100 Gallon Update! :)

[mabel_photo6]

So last month I bought a 100 gallon tank and I had to wait to bring it home in my boyfriend's truck.
Long story short, I had to wait a while before setting it up.
Slowly but surely, she's coming along nicely.
I started a slow set up last week thanks to Thanksgiving. lol
Everything is running smoothly except I had a little leak 'cause one of the hoses I guess wasn't sealed so I just put some petroleum jelly and that got fixed easily.

I did a bad thing though. I accidently dropped that "U" or "J" tubes and it cracked so I glued it back just to see how everything worked and it's good to go. I just need to replace that tube and she's ready to go.

Here's a few pics. :) ... still trying to figure out something I can put in there to cycle with... just not damsels! lol
I might wait maybe like 2 maybe 3 weeks to add a "cheap" fish.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/mabels_corner/Pets/Fishy/Saltwater/100%20Gallon%20Tank/IMG_0074.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/mabels_corner/Pets/Fishy/Saltwater/100%20Gallon%20Tank/IMG_0083.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/mabels_corner/Pets/Fishy/Saltwater/100%20Gallon%20Tank/IMG_0098.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/mabels_corner/Pets/Fishy/Saltwater/100%20Gallon%20Tank/IMG_0118.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/mabels_corner/Pets/Fishy/Saltwater/100%20Gallon%20Tank/IMG_0122.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/mabels_corner/Pets/Fishy/Saltwater/100%20Gallon%20Tank/IMG_0126.jpg

[Neptune@gabesfish]

Sweet!! That sump looks awsome..

[Europhyllia]

Look at you! What a snazzy set up. :) Love the purple walls in your house too ;)

I'm a little perplexed about fixing leaks with petroleum jelly. Have you considered a hose clamp (they come in plastic) or that white teflon tape?

[mabel_photo6]

Yes indeed... thanks Gabe!
I really do dig it... I've never had a huge 'fuge before so I felt all dumb and wasn't sure how to get it started. lol
Everything is working good except for one of the "J" tubes 'cause I'm clumsy and it broke!

Upgrading from a BioCube 29 to this 100 gallon tank is really somethin'.

[mabel_photo6]

Look at you! What a snazzy set up. :) Love the purple walls in your house too ;)

I'm a little perplexed about fixing leaks with petroleum jelly. Have you considered a hose clamp (they come in plastic) or that white teflon tape?

Hahaha Thanks! Yeah, purple walls... what can I say... I'm a girl!

I have one of those metal hose clamps on it. There's white teflon tape on the threading where the pvc pipes are connected. Where there was a leak was where the black hose was connected... look, I'm gonna try to take a picture to show you what I mean.....

Okay, I took a picture... it was a sort of small leak. As if it was bubbling from a tiny hole. The tiny leak was where the black hose met the gray part of the pvc.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/mabels_corner/Pets/Fishy/Saltwater/100%20Gallon%20Tank/IMG_0128.jpg

[corruption]

As far as how to cycle the tank -- why would you need to do anything beyond what you already did? Your live rock will have MORE than enough die off and rebirth to allow the establishment of your beneficial bacteria... if it were me/mine, I'd just let your rock sit and 'cook' in the tank for a month or 2.... Once thats done, your tank is cycled and ready for some fun :)

-Corruption

[mabel_photo6]

Good deals... that's sort of what I did with my BioCube... I didn't add my first fish until it was 5 weeks old. A Lawnmower Blenny. It lived for a few months but then died after like 5 months when I went to Rome.

My boyfriend thinks is his fault lol but we'll never know.
The water did look a bit dirty though but I'd like to think it died for mysterious reasons. lol

WAIT I SHALL!

