lockrookies 180g custom build

[lockrookie]

Wow, looks like you've put a ton of hands-on time into this build. Must of been hard considering you two cracks to deal with

yes there was lot of time .. but usully i work faster and could have had this whole thing completed in reality in 3 months not 7...and still counting.. but with my two little cracks.. keira and sara... there were weeks on end i didnt get to work on anything. not that im complaining we love our twinkies.and cherish every moment with them.. they are only little once.
and i dont want to miss a thing.

 

[lockrookie]

"the stand"

"the stand"

so to this point i have worked on everything and completed everything other than the stand. now there area few things i wanted for this stand.. one to look like the rest of ourfurnature nour living room. we have natural maple furnature.. so thats what it will look like. secondly has to be sturdy yest functionable.. i didnt want to have doors per say but more of a removable access panel that looked like doors. and child safe i didnt want the tank inhabitants tobe easily fed baby cookies or the twins to get hurt by equiptment. i put alot of thought into this since the begining.. drawing research .. then i put my woodworking skills into effect
this is what the result is.

the stand is out of 2x6 the front is built like a header with 2 2x6 sandwiched together as i dont want a center support.. back to my ocdof having things get in my way.. after put it together i found i screwed upand didnt have enough internl height for my sump and skimmer so i tore the bottomoffit and extended it 2 more inches with plywood. which made it work out perfect so happy i caught that early.

first attempt. bottom 2x6 was removed and rebuilt foradded height

after that i painted the 2x6 and plywood black and the interior black after i had put 2 2x6 suports along the back and boxed in the sump area. i did this so that i could laminate the sump compartment and seal it with silicone. in hopes that i would havve an opps overflow resevoir. that would hold aprox 20g of water before it landed to my floor.. ( it was a good theory and kinda works. i should have pre tested before i filled the tank it has a leak somewhere. so when i get a chance i have to reseal it. then i started to skin the stand with 1/2" maple

on this end i made a little compartment for electricccal in hopes to keep it all high and dry

theni made the panel and the electonics door

then i sanded polished laquered the stand and had my father help medrag the stand in the house i moved my 90g from the spot and to its temp location in the kitchen it was kinda fun to watch teh fish swim about while we had steak and shrmp for supper.. her eis teh stand in its new home

to be continued...

 

[Patricklong]

Very impressive build.

 

[lockrookie]

Very impressive build.

thank you

 

[lockrookie]

at this point i ran wires and a 50' 1/4 line to my furnace room in the basement which was noeasy task with a finished basement drywall ceiling. but having the tools for home alarm installations i made quick workk of it drilled a hole in my floor and ran along the beam to a cold air return in the master bedroom and straight down to my ro/di unit a few john guess fittings and we are in busness. put the tank onits own breaker. i had issues with overloading the other breaker with the 90g and decided that it was never going to happen again. wired the stand for power.

and mentioned earlier i wanted childl save so i attached a flat piece of alum on the botom of the front panel toholdit inplace on the bottomof the panel and added three electronic locks to hold it and theelectrical door in place wired it to its own power board with battery backup in case of power outage. and for a third back up i can lift the panel and pull off the panel as well so that ill neverbe locked out so to speak but esSentially all i have to do is press a button and the panal falls away and another button and the elec door pops open..

 

[lockrookie]

we are getting closer to my spamof posts being done and to where im sitting now with this tank and will try not to babble again and let the pictures do the talking.then we all can follow the progress of teh future completion of the tankas im doing it and i have another thradtopost and fear imgetting carpel tunnel.. lol.

so here we go tank is on the stand thanks again to my father. and the fun continues.

rockwall in tank

filling the tank and praying the weight doesnt make it crash thrugh the floor

tank is filled a few minor leaks in plumbing fix it all set the sump in place and its a good to go i took water from my 90 and swapped it with water from the 180 to help "condition" the water. also i used prodibo startup so that i coudl safely move my stock over withn 24 hours did my rockscaping. added the corals i had left and hadnt sold prior and here it is where the tank is at this very moment.

 

[lockrookie]

so thats it thats all as i progress i will post as i go thank your for the kind compliments.. feel free to ask questions.. critisize.. even call me crazy.. i lovehow it functions and caint wait to get it completely done. and hope to get my new skimmer for it at the end of the month.

fyi there where alot of issues thoughout and mishaps this didnt go all as planned either but to get to this point is well earnedand i canat least enjoy as i tinker.

cheers
jeff

 

[lockrookie]

oops almost for got equipt and stock list

lighting:
aquamedic metal halides 3x150w 2x70w 72" fixture...will be adding suplimental lighting if needed after tank is running
...leds next year
diy dimable moonlights
coralife refuge light

powerheads
2x1050 koralia
2x750 koralia

return pump
quiet one 6000

skimmer
vertex in-180 (crapped out on me .. getting the bubble magus curve 9 to replace

ozonator
not sure the brand but i like it

controller
apex lite with pm1 module...will add a second 8 bar later
i was going to use the reef keeper light...but decided on the apex for this tank and will use the rkl on the 50g tank rkl is being used as light timer untill i can get the fuds for apex bar
..ph probe ordered from china didnt work .. have to get a new one
..orp probe
..temp probe

uv sterilizer
undecided if i will add one yet but i might

calcium reactor
its a coralife reactor but undecided if it will be running right away i may decide to dose instead

heater
300w name brand eludes me at this time.. jager?

float style auto top of yes i have to be careful with this so far so good

i think thats it i may have missed something. but you get the jist of it


stock in tank right now
1 hermit crab (trigger hasnt gotten to yet
i picaso trigger
yellow spot goby
strawbery conch
mated air pair clowns
yellow tang
regal tang couple snails that have survived the trigger
lownmower blenny
cleaner wrasse ( whome thought died in the 90 but fount in the overflow box was in there for 5 months.. lil bugger
and recently added copper band butterfly whmis eating mysis like a champ.

ok im really done now for today i need to get to work lol starting tomorow ill be filling in my 50g build

 

[TheFishTeen]

Awesome! I love your handiwork. You did an excellent job on the stand. You are quite talented!

