Gixxer Family Reef-180 Upgrade

[Mrs. Gixxerman]

Well...it's finally happening. We're upgrading to a 180!

A little background:
As most people who started off, we were into freshwater tanks for years, before taking the plunge into saltwater. I remember back when our LFS first started selling salt water fish. I would wander over to that side of the store, and be amazed at the variety of colors available, but completly freaked out by the prices! I mean really...who on earth would pay THAT much to buy one fish? Haha...oh how LITTLE did I know!

Fast foward about 10 years later. Our LFS started expanding their salt water section, and on a whim, I asked one of the employees about setting up a tank. I was considering converting my 75 gallon over to a salt water tank. My husband was suspicious, and seriously concerned about my desire to run a salt water setup. We asked tons of questions and long story short, we McGuyvered our 75 gal and created a reef. Our LFS directed us here to the forums, and oh how glad we are that they did. We have learned SO much over the years browsing and searching the forum. This place is information overload. Not only that, but my then skeptical husband has now become as addicted as I am about our salt water adventure. I think he is more heavily involved in it then I ever expected to be. Even my 9 year old is crazy about salt water. He knows the types of fish and coral as much (if not better) then we do!

Overall, we've been sucessful in keeping and maintaining a relatively happy 75 gal mixed reef, although we've had some heartache and lots of opps. But I wanted bigger. I knew that if we upgraded, we were going to do it the way we WANTED it done...and not settling for what we could get. Which brings us up to today...

We will be moving in a couple of months, and in anticipation of that, we've been searching for the beginnings of the right setup. About a month ago, we found it. On craig's list, a guy was selling his 2 year old 180RR Marineland aquarium and his RO/DI unit because he was moving. The snag? It was 4 hours away. It happened pretty fast, and we wound up getting a great deal on the tank but we had to pick it up within a day or two. A little after midnight, after an 8 hour round trip, my husband pulls in the driveway with our brand new (to us) 6' x 2' x 2' long tank. My gawd it was huge! I admit to being a little freaked out. Buyer's remorse? It's hard to envision a 6 foot long tank until you're standing right next to it.

Now we have the tank...what next? The plan was to build a custom stand and canopy and design it around how we wanted to maintain it. We didn't have the option of a 'fish room' so most of the equipment and filtration was going to have to be contained in the stand. Not a problem. There's a lot that can fit inside a six foot long stand. Now...on to the build...

Basic stand layout.


My handsome husband cutting holes for the drain pipes.




Test fit


We sealed the inside of the stand with waterproof primer after we caulked the edges. I wanted white because messing around inside the stand can be a real pain if you can't see what you're working on.


My husband was SO proud of finding these little gems at Lowe's on one of his MANY trips there. LED light strips that are daisy chainable (is that a word?). They put off a crazy amount of light.


Skinning with Oak

 

[Mrs. Gixxerman]

My husband was a little concerned about making doors. We knew that we didn't have the ability to do intricate designs, so we wanted to keep it simple.















My son desperately wanted to 'paint' something. So we let him loose with some stain. Overall I wanted the stain to have a red tint to it. There was some discussion and arguement over how many coats to use. My husband wanted one coat as two would be too dark. I insisted on two coats, and I'm glad I did. I'm completely in LOVE with the stain.

 

[Mrs. Gixxerman]

In the meantime as I'm not much of a woodworker, I decided to use some of my stronger skills in the rock department. I wanted to design some rock work sculptures for the new 180. We will be using all of the existing rock out of the 75 gallon. Between our current sump and display tank we have about 100 lbs of live rock with a number of corals attached to them. It's going to be very tricky near the move to get the aquascape the way I want it. So in the meantime, I thought I would tinker with some ideas.

 

[Mrs. Gixxerman]

LOL...did I mention I can be incrediably stubborn? This is after the second coat of stain, and the first coat of polyurethane. I got my way even after going round with my husband on how many coats to use. I'm glad I did, because the color is AWESOME.

At this point, I'm started to get more and more nervous. Everything has been running too smoothly. I'm waiting for that...aw crap moment when something falls apart. Murphy's law and all that.

