180g display build

[clownfish4]

Good evening all!

I came across a 180g acrylic tank at a great price, so I pulled the trigger! I'm picking it up on Wednesday. Right off the bat I can tell you this will be a slow build. I am buying the tank, stand, and sump, but the tank needs to have scratches buffed out and I need to get equipment, so it will be a bit before I fill it.

Below is what I have planned so far. Feel free to jump in with questions, concerns, suggestions, encouragement, etc. Pictures will start on Wednesday when I get it home.

Nothing below is set in stone, just what I'm thinking initially. I've been in the hobby for 16 years now and have learned to be very, very patient. I am fully aware of the difficult species in my stock list and will be prepared to care for them.

Display Tank
- 180g
- 6'x2'x2'
- Acrylic
- No bowing of the front/back and sides when full, though the center brace on top looked like it might be bowing up a bit.
- Lots of scratches that need to be buffed out
- Dual corner overflows with a 1" drain and a 1" return in each. Plenty of room to add more, will likely make the existing returns drains and add 1.25" holes for COR-15 returns.

Stand
- Custom built by the current owner. Freshly painted with a tile bar on top. From my first look at it I think I might want to reinforce a bit, but will add pictures on Wednesday to get a better idea.

Sump
- 90g
- 4'x1.5'x2'
- Will probably add a total volume of ~40g

Equipment
- Apex (already have with flow monitors, probes, ATO, PAR meter, auto feeder)
- Will likely add two COR-15 return pumps, one on each corner (already have 1 COR-15 on current system). The current setup is using dursos. I will likely leave those and add emergency drains instead of going bean animal due to having corner overflows.
- Lighting - Will be LEDs, not sure which yet (currently have AI Hydra and AI Nano, nano will go on fuge)
- Skimmer - Leaning Reef Octopus, not sold yet
- Apex doser - For Ca/Alk (already have). May replace, or use in conjunction, with kalk reactor or Ca reactor once the coral stock starts building.
- Heaters - I've enjoyed the Eheim Jagers on my smaller tanks, will likely go with two larger ones, using one as a backup controlled by the Apex.
- Circulation pumps - I'm really torn on this one. I'd love to go with the Apex pumps, but may go with Tunze pumps due to reliability.
- Anything I forgot?

Livestock
This list is not finalized and is much smaller than where I was a week ago

Rock
- Unsure what I'm doing here, will most likely go based on pricing.

Fishes
- Flame Angel
- Regal Angel
- Carberyii Anthias (5?)
- Ignitus Anthias (5?)
- Copperband Butterfly
- Clowns (pair, unsure of species/morph)
- Green Mandarin (pair)
- Spotted Mandarin (pair)
- Yellow Tang
- Yellow Eye Kole Tang
- Powder Blue Tang
- Leopard Wrasse
- Other Wrasses, unsure which

Inverts
- Skunk Cleaner Shrimp (pair)
- Fire Shrimp (pair)
- Clams (probably maxima and crocea)
- Blue and Red Linckia (way down the line)

Coral
- Mostly Acropora
- Some LPS (candy cane, frogspawn)
- Mushrooms (maybe zoas, having a hard time deciding if I want to deal with them)

 

[clownfish4]

The tank has arrived

Untitled by Mike Burns, on Flickr

Step one is to clean the sump. This will be done today, primarily due to the smell!

This weekend I will buff the scratches out of the viewing panels and decide if I'm going to drill additional holes in the overflows.

I did have a setback. We had issues getting the stand out of the house, so I had to leave it behind, which means I need to get a stand built now. I am planning on going with steel. I have zero experience in this realm and will start researching/designing this week. If you have any good resources, please let me know.

 

[clownfish4]

Some minor updates below. The biggest setback right now is the stand. I've done a lot of research but haven't gotten very far. The only real information I've scraped is that 1" square tubing is fine, but nobody goes smaller than 1.5" and a lot of people are doing 2". Haven't found any info on selecting gauge or determining how many posts/crossbars you need or whether angle brackets are needed. I am still researching to try and find some direction.

