ladyreefseekers 90gallon set-up

ladyreefseeker

ladyreefseeker

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Hello.
I am documenting my 90 gallon set-up. I have never shared my techniques for a successful set up so please be gentle lol! Okay here goes!
I originally had a 90 gallon planted freshwater tank and had so many nuisance algae problems I decided to turn it salt. I am good at salt. Really good

So for starters, I have been making R.O. water all day and night to fill the tank, I use Instant Ocean mix and have filled the 90. I have added 100lbs of Carib Sea Fiji Pink Aragalive sand. (I really like this product, have always used it)

Making my R.O. salt water in a 37 gallon rubbermaid. Notice my home made wheely cart (plywood, 2x4's and heavy duty wheels)

Clean and ready to fill (last night)

As of this morning (almost ready to plug in the pump)
 
ladyreefseeker

ladyreefseeker

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So then, my husband and I made a sump out of a 20 gallon(long) We had pexiglass baffles made and we siliconed them in on Tuesday and let it dry and seal... Overall cost to make the sump was less than $50.00 We designed it the way we wanted it.


 
ladyreefseeker

ladyreefseeker

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I am currently waiting for the last bit of water(I can hardly wait) for the moment of truth when I can plug it in and make sure it is in working order.
Today is my day off (from Saltwaterfish.com) so I plan to go to the office and pick up 100 lbs of Caribbean Liverock to put in this evening. I am going to purchase an assorted invert pack to help clean up the liverock and get the ball rolling.
I will be adding fish very late tonight. ~ see disclaimer below lol!
*This part is very important! I will be doing a water change from my VERY ESTABLISHED 120 gallon (about 30 gallons) and I will use that water to do a water change in the 90 before I add the fish(a couple hours later), This will allow much of the good bacteria from my 120 to be useful in the 90. I will also use the "dirty" filter pad from my 120 and put it in a segment of the 90's sump. <--I hope all that made sense...
I don't necessarily recommend this method.
I have used it before and had great success but I have never done it on such a large scale. I plan to document the whole thing so stay tuned!
Thanks for listening and watching.

I will post later tonight with an update and more photos.
 
monsinour

monsinour

Active Member
Sure looks cool to me. Its gotta be great to work someplace that you really love and have the ability to take full advantage of the employee discount.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member

I'm sure you know there is very little bacteria in water itself. It just seems you are putting water already depleted of nutrients and loaded with nitrates into the new tank. Isn't the live rock, the bacteria loaded sand and the filter media from the 120g enough to prevent a cycle? What fish were you planning to put in there tonight?
 
al&burke

al&burke

Active Member
looks really good ladyreefkeeper - what size pump did you put in that sump, sounds like a poem. Looks like you might need to make your drain line a bit longer into the sump, is that where your skimmer is going or is it going. Maybe even a bubble tower to feed the sump Anyways my 40 gal HT tank I did the same I took some sponges and filter material out of my 65. All the fish are fine (8 of them) parameters are pretty good. I think you should be fine. Took down the planted tank eh, I just set one up and between you and me I wish I did a horse tank instead. Thanks for sharing looks great.
 
ladyreefseeker

ladyreefseeker

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I really do love my job it is very fulfilling and they say you should do what you love. I do realize there will be some sort of cycling that will occur. Using water from my 120 will make the tank cycle faster as will the filter material I get from the 120.
My only real concern will be the liverock. I am not completely sure how that will affect everything being that I will be adding so much at once. I do know I will wait until everything is settled and filters/pump have been running for quite a while before I add the fish.
I didn't mention that my pump is a Mag9.5.
I actually just plugged it in and all is great but the overflow is VERY loud. Hmmm. I will have to do something about that.
I plan to put butterflyfish and a juvenile (2-3") lg angel in this tank. Likely nly 2 or 3 Butterflys and the juv. lg angel.
Possibilities include:
Copperband, Ornate, Latticed Butterflies
Either an Annularis or Blueface
And possibly a Gold Rim Tang.
Now I will let the tank/filter/pump run for several hours before adding the live rock...
 
