kunpc1
New Member
Hey all! I introduced myself in the new member thread but wanted to share my build of the new 100g long tank.
The tank is an old Hagen tank my family has had for years. Prior to filling, I had it resealed (worth every penny to have someone else do that work, lol). It’s now in its permanent new home, my basement “mancave”. I purchased a CPR overflow box instead of drilling the old tank.
I purchased dried rock from someone on kijiji in my area. I power washed the dried rock and left it out in the hot, summer sun for a couple days. After that I placed the base rock across the majority of the aquarium glass bottom (to prevent any shifting later on). After the base was added, I filled with newly purchased bagged sand. After that I added the rest of the dried rock I had purchased and cleaned
I purchased a new RO/DI filtration unit so it took a while to process enough water to fill the tank. After a couple days, it was almost full (and all the dust settled).
Once full, I started adding small amounts of food to start cycling. Pellet and freeze-dried brine/mysis shrimp. I also added liquid bacteria to speed up the cycling process. Had a quick ammonia spike, followed by nitrites then nitrates. I was surprised how quickly the process went with the bacteria additives. I had diatoms and algae growing within a couple weeks.
I purchased new LED lighting off Amazon. I got a pair of Viparspectra units with built in timers.
Amazon product
Once my parameters “stabilized”, I moved most of my live rock from my old 60g cube into the new tank. I finished off my aquascaping and set up the new sump (reused my old skimmer, used an old fluorescent aquarium light and purchased a new return pump off Amazon). I let this run for another week to ensure parameters would remain stable.
In my old tank, I had a huge “outbreak” of green BTAs. Went from 2 all the way up to 50 or more. When I moved most of the rock, a few hitchhiker BTAs came with it. They seemed happy and healthy by the end of the first week, I decided it was safe to move the fish and few other coral I had (bubble coral, recordia mushrooms, a pair of red BTAs).
I moved my pair of clowns and my yellow tang (with a lack of dorsal fin) to the new tank. They’ve been happy and healthy since. The clowns continue to be hosted by the anemones that were moved when setting up and the tang enjoyed the extra length to swim around.
After a month, parameters remained stable, everyone was happy and healthy, so I decided it was time to start adding some coral frags before considering more fish. That will be the next post!
The tank is an old Hagen tank my family has had for years. Prior to filling, I had it resealed (worth every penny to have someone else do that work, lol). It’s now in its permanent new home, my basement “mancave”. I purchased a CPR overflow box instead of drilling the old tank.
I purchased dried rock from someone on kijiji in my area. I power washed the dried rock and left it out in the hot, summer sun for a couple days. After that I placed the base rock across the majority of the aquarium glass bottom (to prevent any shifting later on). After the base was added, I filled with newly purchased bagged sand. After that I added the rest of the dried rock I had purchased and cleaned
I purchased a new RO/DI filtration unit so it took a while to process enough water to fill the tank. After a couple days, it was almost full (and all the dust settled).
Once full, I started adding small amounts of food to start cycling. Pellet and freeze-dried brine/mysis shrimp. I also added liquid bacteria to speed up the cycling process. Had a quick ammonia spike, followed by nitrites then nitrates. I was surprised how quickly the process went with the bacteria additives. I had diatoms and algae growing within a couple weeks.
I purchased new LED lighting off Amazon. I got a pair of Viparspectra units with built in timers.
Amazon product
Once my parameters “stabilized”, I moved most of my live rock from my old 60g cube into the new tank. I finished off my aquascaping and set up the new sump (reused my old skimmer, used an old fluorescent aquarium light and purchased a new return pump off Amazon). I let this run for another week to ensure parameters would remain stable.
In my old tank, I had a huge “outbreak” of green BTAs. Went from 2 all the way up to 50 or more. When I moved most of the rock, a few hitchhiker BTAs came with it. They seemed happy and healthy by the end of the first week, I decided it was safe to move the fish and few other coral I had (bubble coral, recordia mushrooms, a pair of red BTAs).
I moved my pair of clowns and my yellow tang (with a lack of dorsal fin) to the new tank. They’ve been happy and healthy since. The clowns continue to be hosted by the anemones that were moved when setting up and the tang enjoyed the extra length to swim around.
After a month, parameters remained stable, everyone was happy and healthy, so I decided it was time to start adding some coral frags before considering more fish. That will be the next post!
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