Loading ...Rather than live through another cycle, I opted to stack the well-established live rock from the old tank on top of dry base rock. In order to hit the recommended pounds per gallon (a formula which has been called into question in recent trends in reefkeeping but one that I like because I like stuff growing on and crawling off live rock) I needed about twenty five pounds of the stuff.
The shop I went to for this base rock had several bins of the stuff in a variety of shapes. Some of it seemed like it was just porous limestone rinsed and dumped in a box, but there were more than a few coral skeletons on pieces of obviously dried live rock. It was like an eerie little coral cemetery. Anyway, I scooped up a cardboard box full of the less depressing pieces and took them home to begin stacking the rocks.
I also picked up a sack of live sand.
You should always rinse dry rocks before putting them in a tank. I didn’t, but it is something that unquestionably should be done. The cloudiness went away as I slowly filled the tank with freshly mixed saltwater. And then kicked back up when I poured the next gallon. And so on until the water was about halfway up the tank.
Water movement in the old 18-inch cube was accomplished by a Tunze NanoStream, a Hydor Koralia, the return pump replaced with a Maxi-Jet 1200 and two Ecotech MP10s. It may seem like a lot of water movement for a small tank, but I always like to err on the side of pinning the fish to the glass. All of these pumps (minus the return, since the new tank is sump-free) would move pretty easily to the new tank. Magnet mounts are possibly the best thing to ever happen to aquarium equipment. I’d also take this opportunity to mount the driver modules to the side of the stand instead of leaving them in a tangled pile on the cabinet where my wife stores our flatware and boardgames. Velcro strips can bring quite a bit of happiness, as it turns out. Who knew?
I was able to move the chiller while leaving the hoses and pump (another Maxi-Jet, for anyone keeping score) attached while only managing to siphon a couple of gallons of saltwater onto the floor. Good thing that floor was getting refinished anyway, right?
I did not move my tank-mounted fan, since part of the New Tank Agreement of 2010 involved the stipulation that the end result look “less like a freaking science experiment”. Fair enough.
So few geniuses are respected in their own lifetimes.
The shop I went to for this base rock had several bins of the stuff in a variety of shapes. Some of it seemed like it was just porous limestone rinsed and dumped in a box, but there were more than a few coral skeletons on pieces of obviously dried live rock. It was like an eerie little coral cemetery. Anyway, I scooped up a cardboard box full of the less depressing pieces and took them home to begin stacking the rocks.
I also picked up a sack of live sand.
You should always rinse dry rocks before putting them in a tank. I didn’t, but it is something that unquestionably should be done. The cloudiness went away as I slowly filled the tank with freshly mixed saltwater. And then kicked back up when I poured the next gallon. And so on until the water was about halfway up the tank.
Water movement in the old 18-inch cube was accomplished by a Tunze NanoStream, a Hydor Koralia, the return pump replaced with a Maxi-Jet 1200 and two Ecotech MP10s. It may seem like a lot of water movement for a small tank, but I always like to err on the side of pinning the fish to the glass. All of these pumps (minus the return, since the new tank is sump-free) would move pretty easily to the new tank. Magnet mounts are possibly the best thing to ever happen to aquarium equipment. I’d also take this opportunity to mount the driver modules to the side of the stand instead of leaving them in a tangled pile on the cabinet where my wife stores our flatware and boardgames. Velcro strips can bring quite a bit of happiness, as it turns out. Who knew?
I was able to move the chiller while leaving the hoses and pump (another Maxi-Jet, for anyone keeping score) attached while only managing to siphon a couple of gallons of saltwater onto the floor. Good thing that floor was getting refinished anyway, right?
I did not move my tank-mounted fan, since part of the New Tank Agreement of 2010 involved the stipulation that the end result look “less like a freaking science experiment”. Fair enough.
So few geniuses are respected in their own lifetimes.
