Setting up a tank for the Retroculus lapidifer
Well, yesterday I finally got the 150 lbs. of sand for the 125. It took a couple of hours to wash it all because I had to carry it up from the basement sink, and I only washed about 20 lbs. at a time (weighed a bit more after it was wet), but I now have about 2 inches of sand in there. Started the R/O running into the tank, will likely take about 3-4 days. When it is close to full I will put some straight well water to add just a bit of hardness. I also plan on using Peat in the filtration to acidify the water.
As of now there's about 4-5 inches of water, and it looks like it will not be very cloudy when the tank is full. Plan to put two smaller HOB filters on the tank, and a circulation pump inside to provide the current. I had one large HOB on it before, and I think it was inadequate. I don't like canisters; anything that could spring a leak and drain the tank just scares the bejezus outta me. I've heard too many stories about broken latches on these things.
It took several days to clean the tank from its previous condition. The glass lids were a mess, even after scraping with a razor blade there was a bit of calcium clouding left. That may never come out. I have glass to make new lids, but it's rather thin. I prefer the heavier glass of the current covers. The gravel was filthy; took half a day to wash, and there were still tons of snails in it. That was one of the reasons I didn't want to re-use it.
The real problem was scraping the red algae spots, particularly from the back glass. Turned out they came off best using a razor blade, but it was still a lot of work and the back glass was hard to reach. The red algae appears to be some sort of freshwater coralline algae. It first appeared in my 90 gallon tank, which eventually was completely covered. I did find that I could mostly clean the rocks and such that were covered by it with a combination soak. First I put a lot of peroxide in a 5 gallon bucket and soaked the rocks for a day or so. I then added about a cup of bleach, which resulted in a serious foaming action, followed by leaving it for a week in a dark place. Some of the rocks still appear to have a slight red stain, but I am certain the algae is dead.
I will get a photo of the tank as is, don't have any as it was because it looked nasty. I am expecting that I will have the Retroculus into this tank before the end of the month.
Happiness may be the door to Heaven,
But Pleasure is not the Key.
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