upgrade to a 37g

[fish outa wata]

I have just setup a 37g sw.
I will be transferring everything from my ten gallon into my 37, in time. The system came with an eclipse hood and I am planning to remove it after the cycle. But I am keeping the 10 fully intact until the tank cycles.

I plan on utilizing the 10g as a refuge/sump when everything is removed. I will let it dry out and then silicone acrylic dividers in place. I have cheato already in my diy hob refuge. I think the 10g will be beneficial to the main tank that's why I chose to break it down rather than having two tanks.

Currently the tank is filled w/RO premixed sw, 30 lbs of aragonite, and a nice piece of fiji lr an 11 pounder. I have between 15-20 lbs of lr in my nano so I think that one or two more big pieces of lr will do me just fine.

I know that I have a few purchases: a skimmer (remora or urchin haven't decided), a mh pendant lamp, and another powerhead (seio 620).
I have learned so much over the past half year that will help me with this transition.

Pics will be added tomorrow.

 

[fish outa wata]

These are the first set of pics.
first day

nano moved over temporarily

30 hours later

I added another 12.5 pounder of lr and 15 more pounds of sand. I want a nice dsb. Following lornas sugestion I went to wallymart and bought 2 sm wire shelves that will lift the lr off of the sb. I had to cut the wire rack down because the height was over 7". Way too high. I'll take more pics tomorrow.

 

[dbacksrat]

Wire? That will definetly rust in saltwater. 1/2" PVC would be better to lift the rock.

 

[Joe Fish]

That's what I was thinking. I assume rust is also one of the many bad things to be in a SW tank? Is it better to lift the LR off the sand like that?

 

[dbacksrat]

Rust is one of the things that you don't want lurking in your tank. Lifting LR off the sand allows for better flow underneath rocks, thus keeping detritus suspended. Something to that effect. For beginners, don't even worry about it. I doubt anyone here has their rock suspended in such a manner.

 

[fish outa wata]

I got the idea from lorna, I am pretty sure that I have an idea against rusting but since it's not in the tank as of yet I'm still good. I won't risk contaminating the tank.

 

[fish outa wata]

Oh, I meant to add that if the plan doesn't look sound then I will scrap it and go to lowes and get the pvc.

 

[fish outa wata]

update

this grid rises the lr 4.5". I can't wait to add the ls f/ the nano to hide the pipe.

How does this look? Does the spacing look correct?

 

[kevin4052002]

IMO, it looks like the PVC will not hold anymore weight. Try bracing it more...more feets..lol

 

[fish outa wata]

I agree, it only took a few minutes so I think that I may just split it into 2 sections that way there will be a space between the boxes. I will make some adjustments when I get off of work.