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Jgraz's march to 200DD

jgraz

jgraz

Never thought a tank could weigh so much. But it's in the house and of course while I was at the hidden reef I forgot to pick up the megaflow plumbing kit so now I have to head back this weekend.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1405040966.203105.jpg

Rocks and sand are next up of Ultra Corals ever decides to get back to me. :)
 
Empire

Empire

I remember lifting one of these. It is freaking awful. I hope you didn't make your poor wife/kids help you lol
 
Empire

Empire

This is all going to be plumbed up to the original basement
System right? Think you'll cycle? What rock are you going with?
 
jgraz

jgraz

MatteZ said:
You gotta get a picture with the kids in the tank on the stsnd
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I'm afraid to do that. See it all the time, and while I'm sure it would work with my luck he would go right through.

Empire said:
This is all going to be plumbed up to the original basement
System right? Think you'll cycle? What rock are you going with?
Click to expand...

Yep this will all get plumbed to the basement. I'm almost def using reef rocks for this build as I did with my 90 when that was up. Just gotta find it first and the only "local" place doesn't seem to want to answer phones anymore so I may have to order it instead.

I don't expect a cycle at all with this rock, plus I already have about 150-170lbs of rock running in the system already plus all the other little nooks and crannies that bacteria gather such as sand, plugs, racks, and so on. My biggest fear however is adding 160ish gal of water to the system all at once. So what I plan on doing is to scape the 180 with sand/rock then fill with RODI and bring it to just below the overflow. Then bring that up to proper salinity. Then with extra new saltwater on hand turn on the pump for about 2 or 3 min and let it go. That should fill the overflows and allow some of the system water to mix with the new. Then shut it down, and let it drain back. I figure I will do this for several days while also increasing the amount of time the pump is running. That way I only introduce the newer water a little at a time. After a week or so I should be good to go.

But if anyone has any other thoughts I'm all ears.
 
jgraz

jgraz

Empire said:
I don't know much about reef rock, but would you need to soak that stuff? What's the total system volume?
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No soaking. This stuff is super clean. Just a little rinse to shake the dust off is all. I have pieces that are a few years old now and not one has ever had any unwanted anything. I did my 90 and mine and my sons nano with it. Great stuff.

A rough estimate on system volume between the 180g DT, 65g Fuge, 80g Frag, and 100g Sump(1/2 full). After accounting for rock/sand I figure somewhere around 300g water.
 
M

Mike S

How dense is that rock John? How how much do you think you'll need for your 180.

For what its worth when I set up my 300 i filled it with fresh saltwater and then used muriatic acid to get the alkalinity close to my existing system. I then allowed the water to circulate for a week or two. I then plumbed it in to the rest of my system and just pumped water to it at a very slow rate for another two weeks to all of the parameters stabilized. It may have been overkill but everything pulled through OK.
 
jgraz

jgraz

Mike S said:
How dense is that rock John? How how much do you think you'll need for your 180.

For what its worth when I set up my 300 i filled it with fresh saltwater and then used muriatic acid to get the alkalinity close to my existing system. I then allowed the water to circulate for a week or two. I then plumbed it in to the rest of my system and just pumped water to it at a very slow rate for another two weeks to all of the parameters stabilized. It may have been overkill but everything pulled through OK.
Click to expand...

The rock itself is not very dense at all. And the more I think about it the more I think I'm actually just gonna use my existing rock. I still have all of the rock I used in my 90 and most of it is in my sump, some still had corals attached so that in the frag tank. A little bit was left out and has or will be going through a bleach-vinegar-rinse process. I also got a good amount of rock from Judeo who got it from Steve(spotter). So I may have everything I need already.

My newer plan to bring up the system in to fill the 180 with fresh saltwater then lowly acclimate it over the course of a couple weeks in to my current system. I figure for the most part it will be just like doing several good WC's in my existing set-up. Then when I'm running full volume I will just have to scape the tank while wet. Not something I love to do but it will save me a ton and I really don't need all that rock in the sump anyway.
As for the acid, the closest I get to acid is vinegar so I guess that will do the same thing as muratic, no? The alkalinity difference is of course my biggest fear as well as temp but that is easy to take care of.
 
M

Mike S

I only adjusted my alkalinity with acid because the new water was very high (12+) compared to my old system. I had used a combo of IO and ESV salt and may have went to heavy on the esv alkalinity part. If you are close and doing gradual water changes I wouldn't bother with it. Especially if you are using the same salt.
 
MatteZ

MatteZ

do you have a shut off valve so you can shut the water going to your new main dt? you can always just fill the new tank with ro water and mix the salt in the empty tank and once the salinity matches then just open the valve for a min or so then shut it off. do that over and over until you get things slowly mixed together. like you said it just like doing a large water change. spread it out over a few days
 
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