Newbie's 180 Reef in Wall Progress (Image Intense)

[maxxII]

I dont know of anyone making a tank with those dimensions as a standard thing. This comes out to be about 225 gallons.
As far as aquarium vendors...

If money is no object, I'd find a Lee-mar. The only negative comments I've heard about them, is they are located in California and you cannot order from them, must use a retailer.

www.glasscages.com makes one similar to that...72x36x25, its their 280 wide for $850.00. I've seen one of their aquariums before...it works, but I felt the workmanship was a bit sloppy, with an excessive amount of silicone being used, but the guy who owns the tank was very happy with it, and admittedly, this was one of their early models.
If I were going acrylic I would go with one of these two companies...

Reef Mania Greg built a 450 gallon tank for his home, and its impressive. Granted its for himself, but I was sufficiently impressed with it that I'd consider buying from him.

The other company is Innovative Aquarium Products. I bought my sump from them and a protein skimmer and was happy with the workmanship. A friend of mine bought a 120 gallon tank from them and is quite happy with it.

Just some of my opinions...

By the way, Kudos to you for coming out and saying that ericsmacks was right about the treated lumber. Not many people would have done that. Its refreshing to see people being open with mistakes on a set up like this.

You have a great looking tank, and you obviously put a lot of thought into it. My fiance was reading over my shoulder when I pulled up the finished pic, and she asked why we didnt have an inwall tank like that. Great job, and sorry to hear about your tank troubles.

Nick

 

[Briankook]

Marc, yeah it does , I'm pretty bummed out about it. I'll post some pics of what I'm talking about.

 

[Briankook]

maxx, thanks a lot for the positive comments. I feel that we are all on this forum to help each other. It cracks me up to see how mad people get at responses that they don't want to hear. If my mistakes keep even one person from doing that, then I made a difference.:thumbsup:
I don't mind admitting that I did something wrong.

Anyway, I will fix the problem & end up with a bigger tank :fun2:

Thanks a million for the suggestions on where to buy. I will continue to research.

 

[Briankook]

This is the back right hand side of my tank where the stand has warped.

That gap runs the entire length of the tank :mad2:


Look at the gap at the middle of the back:

I'm so afraid that the tank will crack!

 

[melev]

I would immediately insert shims down the full length to support it evenly. That will take some of the pressure off of both you <b>and</b> the tank.

 

[Briankook]

Marc, I already thought about that, but I am afraid to shim it unevenly. That might put more stress on it.

 

[melev]

You just insert them one by one, snugly. No massive pressure. This will support the frame better than leaving a huge gap.

 

[Briankook]

Aquarium Quotes

Aquarium Quotes

I got a quote from a local fish store for an 72"x30"x25" Oceanic RR aquarium (approx 225 gallons) & it was $4085.00 :mixed:

I received a quote today from Glass Cages for the same dimensions & it was $625 + $20 for each overflow :inlove: + freight of course.

That is a huge difference. Are Oceanic Tanks that much better?

 

[melev]

Sounds like the store got a heack of a markup. You might find another LFS that sells Oceanic and ask for their bid to see what is going on. In our metroplex, we've got a couple of "Tiffany's" and then there are the more reasonably priced "Gordon's".

Just remember that Glass Cages will not have a professional look to the edges of the glass nor the silcone beading, from the tanks I've seen in person. Maybe you can find some people in your area that have one and can look at it for yourself and decide.

If you do go with them, expect to have to wait as much as three weeks for it to cure. It seems like they build them right before they come to your area. Be sure to ask for Eurobracing all the way around the top. For some reason, they don't put one on the back panel, so that fresh water owners can stick a HOB filter. For our reef tanks, we don't use those and should really desire the full support of perimeter bracing.

 

[bheron]

Hey Brian, just finished reading. Great thread! Such a shame about the tank stand. I know this sounds cruel, but it was really good to see it documented, real time, for people who can only assume something will or will not happen. Its just a shame it had to happen to you.

Did you decide on what tank youre getting? If not, you should check out That Pet Place in lancaster. Let me know.

Bryan

 

[Briankook]

Wow, I did not realize that I did not update this thread in a year and a half! I have a made many changes to my equipment & my tank. I will start posting some pictures over the next couple of days. I did not change my tank like we talked about Marc & Bryan. Btw, I still check out both of your threads daily .

 

[melev]

You better update it! I can't believe how long we have to wait over here. At this point, you can change the title since you're no Newbie any longer.

 

[bheron]

Haha! pretty funny - I remember this thread! yea, please give us an update!

 

[Briankook]

Ok, here is a pic of the Deltec AP 902 I purchased a few months ago:

I am very happy with the performance of this skimmer.

 

[Briankook]

Since I got so tired of trying to maintain proper Ca & Alk, I purchased a Geo Calcium Reactor pictured here:

I should add that after running this for a few months, my alk & Ca levels stayed perfect

However, I thought my Ph was low (7.6) because my meter indicated that. I calibrated the meter at 7.01 then I tested & it was still showing ph too low :mad2:
After reading a few threads here on RC, someone suggested calibrating the meter at 10.0 also. So instead, I purchased a simple Salifert PH test & it indicates 8.4-8.6

Moral of the story, always calibrate Ph meters at 2 different levels & use a test kit to back up! I was worried about nothing!

 

[Briankook]

I still have the same HD70 return pump, but I removed the SCWD & I added an eductor to my return to increase flow. ( I have spare SCWD's that I'm selling also). I found that those SCWD's are great for small tanks, but to restrictive on flow in larger tanks. I also removed the black background from my tank & added something that is really cool . I'll post some pics shortly...batteries are charging :smokin:

 

[Briankook]

Ok, this pic is my hanging whiteboard behind the tank. I have it suspended from the ceiling (about 1.5 feet away) & it comes off very easily with 2 hooks. What it does, is it gives the illusion that the tank is much deeper from front to back when viewing it from the front. I need to hang some additional actinic VHO's above it so the blue light will cascade against the whiteboard & will look blue (but not look "painted")

As you can see from the pic, I removed a lot of my rock. I'm going with the "less is more" outlook

I am terrible posting actual tank shots, so I am holding off until I can get some assistance with the pics...

 

[Yose]

ROCK ON!

 

[Briankook]

ahhh, Yose, just the man I'm looking for . How 'bout some help with tank pics. I am camera illiterate.

 

[John Q Reefer]

Actually I think PT wood has copper or Cuprinol in it FYI seal it 8)