[TrishW]

Found the tank on the classifieds here on thereeftank.com. It's an All Glass tank and stand, so it's pretty well made. We drove for about 4 hours to pick it up. Maybe one day I will find a tank for sale that is close to me but at least this time it wasn't the middle of the night and we didn't get stranded in the hills of West Virginia.

On the way home with the tank I posted my 90G on a facebook group for my area and within minutes I had a buyer. He came the next day and put a deposit on it to hold it until I had completed the transfer and I managed to get him to help us unload the new tank. Tip for others - schedule the viewing of a tank for sale to coincide with friends showing up to help unload your new one.

We left for vacation the week after I bought it, so I am getting a slow start and I don't do very good at remembering to take pics as I am working, but currently the tank is full of fresh water for a leak test and the stand has been refinished. We built a canopy and it is framed and skinned and I hope to get it sanded tomorrow.

Tomorrow I will try to get some pics but here are some taken by the guy I bought it from.

FTS when he still had livestock in it.

The stand as it was when we picked it up. The amount of salt creep from his sump was unreal.

 

[ynot65]

I'm in the same process, going from a 55 to a 150. There is a definite learning curve to larger tanks, head pressures, ATO's, lighting concerns, etc... Just take your time and research before you buy. I'm having a dedicated breakers installed just to support the tank as well as a generator back up, Florida's prone to frequent power outages. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Quik Z06]

Woohoo nice find Trish! Soooooo, is this going to be your build thread? /wink wink nudge nudge.

 

[Mr. Fishy Man]

Great looking tank! Can't wait to see how this upgrade turns out! :thumbup:

 

[TrishW]

I'm in the same process, going from a 55 to a 150. There is a definite learning curve to larger tanks, head pressures, ATO's, lighting concerns, etc... Just take your time and research before you buy. I'm having a dedicated breakers installed just to support the tank as well as a generator back up, Florida's prone to frequent power outages. Good luck and keep us posted.

When I was buying for my 90G I bought everything larger than I needed because I knew an upgrade would be in my future

I run a remote sump and already have an ATO so none of that will change. The only thing that will change is hopefully new LEDs for Christmas. For now I will be using my existing t5 fixture and one MH. The fact that my sump is so far from the tank does mean that the equipment is on two different breakers. Lights, powerheads and one heater is on one breaker; sump equipment included a second heater is on another. I will be pumping against less head pressure with the larger tank because on my 90 the return goes over the back of the tank because I run a herbie.

When we were planning to build here we would have had dedicated breakers for just the tank and were also going to install a standby whole house generator. We ended up finding the perfect house, but the area we bought in is propane instead of natural gas and with the cost of burying a 500 gallon propane tank added to the generator we decided not to bite the bullet. I do have a great friend that watches the tank and our small pets when we travel and her husband will hook up our portable generator should there be an extended power outage.

 

[TrishW]

If I build it, they will swim!

Woohoo nice find Trish! Soooooo, is this going to be your build thread? /wink wink nudge nudge.

Yes Quik. This is as close to a build thread as I will get, lol.

I think I will break out the camera and take some pics of the total wreck that the hubby's garage is since we spent the day out there yesterday.

 

[TrishW]

Darn, the battery is dead. Guess I will just have to get a second cup of coffee and look at pics of other people's stuff.

 

[Quik Z06]

Lol can't wait to see this up and running. Oh and GET SOME BATTERIES!!!

 

[TrishW]

Lol, I charged the battery as soon as I realized it was dead.

Here's the tank junking up my garage

The stand needs two more coats of polyurethane and this picture does not do it justice. Curse this Alabama humidity.

 

[TrishW]

I did get the base coat on the exterior of the canopy today and painted the interior. I still have to cut out for and install the doors, distress it and poly it.

Next step after that is for hubby to add a line for the second overflow from the tank to the remote sump. Still hoping to be ready for the switch this coming weekend. Sleep is for the weak.

 

[Quik Z06]

It's looking real nice there Trish! I love the coloring of the wood. More rustic and rugged. I agree sleep is for the weak, just got back from the hospital, been up for almost 36 hrs. Delirium has set in, my bed looks so cozy hehe.

 

[TrishW]

It's looking real nice there Trish! I love the coloring of the wood. More rustic and rugged. I agree sleep is for the weak, just got back from the hospital, been up for almost 36 hrs. Delirium has set in, my bed looks so cozy hehe.

Glad to see that you are not online. Hopefully that means you are getting some rest.

Worked another few hours on the canopy. Thanks to all the black paint stuck under my nails I look like I just rebuilt an engine.

 

[TrishW]

This week I finished the stand and the canopy. My husband ran another line in the crawl space for the second drain line. I picked up a 40B to use as a settling tank. And of course, we made four trips to Lowes, one to Home Depot and one to Petco.

Today was very productive. We decided on final placement of the settling tank and went to Lowes for the necessary fittings and 2x4s to make a stand to get it high enough for easy siphoning. We also made a trip to the LFS because I was short one bulkhead for the settling tank and didn't want to wait two days for shipping. I paid $16 for it but hey, at least they keep a few in stock.

We got the settling tank stand made and then began the fun part - getting ready to move the new tank inside.