 

[Mrs. Gixxerman]

Tim got the doors on the day before yesterday. He's a little bummed that they aren't perfectly lined up. We're going to have to do a little tweaking. AND I got one of my new toys. The Kessil 360. The light spread on that light is crazy! Eventually we will have an APEX contoller and program the Kessil's with three of the 360's over the tank. For now, just to get it running, we'll go with the one 360 and I have two 150's currently on the 75 gal.

You can also see the beginning of the sump design on top of the stand. We'll be using a 55 gal aquarium and convert it to a refugium/sump. That is still being designed out, so we don't have everything lined up the way we want it.





Next project...the canopy...more pics later.

 

[james30ct]

Off to a very nice start so far. Stand looks good.

 

[worm5406]

I see you have a sediment filter. What ro/di are you using?

Very nice project and build so far. If he is available I could use come pointers on how to do my doors.

One question we've been pondering is whether to paint the inside of the canopy white (water proof it) like we did the stand. My concern is that the Kessil's will bounce off the white and amplify the light intensity. I'm not worried about the tank really. I'm afraid it will be TOO much thought and I certainly don't want to be blinded every time I open the doors. He's convinced it will be ok. Thoughts?

I would paint it also. That will keep any issues down.

The lights are already pointed down so the only extra light would be from reflection. It would be like a reflective cone around a light.

I agree with him. It will be ok.

 

[Mrs. Gixxerman]

I see you have a sediment filter. What ro/di are you using?

The RO/DI unit came with the 180 and we aren't familiar with the brand. It's a coralife unit, but we aren't sure about what size model it is. Unfortunately they all look alike. The unit has been sitting unused for about two months and still had water in the canisters. The canisters were jammed, and we had to work at getting them off. Tim wanted to just replace all of the filters and the membrane just to be safe. There IS a barcode on the RO/DI unit, so I may try to scan it in with a barcode app on my smartphone to see if it will come up. The mounting bracket is pretty rusted too. The rust shouldn't be a problem should it? I think we may just take some sandpaper and knock some of it off.

Very nice project and build so far. If he is available I could use come pointers on how to do my doors.

Thank you! I'm sure he would love to help out. Just don't mind his spelling. He left me with the responsibility of posting this. He's the world's worst speller. LOL The funny part is, we've both been reading your build thread without realizing the other was doing so. My husband said 'hey there's a 180 build thread on the forum by a guy named Worm.' I said I know...I've been reading it. LOVE your videos. They are awesome. LOL I would love to have an inwall build, but the new house just isn't set up for it. Maybe...one day.

I would paint it also. That will keep any issues down.

The lights are already pointed down so the only extra light would be from reflection. It would be like a reflective cone around a light.

I agree with him. It will be ok

Thanks for the feedback on the painted interior of the canopy! I had posted that on our club forum, but we have a small group, so sometimes it's days before we get a response. That's part of the reason I started the build thread here as well. More views and more possible constructive help.

 

[Mrs. Gixxerman]

My husband mentioned..."hey honey...you didn't post anything about our equipment list". Thank you for reminding me. LOL

Currently have:

• 180 RR Marinland tank
• 55 standard aquarium for sump
• 1 Kessil 360W LED pendent
• 2 Kessil 150W LED pendent (currently on our 75 gal)
• 1 Vortech MP40W with backup battery (currently on our 75 gal)
• Reef Octopus DNW110 Skimmer (currently on our 75 gal)
• Magdrive 18 return pump.
• 2 Eheim Jager heaters
• A number of Korala Powerheads, which we will use until we get the second MP40
• Dual GFO/Carbon reactor
• Corallife RO/DI unit

Will be getting:

• Apex Controller
• 2 Kessil 360W LED pendents
• 1 Vortech MP40W
• Calcium Reactor
• 25 Gallon round holding container for our ATO that will be housed in the stand.

Of course we have the 75 gallon that we'll likely use for a quarantine tank for the new fish we'll add once the 180 is up and running and everything is transfered. We haven't had a quarantine up for a while, since our current stock list has been in the tank now for (the most part) since we started. Our two maroon's were our first 2 fish.

 

[worm5406]

The RO/DI unit came with the 180 and we aren't familiar with the brand. It's a coralife unit, but we aren't sure about what size model it is. Unfortunately they all look alike. The unit has been sitting unused for about two months and still had water in the canisters. The canisters were jammed, and we had to work at getting them off. Tim wanted to just replace all of the filters and the membrane just to be safe. There IS a barcode on the RO/DI unit, so I may try to scan it in with a barcode app on my smartphone to see if it will come up. The mounting bracket is pretty rusted too. The rust shouldn't be a problem should it? I think we may just take some sandpaper and knock some of it off.

