Brand New 120 Gallon system

SEAMONSTER

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Hi there! Well, the tank itself is 120 gallons, Visio glass tank. 48 1/2 x 24 1/2 x 25 1/2 inches. Center trapezoid overflow, black back. 2 side returns, Its a monster! Sump is my old 60 gallon acrylic tank, clear for life. Bubble magus mag-7 skimmer. Main system pump is Supreme classic GP utility pump, 1200 gph. Im gonna upgrade it to 1800 gph though. Not enough water flow... 2 Koralias 1400 gph up on 2 front upper corners on duo controller, 20 second intervals. Some live sand, dead sand and dead rock. Cost? Around 500 bucks for the tank, 100 to modify old tank to sump, Stand was only 100 bucks for materials, friend made it for me, Skimmer, around 300, pump cost? I forgot, Korralias, around 50 bucks apiece, duo controller, 50 bucks or so, plumbing? around 45 or so, thats the cost so far.....
 

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Oh, some dead rock from my old set up, was live at one time, I didn't have the room or facilities to keep that much rock live so I boiled it, killed everything. Same with the sand. I did trade some new dead rock at Age of Aquariums ( traded it for remainder of rubber mat), cost was $76, 2 bucks a pound, but got it at even trade. My tank sits on 1/4 inch thick rubber mat for even weight distribution. Also, tank is not exactly level, but it's ok. Stand is on carpet.
 

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LOL! not a math test, but you guys wanted detail! Thanks Ryan! I am going to use my old 578 watt aquamedic lighting for it. I am currently using it to keep my remaining coral frags, 2 cleaner shrimp and an urchin alive in a 12 gallon system! lol! They have been in there for over 6 mos! lol!but I am only using 1 250 watt halide plus the actinic right now...
 
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I would make sure it's level, you will cause added stress to the glass if not, and it will crack or bust some day...
 

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Ya, its not level. What tripped me out was that the ground is level when I checked it, stand was slightly off but not much at all. I think it's because its on carpet. Its too late to do anything about it anyway. I did get shims. I talked to Age of Aquariums about this, showed them video of waterline. They said don't worry about it. It's not that much off, ( 1/4 inch). Tank weighs around 1200 pounds right now, I cannot lift the stand to shim it anyway. Plus all the sand and rock in there. If I drained all the water, then tried it, it's still too heavy. It weighs a lot when it was completely empty. They( Age) shimmed a tank that was worst leveled, the stand and tank split after a time because of the weight, no support between the shims. Scary, huh? So I decided to keep it that way. I don't want that happening to me. An employee there ran a glass tank for over 7 years that was more off than mine without any issues. I think his tank is bigger, Visio tank too.

They assured me that my tank is ok. They did warn against installing a wavemaker though. I wasn't going to get one but they told me just in case.

The tank sits on a rubber mat. I was concerned about that issue more because of even weight distribution. The top of stand is not exactly level due to sanding and painting. The rubber mat took care of that.

Cool wrasse Skidazl! Very nice!
 
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Ya, its not level. What tripped me out was that the ground is level when I checked it, stand was slightly off but not much at all. I think it's because its on carpet. Its too late to do anything about it anyway. I did get shims. I talked to Age of Aquariums about this, showed them video of waterline. They said don't worry about it. It's not that much off, ( 1/4 inch). Tank weighs around 1200 pounds right now, I cannot lift the stand to shim it anyway. Plus all the sand and rock in there. If I drained all the water, then tried it, it's still too heavy. It weighs a lot when it was completely empty. They( Age) shimmed a tank that was worst leveled, the stand and tank split after a time because of the weight, no support between the shims. Scary, huh? So I decided to keep it that way. I don't want that happening to me. An employee there ran a glass tank for over 7 years that was more off than mine without any issues. I think his tank is bigger, Visio tank too.

They assured me that my tank is ok. They did warn against installing a wavemaker though. I wasn't going to get one but they told me just in case.

The tank sits on a rubber mat. I was concerned about that issue more because of even weight distribution. The top of stand is not exactly level due to sanding and painting. The rubber mat took care of that.

Cool wrasse Skidazl! Very nice!
Thanks, that's my melanurus...

Well, hope it all works out. Looking good so far...
 

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Melanurus? I never heard of that! It's awesome!! Yeah, hope it works too. Thanks bro! I think it's going to be ok. This is the largest tank I ever owned. So much water! If it was possible, I would level it. But I got no place to put all that water, I only got 40 gallons worth of jugs. I had to get salt water 3 times to fill this thing, 120 gallons, then I got five more because I installed a standpipe for the drain, 125 gallons total water in there. I check the seals on the glass every day to make sure its holding. If there's a problem, I gotta drain fast! lol!
 

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How long will this tank take to cycle? It's dead rock, no heater right now, some live sand (60 lbs)...
Have you guys ever heard of nitromax marine? would that be good to add to tank right now?
 

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As far as livestock goes, Im stocking light. Only 10-12 species of coral ( right now I have 10 tiny frags of purple acro, another purple arco, pink milliapora, green birdsnest, green slimer, 1 large orange monti, green-blue monti (used to, now it browned out), frogspawn, some other monti, dunno what it is, and a scroll coral(little smaller than hand-size). The aquascaping is minimalist, which I like. It gives way more swimming room for fish and growing room for coral. I want massive colonies, not a bunch of little ones. Plus a lightly stocked tank is easer to do, cheaper, better water flow. The fishes I was thinking of is, one whitecheek tang, 2 bannerfish, 1 yellow wrasse, 1 6 liner, and 1 goby that lives with a pistol shrimp.
 
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#18
How long will this tank take to cycle? It's dead rock, no heater right now, some live sand (60 lbs)...
Have you guys ever heard of nitromax marine? would that be good to add to tank right now?
As far as leveling goes, I don't have any suggestions or answers besides draining and starting over. Sorry.
As far as the cycle goes, it will probably take a month or so. I wouldn't add any chemicals to it. If you want to kick start the cycle, get a couple shrimp from the grocery stare and use that.
As far as livestock goes, Im stocking light. Only 10-12 species of coral ( right now I have 10 tiny frags of purple acro, another purple arco, pink milliapora, green birdsnest, green slimer, 1 large orange monti, green-blue monti (used to, now it browned out), frogspawn, some other monti, dunno what it is, and a scroll coral(little smaller than hand-size). The aquascaping is minimalist, which I like. It gives way more swimming room for fish and growing room for coral. I want massive colonies, not a bunch of little ones. Plus a lightly stocked tank is easer to do, cheaper, better water flow. The fishes I was thinking of is, one whitecheek tang, 2 bannerfish, 1 yellow wrasse, 1 6 liner, and 1 goby that lives with a pistol shrimp.
Fish list sounds good, add the 6-line last if that is a must have as they get mean. I would personally opt for a Melanurus or one of the nice fairy instead.
 

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Ya, ok Skidazl! I didn't think it was a good idea, I am leery about adding stuff. That melanurus is super bad ***! I was going for a 6-line for pirym snail control, I do plan on getting a clam, that's why. There is a super nice one at Age of Aq for $200. I got my eyes set on it, but I know my tank would not be ready for something like that for a couple of months. I will not add any livestock until the end of July or August. Is the Melanurus reef-safe? I heard mixed things about that fish.

This is the first time I am starting with dead rock cuz money is so tight right now. I am doing this super slow. I got my water tested today, got ammonia and nitrite going. The tank was been running for 6 days. Should I leave my skimmer on during this time?
 

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