Barney And Lyn's 5Ft Reef Tank (150G(Uk) System)

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xxBarneyxx

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Well I have been talking about getting a 100g plus system for ages now (pretty much since getting my first marine tank). Me and my girlfriend have just got a new house together and she is also getting into the marine fish in a big way so we decided to get a new tank to replace my 4ft 30g one.

We managed to pick up a Jewul Vision 450 drilled with stand and a 3x2x2 sump tank for £150 from a really nice guy on another forum. He lives about 3 hours away from us so we hired a transit for the day and set off to pick it up. Unfortunately we picked the busiest day of the year to do it and was stuck on the M25 for about 2 hours going up and then stuck on it again for about 5 hours coming home (we stopped off at lakeside in the end as we got bored of sitting in traffic :) ).

Anyway, we picked it up and the tank is in very good condition. The only defect I have seen is a fairly deep scratch on the front with is about 2 inches long (which he did tell me about before). It is however a lot better then my 4ft tank and you dont really notice the scratches until your right up close.

The stand had the 2 center sections taken out so I have screwed in some 2x4 under the top and put some more at the front to support it (hopfully it will be enough). The stand has been painted with a stone effect textured paint which looks very nice but needs to be touched up.

I will hopefully get the tank into the living room tonight so we can start filling it with RO water (going to take about a week to fill it :( ). Then I need to salt it up and transfer over the contents of my 4ft tank. I need to get it all done by the end of the month as well as my flat has to be empty by then so its all a bit of a rush.

Because we have just moved we are on a seriously tight budget so I'm going to have to make do with what equipment I have at the moment and replace it gradually over time. The only thing I really need to get soon is a good sized return pump for the sump.

Anyway here is the photo of the tank when I was test filling it.

IMG00025-20090412-1733.jpg


We aren't sure on stocking yet. My current livestock will be going in there but we will decide the rest later. We are going need need about another 30kg of LR too but will just have to make do with what we have for now.
 
Nice one Barney.... oh! and Lyn as well.
Taking things slow in this game is no real biggie I'm still adding to the Nano years later (albeit with a view to the forthcoming upgrade).
Adding things as you go along is all part of the game in my book, I don't think I would want a ready made plug n play system. I enjoyed the Nano no end collecting things here and there when finances permitted. So take it easy You two and don't break the bank.
I'll be lurking as always.
Regards
seahorse1-1-1.png
 
Hi and :welcome: Lyn to TFF and the salty side of life :good:

Looks like you got yourself a bargain there Barney, only wish I was a bit more of a DIY person, but have to admit I am not and that is the end of it!

Lyn, what you looking forward to the most?

Barney, what are your plans and don't forget to keep the photos coming :nod:

And lastly, congratultions on your new home together, I hope you will all be very happy :flowers:

Seffie x
 
£150.oo!

i paid that for a 20gallon lol with stand -.-, i wish i had brought 2nd hand =(

tank looks fab btw! :good:
 
And lastly, congratultions on your new home together, I hope you will all be very happy :flowers:

Seffie x

Thanks :) I'm sure we will be once we get everything sorted out (dinning room looks like a storage warehouse at the moment :) ).

Yeah the tank was a real bargin. It cost about another £100 to hire a van and pay for petrol but even £250 for it in total is a pretty good deal I think.

Our poor cat managed to get his tail ripped up and broken pretty badly last night so we never got the tank sorted (and now have a nice vet bill coming in). Poor guy is going to have to have half his tail removed too :(

In terms of stocking for the tank I want to get a group of flasher wrasses and when its ready a mandarian. I will let Lyn pick the rest (with maybe just a little nudging from me ;) ). Will mostly be soft corals with a few LPS and the odd lower light SPS for now.

I will get lyn on here as well once we get the internet up and running at the new house :)

Hopefully tonight we can get it in place and start filling it.
 
Dude, that's awesome, a tank that big WITH a sump setup is definitely a bargain whenever you can get it :)

Lookin forward to this one too
 
Well the progress so far......

We got the tank moved into the living room thursday evening. I only had 2 ro containers so by saturday morning it was only 1/4 full. So of we went to the lfs to buy 300l of ro water.....

Much shifting and back ache later we now have a full display tank. I put in a couple of spare heaters and an eheim 1226 return pump the I got cheap and start salting it it. 3/4 of a bucket of instant ocean later and the sg is still only at 1.020 (and I have no more salt). So back to the lfs to buy another bucket of salt (went for the red sea coral pro as the IO has rubbish calc and mag). Back to the house to continue adding salt.

Late that afternoon/early evening the SG is just right and has had a few hours to mix (ideally I would have left it for a day but sadly did not have time to spare). Now its time to go bag up the fish.
Catching the fish was easier then I thought it was going to be. Took all the lr out first, then the corals went into plastic boxes and the fish where bagged last. By the time we had finished though it was about 11PM and we still had to get them home and aclimitise them...
I set up some heaters in the boxes of corals and started setting up the drip lines. I had to do some stupid things with having power extension cords balancing above open containers of sea water (not recommended) but after about 10 mins everything was ready. I dumped all the lr in one end of the tank and stuck in all the powerheads to the front just to keep it going overnight. 3 hours later (2am......) I add the fish and the coral and we sit back and watch (for probably too long as next thing we now its 3:30am).

This morning I got up early and rearranged the rock work (we REALLY need a boat load of lr for this tank), position all the pumps and rearrange the cables so they are all (more or less) out of the way. It actually looks halfway decent now :)

All the fish and corals seem to have come through it ok and I don't know if its just moving them or not but the fish all seem much more active as well. I'm on my phones internet at the moment so no photos yet, I have tried to attach one but not sure if it worked :)

Things left to do:
Pick up my other luminaire that is in storage, going to be running 8 T5 tubes until we have the cash to get some MH units.
Fill the sump up with ro and get it salted.
Get some pipe for the return pump (eheim 1226 that we picked up for £35)
Sort out a better solution for all the plugs (have a 10 way extension cable sitting on a box next to tank at the moment which isn't ideal)
Make some brace bars to attach the lights to (resting on wood at the moment).
Touch up the paint on the cabinet (wanted to do it before it was setup but didn't have time).

Will try and upload some photos of the setup soon (not great as they where taking with the phone).
There is loads we need to get for the tank still (lights, powerheads, lr, etc) but we will be upgrading slowly as and when we can find some cheap bargins :)
 
Phew .............................and breathe :rofl: What a day (and night!!!!!) Glad you got it all sorted and all looks well :good:
Can't wait for pictures :drool:
 
Oh my word, what a day you had must have been nerve racking :crazy: really looking forward to seeing the pictures :good:

And omg, did it really take a whole tub of salt :hyper:

Seffie x

:fish:

mental note to self: buy another tub of salt :crazy:
 

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