90 Gallon Rehab Project

[Monad]

Alright, so this is the start of my journey with my father on building a display reef tank. The tank is a little less than 90 gallons but with the sump installed it may be a little more than that. The dimension are 36 x 16 x 20 = 20736 cubic inches = roughly 90 gallons.

I bought this tank used from a reefer who has a giant collection. His largest tank is 700 gallons so he has no use for his smaller systems anymore. I was very lucky in that he sold me and my dad the tank, the stand, the lights in the stand, the sump, and a pump for $450. He also sold us an old Red Sea AIO 50g, but this tank will be our first project.

Today's goal was to clean out the sump, which was really filthy. I even found a dead mouse in the sump.

I cleaned it out first by rinsing what I could out. Then I refilled it again with water and added a few liters of vinegar. I ran the pump for about half an hour to recirculate the water. Then I emptied the sump out. Rinsed the whole thing. Filled it again with water. Ran the pump again. Then emptied and rinsed again.

Before and after of the sump. I'll have to clean it again, but I managed to get a lot of the sand and detritus, dead hitchhikers, bird seed, and dead mouse out of there.

Here's the display tank. Need to clean that out next.

Found some hitchhikers from the old system that included some what I assume are bristle worms and a starfish of some kind.

I was very lucky in that the reefer who sold me this tank gave me some dry rock for free.

I'm looking for any advice people are willing to offer. At the moment, I'm interested in advice for cleaning this out, plumbing the system, what other equipment I will need, and any general advice for setting the tank up. At the moment, I'll worry about getting the tank cycled for later.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Looks like a good start on cleaning, with the dimensions you gave, the tank is closer to 50 gallons. A regular 90 is 48 18 24. I have done this kinda rehab my self. I would fill the system with regular water add an acid made for cleaning aquariums, they sell it on line or I used white vinegar. You will be able to get it very close to new. Just run a cheap power head to circulate the water while you scrub. As far as plumbing, you can do soft plumbing or hard plumbing. There's a lot of videos on YouTube. I hard plumbed my first sump tank with no issues and it was a blast.

 

[Monad]

Looks like a good start on cleaning, with the dimensions you gave, the tank is closer to 50 gallons. A regular 90 is 48 18 24. I have done this kinda rehab my self. I would fill the system with regular water add an acid made for cleaning aquariums, they sell it on line or I used white vinegar. You will be able to get it very close to new. Just run a cheap power head to circulate the water while you scrub. As far as plumbing, you can do soft plumbing or hard plumbing. There's a lot of videos on YouTube. I hard plumbed my first sump tank with no issues and it was a blast.

I messed up. I gave the dimensions of the second used tank, the old Red Sea AIO.

I’ll definitely check out those YouTube videos.

The next phase is moving the display out of storage and vacuuming the old sand out. I’ll definitely pick up a powerhead since I’ll need one eventually. Thank you for the recommendation.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along!

 

[Monad]

Giant Mega Update.

It has been a long time. I've been busy with some other life issues. I have been slowly working on the tank.

The first thing I did after cleaning the sump was clean the main tank. I used a lot of vinegar and made the mistake of leaving it in overnight. This led to a massive bacterial bloom and I had to spend even more time, and bleach, and rinsing, to fix it. I also used that as an opportunity to plumb the system with my dad.

I must have refilled and emptied that tank nine or ten times.

Above is a picture of the tank during the first fill test and it gives you an idea of the woodwork.

Alas, that wood conflicted with the aesthetics of the den where the tank would finally end up. So I decided to pain the wood of the stand. Next is what it looked like when it was finished.

It looks a lot better. Once that base coat was painted, it was time to move it in place.

Here's the tank as it was being filled for the last fill test/RODI water to clean out anything else.

As they say in the industry, TO BE CONTINUED...

 

[Monad]

IMMEDIATELY

I tried to layout an idea for my aquascape before actually placing it in the tank.

My brother assisted me in this part. He's a nice guy, but he is mentally challenged so him helping was a nice way to stimulate him and keep him engaged.