Be careful of the membranes. They may have some untold residue or even been sitting too long. Frankly I would look up the model number and goahead and order NEW filters for all the canisters.

Thank you! I'm sure he would love to help out. Just don't mind his spelling. He left me with the responsibility of posting this. He's the world's worst speller. LOL The funny part is, we've both been reading your build thread without realizing the other was doing so. My husband said 'hey there's a 180 build thread on the forum by a guy named Worm.' I said I know...I've been reading it. LOVE your videos. They are awesome. LOL I would love to have an inwall build, but the new house just isn't set up for it. Maybe...one day.

Hey... those threads he posted looked to be spelled correctly. That is why I like using firefox, it shows me a red squiggly for misspelled words when typing.

Thanks for watching. LOL.. It is interesting sometimes. I have taken video's of requests from others, posted them up, and then looked back to wonder why I took a video of snail crawling across the sandbed. LOL... It is real good for documentation. That way you know how you did it and remember why, compared to how others did it. Yeah each tank is different but we all still sit for hours and watch it.

Thanks for the feedback on the painted interior of the canopy! I had posted that on our club forum, but we have a small group, so sometimes it's days before we get a response. That's part of the reason I started the build thread here as well. More views and more possible constructive help.

Yeah I do scan for other posts sometimes and see what the background questions/posts sometimes. It helps to see where they have been or what ideas they are looking for.

I think your tank is going to turn out nice.

I like the way the doors were framed and all. I got all my router bits and all to make a door but I am undecided on how to attach, hidden hinges, and how long a door can be to support the weight.

I am no way near that part just thinking sometimes.

I am going to start building a new stand for my 120 that I am going to pipe in to the DT for added stability and also added LR/filtering. Looking at doing prob a 120g sump filled with LR under the 120.

 

[Tim gixxerman]

Hey... those threads he posted looked to be spelled correctly. That is why I like using firefox, it shows me a red squiggly for misspelled words when typing.

Spell check! But some times spell check goes ?????????? LOL!

 

[worm5406]

OK... so... Where are the updates?

 

[Mrs. Gixxerman]

LOL well...real life sucks. Beleive me I wish we had updates to give. I came down with an ear infection and have been fighting a fever for the last 2 days. On top of that the monsoon that decended upon us has kept us indoors since Sunday and made it difficult to get anything accomplished.

Tim has worked a little on the canopy. He has the frame built, and he worked on the lid hinges. FINALLY the sun has made a reappearance, and my fever broke last night around midnight. Tim will be working on the canopy today, and I need to decide what type of trim for the canopy edge and canopy doors. I'll make sure he takes some pictures today. I'm still kinda weak so he's on his own today. Will post pics later.

On an unrelated note, I've finally hit 50 posts after 2 years. Now when I click on 'new posts' which is what I normally do to browse the forum it gives me results that are made up mostly of buy/sell/trade posts. I almost wish I was still under 50 posts LOL. Makes it harder to navigate.

 

[worm5406]

HAHAHAHA.. Nahh.. I love to look in there and see what is up.

They have some good deals in there btw.

 

[Mrs. Gixxerman]

Ok...the canopy design was a little more tricky on deciding what we wanted. We each had ideas on how we wanted it built. The TWO things we could 100% agree on was it needed to be closed (mostly) to prevent the possibility of carpet surfers, and snug fitting to prevent light leaking from around the tank. Remember we were going with LED pendents (Kessil 360's) and manufacturing recommended that they needed to be at least 12" off the water surface. Add an additional 4 inches for the pendant height, and another couple of inches of play for hanging it, and we came up with an 18" canopy height. Now that I see it on the tank, we probably could have gone with a 16" height, but hindsight is 20/20. Needless to say we went round and round on the design, until I eventually let him run with his plan, tweaking it a bit for uniformity with the stand.

Basic frame of the canopy


Top shot of the framework. He had to brace it in multiple places to keep it stable. The wood he used for the frame was far less sturdy then the stand, so it needed the stability of the cross braces. You can see the hinge for the front lid across the top.