Here's an update of our day in pictures

started draining the 90G
<img src="http://www.thereeftank.com/gallery/files/4/3/7/5/6/the_water_transfer_begins.jpg" alt="150g New To Me

all the best stuff went into the 40B that will be the settling tank
<img src="http://www.thereeftank.com/gallery/files/4/3/7/5/6/the_best_stuff.jpg" alt="150g New To Me

mushrooms and GSP went into buckets
<img src="http://www.thereeftank.com/gallery/files/4/3/7/5/6/mushrooms_and_gsp.jpg" alt="150g New To Me

the rock that had minimal GSP, polyps, etc went into more buckets and the substrate went into a tote
<img src="http://www.thereeftank.com/gallery/files/4/3/7/5/6/rock_and_substrate.jpg" alt="150g New To Me

 

[TrishW]

Then we hit a bump in the road. We couldn't get the starboard out of the 90G because it was such a tight fit. I couldn't leave it in there because I am going to use it in the bottom of the 150. I ordered another piece to go with the ones in the 90G, but I had to get those out.

So, we had to take a minute and think of a solution - and have a glass of wine and a small cigar
<img src="http://www.thereeftank.com/gallery/files/4/3/7/5/6/thinking_tools.jpg" alt="150g New To Me

My husband came up with a perfect plan. Use the hooks that we use to hang our robes on the vinyl fence when we get in the hottub. You can see them in this picture. So we had another glass of wine.
<img src="http://www.thereeftank.com/gallery/files/4/3/7/5/6/the_wine_worked.jpg" alt="150g New To Me

He was quite proud of himself
<img src="http://www.thereeftank.com/gallery/files/4/3/7/5/6/smoking.jpg" alt="150g New To Me

Then he put his idea to work
<img src="http://www.thereeftank.com/gallery/files/4/3/7/5/6/here_it_comes.jpg" alt="150g New To Me

Tada!
<img src="http://www.thereeftank.com/gallery/files/4/3/7/5/6/tada.jpg" alt="150g New To Me

That's one - three more to go.
<img src="http://www.thereeftank.com/gallery/files/4/3/7/5/6/thats_one.jpg" alt="150g New To Me

 

[ynot65]

Let the fun begin

 

[Quik Z06]

Lol loving the build so far. You think you're going to have a mini cycle using the old substrate? Or you planning on going BB?

 

[TrishW]

Maybe a mini. I don't have much substrate because I have 3/4 inch starboard under it. I had 40 pounds in the 90. I bought another 48 pounds new. Last night I rinsed the old about a dozen times using saltwater from the tank. I rinsed the new a ton of times with freshwater.

I don't really have the option of keeping the fish and corals in another tank until any mini cycle is over because it won't all fit in the 40 and the 90 will be gone this afternoon.

I plan to run my old fluval with carbon and allgone just in case I do see an ammonia spike and to help with any color that we may see from stirring everything up.

Petco opens at 10. I plan to be there when the doors open to get more salt and the allgone. I bought a bucket but it i will be cutting it really close. 160 gallons my butt.

I also have to go to lowes again. Lol. Need to get a deflector for the hvac vent because it will be under the new stand. Plan to cut a hole in the stand floor and route the air thru the back of the stand

 

[Quik Z06]

Sounds busy as heck! At least you've been through this before and don't have to make a million trips to get little things forgotten the first hundred times.

 

[kodabs]

Keep up the great work! Come over and we'll have a ciggy anytime! lol!

-kodabs

 

[TrishW]

Busy day today. I think I set a record even for me. We were out picking up stuff we needed for the tank and our first stop was Lowes. We went back by there on the way home. Lol, at least we usually make it home first before we realize we need something else from Lowes.

We got the stand in the house
<img src="http://www.thereeftank.com/gallery/files/4/3/7/5/6/stand_in_the_house.jpg" alt="150g New To Me

I cut a hole in the bottom of the stand because the tank will be covering an HVAC vent. I picked up a galvanized diverter on the first stop at Lowes, but I forgot to take a picture after that was in and I am just too tired to get up and take one now.
<img src="http://www.thereeftank.com/gallery/files/4/3/7/5/6/hvac_vent.jpg" alt="150g New To Me

It's about 60 or so feet to the front porch from my garage so the hubby altered some furniture dollies so that the tank could be placed on them and rolled to the steps of the porch.
<img src="http://www.thereeftank.com/gallery/files/4/3/7/5/6/altering_furniture_dollys_to_move_the_tank.jpg" alt="150g New To Me

Our friend who helped us get the tank off the trailer and into the garage is having a flareup of his arthritis in his hands so we got a guy from hubby's work and his 17 year old son to help. Bill, the guy who bought the 90, came by to pick up his tank and helped us once again. He has been a lifesaver. It was probably a good thing our first friend had to cancel because having the 17 year old to help was more necessary than we realized. It took all four guys to get the tank up the 4 steps to the front porch and they were making some pretty serious faces as they did it. I didn't feel right taking photos as they toted my tank but here is one of it in the house and on the stand.
<img src="http://www.thereeftank.com/gallery/files/4/3/7/5/6/in_the_house.jpg" alt="150g New To Me
I left the coralline algae on the overflows because even though it died and turned white I have noticed in the past that it seems to make new coralline grow faster if I don't clean the old off.

All the fish are still hanging out in the 40B. Everyone seems to be faring well.

Currently the tank has about 6 inches of water and some live rock in it where the hubby started the aquascaping. I was looking for where to buy acrylic rod and decided to just google "where to buy rod to aquascape a saltwater tank." This resulting in a "OMG, why didn't I think of that moment."
<img src="http://www.thereeftank.com/gallery/files/4/3/7/5/6/who_needs_acrylic_rods.jpg" alt="150g New To Me

I am not a fan of the tower look, so these rods are plenty long for the rock work the hubby will be building. Luckily I picked up 40 new hangers last week. It's certainly not like I have had time to do any laundry lately.