blt4ever's low budget 125 build

[blt4ever]

Hi all, after alot of work and alot of time I decided to share my low budget 125 build. A little background info... I grew up with a fowlr tank in our homeand have always enjoyed aquariums. My wife and I each have a freshwater tank, and decided we wanted to take the next step and do saltwater. I'm a diesel mechanic and she's a school teacher so extra money isn't something we have a lot of, especially since I restore cars as a hobby as well. Long story short, I had the opportunity to modify and repaint a Harley for a co worker who offered me $1500 to do the project. I decided that would be the perfect opportunity to start the saltwater build.

I started off with a used 125 gallon tank a 55 gallon tank to use as a sump. I got both of these off craigslist for less than $200.

 

[blt4ever]

Next, I built a stand. I'm 6'3" so I wanted a tall stand, also I wanted to have enough room under it for the 55 gallon tank.




I added a couple of more braces, metal joist hangers, and 3/4" plywood after these pictures. Next I painted the stand with semigloss exterior latex.

 

[blt4ever]

The next step was drilling the tank and painting the wood grain trim on the tank black as well as painting the back of the tank black.


Followed by installing glass panels in the 55 gallon for baffles

 

[blt4ever]

Next I built my water mixing station, we have a small area in the hallway by our laundry room that the previous home owner had a freezer in, I decided to use this area for water making. I built a stand and used 2 34 gallon plastics bins to hold the water. I ordered a spectra pure rodi and installed it as well.

 

[sixpackgarage]

porch needs more rocking chair

 

[blt4ever]

Its an old farm house, my wife and I spend alot of time on the porch when it's not 105 with 90% humidity out side.

 

[blt4ever]

Filling the system with water


Quick picture of the plumbing


And finnally after the system has been running and cycled

 

[blt4ever]

 

[drauka99]

Have you done a power out test and made sure the sump doesn't overflow? I only ask because the sump water level looks much higher than most builds I see.

 

[blt4ever]

Yes, with the pump turned off the water only comes up to the bottom of the black trim on the sump. Thanks for noticing and checking, i had originally planned to cut the glass baffles lower to lower the water in the sump but decided to test it first and was happy to see it would work as is.

 

[drauka99]

Good Deal, No one wants a flood

 

[sixpackgarage]

Its an old farm house, my wife and I spend alot of time on the porch when it's not 105 with 90% humidity out side.

Looks like a great spot to relax with a cold one:beer: