Ok here is the story (long) of my fish tank! I think some of you won't mind reading it even though it is long, there seem to be many helpful enthusiasts here!
The story is partially tragic and also positive.
The story started with me in a bid war on ebay for a complete Reef tnak 90 gallons. I won this item for $585.00 That is when I entered TRT and met most of you.
Well we went yesterday to pick up the tank with the knowledge that he has a 180 gallon tank that did not get any bids on ebay. Well the 180 was beautiful and I went with money and the notion of buying the bigger tank if I felt it looked nice and would fit my living room.
WE MET
The 90 gallon looked so-so, but the 180 was beautiful but missing about half the rock he had advertised. We spoke with him and I agreed to pay his asking price on ebay but he would have to dump the rock from the 90 gallon into the 180, throw the R/o filter (with 100 gallon tnak) and a small flat back hex 33 gallon tank for my girlfriend.
He agreed, and I was very pleased.
Dismantling
The 180 needed to be dismantled (4 hours) later it almost was. Had to cut the pvc to the 40 gallon sump because the tank has 2 corner overflows and would rather not mess with the seals there. No biggie. My father who came to help me drops the 40 gallon double bulk head drilled sump tank on the floor and shatters it!! He was real upset as was I but I know I can replace this and we get past it!!! Keep Reading !!
Transport to truck
We used a dolly/truck to maneuver this massive beast through his home. Well we get to his outside stoop and the corner of his bottom stair has a metal v strip on it, and DISASTER HITS!!!! The top right front corner of the tank scrapes on it in a 1 second awful booboo and I have like 3 scallops in the glass the size of a quater on the top 4 inches of the corner of the tank OMG at this point I am almost moved to tears!!! They did not go deep and I dont think the integrity is compromised so I decide to keep it anyway (I hope I didn't make a mistake) Every one assures me it is no big deal and can be easily filled and look like new with no complications to integirity...
We get everything into the trucks and we spent a total of 6 1/2 hours at this guys house and still need to go back tomorrow to get the live rock and stuff that would not fit in the trucks!!!
ON THE WAY
On the way home a truck going about 45 mph in the opposite lane does not see that traffic has stopped and barrels into the car next to me!!! OMG I have a near heart attack the sound was awful and I figured the tank had fallen out of my truck...
HOME NOW
What a trying day it is 105 degrees out about 7 pm and the task of getting the tank into the house lies with just my father and I. Well with much work an ingenious way to use a soft sliding carpet as a transport medium we get the stand in the house (level it) and sit the tank on top...
We are done for today... That is Wed.
On to Today (Thurs.) I wake up and call every glass place I can find to ask about my corner scalloped tank. No one has any advice and they tell me I am screwed!!!!!!!
I figure I can try to resin or silicone it myself jsut for aesthetics, or maybe because it is in top corner and not too large I can jsut put some trim on it!! Not sure have to decide later !! WOULD LOVE SOME ADVICE HERE !!!!!!!!!!
Went back and picked up the live rock and sand... it went smoothly thank god I couldnt handle another day like that. The rock and sand are in 6 40 gallon garbage cans in my driveway. was going ot bring them in the house but it is 86 degrees in the house read more later..... How long can they survive out of water ? a week or so I hope ?????
I called all over for sump replacement and found a guy trying to sell me one for 300 bucks hahahaha found out htough he can custom drill a 40 gallon breeder for 20 bucks a hole !!! Will either buy predrilled online if I find a good deal or have to ride the three hours and get it done this weekend or next!!!
My tank is empty and sad looking but in the end it could have been worse.
To top it all off the Central air on my new home died and it is 86 degree in the house... Rough week !
Out of pocket so far
$900 for tank and equipment
$50 gas
$50 garbage pails
$50 lunch and such
$35 lumber
What I got
A 180 gallon tank (scratched) with 2 corner overflows boxes and black stand
250 gallon protein skimmer
about 200 lbs live rock
an inch and a half of black hawaii sand
500 gallons of salt mix
full entarage (spelling sry) of test kits and such
PH meter
kalkwasser bucket with drip
a decently fast (1200 gallons per hour?) submersible pump this is an extra
huge like 2000 gallon per hour external pump for returns
35 gallon per day R/O filter
100 gallon R/O tank
33 gallon flat hex tank (black stand in box filter, double lighting 100 gallon protein skimmer 20 lbs live rock and cool black sand)
I think that is the bulk of it
My feelings
The tank still is so beautiful, I am real excited and have been uterly depressed today and learned to slow down my anxiousness (hard to do) but I ultimately feel good!
Things to do list: (any advice with any of these steps would be valued beyond belief)
Order or get sump..
Do the plumbing for the R/O filter need water pipe taps or something
Try to get the tank corner looking nicer
The tank has no lighting (order lights prefer hood set up to hanging would love to spend under 600 bucks) ?
