120 gallon upgrade

[jd120988]

So it's happening and I'm pretty excited. As some of you know i'm upgrading from my current 65 gallon rimless to a 120 gallon 48x24x24 oceanic tech tank with starphire glass. It's an older tank but the seals look perfect and the glass and stand look to be in great shape. She's currently residing in the garage waiting to be cleaned, plumbed and leak tested. Ordered a trigger sapphire 39 sump and some bulkheads today from brs, got a good deal on an A grade open box so hopefully it's in tiptop shape. May order some blue pvc to match the sump. The tank is eurobraced so I will have to figure out a screen cover solution so any ideas will be appreciated. As for lighting, my 65 is running 3 ai primes which I like but can't be mounted directly to the new tank because of the eurobrace. I'm tossing around the idea of a 48" t5 hybrid with 2 or 3 of the primes. What do you guys think? Is anybody running primes with t5? Would love to see some examples, if I could see it in person that would be even better. My biggest obstacle is going to be the transfer. I will set the 120 up in a different location but in the same room so that should make it one step easier but I am worried about having enough time in the day when it's time to do the transfer to get everything changed over. Any advice in regards to the tank transfer will be greatly appreciated. This may take me a few weeks or months to get up and running with the holidays but hopefully sooner than later. Here's a few pics of the new addition

And here's a picture of the current 65

 

[Raffle King]

Good luck with it awesome tank.

 

[jd120988]

Good luck with it awesome tank.

Thank you

 

[Yates273]

Woohoo. Love the size of the 120. I am in the same process as you right now and can’t wait to see the finished result.
With yours does your tank have 2 holes behind the overflow? If so do you plan on running a herbie with an external return? Whatever you decide good luck and looking forward to seeing the process

 

[jd120988]

Woohoo. Love the size of the 120. I am in the same process as you right now and can’t wait to see the finished result.
With yours does your tank have 2 holes behind the overflow? If so do you plan on running a herbie with an external return? Whatever you decide good luck and looking forward to seeing the process

4 1" behind the overflow. I'm at the moment undecided which style I'm going to run. May get the adjustable kit made for the tank but not sure yet. I'll have to check out your build later today to see if I can steal any ideas lol.

 

[MadReefer]

When I transferred I used mostly new SW. Then added sand, rocks and let it settle down running a single powerhead for water movement and heater. Waited for temp to align and I drained as much water from 1st tank as possible for reuse in sump/DT tank. Started to transfer what I wanted form 1st tank over to new( coral, rocks, etc.) added water from 1st tank I drained to DT and sump. I had extra pre-made SW in case I fell short.

Good luck.

 

[Yates273]

I plan on using mostly all new saltwater since I will be breaking down my smaller 32 AIO tank. I may throw some of that water in there along with the rock to seed the tank but the display is going to be mostly all new live rock I have had in a brute for over a year. My mind is so scrambled right now with everything I need to do to make sure it’s a smooth transition but I will just take it really slow. To finish the plumbing I just need to remove the 1” Neptune flow meter from my 40 transfer over to the new tank and replumb the 40. Luckily I used unions so that part should not be that hard. Once the flow meter is transferred over I can start to slowly fill the tank up with saltwater and do a leak test I think (I hope) I’m all good with that. The one thing that sucks is Neptune uses BPT so if I need another union I can only buy from Neptune and they are not easy to find not to mention for what they are pretty pricey.

 

[mnat]

We run a hybrid t5 LED lighting and love it, I think you get the best of both worlds. Mine is the ATI fixture, so not exactly what you are looking to setup, but I think you could make it work since AI's are nice lights. We have moved a few tanks and it can go pretty well if you have a plan. Couple of recommendations: toss your old sand and get new live sand, when you stir up and old sand bed you can release some nasty stuff you don't want in your new tank. Grab a bottle of Tim's instant cycle stuff as well to make the move a little easier and make sure you have some good bacteria going. Plan your rock structures, what you are going to keep/toss and what you want to add. Setup your rock and sand before you transfer, should only take you a few hours to do the whole thing especially since it is in the same room. Good luck and love the new tank.

 

[jd120988]

When I transferred I used mostly new SW. Then added sand, rocks and let it settle down running a single powerhead for water movement and heater. Waited for temp to align and I drained as much water from 1st tank as possible for reuse in sump/DT tank. Started to transfer what I wanted form 1st tank over to new( coral, rocks, etc.) added water from 1st tank I drained to DT and sump. I had extra pre-made SW in case I fell short.

Good luck.

I'd like to have all current live rock from the 65 with new sand transferred to the new tank the same day. I can grab another brute and have both filled with mixed and temperature matched water then I have another 60ish gallons in my current tank plus I can have the sump filled with fresh mixed saltwater very close to temp as well. I think this plan will give me about 140 gallons not including what I'll have in the sump. I'm mostly concerned about creating a sandstorm from filling the tank but I'm hoping if I fill it slow and don't blast the sand that I can keep the sandstorm to a minimum.

