10.

 

[SSalty]

hey salty take the substrate, water and filter media and use it in the 10.

Thats exactly what I was going to do.

Thanks for the tip:Cheers:

 

[yote]

Use as much water from your other tank as you can too.That'll save you from having to mix up another 50 or so gallons,plus it'll help it cycle faster.

 

[SSalty]

Use as much water from your other tank as you can too.That'll save you from having to mix up another 50 or so gallons,plus it'll help it cycle faster.

Thanks yote, that is what I was going to do.

I am soooo excited:bounce: I can't wait. I will keep your guys updated as well with pics tommarow.

 

[JellyMan]

sounds good! You know were here for ya if you run into trouble :D

 

[tizapolgar]

Expect a small cycle, but nothing detrimental so long as you use as much "old" water as you can and seed the new sand with a cup of the old substrate.

When I went from my 10 to 25 I experienced a short cycle, but nothing some attention and a water change couldn't handle.

Good call on painting the background, by the way. I was indecisive and decided to hold off. Now, painting would be a total PITA. Stuck with the black posterboard background...

 

[SSalty]

Wow, what a day. That was a lot of work. Everything went smoothly besides a few leaks where the return and supply line go through the tank. Nothing a little aquarium silicone couldn't fix. The fish and inverts are happy as clams in the 10 gallon temporary tank. I am sure they wouldn't last long in the main tank with the parameters. We haven't fired up the sump yet, were are making sure the glue and silicone are dry before we do that, so probly tomarow. Right now I have the filter and heater up in the main tank until we get the sump going. Only thing I am concerned about is I think some of the pvc glue leaked into the tank:frustrat: I am hoping in large water change will fix that. Anyone have any insight regarding that? All in all I am very happy with how everything turned out. The next step is to get some metal halides.

Here are some pics of what my apartment looked like this afternoon.

Still a little cloudy, and I need to a little more aquascaping.

 

[tizapolgar]

Still cleaner than our apartment :D

As for the PVC, I personally wouldn't worry to much based on my limited experience (and that of my friends), but the smarter people around here may know better. Really, if it's just a bit I'd say not to worry too much...on the other hand, if you squeezed a tube of glue in there, I might be worried. Heheh.

 

[jhnrb]

Congrats on your new project. looks great. I notice the electrical under the cabinet is sort of all just laying there. make sure you provide a drip loop to each plug and mount your strip on the back wall. so if any water spills or gets on the electrical cable it will go down and drip off on the floor or bottom of cabinet and not run into the strip or wall outlet. keep us posted. I like the pic where youre wiping youre brow. this hobby is hard work. Great project. more pics as you can. looking good.

 

[SSalty]

I am sooo glad I went with a sump, I love not seeing all of the equipment in the main tank. I seriously just stare at the tank and there isn't any fish in it. I can't wait until I can put them back in the tank. I feel sorry for them, they went from a 55 to a 10gallon holding tank. I checked my parameters tonight. PH 7.9 (little low?) Ammonia .5, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 5. As the ammonia goes down, will my Nitrite and Nitrate go up? I am assuming it is going through a mini cylce. It is all new sand but we did use two cups of my old sand as well as all of the water from my old tank.

And JHNRB, I know that I needed to have a drip loop, that pic was still in the construction process, but thanks for looking out for me:Cheers:

This will basically be a pictorial thread as I make progress.

Here are some updated pics. I have about 20 more pounds of live rock that is in the 10 gallon holding tank that will be added when I can add my fish.

 

[reeffreak]

Looks great Salty.
Keep us updated on where your going next.
Oh,I remember the days when I set up a 75gal on the third floor of my apartment.I thought my friends were gonna kill me by the end of the day.
Good luck.

 

[yote]

Does look great.

 

[jhnrb]

nice work on the system and oh on the electrical too.