Another Tank: 90 gallons

swimmer4uus

swimmer4uus

Member
So it's time to up grade my 20 long, into a 90 gallon acrylic. Found the tank on a local listing, came with the stand, wet/dry, and return pump. Threw away all the bioballs, and I'll convert that into a filter media/ place for the skimmer. Also I'll have a 40 gallon or so refuge made out of Home Depot tub. Was thinking about converting my 20 into one, but wanted to go with the most gallons I can for water stability. It also came with aprox 70 pounds live rock, and what feels like 200 pounds sand. I've been rinsing the sand for the last couple days. Pictures below of the job ahead of me.


 
swimmer4uus

swimmer4uus

Member
After some water and paper towel clean up.

And this is what the sand looks like during the first rinse. Rinsed each bucket of sand at least 5 times. Now when I stir up the sand, it looks like would be expected from bought sand.
 
halamaya

halamaya

Member
I bought a used acrylic tank and had to sand it all down because of the scratches and coralline algae on it. After that it was almost impossible to scrape the coraline algae off of teh sides of my tank, when it started to grow in the micro grooves. Switched to glass and have a much easier time of cleaning. PLus my acrylic tank started to bow in the front. I personally had no luck with the thing. I wish you all the best, looks very nice!!
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member

It cleaned up real good.
Keep us posted on the progress. I love my 90g, mine is all glass..very heavy, took 2 people to lift it onto the stand.
 
swimmer4uus

swimmer4uus

Member
Yeah, I've been worrying a little about the small scratches, but nothing I can do about it now I guess. Tonight I'm gonna work on the plumbing, take off the right side door and hopefully get everything finished by next weekend for sure.
I've cleaned the surface of the stand some, but wanna paint it black. I'm planning on just putting the coat right on top, maybe with a little sanding. What do you guys think?
 
swimmer4uus

swimmer4uus

Member
The lighting is gonna be a little tricky for me. I'll be making my own hood, to match the stand. I'm gonna temporarily use my dual 96w PC's to hold things over till I can get my MH's on there. It's wierd though because of the big lip of the acrylic, I'm questioning the light penetration through the top pieces. Then, hopefully I'll suppliment with some T5's. No plan on any high light requiring corals or anything till after March.
I'm gonna work on the sump, skimmer, and refuge when the tank is cycling. Figured I'd get the cycle started asap, and while that goes on, I can work on the final bit of plumbing. The wet/dry that came with the tank has got to go bye bye though.
 
swimmer4uus

swimmer4uus

Member
Tank filled with water, and the live rock I got with it. I'll be purchasing more, but for now it'll start the cycle. Bad pics because of the small PC's I have on my old Nanowave but threads are worthless without them.


 
ibew41

ibew41

Active Member
I have no experience with acrylic tanks, but might get a small tank how far above the tank will the mh have to be?Your tank is looking good
 
swimmer4uus

swimmer4uus

Member
I believe acrylic tanks are the only way to go once you get around 200 gallons. I wouldn't want to even think about the weight of a glass tank that size, nor heaven forbid the silicone went out.
Metal Halides don't specifically have to be at a certain height. I'll have mine at least 6 inches above the tank, about 8 from the water. I'm sure the only governing factor is how hot do you want your tank? The closer you get the MH to the water, the warmer the tank's gonna get.
 
swimmer4uus

swimmer4uus

Member
On a side note, the tank cleared up really well. Last night the water was still a little mirky from filling the tank, and it mixing up. When I woke up this morning, very clear. If only I had enough room for a RO/DI, but apartments are definanly not setup for that.
 
swimmer4uus

swimmer4uus

Member
Looks like this thing finished it's cycle in about three weeks? I checked water params. well, some
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 15ish
That was two days ago. I tested because I saw the start of a diatom bloom. Today, I can barely see through the front glass, that's how much the algae is growing. Got a SMALL cleanup crew two days ago. Testing the waters so to speak. Don't wanna go too fast with this one. One pepermint shrimp, 3 hermits, 5 Astreas, and everything looks good so far. I transfered 3 frags from the 20, to see how they'll react. I'll probably end up transfering most the corals over, wait two days, test all params, then the livestock. What's your guys' opinions on that?
 
swimmer4uus

swimmer4uus

Member
A couple of videos. We're just begining to figure out how the video camera works, and the tank has a bit of algae on the tank...ignore that if you will.

 
swimmer4uus

swimmer4uus

Member
Algae solution in the works. Also, DIY Metal Halides will make the left side of the tank SPS, and the right will remain softie....also saving up for Platinum Percs.......oh yeah baby
 
swimmer4uus

swimmer4uus

Member
When the algae goes away. Hopefully around tax return time....who knows...
I also have to get a resurfacing kit for the front of this tank. I didn't think the sctraches where that bad at first, but the more I look at them, the more I hate them.
 
swimmer4uus

swimmer4uus

Member
So the 20L is too long to get under the stand.....ugh... by this much too

So tomorrow I bust out the saw...
Here's the other side of underneath
 
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