The oak skin is pretty heavy, but with the frame built the way it was, the skin didn't give it any issues on weight. You can see the bottom right corner of the canopy bowing out a bit. The draw back to using the light weight wood for the frame is that it wasn't as straight as the larger peices of wood. He's not happy with it off on that corner. He thinks he can fix it by putting a wood peice across the top of the tank lip pulling that side of the frame in slightly to compensate for the bow. There will also be two doors center of the lid for ease of access to feed.


With the lid up.


This was tonight with the one Kessil 360 hanging in the tank. I was shocked at how much light it put out.


We'll have to adjust how the pendent hangs. This is what I was refering to earlier. To maximize the light for the tank, I don't want it misused by lighting up the back of the canopy. LOL


About a third of the back top of the canopy has no skin on it. We haven't finalized fan placement, and ventilation yet. We're going to have to see what we can find. For now, it's a good starting point. Overall I'm pretty happy with the design. I haven't seen it in person yet so I might find some other issues with it once I view it up close. LOL. He's happy with it too I think, although that one corner is bugging him something fierce. It will be Saturday I think before I can get over there to see it. I'll find something to tweak on it then.

 

[Mrs. Gixxerman]

We also had a small setback on the RO container I was planning on purchasing. I went to go order it today, and discovered the shipping on the container is about as much as the cost of the container itself. That was extremely dissapointing. It was 18" diameter and 30" high. PERFECT for fitting in the stand next to the sump/refugium. But I'm not paying that much for shipping, no matter how perfect the size is.

So we're going to try plan B. We currently have a 35 gallon drum that we've been using for RO here with our current setup. It's going to be a VERY tight fit, but I think it's doable. It gives us an additional 8 or 9 gallons (since it won't be filled to the top) for storage. Which isn't nessesarily a BAD thing, but I wanted to be able to access the container easily in the event something went wrong. We've emptied the current 35 gal storage container, and we'll try it in the sump to see how it will fit. I know we can use a brute Rubbermaid trashcan if we need to, but I really wanted a container that I could see the water level through and already had the gallon marks on it. Keeping my fingers crossed that it will fit relatively well.

 

[worm5406]

Yes I want two containers too. And yes the drop freight charges are up there for some of these things.

I agree to a co-poster of mine that maybe tractor supply can order one and maybe even beat the shipping... IDK.. I will have to go look friday or this weekend.

 

[Mrs. Gixxerman]

Yes I want two containers too. And yes the drop freight charges are up there for some of these things.

I agree to a co-poster of mine that maybe tractor supply can order one and maybe even beat the shipping... IDK.. I will have to go look friday or this weekend.

What really tweaked me was that they were offering free shipping on the refurbished containers. Used only once. However, (in very small letters at the bottom of the specs page) there was a warning "not safe for human water consumption". That's all I need...some residual contaiminate on the inside of the container leaching into the RO water for the top off nuking my brand new tank. Ha! Not a chance. I'll check with our Tractor Supply and see if they can order something, but on their website, I didn't see anything close to what we needed. They were all weird gallon sizes, which wouldn't fit even if we wanted them to. I think one was 52 gallons. Another one was 38 gallons. The next size down was 22 gallons. Well ok, I'm being slightly sarcastic here. LOL I don't remember exactly what the gallon size was, but I remember thinking that they were strange numbers. :spin1:

 

[worm5406]

Yeah but in store they should have the ability to order what you are looking for. For them it is not always off the shelf stuff.

I like the canopy. He will figure out the bump out on that one corner. I am sure of that.

 

[Mrs. Gixxerman]

Yeah but in store they should have the ability to order what you are looking for. For them it is not always off the shelf stuff.

I like the canopy. He will figure out the bump out on that one corner. I am sure of that.

It's a start at least. We still need to cut and make the center doors, and put on the trim. We will trim out false doors on either side of the center doors to mirror the stand design. On the same side as the corner gap that he has issues with, we'll need to build a small recess for the Apex controller we will purchase later this month. We also need to stain it. Then there is the sump to make, and plumbing to figure out, and omg does it ever end??

Our goal is to have it running and livestock moved over before July 6th. We're going out of town on vacation for a week, and I really want to have the 75 gal. moved over before we leave. *sigh* The list of things to do and purchase is getting longer and longer.