JonezNReef's 180gal build

JonezNReef

JonezNReef

Member
Hello all,
I'm new to writing threads but thought I would give it a go. I have been in the hobby now for about 4 years. I have had a few tanks over the years including a 10 gallon nano, a 36 gallon bowfront and currently have a 65 gallon and a 40 gallon breeder that have been up for most of those years too. Both the 65 and 40 were in wall tanks that I have now moved to make way for my "new to me 180 gallon tank"! I picked it up for super cheap and have since resealed it and polished out some scratches which was a long drawn out process but worth it so far. I am a huge DIY guy that is reefing on a budget so I won't have all the bells and whistles most do but I love to make things and I am very hands on with my tanks. That said I am currently cutting the holes in my wall to make one big hole for my tank and working on a foam and dry rock wall to cover my single overflow which I wasn't too thrilled with but I can make it work( single overflow that is). I am also in the process of building a LED fixture for it since I built the ones currenly over both my other tanks. Once I get those done and going I will start making a protein skimmer too which will be my 2.0 edition since my first one was a success but too small for this build. I will get some pictures when I can since I lost a lot of pics of my old set up before I moved it and I also cracked my 65 when I was moved moving it but with a little silicone it's back up and keeping things alive. I will post some picture tomorrow.
 
Ok so today I cut my wall out and made room for the 180gal. Tomorrow I will build the frame of all goes well. image.jpg
 
Some of my LEDs are in and now I'm just waiting on the rest of the royal Blues to show up and then I will be able to light up the tank.
The LED fixture I am making isn't using a traditional heat sink but rather a 6 foot floresent reflector. It will have 36 3w Cree Royal Blues, 6 Cree Cool blues, 5 Bridgelux Cool Blues, 5 Bridgelux Deep Red, and 5 Turques Bridgelux LEDs being pushed by 4 Invertronic 42w CC Driversimage.jpg
 
So I haven't had a chance to fix the wall and frame it yet. But I did finish my foam wall in front of the overflow and also got to see how my "argacrete" rock would look. It will be better when I put the live rock in there but first I have to wait on the silicone to cure. Also the rest of my LEDs should be here tomorrow and I am also getting the glass for my sump and then the fun begins.image.jpg
 
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Looking cool! I have always liked the idea of an in-the-wall tank, but have not had the opportunity to do it.

Are your lights DIY?
 
Yea Ive always liked an in wall tank a lot myself. When I changed my garage into the master bedroom my wife let me make part of the room into a fish room to get all my tanks from around the house in one area.:dance:
And yes the LEDs will be another DIY project. It will have less LEDs than what most people deem necessary but I have made a couple of other fixture with less and they have worked well over the years. But of course this tanks a little bigger than my 65 gallon but if it needs more then I can add to it later on.:hmm5:
 
Not too much has changed with th tank. I did get the overflow pipe drains installed. I'm going with the bean method since the tank was already drilled with three 1" holes and one 3/4inch hole which will be used as a return. This works for me because I like the idea of a dry safety drain for my safety drain. I also built my sump. I took a 40B and split it up so the the water drains into the back left section flows over to the right section which will be a fug and then flow to the right front section which will be the return section. I went wit his design because th DT is drilled all on one side with one overflow with the return coming up the overflow. image.jpg I also am going to include and emergency drain for the sump because I have witnessed the gallons upon gallons of water everywhere before and I want my fail safes to have fail safes. Lol:thumbsup:
 
image.jpg
This is the back side of the rock you see on the left side of the DT. I might put a small pump in side to keep it from collecting to much crap.
On a different note my LEDs are lost in the land of postal shipping:uhoh3: So that puts that project on hold until it gets resolved. But in the mean time I can wire what I do have and get the mounting cables put up. I will be hanging the lights on cables with pulleys so I can just pull the cables and get into the tank easier.
 
I got to do my water test today which is the first time I have got to really run water in it since I resealed it and moved it into place. Also this is the first time I got to check out the sump since I put it together. My work has been crazy for me as far as hours and so I haven't got to do a fraction of what I wanted. But I should have the lights built and over the tank this week. I am hoping to get the tank drained and refilled with saltwater by next weekend so I can get it cycling.

image.jpg
 
So work hasn't eased up yet. I haven't finished my lights yet. But I did get the tank filled and running and the cycling process has begun. Also started re wiring the fish room and put the whole room on its own breaker. Should have all of the wiring done by the weekend. I am hoping to also get my lghts finished and up this weekend also. Just depends on how this week goes!
 
Ok so the tank is cycling still which feels like it has been forever! But on a plus side my lights are now 90% done! :dance: Tomorrow I hope to finish up running the new breaker and electricity. Then everything will have its own switch and plug in the fish room.
Here was what the lights looked like when I got to test them
image.jpg
 
Here they are with blues turned all the way up. The fixture is sitting on top of the tank just for a quick test so there are a lot of shadows and dark areas
image.jpg

I will update with a picture of the fixture when I get the lights hung above the tank
 
JonezNReef, seems like 58 x 3W leds is on low side in terms of power for a big 180 gallon tank. Is this going to be a fowler?
 
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