The aquarium is finally fully functional, with some deco. It took a lot to get it this far. It looks great, and I’m super excited. Hoping to get fish in it “soon.”
More info in this article:
Right now, it’s just full of fresh water (tap water) to allow us to clean everything up and get the tank show-ready. Salt water is next.
So, I did hit a few challenges (not at all unexpected):
- All the bulkheads needed replacing. The rubber washers were all pretty stiff/brittle, and I don’t want to risk leaks later. Technically, I could have just replaced the washers, but replacing the whole bulkhead wasn’t much more expensive.
- Bulkheads are what allow connections through the base/side of the aquarium.
- The PVC hoses all shrank, which is common with saltwater aquariums. The bad news is they were too brittle/small to re-use. So…I re-plumed the whole works. It wasn’t that bad of a job and gave me a chance to make sure the setup was exactly right for the stand.
- I spent the better part of a day washing the new gravel. That stuff is dusty and will cloud up the water in a hurry. Once I added the rock to the aquarium, I ran freshwater through the tank for a few days to clear things up.
- I had to get a new pump. I went with a DC quiet model. I plan to replace the other pump once my bank account recovers from all the recent activity. The new one is sooooo quiet. Since this thing is in my living room, it matters.
- I spent a couple of days buffing out scratches and such. I wish I had time to sand it down and buff out all the scratches completely. What’s left isn’t too bad, and my fishies need the tank. So, we’ll get it going.
What’s next:
- I need to spend some time leveling the tank/stand. It’s not bad, but is a little off. My floor isn’t level or flat, so some minor (1/8″) adjustments will help keep things in check.
- I got a barn door-style slider for the door on the front. I’ll then add some sound-absorbing panels to the base & door to help quiet it down a bit.
- I need to build a hood to cover the top & lights. That’ll make it a lot more impressive. The PVC racks I currently have don’t look that great. I need to hide all of that stuff and make it pretty.
- I need to mix 225 gallons of salt water. It’s not tough, but it will take some time since my RODI system only produces about 80 gallons per day.
- Once the tank if full of salt water and is stable, I’ll add the live rock to the aquarium. That will kick off the bioprocess in the tank.
- Next, I’ll start doing water changes “through” my small aquarium with my fish. I need to acclimate them to the new water, which takes time. To do this, I’ll take 3 gallons of water from the new tank and add it to the small tank with my fish. I’ll then add the displaced water from the small tank to the large one. I’ll do this every 3 days.
- It’ll probably take about three days to do this, giving the fish time to adjust. It can be done faster, but this is the safest and kindest way to ensure they handle the move to their new digs well.
- Then, we’ll transfer the fish, ensuring everyone handles it well. I got another fish that will journey into the new tank first to ensure everything is working and safe.
