Building up a 92g Corner Tank

[flipsideleo]

Originally posted by WinnipegDragon
You have fish in already?

Yes, I do... unfortunately I had no choice. I broke my pseudo-nano and I had to get them little guys to safety. I did run the tank with LR in it for awhile before adding them in there, though. The pics above didn't happen overnight... it all started sometime in July (can't remember exactly).

[flipsideleo]

So, I got some sand today. I got a great deal from a local store that I'll probably be doing a lot of business with in the near future... Here's some pics of the ordeal:


Tank before... bare bottom (kind of)



Here's the skimmer:

[flipsideleo]

Here's the sand... about 100 lbs. It had some water in it, so it's probably more like 80 lbs when it's all said and done...



And here's the famous cloudy-full-tank-shots (about a 30 minute lapse across all pics):










That's a choco-chip star... was going to be a shrimp snack, so I got 'em awhile back. He's loving the sandy bottom so far.

[flipsideleo]

Here's my skimmer now... I guess it's working... I dunno...

[flipsideleo]

Well, that's all for me today... I have to get some sleep before work (work 3rd shift).

I can't wait to see how it looks when it clears up! I have rock in the back, but it's only about 20lbs.

[Michael]

Originally posted by flipsideleo
Well, that's all for me today... I have to get some sleep before work (work 3rd shift).

I can't wait to see how it looks when it clears up! I have rock in the back, but it's only about 20lbs.

it will look great buddy, im following this thread, get some kip speak to you tommorrow

[flipsideleo]

Well, I only got a few hours of sleep since my wife came home a couple of hours after I posted above. Since the Presidential Election was going on she wanted to watch all of that. Looks like Barack has this one. Congratulations if you are a Democrat, or if you voted for Barack. Looks like it is your time to shine.

Any way, when I woke up, I could actually see my rock in the background. My fishies are pretty happy and the starfish loves hanging out in the sand! He usually is crawling around on the glass, or sitting at the water level, with his sucker cup/tentacle thingies sifting away at the surface of the water. Not anymore... he's staying low now. I think this is a good thing... ???

I took a pic, but I'm at work right now. I'll take another one in the morning and post the progress of the water clearing up. I'm hoping by it clearing up so quickly that this means my skimmer might last me a couple of months until I can afford a real one.

More to follow.

[Rustylugnuts]

Are those brackish green spotted puffers I see? My wife loves those guys and figure eights too. If the 40 ever loses the spotlight in favor of a larger tank I'd definitely do another puffer tank. I had 3 of em acclimated up to reef salinity when I first started, if you want somethin that will stand up to damsels those lil guys are more than up for it (but you can kiss your snails good bye). I eventually ended up drip acclimating em back to brackish because I wanted a more peaceful setup but man they were fun.

[flipsideleo]

LOL! Yes, good eye dude. Those little guys are the reason I got stuck in this hobby. It's a long boring story, but I'll give you the short version.

Daughter saw green spotted puffers at my buddies house. She loved their personalities.

We then saw them at a local department store. They were $4.97 each. I didn't have a tank, so I bought a 10g starter kit at the same department store. What can I say? I love my little daughter.

They had ick... treated them. Got ick again... treated them again... got ick again! AHHH! I researched them online...

Little did I know they were a brackish fish. Heck, I didn't even know what brackish meant! I read that they can go full salt, so I acclimated them to salt, and turned the 10g into a pseudo-nano setup.

Now, here I am. They like salt a lot better than fresh. They are heartier, that's for sure. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them, at this point because I'm badly wanting a reef setup. I know someone in Canada that has an 11 year old one that is in a 150g full reef, but I dunno...

That's the short version believe it or not. I really like these little boogers. They've grown on me. They made it through Hurricane Ike, and they always greet me when I walk in the kitchen. My family loves 'em, too.

See what you did? You went and got me all emotional... ::sniff, sniff::

LOL!

[flipsideleo]

Here it is last night when before I went to work:

[flipsideleo]

And, here it is this morning:














He's diggin' that sand bed.

I cleaned this out before I left last night:

Juicy!

[flipsideleo]

I don't have a macro lens for my camera, so I apologize for the blurred up pics. I'm still trying to figure this camera out. :S

[flipsideleo]

Here's a quick video of how it looks today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM5eal8oYUs

The only thing I've done is buy a bigger Mag Float for a 125 gallon tank. That little on that I had wasn't strong enough for me to clean the tank with.

