# Craiglist find ( warning lots of pics)



## sleepy09 (Jan 15, 2009)

Hello everyone, I am new to the forum and I just wanted to say hi to everyone. I have been reading over everyone's posts for weeks now catching up on the hobby. It has been several years since I've had a tank set up and running so here I am statring all over again. I had forgotten alot of things and ya'll have been very helpful. Thanks to everyone for helping me catch up.

I thought I would start my first post with a journal, that way yall could see what I have been up to. In between working and researching the hobby on here, I have been preparing my latest and greatest find from craiglist.

I found an Oceanic 125 gallon reef tank with an Oceanic 125 Plus sump w/ a solid oak stand and canopy for $400.00. It also had about 150lbs of Texas holey rock in it. They wanted $900.00 for it and I was prepared to pay that for it, until I went to look at it. It had been setup as a reef tank for several years and had been shut down for several months. Everything was crusted in salt and algea and just plain nasty. The water was still in it and all the live rock and corals were dead. I told them that I had $400.00 cash and that was all I would give them for it and they excepted my offer.

Here is what it looked like when I brought it home.

















































The crusty salty sump

































I cleaned everything up to see what it was going to take to get it back up and running.









After cleaing everything up I decided that the stand and canopy didn't look like I thought that they should so I decided to strip them down and restain them. I have 35 hours of stripping and sanding time and a week of staining into them. There are 5 coats of stain and 5 coats of polyurethane clear satin finish on them now. 

























































Everything cleaned up and waiting for me to finish the stand and canopy.









































I order a new Fluval FX5 canister, a digital temp gauge, 2 koralia powerheads, 400watt heater and all new hinges for the tops on the tank and sump.

















I got lucky and found that most of the rock that was in the tank was holey rock that was mixed with live rock. Here they are after soaking in bleach water for over a week and then pressure washed to remove anything that was clinging on to them.

























Now comes the fun part. I put the tank back on the stand and put everything back together. 
All the plumbing work is different than when I brought it home. It had swimming pool filter hose on it and I didn't like the idea of using it. I re plumbed everything with thin wall PVC.

















































The egg crate goes in the tank first. 

























Then the 80 lbs, of Eco Complete sand









Now for the Texas Holey Rock. I am still working on getting it setup in there so that it is safe for the tank and the fish but this is how I have it now. 21 days later and finally....

































All set up and cycling...









The tank has been cycling for 24 hours now as a fishless cycle. There are 3 used filter pads from a friends tank in the sump sitting on top of the drip tray. I have the ammonia at 4ppm and the temp set at 80 degrees. I also added some Stress Zyme and some Stability. I will be keeping a close eye in the numbers for the next several days. My KH is a little low but I think that it will go up now that the Eco Complete and the holey rock are in the tank. My PH was also a little low, so I guess I will have to bump it up with some PHup or something, but I am not worried about that yet. Once the tank is cycled I will worry about the PH.

Once it is finished cycling I plan on running down to San Antonio to Daves to Pick out my stock. I plan on an all male peacock tank but I was also thinking of tossin in some haps but I am not sure. I haven't had the time to research them yet so......

Well there yall go. Let me know what yall think. Thanks for everyones help even tho I haven't asked any ?'s or posted anything. Cichlid forum and all people on here have been a huge help in my newly sparked hobby. I look forward to jumpin in and responding and trying to help out myself. Thanks again.


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## sleepy09 (Jan 15, 2009)

This might need to be moved to diy or tank setup. Sorry....... :?


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## willmaddoxUK (Dec 17, 2008)

well it will certainly make your water minted mate  the fish will love it, and also a great job altogether looks great :thumb:


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## non_compliance (Dec 4, 2008)

looks sweet! Cool to see how much work you put in! Have fun!!


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## Maddog (Nov 7, 2008)

great work, looks nice


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## lotsofish (Feb 28, 2008)

A lot of work but the results make up for it. You have yourself a nice set-up. I'll be looking forward to seeing pictures with fish in the tank. Great job :thumb:


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## teqvet (Mar 24, 2008)

Great Find! Great Job cleaning it up! Great everything!

I love going to look a t a tank they want loads of cash for, then talking them down half the cost. Just makes getting the tank that much better!


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## Lively (Jan 13, 2009)

Looks like a brand new show qual. tank! Beautiful!