Bought lumber need to reinforce in the crawl space tomorrow
PRAY TO GOD that it holds water safely
The story is partially tragic and also positive.
The story started with me in a bid war on ebay for a complete Reef tnak 90 gallons. I won this item for $585.00 That is when I entered TRT and met most of you.
Well we went yesterday to pick up the tank with the knowledge that he has a 180 gallon tank that did not get any bids on ebay. Well the 180 was beautiful and I went with money and the notion of buying the bigger tank if I felt it looked nice and would fit my living room.
WE MET
The 90 gallon looked so-so, but the 180 was beautiful but missing about half the rock he had advertised. We spoke with him and I agreed to pay his asking price on ebay but he would have to dump the rock from the 90 gallon into the 180, throw the R/o filter (with 100 gallon tnak) and a small flat back hex 33 gallon tank for my girlfriend.
He agreed, and I was very pleased.
Dismantling
The 180 needed to be dismantled (4 hours) later it almost was. Had to cut the pvc to the 40 gallon sump because the tank has 2 corner overflows and would rather not mess with the seals there. No biggie. My father who came to help me drops the 40 gallon double bulk head drilled sump tank on the floor and shatters it!! He was real upset as was I but I know I can replace this and we get past it!!! Keep Reading !!
Transport to truck
We used a dolly/truck to maneuver this massive beast through his home. Well we get to his outside stoop and the corner of his bottom stair has a metal v strip on it, and DISASTER HITS!!!! The top right front corner of the tank scrapes on it in a 1 second awful booboo and I have like 3 scallops in the glass the size of a quater on the top 4 inches of the corner of the tank OMG at this point I am almost moved to tears!!! They did not go deep and I dont think the integrity is compromised so I decide to keep it anyway (I hope I didn't make a mistake) Every one assures me it is no big deal and can be easily filled and look like new with no complications to integirity...
We get everything into the trucks and we spent a total of 6 1/2 hours at this guys house and still need to go back tomorrow to get the live rock and stuff that would not fit in the trucks!!!
ON THE WAY
On the way home a truck going about 45 mph in the opposite lane does not see that traffic has stopped and barrels into the car next to me!!! OMG I have a near heart attack the sound was awful and I figured the tank had fallen out of my truck...
HOME NOW
What a trying day it is 105 degrees out about 7 pm and the task of getting the tank into the house lies with just my father and I. Well with much work an ingenious way to use a soft sliding carpet as a transport medium we get the stand in the house (level it) and sit the tank on top...
We are done for today... That is Wed.
On to Today (Thurs.) I wake up and call every glass place I can find to ask about my corner scalloped tank. No one has any advice and they tell me I am screwed!!!!!!!
I figure I can try to resin or silicone it myself jsut for aesthetics, or maybe because it is in top corner and not too large I can jsut put some trim on it!! Not sure have to decide later !! WOULD LOVE SOME ADVICE HERE !!!!!!!!!!
Went back and picked up the live rock and sand... it went smoothly thank god I couldnt handle another day like that. The rock and sand are in 6 40 gallon garbage cans in my driveway. was going ot bring them in the house but it is 86 degrees in the house read more later..... How long can they survive out of water ? a week or so I hope ?????
I called all over for sump replacement and found a guy trying to sell me one for 300 bucks hahahaha found out htough he can custom drill a 40 gallon breeder for 20 bucks a hole !!! Will either buy predrilled online if I find a good deal or have to ride the three hours and get it done this weekend or next!!!
My tank is empty and sad looking but in the end it could have been worse.
To top it all off the Central air on my new home died and it is 86 degree in the house... Rough week !
Out of pocket so far
$900 for tank and equipment
$50 gas
$50 garbage pails
$50 lunch and such
$35 lumber
What I got
A 180 gallon tank (scratched) with 2 corner overflows boxes and black stand
250 gallon protein skimmer
about 200 lbs live rock
an inch and a half of black hawaii sand
500 gallons of salt mix
full entarage (spelling sry) of test kits and such
PH meter
kalkwasser bucket with drip
a decently fast (1200 gallons per hour?) submersible pump this is an extra
huge like 2000 gallon per hour external pump for returns
35 gallon per day R/O filter
100 gallon R/O tank
33 gallon flat hex tank (black stand in box filter, double lighting 100 gallon protein skimmer 20 lbs live rock and cool black sand)
I think that is the bulk of it
My feelings
The tank still is so beautiful, I am real excited and have been uterly depressed today and learned to slow down my anxiousness (hard to do) but I ultimately feel good!
Things to do list: (any advice with any of these steps would be valued beyond belief)
Order or get sump..
Do the plumbing for the R/O filter need water pipe taps or something
Try to get the tank corner looking nicer
The tank has no lighting (order lights prefer hood set up to hanging would love to spend under 600 bucks) ?
Bought lumber need to reinforce in the crawl space tomorrow
PRAY TO GOD that it holds water safely