More to follow...

[Michael]

whats your name flipsideleo, and im following this thread and will be a contribitor, by the way a piece of advice from me michael your buddy, dont keep downloading too many pics, we all love pics but too many in a row makes the thread take too long to open, and can you tell us all abit more info about your long term plans for your system, id like to get into it a bit, cheers buddy thanks for posting and im looking forward to being involved with your lovely set up, i have afew suggestions and ideas but want some info first pal

[chem-e]

flipsideleo - One piece of advice I wanted to share with you regarding this tank is be careful with the magnetic glass cleaners. I learned the hard way, but I think I got scratches when my friends used the glass cleaner to clean the front glass. They probably got sand picked up between the glass and cleaner and it left a few scratches on my tank. I think others have noted this as well regarding the bowfronts, so I just wanted to warn you about this. I'm not sure, but maybe because the contact point between the cleaner and glass is just the edges, there's more pressure at this point and with any sand in between, this would lead to scratches.

[Michael]

Originally posted by chem-e
flipsideleo - One piece of advice I wanted to share with you regarding this tank is be careful with the magnetic glass cleaners. I learned the hard way, but I think I got scratches when my friends used the glass cleaner to clean the front glass. They probably got sand picked up between the glass and cleaner and it left a few scratches on my tank. I think others have noted this as well regarding the bowfronts, so I just wanted to warn you about this. I'm not sure, but maybe because the contact point between the cleaner and glass is just the edges, there's more pressure at this point and with any sand in between, this would lead to scratches.

i agree mines very bad, it was the fine aragonite stuck on the mag, i wont every use 1 again

[flipsideleo]

Oh, that's interesting... I didn't know that. What do you guys use in lieu of the Mag Float type scrapers, then?

My name is "Leo," Michael and fire away with the suggestions. I'll calm down on the pictures, no problem.

My plans are to make the tank, ultimately, a reef. I like all types of corals, but I like SPS the most. I'd like to have at least one big anemone, too. I believe that lighting is going to be my next chore and it will have to be retro'd, I'm sure.

[Michael]

firstly then you will need approx 90-100 pounds of rock, when are you thinking of getting it in there leo?as for cleaning the glass, i put my arm in every day and just wipe the front over with a sponge, the 2 other sides i dont clean so much, i use a razor blade scraper on them.

[flipsideleo]

Michael,

I guess I never thought of putting my arm in there and cleaning it out like that. I figured that it would dirty up the water or something, by my putting my arm in there, and all... I guess I'm just paranoid. I'll do your method. The tank is not flawless, in regards to scratches, but it's in pretty good shape. I'd hate to scratch it up.

I'm not sure when I'll get more rock in there. I guess that should be my next endeavor, right? I was thinking of working on the lighting first, but if I should get more rock in there, I can do that in the next week. Would you suggest I do this before worrying about lighting?

R,
Leo

[rad3dad]

I would do the rock first, it will allow it to get cycled, without the extra fuel (light) for an algae bloom. I would recommend removing the fish and starfish to a temporary tank though, while the rock and tank cycle. Should only take a couple weeks for the ammonia, and nitrite to run its course. Once they rise and fall, you could add the fish back and continue on with the lights.

[flipsideleo]

Oh... that's a bummer. Looks like I'll have to buy another tank to put them in, then. I only have what you guys see in the pics. I broke my 10g. I was wanting to setup a quarantine tank in the future any way.

[chrisqueenz]

I will be following this one also! One of my 2 tanks is a 92 Corner and I also have my sump under it. Managed to make it work for now though. Still figuring out the lights and making a canopy for it. Let me know if you want some pics of it. Still fairly new tank.

Chris

[Michael]

definately get the rock in asap, the lights can wait a week or 2, best to get the thing cycling and as for your fish just buy a large container and water change every 2 - 3 days etc to illiminate ammonia, when your cycled they can go straight back in

[Michael]

also as i mentioned earlier flow is a right nightmare in the corners, whats your plans for phs, what type and how many, whats funds like?

[Michael]

also the fine aragnite sand looks the best imo, however until the flow is right it will blow about a bit, i started off with crushed coral, had to get it all out and replace with sand, much neater and more asthetically pleasing to the eye,