Then I came across this - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAZAm_eJgYQ I am very intrigued an am wondering if anyone has tried it? Here is another example, I think I’m going to try it - http://www.ultimatereef.net/threads...ild-inc-easy-diy-metal-stand-60x26x24.791256/

First pass on the sump and it looks MUCH better. Still some rinsing to do, but I"m happy with how it looks.

Untitled by Mike Burns, on Flickr

The Novus, wet/dry sandpaper, and buffing bits arrived today. This weekend I will be buffing the scratches out of the front panel.

Untitled by Mike Burns, on Flickr

The side panels have some caked on algae. I'm going to see if I can sand that off when I address the scratches.

Untitled by Mike Burns, on Flickr

Something I didn't notice initially, the overflows don't have teeth, they are flat and had plastic mesh on top, which is fine, just didn't notice before.

Untitled by Mike Burns, on Flickr

This is a shot down one of the overflows (the other is identical). The two holes are for 1" bulkheads, so plenty of room to drill a larger return line for the CORs, leaving 4 drains; 2 dursos and 2 emergency.

Untitled by Mike Burns, on Flickr

 

[Donkin]

Looks like a nice project you have going on! Good luck! Buffimg acrylic can be a pita. Lol

 

[clownfish4]

Thank you Donkin, I appreciate the encouragement! This is my first time buffing acrylic. I can affirm it's a pain, but I'm not going for perfection, just progress. I spent a few hours today doing the Novus. As long as I get something I'm happy with I consider it a success.

I'm hoping tonight/this weekend I can make progress on what I'm going to do for a stand.

 

[clownfish4]

This is what she looked like after hand sanding with 600, 800, 1000, and 2000 then hand polishing with Novus 1, 3, 2, and 1 again. Needless to say, that didn't do the trick! Sorry for the bright light reflections, but this was the best photo. Also, I've decided not to go with the scaffolding stand, as the joints make me nervous and I don't want to have to level the pipe with the joints. I have several inquiries to steel stand builders.

Untitled by Mike Burns, on Flickr

I just finished power sanding with 600, 1000, 2000, and 3000 and ordered a power polisher. Should arrive Tuesday, then I will use it to apply Novus 3, 2, and 1. I also noticed that there are some scratches on the outside. I probably won't sand the outside, but apply Novus to the outside.

Below are some pictures of the top brace bowing. I'm not too concerned, but will let you change my mind if you are.

Untitled by Mike Burns, on Flickr

Untitled by Mike Burns, on Flickr

Untitled by Mike Burns, on Flickr

Untitled by Mike Burns, on Flickr

 

[clownfish4]

Small update. After about 20 hours of labor, I've decided the tank looks good enough! I would estimate I got roughly 90% of the scratches out. I didn't bother getting too detailed near the bottom as it will be mostly covered by substrate. There are some pictures below, but they are hard to make out.

For the stand, I've gotten a few quotes and am working on finalizing my design. I started a separate thread (http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=25459840#post25459840) to get feedback on my design. I've included the design here as well.

I've also decided, based on head loss, I'll need COR-30s vs 15s. Instead of drilling into the overflow, I am going to route them out of the back and over the top of the tank.

Untitled by Mike Burns, on Flickr

Untitled by Mike Burns, on Flickr

180g Steel Stand by Mike Burns, on Flickr

Deflection Calculator by Mike Burns, on Flickr

 

[clownfish4]

After running into a lot of barriers with a metal stand, I did some research on wood deflection and talked to RocketEngineer and decided to build a wooden stand instead. Below is my design. This doesn't show the plywood and the measurements don't account for the plywood, but the bottom will have 3/4" ply for the sump and the top will have two 3/4" ply boards bonded together for a 1.5" top.

I've also been talking to insurance companies. State Farm said they don't cover my tank, or any damage caused by it, and wouldn't be able to add it. So I reached out to Farmers and they will cover it. Just waiting for them to verify if they can put "aquarium" in the verbiage of the contract. Once the insurance is locked down I'll start building the stand.

180g Stand 2 by Mike Burns, on Flickr