[corruption]

Theres a lot to be said for a long-term 'fallow' state at the start of a tank... As I'm sure you're well aware, with a new tank's longterm cycle -- 'the new tank syndrome' -- the actual wax and wane of algal growth and bacterial bloom comes and goes several times, with several side effects... its not unheard of to let a tank 'season' for 6+ months upon start-up -- the benefits are that you miss a lot of the "whats going on in my tank?!" period, as well as allowing all those wonderful pods and such a good chance to establish...


Not saying you have to wait this long, but it certainly is beneficial :)

-Corruption

[Europhyllia]

I've read a lot of Lawnmower Blennies slowly starve in smaller or algae free systems so your boyfriend is probably innocent. ;)
(You don't have to tell him though -the guilt thing might come in handy some time in the future... :D )
Can't wait to see updates in a few weeks. This will be fun.
I totally agree groing from 29g to 100/125 is fantastic. Congrats :)

[ErikH]

wordddddd. Looks great! Thanks for sharing, love that fuge.

[mabel_photo6]

Thankssssss I have the pics saved so hopefully I'll continue with the photos as the tank ages. :)
Lovin' the upgrade!!

[ReefCube]

clean

[mabel_photo6]

Hope it stays that way lol buuuuuuuuuuut that doesn't always happen

[mabel_photo6]

So in the process of getting this tank set up... I sort of broke one of the tubes for the overflow box.
What is it... a "J" or "U" tube... any who, does anyone know where I can buy a replacement?

I went to Lowe's today and they didn't have it. :(

[Neptune@gabesfish]

You should be able to run with 2 for now.. till you get to town

[mabel_photo6]

Alright... I wanted to get like 3 of them just in case it happened again.
How much are they? And where can I get them?

Everything is running though. :) Looks really good!!
It's cleared up nicely and there's some brown algae growin'!

[txav8r]

We need Pictures!!!!!!!!!!!

[mabel_photo6]

More?!? lol Okay here's one from today. :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/mabels_corner/Pets/Fishy/Saltwater/100%20Gallon%20Tank/IMG_0129.jpg

[mabel_photo6]

Here's a shot of it today at 2 weeks and 3 days old :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/mabels_corner/Pets/Fishy/Saltwater/100%20Gallon%20Tank/DSCN5947.jpg

So humor me... what's this stuff I got growing?
:nailbiting:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/mabels_corner/Pets/Fishy/Saltwater/100%20Gallon%20Tank/DSCN5946.jpg

[hobogato]

hair algae. pretty normal for the first few months to go thru hair algae, diatoms and/or cyano blooms. looks great so far :)

[mabel_photo6]

Okay good! 'Cause I got scared a little. It looked sort of like byropsis.
I've never seen hair algae like that.
But then again, I've never seen byropsis either.
It almost looks feather like but VERY thin.
I looked up pictures of byropsis and it doesn't quite look like that.

[mabel_photo6]

Week 3 :)

Had a bunch of brown algae now it's going away and the green is comin' out now.
My local Petco had a sale and bought a Firefish for $8 so he's in there helpin' me out.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/mabels_corner/Pets/Fishy/Saltwater/100%20Gallon%20Tank/DSCN5948.jpg

[mabel_photo6]

Here's a photo of my 100 gallon at 4 weeks today!!

When is it safe to add some Peppermint shrimp?
I have some Aiptasia growing and I need to keep it under control.
I need some for my 29 'cause my peppermints vanished.

I'm still trying to figure out what I want to add to this tank.
There's a Firefish in it and that's it.
I can't figure out what my "show" fish will be.
Maybe one or two and the rest small stuff.

Brown algae is totally gone and I have some insane hair algae.
By insane, I mean long.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/mabels_corner/Pets/Fishy/Saltwater/100%20Gallon%20Tank/IMG_0081.jpg

[tony]

very cool, have you tested your parameters yet? i would test and if they are good to go i would add that peppermint shrimp

[Europhyllia]

Wow That's shaggy! :)
I think you should take the doors off of your stand. What I like best about your tank is the super snazzy sump!!!

[mabel_photo6]

lol I haven't tested the parameters yet... I will possibly sometime today.