ladyreefseeker

ladyreefseeker

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Al&Burke http:///forum/thread/383546/ladyreefseekers-90gallon-set-up#post_3355309
looks really good ladyreefkeeper - what size pump did you put in that sump, sounds like a poem. Looks like you might need to make your drain line a bit longer into the sump, is that where your skimmer is going or is it going. Maybe even a bubble tower to feed the sump Anyways my 40 gal HT tank I did the same I took some sponges and filter material out of my 65. All the fish are fine (8 of them) parameters are pretty good. I think you should be fine. Took down the planted tank eh, I just set one up and between you and me I wish I did a horse tank instead. Thanks for sharing looks great.
I don't think I will run a skimmer. I have one but it is such a pain in the butt (or maybe just something I never grasped the knowledge of) I have never used one regularly and have done fine without...
I didn't completely drop the freshwater lol, I dumped 90 gallons worth of plants and fish into a 30 gallon. lol! They are fine and dandy. Haven't lost any of them...
This is so exciting, documenting lol!
Even on my day off, I am fishing lol!
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
I am going to agree with flower here IMO you are not gaining anything measurable by using old tank water (filter media if it’s been in you other setup for a while yes water no) also the pvc feeding your sump I assume that comes from your overflow box do you have a material filter in that box
Let’s talk about the skimmer. What issues did and do you have with operating one
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
I've done the same method. I think the water from the main tank does help the fish. I wouldn't necessarily say it helps add any more good bacteria or anything like that, but I've noticed that it can help stabilize pH, etc for whatever reason. When I'm upgrading/changing tanks, I take out as much water from the old tank as possible.
I, too, like that live sand, used it a lot.
 
ladyreefseeker

ladyreefseeker

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Quote:
Originally Posted by florida joe http:///forum/thread/383546/ladyreefseekers-90gallon-set-up#post_3355334
I am going to agree with flower here IMO you are not gaining anything measurable by using old tank water (filter media if it’s been in you other setup for a while yes water no) also the pvc feeding your sump I assume that comes from your overflow box do you have a material filter in that box
Using the water from the 120 does hold the chemistry/balance that will be beneficial and conducive to jump-start the new system. It goes with the theory of moving your water when you move your fish tank. You wouldn't discard your established aquariums water and refill it and start all over if you could save and fill it back up with the same good, established (chemically balanced) water. right?
I do have a sponge in the built in overflow box in the corner.
I won't be using bioballs or anything like that. Just the pad that is shown and I can add buffers, removers...etc as needed via, media bags.
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
My thinking is simply this. The moment we add new saltwater we are depleting whatever trace elements that are used by our tank inhabitants. Now we take water from this reduced state and add it to our new tank. IMO that is counterproductive. BUT you do bring up a very important issue. Are we going to acclimate all of the inhabitance from one saltwater tank to another? If not then of course it is beneficial to use water that they are accustom to.
sorry i did not see a filter pad in the sump/refug.
i would add a valve to pvc feeding the sump so you can control contact time within the sump if down the road you use a section for a refug
please reconsider a skimmer
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Let's try this again (I tried earlier but for some reason I kept getting an error screen)

I'm following this to see how it goes :)
 
ladyreefseeker

ladyreefseeker

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Okay, so 100lbs of liverock and a glass of wine later...
I am exhausted! My husband helps but he is more of an assistant. At this point, he's calling it the cloudy reef lol!
I went to the office and picked out 100 lbs of Caribbean Liverock totaling 6 pieces. 2~ 30lb rocks and 4~10lb rocks. I put the big rocks on the bottom and stacked the smaller ones on top. I like a cavernous reef. I think 100lbs is enough. The rock was dirty overall (I rinsed it in pre-mixed saltwater) but colorful and has mostly plant material and some sponge. I got a couple crabs and a nassarius snail from within...
So, I also picked up a reef pack of the following:
50 blue leg hermits~
25 cerith snails~ they will mostly inhabit the rock work and therefore clean it.
10 nassarius snails~they will clean and move the sand
1 serpent starfish~I would have gotten 2 or so more but we were low on them. Awesome scavengers!
3 emerald crabs~ rock cleaners
and.....I got a latticed butterfly and I rescued an ornate butterfly. The ornate butterfly was injured when it came to our facility and was unsellable so I bought it and will just see how it goes...The latticed butterfly is just as perky as ever! It is pecking at the nassarius and ate a few mysis shrimp.
Overall everything is going well. I can't seem to get the water to clear up. The silicates from the sand are quite annoying...
My ph is a little high I am working on that. Nitrates are low and nitrites are basically zero. I don't have a darn ammonia tester...
So...the next 12-24 hours are critical to seeing how the butterflyfish will do considering the method I have used and explained previously. I will post updates and results tomorrow. I will leave a picture for the evening but remember....It's darn cloudy and I do plan to re-stack the rocks tomorrow!

 
ladyreefseeker

ladyreefseeker

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Quote:
Originally Posted by meowzer http:///forum/thread/383546/ladyreefseekers-90gallon-set-up#post_3355526
The fish are in there?????
I know, I know...Deep breath...I feel good about the method used the parameters are pretty safe, the only thing I didn't test for is ammonia. All others are okay. The cloudiness is silicate from the sand it was like that before I added the rock. I know this seems a really fast pace but I have taken precautions. The only thing I am iffy about is the Ornate butterfly being injured and therefore possibly susceptible to stress induced problems...
Only time will tell.
 
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