120g FW Build

[mateski]

Hi everyone!

I am in the process of setting up a 120g FW planted tank. I have a pre-drilled tank with dual overflows and am planning a Herbie setup in one and a return and durso style drain in the other. The sump is a 55g and consists of a fuge, filter sponges, K1 media, then a drip stack of filter floss and pot scrubbers before being pumped back up to the display (and teed back to the fuge) by a Jebao DC9000. All 1" plumbing.

I just finished applying the last coat of polyurethane to the stand and moved it into my downtown 800sqft apartment. Needless to say the GF is not happy that I have the 120g, 55g, stand, hood, removable panels, plumbing, and other odds and ends scattered around our already very tight space. How long do you guys let the polyurethane cure for to ensure that the tanks will not stick to it and can be removed when the time comes to move? I read when refinishing hardwood floors, that you need to wait 30-60 days before you can move heavy furniture and rugs back, but I would really prefer not to wait that long, even if it just means putting the tanks on the stand but not filling them for a few more weeks.

Thanks guys!
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[myreefclub0070]

keep us updated in how it comes along, i'd like to see the progress.

 

[jrhunter0000]

Following the build.

 

[mateski]

Not much has changed, just installed the cover to the hood this morning. I will probably let everything sit as is until this weekend then assemble everything dry so I can tilt the tank a little every few days to make sure it doesn't stick but still be able to do all the plumbing (and take up less space in my apartment).

 

[mateski]

The stand and plumbing are done. I am now just letting it settle on the carpet to get it as level as possible before adding the substrate and water. It is a little tricky since the carpeting and padding compress a little more each day so I am not sure how much value I am getting out of waiting since the water and substrate will sure cause it to happen again.

I will probably wait until Black Friday to order the substrate since I need 12 bags of Ecocomplete and Petco has a history of 30% off your entire order.

That should give me enough time to order plants and have the tank fairly stable by the holidays. The only fish inhabitants will likely be my 10 small fish from my 10g and the 2 snails until the new year.
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[mateski]

I am searching for feather rock/lava rock to build some caves but have been unable to find anything besides the bags of small pieces at home depot. Is there a landscaping supplier in the area that carries larger pieces?

 

[mateski]

<pre class="HTML">&lt;iframe src=&quot;//player.vimeo.com/video/113842560&quot; width=&quot;500&quot; height=&quot;281&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://vimeo.com/113842560&quot;&gt;120g Planted 12/7/2014&lt;/a&gt; from &lt;a href=&quot;http://vimeo.com/user1170102&quot;&gt;Jamey Gigliotti&lt;/a&gt; on &lt;a href=&quot;https://vimeo.com&quot;&gt;Vimeo&lt;/a&gt;.</pre>

The tank has been up and running for almost a week now. Feeding remains my largest challenge. No matter what I do, I cannot get the NLS "sinking" pellets to sink. In my 10g, the HOB filter would dump water on them forcing them under for the tetra at the bottom, but here, with the returns under the top and overflows, all I manage to do is push it all down the drain in a matter of seconds. I have had to put my pump on a timer to shut off for a 15 min feeding period, but the food still wont sick on its own. Some does, so I am hoping that it is enough to keep the few bottom dwellers happy, but I don't know. I even tried a feeding circle, but the returns must be too close since the current just pulls the food out from under the circle and deposits it in the overflow...

Any other ideas? While I could manually hold some food underwater to force it to sink, I need an automatic setup as I am often gone for a few days at a time and work highly variable hours as a graduate student.

The stock is:

Fish:
Black neon tetra x5
Neon tetra x3
Glowlight tetra x2
Longfin zebra danio x2

Nerite snail x1
Mystery snail x1

Newly purchased, in quarantine:
Longfin zebra danio x2
Bristlenose pleco x2

Plants:
Water Sprite
Anubias barteri
Ludwigia, broad
Hornwort
Cabomba
Red Crypt
Amazon Sword
Radican Sword
Banana Plant
Spiralis

 

[mateski]

 

[mateski]

Thanks, Ill try to raise my feeder a bit and see if that works.

I made the rock formations. I broke a few terra cotta pots, glued them together into a general skeleton, then glued lava rock to them. The whole project took an evening, but only cost about $15. If I were to do it again, I would make sure I have some of my substrate handy to sprinkle on the hot glue before it dried so it wouldn't be so visible.

 

[mateski]

<pre class="HTML">&lt;iframe src=&quot;//player.vimeo.com/video/118968054&quot; width=&quot;500&quot; height=&quot;281&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://vimeo.com/118968054&quot;&gt;120g Planted 2/6/2015&lt;/a&gt; from &lt;a href=&quot;http://vimeo.com/user1170102&quot;&gt;Jamey Gigliotti&lt;/a&gt; on &lt;a href=&quot;https://vimeo.com&quot;&gt;Vimeo&lt;/a&gt;.</pre>

Update. Its been running for 2 months now.

 

[mateski]

 

[jc_k]

Very nice! Have you ever thought about getting some discus? Their expensive but very nice.