120gal progression thread...

[Mr Cob]

I would like to start this thread in order to keep track of my progression on my 120gal. Since I never took the time to start a build thread I think now would be a great time to start, considering I don't have a lot of livestock.

It was started on 07.14.07.

Here's some pics with notes.

Feel free to post comments about coral Id or suggestions with anything. It has taken me a year to get where it's at....slowly but surely. I have squeezed and stretched many pennies with this ever expensive hobby and I have a very supportive wife :).

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m138/robart1208/full_shot_120gal.jpg

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m138/robart1208/tight_shot_120gal.jpg

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m138/robart1208/caves_120gal.jpg

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m138/robart1208/coco_worm_120gal.jpg

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m138/robart1208/zoa_colony120gal.jpg

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m138/robart1208/pagoda_neonGSP_120gal.jpg

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m138/robart1208/scopas_shroom_zoas_120gal.jpg

[Gilbert]

What happened to the Rics you had

[Mr Cob]

What happened to the Rics you had

Still have them. There's a lot of things that you can't see in the pics. When I figure out how to take better pics I'll do some close-ups. I took like 75-100 shots and these were the only ones that were some what decent. :(

[bronck83]

What kind of lighting?

[ErikH]

very niceeeeeeeeeeeeee....

[Mr Cob]

Lighting:
-440 watts of VHO with an ice cap 660 ballast (2x 10k and 2x 450nm)
-260 watts of PC with moon lighting (2x 50/50 and 2x 450nm) (eventually I will lose the PC and upgrade to metal halide with the 4 vho's $$$)

Sump/Refugium: (when my budget allows for it I also want to redo my entire plumbing system and drill my tank and put in cal flows...an ACE sump too...I made lots of newbie mistakes because of $ and inexperience)
-40gallon trickle filter converted and turned into a sump/refugium
-lots of chaeto
-red dragon's breath
-4" deep sand bed of aragonite
-10 pounds of crushed coral for the pods
-20 pounds of live rock
-small 300gph powerhead in refugium
-super skimmer 220 with an after market CA 4000 (1300gph) pump...super micro bubbles, I had to add a air control valve to control it.
-Auto top off unit with a 10gal reservoir
-100watt heater
-28 watt coralife light w/a 50/50 bulb

Return/Overflow:
-mag 5 (350gph)
-single u-tube syphon overflow HOB

Display Flow: (need two more koralias to run behind my rock scape)
-2 x Koralia #3's (850gph each)
-1 x powerhead unknown name (600gph)
-1 x penguin 300 without filter media and full of live rock rubble for pods.(300gph)

Display Misc.
-Main support for rock scape was created by zip tieing pvc cuttings and egg crate together with two levels. I then used pond foam and great stuff painted with krylon paint, coated with resin and sprinkled with aragonite. Base rock and a couple pieces of holey rock were zip tied for wieght. This structure added a bunch of caves and allows for movement of the water everywhere. It is also up off of the sand about 2 inches which adds a third level effect and dark caves.
-About 200pounds of mature live rock
-30 pounds of crushed coral in the back for pods
-120 pounds of live sugar sand
-60 pounds of live aragonite

Tank/Stand/Canopy:
-120gal custom made perfecto 48"x24"x24" (glass)
-Stand, dark cherry wood color custom made by perfecto (would like to have a door on the side)
-Canopy, dark cherry wood color custom made by perfecto (pretty tall, top lifts up)

Fish: (my powder blue tang recently died and I want another one in the next few months)
-1x Red firefish
-1x Scopas tang
-1x Coris Wrasse (full yellow)
-1x Spotted blenny (diamond blenny, sand sifter)
-1x Bi-color blenny
-1x Pair of green mandarins (the female accepts frozen food)
-1x Blue chromis damsel
-3x green chromis damsels
-1x true perc

Inverts:
-2x pepermint shrimps
-1x pistol shrimp
-1x skunk cleaner
-1x halloween hermit crab
-30x blue and red leg hermit crabs along with a few scarlets
-40x...snails (stomatella, astrea and the ones that live in the sand)
-1x emerald crab
-5x small sea star serpents

Coral:
-Red/white coco worm
-Green Pagoda
-Lrg green star polyp colony
-Neon gren star polyp
-yellow polyps
-purple stars
-white stars
-elongata pulsating xenia
-white/blue pulsating xenia
-yellow/green ricordea
-florida blue ricordea
-large long tentacle anenome
-various zoas
-various palys
-various shrooms

[aquasport24]

Awesome rockworks...

[Mr Cob]

Thanks Erik and Giau. You guys have helped tremendously along with the other Maast members!

[bigmoe21]

Nice tank rob..rockwork looks cool

[Mr Cob]

Nice tank rob..rockwork looks cool

Thanks Moe...did you see your zoas and shrooms I bought from you...??? I like them :)

[RayAllen]

Nice breakdown of the details of the tank. Looks great1

[Mr Cob]

Nice breakdown of the details of the tank. Looks great1

Thanks Ray. It would be nice to start a few things over...but I'm happy for now and really want to get some more corals. My next equipment upgrade will have to be the lights.

