As some of you know, i am closing on a house tomorrow... so i thought that it would be a great opportunity to upgrade from my current 90 gal. If you are interested in seeing some pics of the current 90, they can be seen HERE
I knew i wanted a six foot tank with some "real" equipment instead of the crap i have had for my whole 10 years in the hobby. The only thing i wanted to take from the 90 was the lighting, which are 175 X 2 MH ... of couse, adding an additional one for the extra 2 feet. knowing that, i wanted to stay bellow 24" in height, therefore i selected a 125, which i found used at a great price, all i had to do is clean it a bit and paint the back black.
Next was the stand. I decided in DIY! So i built a stand and canopy and stained it a dark mohagony, which would look awesome with the decor. I built the stand at 42" in height... the stand will be strapped to the studs of the house, just in case it is a bit top heavy because of the added height, although i have talked with a bunch of people that have high stands and they say it should be fine... better safe than sorry. The stand also has, two side doors, two drawers and a built in electrical pannel. Please note that all the pics are taken at my current apartment and the plumbing was just mocked up so i can troble shoot any bugs before the move. Also, the stand still needs some detail finishing.
Here is the stand/canopy next to my 90 (a bit stripped getting ready for the move... no sump/skimmer ect...)
Here it is with doors opened
and drawers (still under construction)
Next... the equipment! Since i had about two months to set-up the tank, i took my time and looked for bargains... i think i did awesome!
-- Skimmer: Custom, all clear MR-1
-- skimmer waste collector (container with out shut off used for surgeries)
-- Return/Skimmer pump: Pan World 200 (1750 GPH)
-- Dual chamber calcium reactor
-- Reef Fanatic PH controller
-- Pentair 25 watt uv
-- DIY carbon reactor
-- 30 gallon sump
-- Blue Line wavemaker with 3 mj 1200
-- DJ power strip
-- 175 X 3 20K xm
So i figured it would be smart to do the plumbing ahead of time instead of doing everything at once during the set-up of the tank. all plumbing is designed to come apart using unions.
Here is the left side, showing return pump and calcium reactor
Center ... nothing too exciting here, just the sump
Right side ... Skimmer, uv, carbon and waste collector
Also shows electrical (still under construction, but you get the idea)
Finally, i decided that i would creat PVC support for the rock, because i did not want to purchase anymore rock and i wanted open aquascaping. I plan on to walls coming down from the sides ... you can see pics of my future aquascaping in this thread:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=908399
Thats it for now... stay tuned!
Oh and i wanted to thank c_stowers for teaching me how to drill holes for the bulkheads and fishdoc11 for all the advice and suggestion on equipment... also everyone on this forum!
Jack
I knew i wanted a six foot tank with some "real" equipment instead of the crap i have had for my whole 10 years in the hobby. The only thing i wanted to take from the 90 was the lighting, which are 175 X 2 MH ... of couse, adding an additional one for the extra 2 feet. knowing that, i wanted to stay bellow 24" in height, therefore i selected a 125, which i found used at a great price, all i had to do is clean it a bit and paint the back black.
Next was the stand. I decided in DIY! So i built a stand and canopy and stained it a dark mohagony, which would look awesome with the decor. I built the stand at 42" in height... the stand will be strapped to the studs of the house, just in case it is a bit top heavy because of the added height, although i have talked with a bunch of people that have high stands and they say it should be fine... better safe than sorry. The stand also has, two side doors, two drawers and a built in electrical pannel. Please note that all the pics are taken at my current apartment and the plumbing was just mocked up so i can troble shoot any bugs before the move. Also, the stand still needs some detail finishing.
Here is the stand/canopy next to my 90 (a bit stripped getting ready for the move... no sump/skimmer ect...)
Here it is with doors opened
and drawers (still under construction)
Next... the equipment! Since i had about two months to set-up the tank, i took my time and looked for bargains... i think i did awesome!
-- Skimmer: Custom, all clear MR-1
-- skimmer waste collector (container with out shut off used for surgeries)
-- Return/Skimmer pump: Pan World 200 (1750 GPH)
-- Dual chamber calcium reactor
-- Reef Fanatic PH controller
-- Pentair 25 watt uv
-- DIY carbon reactor
-- 30 gallon sump
-- Blue Line wavemaker with 3 mj 1200
-- DJ power strip
-- 175 X 3 20K xm
So i figured it would be smart to do the plumbing ahead of time instead of doing everything at once during the set-up of the tank. all plumbing is designed to come apart using unions.
Here is the left side, showing return pump and calcium reactor
Center ... nothing too exciting here, just the sump
Right side ... Skimmer, uv, carbon and waste collector
Also shows electrical (still under construction, but you get the idea)
Finally, i decided that i would creat PVC support for the rock, because i did not want to purchase anymore rock and i wanted open aquascaping. I plan on to walls coming down from the sides ... you can see pics of my future aquascaping in this thread:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=908399
Thats it for now... stay tuned!
Oh and i wanted to thank c_stowers for teaching me how to drill holes for the bulkheads and fishdoc11 for all the advice and suggestion on equipment... also everyone on this forum!
Jack
But regardless you should stop by!
