afboundguy's 35 gallon and display fuge build!!!

[afboundguy]

Was going well until the damn tube of black aquarium caulking burst so I tried doing it with my hands with some nitrile gloves. Unfortunately I had to pump the caulk out of the hole in the side of the tube onto some paper towels and it came out horrible. Luckily it's the sump so I don't need to be super anal just annoyed as it was a nice sump kit I'll probably use a razor blade to clean it up after it cures in a few days...

 

[afboundguy]

Doesn't look the best but it's basically sealed properly. Held water...

 

[afboundguy]

After a few hours it did have a small amount of water that went into the middle skimmer chamber but it has held at that level for over an hour so minus how ugly the caulking looks I am happy'ish with the results

 

[afboundguy]

Put the new "sump" in place this morning in the temporary stand

 

[afboundguy]

Only took me about 3 years but finally started using some great dry rock I got from @Zirky back in 2021 ‍. Have some extra live sand on order and should get it tomorrow so that should hopefully kickstart the cycle. Plan to add a few things from the current tank to also help kick start the cycle but not too much.

 

[afboundguy]

Cleared up nicely while at work. Can't wait to make it all cloudy again tomorrow when I put the sand in

 

[afboundguy]

Found an 8 lb bag of live sand and threw it in. Might be enough but can't tell as it's all cloudy again

 

[afboundguy]

Put the skimmer in and added some cheato from my current tank and also took the bag of carbon from old tank and threw it in the return section

 

[afboundguy]

Cleared up pretty quickly! Tomorrow I plan to try and arrange the rockwork to look better as I put the rocks that were on the bottom on top of the large piece mainly so they didn't get covered in sand

 

[afboundguy]

Wasn't a fan of the plumbing from the overflow as it cramped the cheato's style a bit so I adjusted it slightly with an extra 45 elbow I had and it's much better now! The cheato is slowly tumbling and there is much more room in the section. I also added another handful of cheato from the upstairs tank and threw in some small extra snail shells that were on the sandbed of the current tank...

 

[afboundguy]

Made up a batch of brine shrimp that I will just throw mainly in the sump with a few in the DT once they hatch in a few days. I will probably even throw in the hatched shells to add to the cube of frozen food I threw in this morning to help with the cycle. Now I just need to figure out where my testing kits are and then get upset when they will be more than likely long expired

 

[afboundguy]

Quick little video I took. I'll have to take another one when the tank clears back up but I moved around the rockwork and made a mess!

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[afboundguy]

Tank cleared up and think I am happy with rockwork. Just need to add a little more sand...

 

[afboundguy]

Added 20 more pounds of live sand mainly in the DT. I stupidly added some to try and get a few inches in the fuge area but the flow from the overflow is too much so it just keeps kicking it up and making a mess

 

[afboundguy]

Also threw in my pod hotel that I made with all the extra material I had from when I made the smaller one for current tank and threw it in the return pump section. Think I still have the old smaller one and might throw that in the DT if it's not too obnoxious and noticeable.

 

[afboundguy]

Extra 20 pounds of sand is just right for my taste... Can have my shrimp goby and pistol shrimp pair down the road

 

[afboundguy]

Picked up an ATO and SLW-20 from @dz6t (yes under that towel us a spare 10 gallon temporary ATO tank

 

[afboundguy]

Thanks to the kindness of @Kens Bees who I strong armed into letting me borrow a light for a week I just had to get some zoas

 

[afboundguy]

Sometime late this week the pair of clowns and orchid dottyback should be moving in and hopefully the rest of my softies and LPR that are able to make the move as well

 

[afboundguy]

Zoas opened up after a few hours pretty No clue what they're called except the purple deaths as I've never been a big fan of names and such