I placed a very thin layer of sand, I used a combination of Ocean Direct Live and some Dry Carib Sea Aragonite. Then I placed down the large dry pieces as bases, filled in with more sand, and added the rest of the dry rock in. (Well all dry is not technically true. Two thirds of the rock were previously used in the tank of the guy I bought the tank from. But they sat in his garage for god knows how long and were completely dry when I took them out.)

A strange thing happened though as I rinsed all the rocks with RODI. Some of them developed a greenish tint and one of them turned dark green on one side.

I have no idea why. It didn't feel slimy at all. It just felt like freshly wet rock with a deep colored green.

I placed my aquascape in the tank and began filling it with saltwater.

It took more than a day to fill this tank since our RODI system takes 24 hours to process sixty gallons.

 

[Monad]

I filled the tank up and it got super cloudy and an ugly protein foam filled on the surface. I turned on the pump once it filled completely and tried to catch as much as I could in the filter sock. It worked out okay. It stayed really cloudy for a few days.

Here's a picture of it right before I turned on the pump.

I waited a few hours before I started cycling the tank. I first checked the ammonia levels with an API test kit. It read zero. I followed the direction on the Dr. Tim's Ammonium Chloride bottle, waited for it to circulate and barely got any reading. I ended up adding the rest of the bottle, waited a few hours, and still got no reading. It did not make sense to me.

A day later I tested for ammonia, found none. Tested for nitrite, found none, tested for nitrate and found somewhere between 30-40ppm. I did a huge water change about 1/3.

Two days later, I went to my LFS and bought a bottle of the microbacter ammonium chloride. I would have gone sooner but it is closed Mondays and Tuesdays. I wanted to make sure the tank was properly cycled and this wasn't just a fluke. I did the test again. All the levels were the same except for the nitrate which had gone down because of the water change. I added 15ml of the new bottle of ammonium chloride to the tank, directions said 5ml was good for 25 gallons and the tank has a 90 gallon display plus the sump. I waited a few hours, checked the ammonia and it read a little less than 2ppm.

The next day, it read higher than 2ppm, closer to 4ppm. I was worried.

Then today I did the test again this morning. It read between 4ppm and 8ppm ammonia, closer to 4ppm. No nitrite. I decided to do a 30% water change.

I did it again after the water change and now the tank appears closer to 8ppm. I have no idea what is going on or why it's spiking.

But the water has cleared up.

I also may have jumped the gun and introduced phytoplankton and 5280 pods from Algae Barn today after the major water change. I ordered them on Tuesday and they arrived today. I didn't know how to keep them so I added the copepods. I plan on adding their Galaxy Pods after the tank is finished cycling.

 

[Monad]

Forgot one last thing, I also started painting the lids where the lights will eventually go.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Looks like you are on the way!

 

[Monad]

Tank is set up and the cycle has started. I have been having a difficult time since I was using API test kits and my ammonia levels have been fluctuating wildly. I’ve decided the best course of action is to stop obsessing and just let the tank sit for a week.

Anyway, I installed a light. My LFS only had one. Its placement is okay, but could have been better. I now know more and will place the other in a better spot. I’m not running it all the time, only when I’m in the room. It is a AI Prime 16HD.

Here’s a pick. Top is now on too.

 

[Monad]

Little update. I modified the scape to make it more stable. I may grab another rock to make a small island, either for an anemone for some clowns or another zoa garden.

I accidentally stalled my cycle. I was away for a week and when I got back I checked my ammonia with a Red Sea test kit and it came back blue, so way more than 2.0ppm. My seachem ammonia badge never moved either. No nitrites detected.

So I did a massive water change, probably about 60-70%, added a small bag of live sand and a small piece of pre cycled rock. My local fish store says it only has bacteria and diatoms.

Ammonia is still high, dark green, but I did a nitrite test and it came back positive. I either introduced some nitrite with the live sand or the cycle has finally started.

I ordered some Fritz Turbostart 900 from Algae Barn. I hope it can speed up my cycle so I can finally add the two clowns I want.

 

[Monad]

I realize now I never posted a photo of the sump now that it’s in place.