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## greenbirds (Jul 30, 2007)

Nice restoration project, well done.


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## MP Aqua (Jan 17, 2009)

Very impressive! :thumb: You certainly got your moneys worth out of that deal! Can't wait to see pictures of the tank once is it stocked. There are just so many great looking peacocks to chose from so I can imagine how much fun it will be just picking out the ones you want in your tank!


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## edouthirt (Jan 22, 2008)

Bravo!!!

This is a great lesson to those getting into this hobby that one of the biggest key factors into whether or not you will be succesful is patience!! You certainly did it the right way!!

Whereas I was so psyched to have a tank I got the fish first and then put them through **** as I tried to fix all my mistakes along the way...

live and learn, right?

You're tank looks fantastic!! An all male Hap and Peacock tank will be a great choice in my opinion.


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## F8LBITEva (Nov 9, 2007)

looks great, you did a fantastic job on it. :thumb:


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## natalie559 (Dec 6, 2007)

Great job!!


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## sleepy09 (Jan 15, 2009)

Thanks for all the great resposes. I had alot of fun with this project. I got such a great deal on everything I decided it wouldn't hurt to put some extra money and hard work into it. I am very pleased with the results of my hard work. I can't wait to take ride down to San Antonio to Dave's and pick out my stock. It is going to be alot of fun.

1 question on the the KH of my water. I tested it yesterday and my KH was at 9pmm. The GH was at 11 or 12. Do I need to balance these out to stabilize my PH or will the Eco Complete and holey rock do that for me? My PH was at 7.5 and I want to get it up 8.0 or so.. If I need to balance the numbers out what would yall recommend using to do that?

Thanks again for all the great reponses and keep them coming.


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## kodyboy (Dec 9, 2007)

beautiful setup/plumbing on this set-up! What a great deal, but the real key is the hard work you put into a neglected tank!


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## cyc949 (Jun 24, 2007)

WOW! 

Funny what a little vision and some elbow grease can do for used tanks.

AWESOME JOB MAN!!!! :thumb:


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## MauiGups (Sep 2, 2008)

Amazing! That takes a whole lot of patience. but in the end it really did pay off


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## bones06 (Sep 26, 2007)

Great job, it's nice to see an old crappy setup brought back to life. Even better when you get a deal like that. :thumb:


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## b_tenant (Apr 9, 2007)

Your better off leaving the water the way it is vs. trying to doctor it with chemicals every water change. Water stability is much more important than perfection.

If you want to change the parameters I would suggesting getting yourself a barrel to pre mix the water. After you have it the at the right parameters pump it into the tank. There is an article on making your own buffer solution on the site here. I would suggest using that over ph up.


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## b_tenant (Apr 9, 2007)

double post


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## califjewls (Dec 28, 2008)

WOW...great job!! I see tanks like that on CL all the time, I just don't know if I have the patience like you had... AMAZING!!


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## sleepy09 (Jan 15, 2009)

I just rescaped my tank a little, so I thought I would update with another pic or 2. I am 4 days into the cycling process and it seems to be moving fast. I am getting excited here and can't wait to go pick out my stock. :fish:    
Thanks so much for all of the great responses. Oh and by the way my wife thinks its funny that yall say that it must have taken patients to pull this off. Everyone that knows me think that I have 0 patients. They just don't know that I was very patient with this project because I am happy and exited to be back into the hobby. It was fun planning and researching something that I love doing. Thanks again


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## 12 Volt Man (Sep 22, 2008)

looks fantastic!

but it looks a lot bigger than 125 gallons. the height alone looks much more than the standard 22" height of the 125..

what are the dimensions?


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## sleepy09 (Jan 15, 2009)

Thanks 12 Volt Man, I thought so too. I used the calculator in the library to double check.


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## nothing else matter (Oct 2, 2007)

:thumb: :thumb: :thumb: there's really no hard work when you love what you're doin'. cant wait to see your tank after you put your peacocks. good job man!!!


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## mia_ann (Dec 20, 2008)

#1- That was nasty. Imagine the poor fish who had to live in there.... ugh.

#2- Great looking now that it's cleaned up. Can't wait to see it with fish! Great job and beautiful tank!


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## Lostlilkidd (Jan 27, 2009)

whoa, great job on the project!


