Alex's 150 gal

[Alex]

Starting this 72 bow front back up. Allot of cleaning and a couple modifications to the back of the stand to hold my lights. There are going to be allot of first for me this time around. Going to start with my own RO DI station. Pretty happy with that project so far.

This will also be my first sump. The tank is old and I was scared to drill into it not knowing if it was tempered or not so i got a hang on the back overflow. Just finished filling and connecting the sump last night. Going to play with the pumps this weekend and test to see if I'll flood with the power going out. Still deciding on where to run the hard piping. Hopefully the bottom of the stand will be sorted out this weekend and I can start circulating water next week.

Really excited to get the tank going again and seeing everyone's set up is only making me more impatient!!!

 

[Alex]

Well.... I was really excited about the 72. Started making a net top for it, Hard plumbed my sump, even built my own return nozzle after upsets from what Amazon had available, been searching for rock and thinking about what kind of scape/habitat I want in my tank. Was planning out a little control panel to manage my wires. I was talking to my wife about a two year goal with this 72gal and then hopefully upgrading to a 120-150. Then I started to notice the salt creep on the bottom seem of my tank. At first I thought it was just some spill from me messing with my return. That's when I started to notice bubbles in the caulking. Almost looks like it's slightly splitting in the back where the creep was. I marked the bubbles with a dry erase marker and dried off the corner i thought was leaking. The bubbles didn't grow although a few smaller ones popped up and the back corner seemed wet to the touch when ever i checked on it. I didn't have but 20lbs of rock, one powerhead, and a few fish in it yet and just didn't feel comfortable continuing the build. Here are some photos up to this point.

 

[york1]

That sucks but at least it didn't split in the middle of the night and cause a minor flood

 

[Alex]

We just had a baby 5/5 (our first) and my mind started thinking about worst case. What if they are checking out the fish, or walking by and the tank fell apart. What if i come home from work an all my fish are on the floor. I was going to try to find a 100gal, build a quick stand and transfer everything for some peace of mind. My wife said "Why don't you just get the tank you want now?". So.... I got a SCA 150gal with a center overflow. Tank came in really quick, before I could even finish the stand (it's still not done). Put all my fish and rock in a 55g brute with a heater, pump, and small led. Scooped the sand out into another 55g with the rest of the water and my powerhead. Decided to add new sand to my almost 2 month old sand into the new tank after I leak tested it for 24 hoursish. Filled up the display and started my sump to circulate the water for a couple days. I added some more bacteria in a bottle due to half of the water volume being new salt water. Check temp, ammonia, PH, nitrate, and nitrites for the next two days. It was perfectly stable, like I didn't just swap to a much larger tank. I was expecting somthing to be off or a spike. Felt good enough to add the fish back in after drip aclamating the whole lot (2 clowns, lawnmower blenny, spotted goby, bubble tip, and my 5 snails). I added the fish last Sunday and have been testing the water. Everyone made the transfer and levels are looking great. Waiting on reef breeders photon 50-V2 light to come in this weekend. Also on the hunt for some rock. A friend was breaking down his tank and I was going to buy his rock but he's taking quite a while to do so, so I'm gana start getting some anyway. My sump should be good enough right now but idk if or when I'll need to upgrade. Also if anyone has a 150 5' mixed reef or similar, I'm looking for advice. I think after rock the next step for me will be seeing where my par levels are with the new light!

 

[york1]

Nice upgrade!

 

[Alex]

Nice upgrade!

Thanks! I'm really excited!!

 

[hiimsean]

Nice. I love my SCA tank. And congrats on the baby!

 

[Alex]

Nice. I love my SCA tank. And congrats on the baby!

Thanks so much!