So excited, plus need help!

I'm extremely excited. I just found out yesterday that I will be getting a 125 gallon tank and stand free from a family member. It's a pond fish tank right now so we will need to get it ready for saltwater. But IT'S FREE!!!

Also, this tank is in the Cities so we have to go pick it up and I was wondering if any of you guys could please recommend a good place to pick up a few corals while we are down there. I was thinking of stopping at Saltwater Empire and maybe Discovery Aquatics but was wondering what you guys would recommend as the best place/s. Thanks!

Has copper been used In this tank ? I'm assuming it has been since its been a pond tank... There is a process of cleaning a tank that has used copper to make them safe again as copper stays behind embedded in the silicon I will try to get a link for the cleaning process 4 ya

those are pretty much the honey spots for corals in that area, Petco in Minnetonka has nice stuff to,LOL yeah I know I said Petco...LOL.
oh glad to hear your up grading but then again Free Really doesn't Mean Free all the time,kind of like When I hear people say I got my Dog or Cat for free....??????? never did understand that. OK yeah the pet was free But along with your Free Pet you now have Random Vet bills,Replacing house hold Items they destroy,another mouth to feed on some things Free don't really mean free...LMAO.

orange bam bams, do you mean like from medicating in it? This tank was just to winter goldfish that were in the pond. I'm not sure if copper or anything else was put in it. I will for sure ask. Thanks for letting me know!

icereefer, I wanted to build a larger tank from scratch anyways and was thinking of going with a 90 gallon predrilled that was going to cost me $300+ so I see this an a slight upgrade as it's larger and it's free. The going and getting is no biggie as I've wanted an excuse to go to the Cities anyways for a few things and everything just worked out.

Oh no like I said Glad to hear your up grading it was early and was just thinking how some times Free can cost someone lots of money for being free that's all..LOL.I guess I got a little side track on the topic.
Yeah If I ever can afford to move out of my Mobile home into a house I'm going to build my Tank to I want to make it a 9' long by 32" wide by 24" high but only 6' will be the Main Tank, the other 3' will be my frag/sump.
and this will be in a wall so you can't see my sump. this will eliminate fighting micro bubbles and installing baffles.

lol, no that's okay. I pretty much knew what you meant. Wow, that would be a very big BIG tank. lol But super sweet once it's all up and running. I'm slightly scared to go bigger due to maintenance costs going up. Needing/using more salt, filter media, RO/DI water and such. But I'm really excited too even though it may take a year or two before it's ready to go.

a 125 is a really nice sized tank. Congrats on getting it for free.

If there has been copper used in the tank there is really no way to get it all out. unfortunately all of the copper removal stuff for saltwater is related to a certain type of copper which is supposedly different than what's used in freshwater tanks. It will soak into the silicone and require a re-seal to get it all out. This is assuming it will be a reef with inverts of course. Hopefully none has been used and if any it has been very little...

I upgraded from a 75G to a 125G and I can say the day-to-day costs are approximately 30 - 40% higher. More lighting is needed to cover the tank well. My tank is running dual return pumps for redundancy. There is more evaporation as there is a larger amount of surface area for evaporation to occur, which in turn makes the dehumidifier run more often. Also water changes used to be 15G, now they are 25G every couple weeks. All in all the total extra cash out of my pocket is somewhere between $30 - $45 per month extra after the upgrade.

Also keep in mind this is currently a freshwater tank. It is more than likely not drilled for filtration nor plumbed. All those little PVC fittings adds up fast...lol. If you would like some sections of flexible PVC which works with standard fittings, I have a bunch I would be willing to let go. I changed my setup a little and it didn't work anymore for me.

I have always heard to wipe down entire tank inside with muriatic (hydrochloric) acid and then rinse extremly well then fill tank with water/vinegear mix and let sit for 24 and then drain and rinse extremly well and tank is good ? I have never tried this but have heard of it Workin and read about it. Have also read a coppered tank is just plain doomed

I've read mixed reviews on how many different forums now about the potential for copper to be in the sealant. But being this is my dream build (house too small for anything bigger and I'm not sure if I'd ever want to go bigger) I'm going to play it safe. I've decided to sell the tank after a while (not right away) with the freshwater equip and put the money towards a new pre-drilled 125 gallon. I'd be keeping the stand and the glass covers but otherwise starting over to avoid any potential problems. I want to do this one right.

