It's alive!! Bekka's first & very own 150g

[rsvale112]

Hellllo everyone!

This is my very first build thread. Yesterday arrived my new 150 gallon RR XH Deep Blue tank.

I am downsizing from a 220 gallon and a 300 gallon that I kind of inherited, to clear all the space in my apartment I'm getting rid of them.

Last night I added: 80lbs of live sand, some cured rocks from the 300g tank, and 25% of water came from ro/di rest came from the 220g tank and I have 2 Vortech MP40's, I figure I'd only need one. And I saw a little star fish in the tank already!

My stock list I will be transferring is:

Fish:
Volitan Lion
Snowflake Eel
Banana Wrasse
Melanarus Wrasse
Sailfin Tang
Hybrid Powder Blue Tang
Convict Tang
Engineer Gobys x3
Copperband Butterfly
Black and white clowns x2 (they aren't pairing though)
Cleaner Wrasse

Coral:
Rose tip anemones x3
Brains x3 (not really sure the type of them)
Duncuns x2
Carpet anemone
Candy cane coral x3
Scoly
Plate coral


Here are some pictures of the process so far.

My kitten helping out. :meow:

This is the lights I went with, just one fixture but I got to see this bad boy light up and it was pretty intense. :trooper: The bulb is 250w the brand is called Sun Pulse.

 

[ecvernon]

Looking great I have never seen anyone with that tank. I was curious about your lighting choice. It seems to be a fixture to be used plants. Can the fixture run regular mogul bulbs that we use in reef aquariums?

 

[BobNY]

Nice! Good luck with the transfer.

 

[rsvale112]

Looking great I have never seen anyone with that tank. I was curious about your lighting choice. It seems to be a fixture to be used plants. Can the fixture run regular mogul bulbs that we use in reef aquariums?

Thanks, the choice in the light came from a hydroponics store that was next door to my job, that same company does lighting for fish tanks as well, so I figured I couldn't go wrong.

 

[masterswimmer]

Based on your pictures it appears you've got the rock sitting on top of the sandbed. WARNING!!!!!! If that's the case you've got the recipe for a huge disaster. You'll need to push the rocks down to the bottom glass.

With a tank that tall you should also keep a diving mask and snorkel handy.

Looks nice. Best of luck with it.

Russ

 

[masterswimmer]

Also, what type of cover/canopy are you using? Eels are serious jumpers. Without a cover on the tank it is only a matter of time until it WILL go carpet surfing, not 'if', but 'when'.

GL

Russ

 

[rsvale112]

No worries I've pushed the rock all the way down to the bottom, and then covered the bases of the rock with some sand as well.

I've been lucky not to experience my eel jump, but I do have glass tops that I will covering it with.

I'm about to start the transfer, wish me luck! :trooper:

 

[andylee]

All that livestock is compatible in that size tank? How have you kept the eel and lion from eating the smaller fish?

 

[rsvale112]

The eel has left everyone alone, the lion has eaten all the chromis I had. Noone else in the tank is small enough for him to be able to swallow.

I'm having a hard time finding the melanarus wrasse and banana wrasse, they're hiding somewhere in the sand bed. :irked:

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Take the back end of a net and gently slide it through the sand. You will find them.

 

[Awibrandy]

Best wishes with everything B!!!!:hug:

 

[pauliwalnuts]

Congrats and welcome to the "150 Club". :party:

 

[rsvale112]

It's gonna take me a while to get use to the 150g club But I really love the new tank.

Best wishes with everything B!!!!:hug:

Thank youu!!!! :hug:

I'm nervous about my snowflake he seems to be constantly looking for jumping areas. But the rock hasn't moved. Right now I have the base pieces down, how much rock should I put in?

 

[rsvale112]

So the new tank is semi hooked up. The over flow leaked every where last night, so I had to turn everything off. Right now I just have an air pump in the tank, and I lost one of my clown fish Monday night. Everyone else seems fine and is swimming around. My coral though is sitting in a bin with a heater, which I was told would be okay.

My nitrates are still spiking after doing a huge water change Monday night, and my salinity is too low. It's at .018-.020. Any help on how I could change this???

 

[Awibrandy]

So the new tank is semi hooked up. The over flow leaked every where last night, so I had to turn everything off. Right now I just have an air pump in the tank, and I lost one of my clown fish Monday night. Everyone else seems fine and is swimming around. My coral though is sitting in a bin with a heater, which I was told would be okay.

My nitrates are still spiking after doing a huge water change Monday night, and my salinity is too low. It's at .018-.020. Any help on how I could change this???

Check the bulkheads, they may have not been tighten enough.

You should have power heads in both the tank, and the bin with the corals.

Have you added the rest of the live rock? Are either of the other 2 tans running? If yes, check the parameters, if all good put the animals in that until the 150 cycles.

Best wishes for all to work out.....

Sorry about the clown.:sad2:

 

[rsvale112]

All the fish are in the 150g, just not the coral... That's whats stressing me out on the water. It was the bulk head I have to tighten it tonight when I get home, a friend is coming by to help me out with the rest of the plumbing too.

Currently right now the only tank running is the 150g. The 220 is empty. I'm making that my project a few months down the line to seal it up and make it an aggressive tank.

The clown was the black and white I originally had, the saddle back is still going strong. The only coral sitting in there is the carpet nem, I figure that would help him out more.

 

[Awibrandy]

What about the lr? Is it all in the 150? Or do you have it in a bin?

 

[rsvale112]

Majority of the live rock is in the 150g... some pieces were too big for me to put in.

I went to go put my coral in last night and pretty much everything died on me, I'm hoping the things I put in the tank bounce back... The only thing to have really survived is my carpet nem.

So I'm gonna start all over with coral. :banghead:

 

[Awibrandy]

How are your parameters? Check those before you go shopping for new stuff.

Sorry about your losses!! Can you tell us a little more about what you think happened?
Did it happen while they were in the holding bin? Did you have a power head & heater in the bin? How long where they in the bin? Did you keep up with top off water while they were in the holding bin?
How about the live rock that didn't make it to the fish tank. Is it in a container with a heater & power head?
How are the fish doing?

 

[rsvale112]

I'm not buying anything for a while, not until the tank is stable enough.

I'm not sure what happened. I did exactly what I was told would be okay, I had the coral in a bin with a heater and powerhead and they've been in there since Sunday, so I'm sure it would be my fault it happened.

I'm trying to think of things to do with the sump. I was thinking of making a refugium. Any ideas?

The fish are fine, everyone is breathing right, swimming around, I haven't really seen any signs of stress.