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## L A R R Y (Feb 15, 2008)

Thanks for cleaning up my tank and putting all the work into it. I'll be over Saturday to pick it up   

VERY VERY NICE


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## tlspmm (Feb 1, 2009)

Great work ! Little tlc and presto .......a beautiful tank . I really like the price $400. What a steal considering the price of a new tank now a days and every thing else . Also liked how you took pictures of every step from begining till end.


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## Kevin007 (Jul 20, 2008)

I have pretty high standards for tanks, but **** what a great job! Beautiful tank man, WOW.

I really like the simple look of the aquascape.

What are the dimensions? Very good job you did there.

oh and is there any reason why the equipment is placed like that? Is it placed in a way where all the poop gets in the intake pipe?


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## sleepy09 (Jan 15, 2009)

Thanks again for all of the nice comments. I want to update everyone on the progress up to this point. The tank cycled in 8 days which I am so excited about. Thanks for all over your help with the cycling process Prov. Its almost time to get my :fish: 's. I am waiting to get my tax check so that I can get all of them at the same time. Well maybe not all of them but most of them. :wink: Shhh don't tell the wife. 

The only things that I have added since I last posted pics are 2 Durso standpipes. I made them just like the directions said on his website. The total cost for the parts $13.78 for both of them. I installed them last night and they worked out great. It took some tuning to get them to stop fluctuating the water in the overflows. I had to drill a small hole into the cap on top of the standpipe. I started with a 1/16 drill bit and worked my way up to a 5/32 bit. That is 11 bits later. Now the water in the overflows is right around 3 inches from the very top. My tank is super quite now except for a gurgle or 2 every once in a while.

Here are the old ones that were on the the tank before. Note the water level and the prefilter sponges. This setup made the system very noisey.

















Here are the standpipes before they were installed.









Here they are installed and working.

























I don't remember what the dimensions are but I did measure it when I first got it and then used the calculator in the library. It came out to 125 gallons.

I have those powerheads setup to move the water behind the rocks and to keep anything from settling to the bottom. Atleast that is the plan anyway. I am still adjusting them and I am sure I will have to change them once the fish are in the tank.

Thanks again for all the great comments. Yall are keeping me pumped here. I am having alot of fun working on the tank and posting the progress here for yall to see.


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## Maddog (Nov 7, 2008)

man, that is an awsome job, congrats! and sinc eyou saved so much money on the tank! you can buy more fish right


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## Lesley (Sep 20, 2003)

Beautiful! Looking forward to seeing it with fish!


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## 12 Volt Man (Sep 22, 2008)

I too would love to know the actual tank dimensions..

because 150 US gallons is 125 imperial gallons - perhaps that is the number you read off the calculator..

could you measure and post?

thanks!


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## sleepy09 (Jan 15, 2009)

I just measured my tank. It wasn't easy with it sitting on the stand with the hood on it but here are the measurments. It comes out to a little over 125 gallons according to the calculator in the library. I think yall are thinking it looks bigger because the stand and top are so large. Everyone that see's it thinks that it is bigger than what I say it is. It looks huge in my living room.

60 inches long
25.50 inches tall 
19 inches wide


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## JoAnn (Feb 6, 2009)

Nice setup.. What and where is Daves


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## sleepy09 (Jan 15, 2009)

Thanks again for all of the great comments
Daves is an advertiser on this forum. He is located in San Antonio, Texas. 
Here is the link..... http://www.davesfish.com/


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## sleepy09 (Jan 15, 2009)

BUMP

Fish pics coming soon


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## @nt!x (Feb 9, 2009)

very cool!


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## onepiece (Sep 12, 2008)

:thumb: :thumb: :thumb: Good Job :drooling:


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## PR_islander (Mar 26, 2009)

Srry ,but I just started this hobby what are the standpipes for ? I recently bought a 55gal. and has something like whats on your side of the aquarium , but I dont know how it works.


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## sleepy09 (Jan 15, 2009)

Hi PR_islander, 
Is your tank drilled with overflow boxes in it? If it is then these are the drain pipes "standpipes" that drain the water from the overflow boxes down to a sump or wet/dry filter. What happens is the water flows into the overflow boxs and fills them up to the bottom of the standpipe and then it flows down the standpipe straight into your filter under tank.


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## PR_islander (Mar 26, 2009)

He, my tank is not drilled . Here are some pics.
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... highlight=


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