Seeking installation help

[Lancechapin]

Hello friends. I need some help. I find myself overwhelmed. I bought a used 125g tall aquarium and wanted to go all out. I bought an APEX dream system, inline uv sterilizer, sump, mp40s, reef octopus skimmer, and alot more. A friend in the group built me a cabinet for the apex system. I need help setting this all up. As you can see from the pictures I have alot invested in this so I want it running correctly. If you think I need something then tell me and I will get it. I am willing to pay for your time and expertise. Again I need someone to come out and assist me with setting this thing up. Thank you. Lance. Btw I'm in Jefferson Ga.

 

[Lancechapin]

 

[Lancechapin]

 

[NanCrab]

Ok first of all don’t stress out! I did all these things and didn’t know what to do with them. A brand new tank needs just the very basics to start. You don’t need to worry about an Apex or a dual reactor or even a skimmer yet. Do you have dry or are you getting live rock? If dry I cannot urge you enough to take the advice from @sharis100 that I was too inexperienced to understand. You will save yourself A LOT of headaches if you pre cure/cycle your rock. This is before you ever put a drop of water in your tank. You don’t live terribly far, my husband can probably come up and help you with plumbing.
Take a deep breath (and don’t make the dumb mistakes we did!)
Feel free to DM me if you wish.

 

[wantsummora acropora]

View attachment 36806

Very Nice! I started my tank the same way...lots of toys! My word of advice would be to start your system with the minimal equipment necessary. I'm not saying don't set everything up, just don't try to run everything all at once. There is a learning curve and chances are with all that equipment you will run into a few snags. Start with the minimum, familiarize yourself with that equipment (Especially in Neptune Fusion), test, test, test for failure then move on to whatever equipment you think you may need next then test, test, test for failure. As an example, you won't need your trident, DOS or auto fish feeder off the bat so you can take your time bringing them online. Lastly, make sure you have a rock solid nutrient export system. My tank is 3 months post cycle and I can't grow green algae in significant amounts to save my life even with lights at full intensity everyday. My favorite pieces of equipment? My Clarisea by far, then my Nyos 160 skimmer. Good luck
150g starfire
5x Kessil A360X
Nyos 160
Clarisea 500
COR20 return
COR15 Dedicated UV pump
Pentair 40w Smart UV Sterilizer
Neptune APEX
2x EB832
Neptune Trident
2x DOS
4x FMM
Neptune ATO
4x Sensor LDK
4x Flow meters
1x WXM
2x MP40
2x MP10
2x Echotech BBU
1x Carbon Reactor
1x A whole lot of not done yet

 

[wantsummora acropora]

Ok first of all don’t stress out! I did all these things and didn’t know what to do with them. A brand new tank needs just the very basics to start. You don’t need to worry about an Apex or a dual reactor or even a skimmer yet. Do you have dry or are you getting live rock? If dry I cannot urge you enough to take the advice from @sharis100 that I was too inexperienced to understand. You will save yourself A LOT of headaches if you pre cure/cycle your rock. This is before you ever put a drop of water in your tank. You don’t live terribly far, my husband can probably come up and help you with plumbing.
Take a deep breath (and don’t make the dumb mistakes we did!)
Feel free to DM me if you wish.

I agree with @sharis100, cure your rock first if using dry rock or else they will probably release phosphates. I used a mixture of dry and live and cured them 1 month (not long enough). I had a bacteria bloom for a few weeks but no other problems. I am not and have not gone through an "ugly" stage.

 

[NanCrab]

Wow! I don’t even want to thing about the price tag of all of that!! Thank goodness we’ve had great success with what we can afford!

Used 125g unlabeled tank
Trigger Systems CR44 Sapphire Sump (purchased new from “blemished” section on Trigger’s website)
Trigger Systems ATO and salt water reservoirs (“blemished”)
Used Reef Octopus NT 150
Jeboa 18000 return pump
Inkbird temp probe controller
Back up temp probe with controller (dark now and can’t remember name)
Jeboa cross wave gyre type wavemakers
Jeboa 4 head dosing pump
AutoAqua ATO/AWC
Marine Depot 4 stage RODI unit
Coralife twister UV with dedicated pump
Tried APEX, wasn’t impressed so sold it. In the process of setting up a RoboTank reef controller but have been on injured reserve for a few months so haven’t gotten much done.
Noopsyche K2 pro lights x4
2 QT tanks (You will get mixed advice on this but take a moment to decide how much time and effort you are willing to expend to protect your massive investment)
Emergency generator
Air pumps and air stone if for any reason your tank or QT’s need extra oxygen
Water testing kits at least for the basic measurements before you need the trident (pH, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, phosphate)

Don’t get me wrong, I would love to have the money to go all out! Just saying for folks who may read this and think you need to spend $10k to get started that you don’t

 

[NanCrab]

I agree with @sharis100, cure your rock first if using dry rock or else they will probably release phosphates. I used a mixture of dry and live and cured them 1 month (not long enough). I had a bacteria bloom for a few weeks but no other problems. I am not and have not gone through an "ugly" stage.

