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KathyC

Moderator
Location
Barnum Island
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So any update? Its been over a week already!

Thanks for the kind words all!! :wink1:

The upgrade is going to happen between Friday and Saturday. I've been making water and collecting all the stuff I need to get this done as painlessly as possible.
Tonight I'll make the mesh cover for it and will move my favorite corals into the sump of my other tank.
I have all the wood for the canopy but that might wait til next week.
Just trying to make space for all the water buckets at this point.

Friday I plan to remove the remaining corals and the rock.
Awilda ( :hug: )will be the guardian to make sure my wrasses aren't jumping out while I'm taking things out of the tank...my biggest fear for the changeover...

I may, or may not, leave all the fish in the current tank with just a couple of pieces of LR & the sand til Saturday morning. And then the real fun begins!!:)

Dee- My Oscars are only getting my 75 as a new home..the guppies would be re-homed to FW friends..not become lunch! lol
 

KathyC

Moderator
Location
Barnum Island
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The 120 is up!!!:fish:
I am beyond exhausted..I might even be writing this while I am sleeping...:sleeping:..but happy:flower:

My thanks to 3 special people from MR...
Jhov..Without you the day would have been 2 hours longer...I can't imagine that..lol The next mesh cover is YOURS! Truly appreciate the help today!!:cheekkiss
Awilda..You have a heart of pure gold! You did & do more for me than I deserve. I'm so happy that we are friends!!!!:hug: Thank you for EVERYTHING!!!
Slamajama..MountainReefer..lol..I'll just call you Mike...When you are hungry, you are the crankiest ba$tard I've ever met. ((Hey Jhov -- I can see you shaking your head 'yes' from here!...lol) Ah, but when you are well fed you are stinking awesome :flower:!!!!!!!
A hundred thank you's for all the roles you played in getting this tank set up for me, but most of all for ultra fast reaction when it got ugly there...I owe you for that. Thank you ;)
..and yes, I have been staring at the tank since I got back home...yeah, I know..right again...lol

The tank is up & running.... kinda sorta. The corals need to go back in and I need to hook the ATO back up.The light has to get moved forward by a foot (hangs from the ceiling) and I still need to finish the mesh cover & start the canopy.
Most of the rock is back in the tank, though one piece is in there sideways..wasn't easy to see in the cloudy water..need to tweak the rocks over the next couple of days.

The only downside so far (knock wood) was the loss of my Filamented Flasher Wrasse...not sure what happened to him (we thought one fish had jumped when we were moving them back to the tank, but were unable to locate any, so we'd hoped it was only a splash..) but when I came home from dropping off Mike I found him thoughtfully wrapped in a papertowel :(

We took very few pics..will update with more when the water clears :)

P8040006.jpg


And this is what I use for a cover when I have zero energy left to build my own mesh cover...please note how useful duct tape and clothespins are at 2 AM...lol
P8050012.jpg
 

Awibrandy

Old School Reefer
Location
Far Rockaway
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Kat, it looks beautiful already. I can only imagine what an awesome tank it is going to be once your done with it.
The pleasure was totally mine, no thanks are necessary.
Now get some rest young lady, and thats an order!!!
 

KathyC

Moderator
Location
Barnum Island
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Just a few pics of some of the progress and the enormous bristleworm that we found in the old sandbed...I'd guess at least 12" when he stretched out. I have a difficult time killing living things..so this guy got a reprieve and was dumped into the sump. In retrospect after the stinging incident the other night, I should have flushed him..

Bristleworm.jpg


The mesh cover..more info about this is on the DIY thread
FeedingDoor.jpg


A foggy FTS just after I had rearranged the rocks again..may still change a few pieces around...a bunch of the frags are still laying on the sand, need to glue those up today as I don't want to have anything on the sandbed in this tank except special pieces.
FTS8807.jpg
 

KathyC

Moderator
Location
Barnum Island
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Dean - it's CaribSea Aragonite. I used the 'sugar' sized and mixed it with what the call 'special'..a slightly larger grain. I'd had the same stuff in the prior tank and I liked that it never changed color/looked dirty and it loooks like the sand I'm used to seeing locally.

btw- Petland sells it and I also got some from a LFS here in the Island. I used 3 - 30lb bags and 2 20 lb bags
 

KathyC

Moderator
Location
Barnum Island
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Thanks Guys!
I'm going to take you up on that Dex!
Dimitry - the only other fish I plan on adding are the 4 Chromis & purple Tang from Slama, and one other Wrasse that I need to find out the name of...lol (Tony, what was the name of that fish I was drooling over at Pratt??)
Kenny! :shhh:..I'm taking my time on this one :)

Been working on the canopy, waiting on yet another coat of polyurathane to dry as I type..hope to begin installing the actinics into it later tonight and have it up on the tank tomorrow.
Need to thank Bueller (John) for his tips on canopy building..borrowed some of his ideas and mixed them with some of my own and came up with this..


The openings in either side are vent holes that will be covered by the faceplates from plastic heat registers, more on those later..
P8130005.jpg



I need an opening in the top of my canopy as my halides are in a fixture and hangs from the ceiling
P8130008.jpg


Love the front being able to 'flip' open. I'll be able to reach 99% of the things I need to get to in the tank with this configuration.
(kinda looks like a bench doesn't it...lol)
P8130007.jpg



In addition to the actinics, I also need to install the fans and the moonlights..another day or 2 and I should be able to take a FTS! :)
 

Liz

Advanced Reefer
Location
CT
Rating - 100%
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:shocked:Congrats to you!!! I want a 120!!!:scratchch:shhh::idea:
GOOD LUCK....IT LOOKS BEAUTIFUL!!!:cheers:
 

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