 

[lockrookie]

Awesome! I love your handiwork. You did an excellent job on the stand. You are quite talented!

I've seen better but thank you all the same. I'm just having a blast not sure what I will do when I finish other than a frag tank and a pico for my niece. I have ideas... Hqnk you for the compliment I'm a carpenters son tools readily available.

 

[saltyjo]

Amazing rockwork you did with the foam/rock back. You have inspired me to maybe try this on my 150 gallon tall build.

 

[lockrookie]

Amazing rockwork you did with the foam/rock back. You have inspired me to maybe try this on my 150 gallon tall build.

thank you. it is time consuming but it can be such a rewarding effect in the end. not everything worked out for me as planned but in some aspects better just take your time to plan it out and plan for weight.. foam floats.. if you have questions feel free to ask and i can help you to the best of my ability.

 

[lockrookie]

small update nothing great finally tuned my overfow and i hear nothing its silent no more running water.. less time in the can ..lol anyways been tinkering with a calcium reactor i got from jhammer and i think i may actually have it figured out and will be putting this thing online shortly. also my replacement display module came in and hopefully next month i can order the powerbar i need. if i have time i may start the hood too and get this thing completed. a little concerned with the lights i had a 70w bulb pop on me it was fairly new but it has me thinking of alternative options...no fun when you cant findthebulb locally..

anyways thats all for now trying t get a vid together of both tanks and updated pics

 

[REEF MANIA]

That's some build. You have a lot of patients and skills. Very nice job. I have a 180 as well.

 

[lockrookie]

lol i have no skills just very brave but thank you.. i grew up a carpenters son so woodworking is simular to glass work just easier to break the glass if you fudge up. the hardest part was finding ppl to help lift and stuff.. these 180's are heavy sob's. but trust me if i can do it from reading google and diving in anyone can.. just add patience and take your time.

if someone else can do it so can you.. your only limited by lack of trying. it may not work the first time but when you succeed its so self gratifying... i doubt id ever build for other ppl due to fear of screwing up someone elses tank (silicone irritates me) next project is a two tier waterfall frag tank but i need to finish this first.

 

[lockrookie]

quick vid of the 180 as it is today definately need more corals sooooon

click on pic for this vid this was done before livestock


and this one on youtube as it is today

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WySQFMdNoU&feature=youtu.be

 

[lockrookie]

tonight i plugged in the calcium reactor.. it has a bit of a leak i will tend to later just a drip really.. my calcium was at 320 before startup so in 24 hours i will check and see where its at.. i did it at the slowest rate to start for fear of overdose and will adjust as needed. hopefully it works and i can grow me some sps..

also in the news im putting together a skimmate resevoir tonight if i can find some silicone. this way i have additional gunk storage incase i go away (wishfull thinking) and i won thave to worry about an overflow issue.. eventually i will put a float switch on it to shut down the skimmer just incase of skimmer flu and it upchucks on me.

i was informed as well that the curve 9 may be here this week or early next week and i will start my review...im guessing since i didnt hear from aqua-digital it will be the unauthorised version.. so be it heres to hopeing im satisfied... i will most likely post some pics on my thread. but will make its own thread for questions comments anyone may have.. if i dont know the answers i will try to find out the answer iven if i have to contact BM themselves somehow. im hopefull that this skimmerwill perform. it is infact the first "new" skimmer ive purchased.. other than the seaclone 100 that suffered a very painful end.. still peeved about wasting money on that after 4 years.

anyways thats all for tonight will post picsof my skimmate collection cup . i have an idea for it that i hope works.. thanks for lookin

 

[lockrookie]

so ive always wanted to do this with skimmers puking and contaminating the tank or overflowing cause i forgot to empty the cup. but mostly if i go away for a weekend or 2 weeks i want to be able to not worry about an overfowing skimmer cup. so i made a glass box 8"x 9" by 12" high drilled a hole for a valve and a hole on thetp ofthe cube.. but i wanted a lid so after posting jancame through fro me andgot me a large pickle jar that was perfect.. cut the top off of it attached it to the top of my box and voila i have a skimmate overflow container.. now i will have skimmate on tap for all those future reefing bbq's in the future.

here it is just need to make a quick stand for it and its ready to go for when the new skimmer arrives..

i will be drilling into the cap for hookups and later a float switchto shut down skimmer in case of overflow or random skimmer issue.. butfor now it is what it is

thanks for looking

 

[lluv24]

All I can say is wow!!!!!!!! Very nice work!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[lockrookie]

thank you still a work in progress.. next step hood and leds.. just havent had much time recently to tackle these projects.