If there was no copper it can be used. If you know who you are getting it from just ask them.

FYI I kinda wish mine wasn't pre-drilled so I could do my own overflow and customize it the way I want to. I am so far not a fan of reef ready... If you are planning this to be an in-wall (or plumbed to a fish room), plumbing will not be a concern anymore so you can be super flexible. I wish I had the room for a fish room...lol.

I don't think I would ever be happy with a rr tank. I think durso's are loud compaired to other options like herbie or beananimal over flows. Resealing the tank would be just takng the inner seal out not disasembling the whole tank. I am very happy with the beananimal overflow.

Mines fairly quite as a dual RR w/ durso I'm not complaining by any means my nano is a ton louder than my main tank

Hey I'll put my Durso stand pipe next to your beananimal any day on sound my over flow I made on my frag tank don't make a sound.

It's actually having to go in the basement due to weight so sound won't be too much of an issue. ;P lol

And I have resealed a 55 I had a few years back...three times I had to reseal the darn thing but it was 15 years old and I resealed it like every 4-5 years (when it began leaking due to our bouncy old house floors). So I so SO don't want to have to reseal anything ever again!!! lol Especially a larger tank.

Ok, we need to call myth busters up on this copper /silicone issue. I posted on LSMAC site a couple days ago on this topic and people keep posting back on be careful about copper imbedded into the silicone. I don't think the little bit of copper that leaches onto silicone could ever amount to a high enough level to ever hurt a coral or invert/crustacean. It's just an old wives tale. Since you're not going to use it right away fill it up with water and take a few copper test a month or two down the road. That should tell you if it ok to use. I can't find one site on the web that says anything different but a few post on this site and on LSMAC. Can somebody show me a link that says anything different? Here's two links that both show the little bit of copper that may be left on silicone is nothing to worry about.http://www.wetwebmedia.com/curemovalfaq2.htm
http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f6/can-copper-be-safely-removed-from-salt-water-tanks-155199.html

Mr Haglund, I think it is more a better safe than sorry thing. There are way too many unknowns in the hobby but one thing we do know is copper can kill, even in small amounts. We put so much money into our tanks that cutting corners is never a good thing. A tank that size isn't all that expensive if you catch them on sale compared to the costs of corals we put in our tanks...

Also I don't think it was even confirmed if copper was used or not so no use getting into it too far if it wasn't used. It may have just been fresh water, and in that case use the tank...

Okay Matt, thanks for those links. I read a bunch and it seems that if I just spend some time filtering with carbon and polyfilter that anything that could possibly be left in there will be filtered out. Again, I'm in no hurry to get this going...well I am but my budget is not. ;P

Now next problem, what if it's tempered glass?

I would assume it is not but we all know what happens when people assume...

Get a set of cheap polarized sunglasses and do the line trick. It is described all over how to figure out if it is tempered. Either that or find out who made the tank and give them a call. Typically it won't be but I wouldn't take the chance without testing it first.

What's with tempered glass? Why is it bad?

It is currently a freshwater tank and I need to drill it for a reef setup. Though I've never drilled a tank before so I'm clueless as what I'd be doing...and why. lol I currently have nanos that don't really need it. ;P But I'm a bit of a newbie still and am still learning.

Its easy... Don't be scared.

Jim not saying every one won't be happy with a durso set up I just wouldn't. Drilling is pretty easy after you get past the I'm drilling glass worry. I did mine and had never done it before. You should be pretty safe with drilling the back or sides but would check the tank manufacters specs on the tank first.

tinkerman wrote:Jim not saying every one won't be happy with a durso set up I just wouldn't. Drilling is pretty easy after you get past the I'm drilling glass worry. I did mine and had never done it before. You should be pretty safe with drilling the back or sides but would check the tank manufacters specs on the tank first.

Oh I was just being funny Lyle if you remember I built my own overflow and it is silent and I'm a Durso....LOL.

little_ocean_treasures wrote:It is currently a freshwater tank and I need to drill it for a reef setup. Though I've never drilled a tank before so I'm clueless as what I'd be doing...and why. lol I currently have nanos that don't really need it. ;P But I'm a bit of a newbie still and am still learning.

Yeah if you where closer I could punch it out real quick for yeah I have a Glass Drill press.

Jim, why didn't I know you had a glass drill press when I drilled my tank? That would have been so much nicer.