 

[jd120988]

I plan on using mostly all new saltwater since I will be breaking down my smaller 32 AIO tank. I may throw some of that water in there along with the rock to seed the tank but the display is going to be mostly all new live rock I have had in a brute for over a year. My mind is so scrambled right now with everything I need to do to make sure it’s a smooth transition but I will just take it really slow. To finish the plumbing I just need to remove the 1” Neptune flow meter from my 40 transfer over to the new tank and replumb the 40. Luckily I used unions so that part should not be that hard. Once the flow meter is transferred over I can start to slowly fill the tank up with saltwater and do a leak test I think (I hope) I’m all good with that. The one thing that sucks is Neptune uses BPT so if I need another union I can only buy from Neptune and they are not easy to find not to mention for what they are pretty pricey.

I would like to add a flow meter to this build to take advantage of the apex but I'm not sure it will make the cut for my must haves. How do you like it? As for my plans, I intend on using all of my current live rock to maintain my current bioload as an attempt to avoid a mini cycle. I will also be dosing fritz turbostart 900 bacteria to not have an ammonia spike if I do get a mini cycle. I'm ditching my current live sand and starting with all new special grade. I have to figure out how to avoid creating a sandstorm during the transfer so I can complete it in one day.

 

[jd120988]

We run a hybrid t5 LED lighting and love it, I think you get the best of both worlds. Mine is the ATI fixture, so not exactly what you are looking to setup, but I think you could make it work since AI's are nice lights. We have moved a few tanks and it can go pretty well if you have a plan. Couple of recommendations: toss your old sand and get new live sand, when you stir up and old sand bed you can release some nasty stuff you don't want in your new tank. Grab a bottle of Tim's instant cycle stuff as well to make the move a little easier and make sure you have some good bacteria going. Plan your rock structures, what you are going to keep/toss and what you want to add. Setup your rock and sand before you transfer, should only take you a few hours to do the whole thing especially since it is in the same room. Good luck and love the new tank.

Thank you. I've seen a few t5/led hybrids in person and I have to agree with your opinion on it being the best of both worlds. I haven't seen anyone do the ai primes with the t5s so I am curious to see the results from that setup. I also fully intend on ditching my current sand and using all new. I'm transferring all current live rock and media and adding some new rock so I'm hoping to avoid a mini cycle plus I'll be using turbostart 900 bacteria so I should be covered for an ammonia spike if any. Just really hoping to be able to transfer everything in one day without making a sandstorm in the tank.

 

[Yates273]

I would like to add a flow meter to this build to take advantage of the apex but I'm not sure it will make the cut for my must haves. How do you like it? As for my plans, I intend on using all of my current live rock to maintain my current bioload as an attempt to avoid a mini cycle. I will also be dosing fritz turbostart 900 bacteria to not have an ammonia spike if I do get a mini cycle. I'm ditching my current live sand and starting with all new special grade. I have to figure out how to avoid creating a sandstorm during the transfer so I can complete it in one day.

It’s been on my 40 breeder for over a year and I love it. I also have 3 1/2 flow meters on my manifold which is great for adjusting flow for my media based on the readings. Very useful in my opinion.

 

[jd120988]

It’s been on my 40 breeder for over a year and I love it. I also have 3 1/2 flow meters on my manifold which is great for adjusting flow for my media based on the readings. Very useful in my opinion.

I'm going to do some research on the flow meters. I like the idea of controlling flow through my uv sterilizer and if I decide to add any other equipment in the future.

 

[MadReefer]

Thank you. I've seen a few t5/led hybrids in person and I have to agree with your opinion on it being the best of both worlds. I haven't seen anyone do the ai primes with the t5s so I am curious to see the results from that setup. I also fully intend on ditching my current sand and using all new. I'm transferring all current live rock and media and adding some new rock so I'm hoping to avoid a mini cycle plus I'll be using turbostart 900 bacteria so I should be covered for an ammonia spike if any. Just really hoping to be able to transfer everything in one day without making a sandstorm in the tank

I used dry sand and seeded it with a few cups of old sand. It will settle down if you rinse the dry sand well.

 

[jd120988]

So your saying using dry sand rather than the live bags will reduce the messy water? May have to look into this.

 

[MadReefer]

So your saying using dry sand rather than the live bags will reduce the messy water? May have to look into this.

For me that worked. Live sand to expensive for a large setup IMO. I would assume live sand would be clean.

 

[Yates273]

I just bought 2 40lb bags of dry Caribsea sand for 20.00 each. It’s the special grade and it was DIRTY. Had to rinse with hose. Looked like milk when I hosed it down. Either way live or dry I think it needs to be rinsed.

 

[jd120988]

I just bought 2 40lb bags of dry Caribsea sand for 20.00 each. It’s the special grade and it was DIRTY. Had to rinse with hose. Looked like milk when I hosed it down. Either way live or dry I think it needs to be rinsed.

That's a killer deal. And I agree about either way being dirty. Live sand seems very dirty as well and I almost feel I'm better off buying dry for the savings.

 

[jd120988]

Anybody have a suggestion on a magnetic cleaner for starphire glass?

 

[mnat]

We use the flipper on our glass and have for years without issue.