I should have listened to her but I was totally ignorant and anxious to get started. Not only did we have an “ugly phase” but we had a severe Dino outbreak that caused O2 depletion when we covered everything up and started blackout causing the loss of one of my favorite fish. I was heartbroken and I also lost a lawnmower blenny and thinking Dino toxin killed it. The dry rock has advantages but also disadvantages. I ended up adding about 15-20 lbs of live rock to help boost my good bacteria. It was a long process that could have been avoided if I had put the brakes on and done things the right way

 

[Lancechapin]

I am really needing help setting this all up.

 

[NanCrab]

We are trying to give you help.

 

[Steve Burton]

I am really needing help setting this all up.

Perhaps take one step at a time, and clearly state what exactly you need help with. Step 1 - is the stand in place? Level? Tank on stand? Sump inside stand? If you've gotten that far, you could ask for help with plumbing.
If you just want to pay someone to do it for you perhaps check with @adamdaniel210 from Classic City Aquariums.

 

[NanCrab]

Step 1 - get all the rock out of the display tank and get large feeding troughs available at Tractor Supply and fill with saltwater with a specific gravity of 1.025. Add some bottled bacteria and a circulation pump. Ghost feed and test water until there is no ammonia, no nitrites, phosphates below .1 and nitrates at least 2 ppm. This will take several weeks and patience is a virtue.
While you are waiting for your rocks to cycle my husband would be happy to come over and help you with your plumbing. It looks like your tank and cabinet are identical to ours. Once your plumbing is set up you need to fill the tank with plain water from your hose for a leak check and level check. If the tank is t perfectly level when full the seams can fail causing a disaster.
Also while you are waiting for the rocks to cure you can purchase at least one tank to set up and cycle for QT. Once that is set up you can purchase a few fish and have them quarantined and ready to put into the DT when it is ready.
Have you thought about a water mixing station? That is something you will need almost immediately. Some people buy their water but having your own mixing station is best because if you have an emergency you’ve got what you need.
For now try to forget about all that fancy Apex stuff for now. You don’t need a dual reactor right now, you only need the very basic Apex setup (temp and pH probes). Skimmer is not needed yet. I’m trying to help you, really!

 

[Shawn]

I think, from what I’m reading, is that the OP wants in person help with setting up, rather than in-forum help. And I understand that. It can be overwhelming to a new Reefer or an older Reefer with new technology. And I get that as sometimes I just wanna ask questions and not want to wait on answers or try to translate text to my application.

If this is what you seek then almost all of our Local Fish Store sponsors (LFS) offer these services and you’d be best suited reaching out to your closest one. ARC isn’t a substitute for our LFS - more of a compliment to them.

Good luck with your setup!!

 

[NanCrab]

I think, from what I’m reading, is that the OP wants in person help with setting up, rather than in-forum help. And I understand that. It can be overwhelming to a new Reefer or an older Reefer with new technology. And I get that as sometimes I just wanna ask questions and not want to wait on answers or try to translate text to my application.

If this is what you seek then almost all of our Local Fish Store sponsors (LFS) offer these services and you’d be best suited reaching out to your closest one. ARC isn’t a substitute for our LFS - more of a compliment to them.

Good luck with your setup!!

We went to different LFS and looked at their plumbing and took pictures but I think you and Steve are on the money. It IS overwhelming with all that stuff! Do you remember what my living room looked like a year ago? LOL. It’s why I’m trying to give Lance my best advice so he doesn’t have to suffer through what we did for being too impatient

 

[Shawn]

We went to different LFS and looked at their plumbing and took pictures but I think you and Steve are on the money. It IS overwhelming with all that stuff! Do you remember what my living room looked like a year ago? LOL. It’s why I’m trying to give Lance my best advice so he doesn’t have to suffer through what we did for being too impatient

That’s one of the reasons I love this hobby. There’s 1000 ways to do it and be successful. But yeah. It seems like they want to just pay someone to do the work. Hit up the stores - that’s what they’re for!

 

[Lancechapin]

Honestly it's the plumbing aspect that I need help with.

 

[Shawn]

Honestly it's the plumbing aspect that I need help with.

That’s something that’s on the easier side. We can easily help with that. Are you able to tell what size the return pipes are and what size the overflow pipes are?

 

[Brandon G]

auto top off?!