Row's 180 build

[Rowdeus]

So I had to relocate for my job from Michigan to Florida (poor me!) so I sold my 240 gallon and now as I scream in remorse for selling it, I have decided to go with a 180 gallon in my new home. I am planning on building my own stand and canopy and start fresh. So today starts day 1. Just left home Depot with a bunch of 2x4's and Deck screws. Going to try and take this one nice and slow and build just the way I want so I can quiet my hunger for a large tank again. Even got the wife's permission to put it in the living room so it has to be very nice!

 

[Rowdeus]

So the plan is to build a standard 180 stand (72 1/2 x 24 1/2 x36) with 4 doors on the front and a side door to be able to remove the sump if needed. I will paint the inside with a glossy varnish to seal it and it will have a Brown color on the outside to match the furniture. I have started picking up some rock from people getting rid of it. I am drying it all out so U can power wash it and cure it. not to familiar with that process so any suggestions would help.

 

[Rowdeus]

Another update. Picked up a great deal from a fellow reefer down here, got 4 bags of CaribSea Live sand. The bags are good till Dec 2015. I will add about 40 pounds of Florida crushed coral as a base then the 80 pounds of live sand on top of that.

 

[Rowdeus]

Got some more work done today. Wood is cutout for the stand frame. I used some of the standard plans located in the forums here. I now just need to get 3 2x6's to cutout the top rail. Also started soaking my rock.

 

[Rowdeus]

Between yesterday and today I finished coating the frame work with urethane and started assembly. I am pre drilling all the screw holes and countersinking the heads. Should make things a lot easier when I put on the outer skin. I still have to decide what kind of wood I will cover it with. I don't want to go to thick and make it weight a ton, but on the other hand it will be a little quieter with the thicker wood on it. Any suggestions?

 

[dave.m]

Suggest painting entire interior white for better visibility within the enclosed cabinet.

Dave.M

 

[Rowdeus]

Good point. I wonder how hard it will be to paint it over the Urethane. I could probably use killz. that will adhere to anything. I will give that some thought.

 

[dave.m]

An acrylic will probably work for a lot less but won't cover as well.

Dave.M

 

[Rowdeus]

Ok stand frame built. Wasn't that hard just making sure everything is level. Next step deciding what to use for the outside and doors. I was thinking of hitting home Depot to look at their unfinished cabinet doors and see if I like any of them. I decided not to go with the back rail around the top so I can slide the tank in easier.

 

[Rowdeus]

Back to work on this now. I had to take a break do to a death in my family. Still haven's skinned the stand yet but picked up a few things while I was out of town. A huge SWC skimmer and a older model reeflo pump. This one is pressure rated. Not sure if I will use it or not but the price I couldn't pass it up. Anyway I will be starting to look at adding the skin to the stand this weekend. My wife changed her mind and wants me to stain the wood instead of paint so we will go look at stains this weekend.

 

[Midnightt]

Are you going to have a piece of wood in the back going horizontal to tie to two ends together?

 

[Rowdeus]

Yeah I will be running a 2x4 across the back.

 

[Rowdeus]

Decided I would use Pine to skin the stand with. I was going to use Oak but when I started looking at trims they are all made of Pine. I didn't want to have the two mixed together so Pine it is. I started framing it out and it is coming along nicely, I have to pick up a couple more pieces for the front and then I can start adding the trim pieces.

 

[Rowdeus]

Latest progress! All of the trim is installed and stand is stained. I planned on putting on the first coat of Urethane on today but it's cold in North Florida today! Now I know some would say yeah right, what is it 70 in Florida and your calling it cold. NOOOOO it is 38 degrees this morning! For Florida that is freezing! Attaching some pics of the trim being added and stain.

 

[Rowdeus]

Got a total of about 200 pounds of rock now. Stopped the soaking and rinsing of the other. (was doing to old way that takes about 8 weeks to prep). Soaking in bleach for 2 days (this is day 2) and then will sit in so plain water with some prime for a couple days. Then I will soak in vinegar for a couple days. The vinegar will be diluted some so I will let it sit for a couple days in that to remove phosphates in the rock. Also got the first coat of stain on the stand.

 

[Rowdeus]

Finished the bleach and the prime soaking and now have it cooking in a vinegar solution. Funny I searched the forums about vinegar soaking and there are tons of different opinions, most want to use the muriatic acid path and want to answer a lot about using vinegar. I don't want to play with acid period. I am doing my own mixture of 5:1 water to vinegar. I have plan to leave the rock in a few hours and check it. at most I will leave it in over night. I will then soak in tap water again and test for phosphates.

 

[Rowdeus]

Took out my rock out today to play with some configurations. First I took out all had and made a ridge. I have never been one that comes up with good aquascapes, I usually just stack it put corals on it. I read an article on here about aquascaping and got inspired.

So I laid out some boards very close to tank size and came up with this:

top angle:

The stack is about 12-13" high. Figured that would leave plenty of room for SPS corals that would be on the top with LPS on the mid and bottom.

 

[Eac7466]

Looking good. Can't wait to see what the tank is going to look like. This is Elizabeth in tally.