new to me. a 150 build

[es1887]

i bought a used 150 from a guy back in may and still am struggling to set it up.:sad1: it is an oceanic with dual over flows. the dimensions are 48x24x30. compared to my 120 right now which is 60x18x24 i think the tank will offer me much more room to play with. plus i have 2 400 watt halides so the deeper tank will allow me to have a sleeker better looking hood in my opinion. i was thinking about removing one of the over flows to give me some more room. i am curious though if one built in over flow can handle around 600 gph, so if anyone does know, it would be much appreciated. well lets get to it:fun4:

here is the tank. (note: there might be some beer bottles in the pictures but i swear they aren't mine)




here is the start of the stand and what will be the veneer for my panels. it is all walnut and i plan on cutting the veneer on my bandsaw and using the crotch of the tree as the center of the doors on the front panel. i want it all to be seamless and the doors to be flush with the rest of the panel. there is also going to be doors on every side making access to the sump very simple.



here is the skinning of the frame with the ply.

 

[nemosworld]

the flow rate of your over flow is determined by the size of the drains.
i know a 1inch drain is rated for 600gph. are holes for the overflows drilled in the bottom or the lower back of the tank? if it's in the lower back, i would remove both boxes and cap the holes, drill a hole up top and either have a small overflow box built or get one online. here is a pic of mine on my 75 gal and my 110.

 

[es1887]

here is a little bit more progress i have made. i have been working on this for about the past month.

this is the walnut cut into veneer and almost ready to go


after calling a local mill and finding out that it would cost me around 350 dollars for them to sand all of my veneers to the right thickness. i decided just to go ahead and skin it and deal with it later. (ha, that was a good idea)



after dealing with it later, this is how much progress i have made. i must say though, the tools that really do make your life a lot easier really are the most expensive ones. meaning that i needed a time saver or just a thickness drum sander. the front panel is going to have 4 separate doors so they can fold in the middle. each side panel has its own door also. all it needs now is ply on the bottom and a really good sanding job.

 

[es1887]

they are on the bottom of the tank and they are also 1 inch drains. that is great! i will plan on removing one of them and capping the holes. thanks for the help!

 

[es1887]

made some pretty good progress today! yippee!:spin1:

here is the tank before i removed the overflow, and here is the tank after i removed the overflow.
before after <a href="http://s643.photobucket.com/albums/uu158/es1887/?action=view&current=IMG_3377.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu158/es1887/IMG_3377.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

i plan on using the overflow as the center for my rock and have the rock come out from the overflow circularly. i also plan on having lots of shelves and caves for corals and fish to play/be on.

here is the stand with one coat of tung oil on it. none of the doors are hung yet, i just put them in place for the pics. i am also waiting to finish one more door. the importance of planning every little detail really is not to be taken lightly. i would have saved hours if i had just drawn and planned a little bit more, but i think it still looks pretty nice. i am not fully sure what i am going to do for handles yet.

finishing the doors


stand without the doors

 

[es1887]

with the doors



soon enough i will have a new tank(to me)!!!!!:bounce3: i cannot wait!!!!!:bounce3::bounce3:

 

[Rockys_Pride]

looking good. What color are you staining the walnut? may I suggest clear, walnut is a realy nice dark color with unique grain.

 

[es1887]

thanks! it is just a natural tone. i could not justify covering up any of the grain with a stain or tinted finish.

 

[es1887]

i am almost there. here are the overflow holes that i sealed off with 1/4" acrylic <a href="http://s643.photobucket.com/albums/uu158/es1887/?action=view&current=IMG_3388.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu158/es1887/th_IMG_3388.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a>

the tank sitting on the stand nice and level

some shots of the stand finished with a gloss oil poly


here it is cleaned and with a light i had sitting around that i will use to cycle/set up with while i build the canopy.


i am hoping to have sand and water in by mid week next week!:spin3:

 

[es1887]

have had the tank up and running for a week or so now. after messing with the rock for a little while i think i have finally found the structure that i am happy with.:fun4: here is a little shot. please let me know what you think, and yes i do know there is quite a bit of hair algae.:worried2:

but i am not too worried about the hair algae. why you might ask? well lets just see. maybe its because i just got this bad boy today.:dance: and yes this thing is new, not just to me, but anyone who would be smart enough to purchase one.



and a shot with the king. well, not really sure which one is the king, but i do love them both.


i am trying to plan some plumbing for the return/drain, but not sure yet as to where everything will be going. all i need now are some coral, more fish, a canopy, some plumbing, a stand for the tank going next to this one, maybe a canopy for that, and then just the simple task of transferring over all of the coral i still have in my other tank.:hmm2:

 

[wtildens]

good l looking tank so far. what about the back ground, going to leave it clear?

 

[es1887]

good l looking tank so far. what about the back ground, going to leave it clear?

thanks, it has been quite the little project. no, i do plan on getting your standard black background for it.

 

[frozenreefer]

you still can paint the back! i think it will look alot better i.e. you wont have a drity taped on peice of plastic on the back of the tank

 

[es1887]

you still can paint the back! i think it will look alot better i.e. you wont have a drity taped on peice of plastic on the back of the tank

ya know, i was gonna paint it before i did anything, but i just didnt want to commit to something i was not totally sure that i wanted to stick with. but now that i have the tank up and running, black certainly is the way to go. will you see the stroke marks of the brush if i do decide to paint it?

 

[es1887]

finally got the canopy on and all of the lights mounted. not that too many people are concerned, but it feels great to finally be done with the building of the "frame work". next to come is the plumbing of actually pvc.
here is a full stand and canopy shot

with all of the doors open. after having a stand and canopy that had very limited access i wanted to be able to get to whatever part of the tank i needed to. so there are doors on all sides.

side shot of open canopy

inside of stand


front view with the doors open. the lights in the middle are my moon lights hooked up to the lunar simulator from apex. i must say that it is pretty cool to watch the moon dim in power from night to night.

here is the veneer that i cut on the front panel. i have not cut the knobs for the other sides so i am going to wait to post those ones.

i am kinda bummed though. i think that the grain on the canopies front panel i should have done a little differently, and not tried to match the stand so much. i think it just makes it two different pieces and not the uniform flowing grains that i want to transition inbetween the canopy and stand

 

[es1887]

you still can paint the back! i think it will look alot better i.e. you wont have a drity taped on peice of plastic on the back of the tank

and i did paint the back! either i put the tank too close to the wall or my forearms are waaaay to fat. cause it was a struggle to reach all the way back there, and i lost about half of my arm hair trying to.

 

[meco65]

I really like the stand, the veneer looks great, rock work is good as well. Great job.

 

[es1887]

I really like the stand, the veneer looks great, rock work is good as well. Great job.

thanks! :beer:

 

[es1887]

I just got some new little buddies for the tank and the algae is finally starting to go away!

Just for the record, I moved to a new house in July and my old tank crashed.
It went from this

to this

and now this

It is very sad i lost a lot of life in that crash and honestly i do not know what i would do if it ever happened again.

 

[Aporia]

That sucks es1887, did you move the tank or did it just get neglected at the old place? If you did move it any advice on what not to do?