Yeah, I dig my tank's bottom. lol At night, when the lights turn on in the 'fuge, I sit on the floor and watch for any life. I have copepods EVERYWHERE... aiptasia... some coraline algae is showing up on some of the rocks, a few amphipods were spotted, TONS of bristle worms, lots of feather dusters that are reproducing all over my glass (looks like a white small swirl), green algae.

I put a chunk of chaeto in the 'fuge from my 29 gallon's hang on 'fuge, and the tank has some aiptasia which I want to look into getting some Peppermints.

Oh and one of my rocks is starting to develop bubble algae so I need some emerald crabs too. I think some of my rocks are growing sort of like this sea grass type of deal. I've spotted snails too.

And some weird worm I've never seen before. Almost white looking and it looks like it poops out compressed sand. lol

[mabel_photo6]

It completes 10 weeks on Monday.
I just thought I'd take a snap shot of it today before I go into work.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/mabels_corner/Pets/Fishy/Saltwater/100%20Gallon%20Tank/IMG_0029.jpg

Some of you know I didn't have a job lol and well it's not really funny but oh well.
I couldn't find a job in my field... Finance. No one's hiring! :(
So I went to the one place I know I'd get hired right away... Petland.
I used to work there back in 2006 when it first opened in my city as a kennel tech taking care of puppies.
But this time, I'm in the fish department. :)

I've been kinda busy so I've been letting my tank just do it's thing.
In the tank are 2 firefish and 2 cleaner shrimp.
I had a foxface in there for about 1 - 2 weeks but it died yesterday.
Sooooooo I'm just going to leave the tank alone for a while.
Work is a good distraction. lol

I had a BUNCH of green hair algae as you can see in previous photos but it has really gone away for the most part.
Almost all the brown is gone and there's just little patches of hair algae.
I do though need peppermint shrimp for the aiptasia and some emerald crabs for the tiny bit of bubble algae I found.
Other than that, things are looking good!!

[mabel_photo6]

Yes, been a while.
I'll try and post later on just to be able to see the difference.
My tank started a massive bloom of purple coraline algae about 3 weeks ago. :D
Here are a few pics:
14 WEEKS OLD

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/mabels_corner/Pets/Fishy/Saltwater/100%20Gallon%20Tank/IMG_0001.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/mabels_corner/Pets/Fishy/Saltwater/100%20Gallon%20Tank/IMG_0010.jpg

Crocea Clammy:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/mabels_corner/Pets/Fishy/Saltwater/100%20Gallon%20Tank/IMG_0006.jpg

Currently in the tank:
1 Kole Tang
2 Firefish
1 Cleaner Wrasse
2 Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
2 Peppermint Shrimp
2 Emerald Crabs
5 Nassarious Snails
5 Trochus Snails
2 Crocea Clams (1.5" and 3")
1 Tube Anemone (burgundy with lime green in the middle) hard to photograph... will try next time with underwater case for my camera. :)

I'm slowly transferring over coral.
So far, I've transferred a piece of cabbage coral, some zoas, today the kenya tree and pulsing xenias.

[hobogato]

nice looking crocea :)

[mabel_photo6]

Thanksssssssss the small one has awesome color.
The other... not so much. It doesn't like to sit still.
That's why it's in the sand 'cause every time I put it up on the rock, it blasts it's way down.

Anyone have clams?
I feed the tank some sprayed dried phytoplankton once a day or every other day.
Buuuuut I want to try something else. The small one attached itself to the rock I placed it on.
The bigger one is on the floor so I can move that one around.

[jlh81]

Looking good is the hair algee still a problem?

[mabel_photo6]

There's patches but they're half green, half brown looking as if they're slowly thinning and dying out.
:) Tested my water about a week ago and everything is perfect. :)
I can't express how much I love my refugium. lol

[Neptune@gabesfish]

Tank is looking good..

[mabel_photo6]

Much thanksssssss