I also ditched the Tunze NanoDoc protein skimmer. While the magnet mount was undeniably awesome (Have I mentioned how much I love those things?) the in-tank nature of the device would keep me from using the glass top on the new tank. I briefly considered cutting the top itself to make room for the skimmer, but imagined shattered glass followed by stitches and decided against it. Knowing my limitations is second only to magnet mounts and Velcro strips in my reefkeeping toolkit. The skimmer was replaced with a hang-on model. The collection cup sticks up over the back of the tank along with an adorable little red mangrove in the return chamber for the skimmer, but overall the effect is less science project than before.
The old tank was lit with a 150watt DE metal halide pendant. Rigging the same unit on this much taller tank would have required bolting an extension plank onto the back of the new stand to raise the hanging arm high enough to clear the rim of the tank. Not impossible, really, but impossible to do with Velcro strips. Also, as I was digging though a sack of wood screws I was reminded politely of the “No Science Experiment” clause. I knew I agreed to that too quickly!
Tank moves are an ideal time to correct any issues which developed in the old tank. My biggest was probably the open top. While I loved being able to just reach in and fix stuff that bothered me, so did my wife’s cat. I lost quite a few fish before catching her in the act of preying on the unwary. She sits on the glass top of the new tank and howls disconsolately. It’s pretty awesome.
On a relatively closed tank, heat is a concern. I greatly feared slapping 250 or 400 watts of metal halide fury on top of a box of water with no science project-looking fan apparatus strapped to the back. Sure, there is a chiller, but working as I do in technology I’ve learned to put as little faith in it as possible.
The chiller does keep up with a bank of LEDs quite nicely. In justifying the purchase of the LED fixture (which beautifully perches atop the glass lid of the tank and gently warms my wife’s cat’s butt for a substantial portion of the day), I was able to invoke that “less like a freaking science experiment” clause myself, which was kind of satisfying.
I don’t know if the LEDs are powerful enough to grow SPS and clams on the sandbed, but I also don’t know if I need them to be. I may replace the default fluorescent strip light (which currently runs an actinic for color purposes) with some high-output T5s down the line. I may also add some more flow because the fish are looking a little smug, to be honest.
The old tank was lit with a 150watt DE metal halide pendant. Rigging the same unit on this much taller tank would have required bolting an extension plank onto the back of the new stand to raise the hanging arm high enough to clear the rim of the tank. Not impossible, really, but impossible to do with Velcro strips. Also, as I was digging though a sack of wood screws I was reminded politely of the “No Science Experiment” clause. I knew I agreed to that too quickly!
Tank moves are an ideal time to correct any issues which developed in the old tank. My biggest was probably the open top. While I loved being able to just reach in and fix stuff that bothered me, so did my wife’s cat. I lost quite a few fish before catching her in the act of preying on the unwary. She sits on the glass top of the new tank and howls disconsolately. It’s pretty awesome.
On a relatively closed tank, heat is a concern. I greatly feared slapping 250 or 400 watts of metal halide fury on top of a box of water with no science project-looking fan apparatus strapped to the back. Sure, there is a chiller, but working as I do in technology I’ve learned to put as little faith in it as possible.
The chiller does keep up with a bank of LEDs quite nicely. In justifying the purchase of the LED fixture (which beautifully perches atop the glass lid of the tank and gently warms my wife’s cat’s butt for a substantial portion of the day), I was able to invoke that “less like a freaking science experiment” clause myself, which was kind of satisfying.
I don’t know if the LEDs are powerful enough to grow SPS and clams on the sandbed, but I also don’t know if I need them to be. I may replace the default fluorescent strip light (which currently runs an actinic for color purposes) with some high-output T5s down the line. I may also add some more flow because the fish are looking a little smug, to be honest.
Garrick has no memory of his birth parents, having been abandoned at the South Plains Mall in Lubbock, Texas as an infant and raised in shifts by the kindly part-time staff at World of Pets and Orange Julius.
He currently lives in South Carolina with his wife and daughter and four cats and has had at least one saltwater aquarium constantly since 1991.