Then I would like to focus on my options for a better plumbing system/equipment.

[Mr Cob]

Equipment/Tank/Stand/Canopy pics:

Full Shot
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a43/quellyo/CIMG1424.jpg


Stand
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a43/quellyo/CIMG1416.jpg

Sump/Refugium/Auto Top-Off
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a43/quellyo/CIMG1412.jpg

Refugium
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a43/quellyo/CIMG1414.jpg

Super Skimmer (I added a 1300gph CA venturi 4000 pump that added a ton of micro bubbles. With the dial knob fully open on the skimmer the micro bubbles were over flowing the collection cup so I added an air line hose and control valve in order to put the micro bubbles in check. Skimmer is working SUper efficiently! :) This pic was taken after only a couple of hours of the modifications.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a43/quellyo/CIMG1406.jpg

VHO 4x110 watt (the tank fits PERFECTLY on this wall!)
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a43/quellyo/CIMG1418.jpg

Width shot
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a43/quellyo/CIMG1423.jpg

[ErikH]

Looks awesome Rob! I just added a light under my stand tonight! I have been working on my tank ALL night installing the new lights, what a PAIN. :) Your tank fits in that spot perfectly eh? Ahh, it's 1:20, time for bed....

[Mr Cob]

Some recent shots...

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m138/robart1208/full_shot_jun08_120gal.jpg

Not sure what these Paly's are called???
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m138/robart1208/palys.jpg


http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m138/robart1208/ricordea.jpg

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m138/robart1208/green_pagoda.jpg

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m138/robart1208/gsp_closeup.jpg

A friend took these, wish I would have turned my day lights on....these are under actinics 450nm.

[ErikH]

I got those from Ace. They spread like crazy, so I always pass them along too! :) Those shots look great!

[DrMark]

looks nice.
what camera was used for the picture of the pagoda cup?
mark

[roscozman]

Awesome tank (My wife and I saw in person during a recent trade) Rob. Pics look great.

BTW, we are now in the process of upgrading to a 125g.

[Mr Cob]

I got those from Ace. They spread like crazy, so I always pass them along too! :) Those shots look great!

I love them! Thanks for the hook-up! It's nice to see things grow!


looks nice.
what camera was used for the picture of the pagoda cup?
mark

Thanks Dr. Mark, my friend used the original Canon Digital Rebel (as opposed to the Digital Rebel XT, XTi, etc.) with the kit lens (Canon EFS 18-55mm).


Awesome tank (My wife and I saw in person during a recent trade) Rob. Pics look great.

BTW, we are now in the process of upgrading to a 125g.

Thanks Ross! Be sure to do a build thread for us. I wish I would have done one from the begining...but upgrades are a great excuse for it! You two move fast.... 29gal.... 55gal... 125gal...next will be "In the wall"...!

[Mr Cob]

So I have had a few emails regarding what was done to the Super Skimmer 220 in order to increase it's efficiency.

-First off I purchased a CA-4000 Aqua Pump/Powerhead for about $60, it's rated at 1300gph...well over the stock pump of 650gph.
example: http://www.petmeister.com/item2598.htm
-fitted the pump to the skimmer with the correct hosing extensions
-cut a piece of airline hosing and added an air control valve and attached the venturi airline and nozzle that came with the CA-4000 pump as seen in the pick. This was then attached to the air inlet on the super skimmer (it's an external air inlet).

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a43/quellyo/CIMG1406.jpg

-once everything was connected I added the Skimmer to my sump and made sure that the pump was about 4 inches below the surface (it really doesn't make much difference because it is going to blow some water no matter what).
-turn the skimmer red knob to fully open and turn the pump on.
-most likely the collection cup will overflow with foam if your air control valve is fully open. Just start adjusting it by closing the valve to the desired location of micro bubbles.
-keep an eye on it for the first couple of days and your off to efficient skimming with your super skimmer. Mine pulls nasty green stuff daily.

:wink_smile:

[Submariner]

Great lookin' tank!

[Gilbert]

so i guess there won't be any more updates on here... are you planning to go bigger or are you stepping out of the hobby for a while

[Mr Cob]

so i guess there won't be any more updates on here... are you planning to go bigger or are you stepping out of the hobby for a while

Thanks Gilbert. I'll be going bigger once we move...I'll never get out of the hobby...just don't want to move livestock around and have to deal with that whole mess while moving. It's easier to just sell everything now, well before we even begin to prepare for moving and then buy a whole new system once we get moved in.

[Gilbert]

oh ok, but you could have just given me anything and when you got settle down i would have sold you frags for cheap...:blushing:

[ErikH]

Rob, those are ATL Lunar Eclipse Palys. The lineage as far back as I know goes from Garrett (AddBOY!), Ace (Hoboyaknow), to me (P.I.T.A.), and to you, Rob Cob!