120 Gallons and growing

Dcraigj

Membership Expired
As a teenager I maintained a small freshwater aquarium which was home for guppies and mollies. I was always interested in having a saltwater aquarium but heard they were so much more difficult to maintain. That was 30 years ago so I decided to start researching and see what it would take to setup a saltwater aquarium. After reading several books and looking at the internet every spare minute I decided to take the plunge. Early 2014 I bought a 75 gallon I found craigslist for $75. The tank had been drilled, which I had read would be preferable. It came with a stand that needed a little TLC but I didn't mind, I enjoy working with wood. So began my adventure into the saltwater aquarium.
I started accumulating equipment as I could. I bought 2 MP10's, Reef Octopus XP1000, Trigger Systems Crystal 30 Elite Refugium, Coralife Lunar Aqualight T5, Mag 7 return pump, cheap heater I picked up from petsmart(can't recall the brand atm).
I put my sand in the tank added live rock (which I aquired from a dfwmas member that had mushrooms and zoa) and water and sat back and watched for months. Over the next year I added a few fish and tried my hand with different coral. I placed several different color montipora cap and and some other sps frags and killed them all. I then decided to concentrate on just trying to maintain constant parameters for everything. I bought an Apex controller and started testing my water parameters. Until one day while reading this forum I saw someone post a 120 gal for a really low price with a similar footprint to my 75 gal and I felt it was a deal I could not pass up.
That brings us to the present. I bought the 120 gal and began preparing to set it up. I first had to figure out how I was going to transfer everything over because I really wasn't interested in keeping the 75 gal up and running at the same time. So again I went back to the internet to research how to transfer. I came to the conclusion that it was going to be to difficult to setup in the same location as my 75 gal so I moved some things in the living room and created a space for it to go. I planned to use the sump and skimmer that I had on the 75 gal but most other equipment was going to be replaced. At the time of this write up the tank has been up and running for a month and a half. I decided to do document this to help me keep track of the growth of my tank as well as getting some possible input on how to make things better. Also to provide others with ideas because I know I have enjoyed looking at other builds and incorporating those into mine. Now that I've got some of the background down, I will start showing off my progress because I know pictures are always better than words.
 
This is how the stand looked when I got it home.
[attachment=1]120 stand-1.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=0]120 stand-2.jpg[/attachment]
 
I thought about just repainting the stand black but after a little experimenting I decided I would rather have a stained wood stand. I began looking at different builds and finally came up with a plan. I wish I would have taken more pictures of my progress but I got carried away and knocked it out in a weekend.
 
I'm sorry I didn't do a better job of documenting this build. I should have taken more pictures but once I started working on it I just forgot all about taking pictures. I really had no plans to post this build but enjoyed looking at everyone else's builds I thought maybe someone would enjoy seeing mine.
I closed off an area for my electrical which in turn created some challenges for my plumbing. I replaced the mag 7 I was using on my 75 gal with an ecotech vectra m1 that I absolutely love. This pump is powerful and very quiet. With my head right next to the sump I cannot hear this pump running.
 
I have added some AI vega colors that I picked up. I am still trying to figure out the settings for these. There are way to many options for my novice knowledge. Not really sure what the best setting are to get coral growth.
 
My final picture for tonight will be the tank as it sits now. I'm in the planning stage of building a canopy for it. I was originally not going to add one but I think I will build it and see how it looks.
 
Wow, me and you got alot in common. I also am working on moving up in size at the moment. I also decided it would be best to move the tank from the kitchen to the living room and am also planning a hood build soon. Your tanks looking really good[SMILING FACE WITH SMILING EYES][THUMBS UP SIGN][FISTED HAND SIGN][RAISED HAND]. I really like the electric box you made keeping everything high and dry. As far as your lights settings go I'm really not sure since everything I have ever owned only has seperate white and blue dimmers. They do look a little purple in the pic but that could be just picture quality. I love your stand...that came out really beautiful. Unfortunately I think I'm just going to primer and paint my ragged old used one my tank came with. Well good luck with everything and keep on posting updates

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Today I thought I would share the few corals in my system at the moment. Please forgive the lighting. My Apex is currently offline due to some networking issue that I need to address so everything has a blue hue. I hope to add more SPS soon.
 
Replaced my old Ecotech MP40 with the new Neptune WAV starter kit. I really like these powerheads. They produce a lot of flow and I'm able to direct the flow up and towards the corners to get some really random flow patterns.
 
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