Ruuining a perfectly good tank

R

Ruu

Active member
I lost my custom 180 to a bad seam a few months ago, so I have been plotting what to do ever since. I toyed with the idea of going custom again, but I really wanted to do more than one tank this time, and the cost to put together multiple tanks, custom stands/in-wall build just got astronomical (so I'm saving that for the next rebuild), so I decided to do something a little different this time, and play around with some DIY.

Technically this may not fit into the large tanks section since nothing on its own is 180 gallons, but in spirit and in overall water volume it is, so this is where the build is going to live.

My current tank philosophy is built around a few major themes:

1) I hate moving big tanks. In order to do it you either need to be more popular than me, part of a sporting team or rich enough to train gorillas. After some fun spinal surgery, I'm really not into lugging huge tanks around either, so smaller for me is better.
2) I really hate moving big tanks, and we may want to move house at some point in the next 3 years, so something a bit more mobile would be good.
3) I don't do big active fish. I've seen enough Sohal tangs in the wild to know that I don't own a house big enough to keep them naturally and I don't really need a 6' long tank for my collection of gobies and clownfish.
4) I really want easy access. I want to be able to reach everything in the display without a ladder and a grabby claw.
5) Multiple displays is good. I want to keep different things that might not get along. Or might eat one another.
6) Custom is good, but the less I spend on tanks the more I can spend on lighting. Lots and lots of lighting.
7) Quiet is nice.

So, long story short I ended up going with a pair of marineland 93 gallon cubes over a 180, which should give me more mobility should I need to move and more of a modular "competing reefs" theme, where I can do an SPS and a mixed side, with both peaceful inhabitants and more aggressive ones.

Lighting will be 3 apex controlled Kessil A360W's per tank (I did mention lots of lighting didn't I?), and everything will be remote plumbed into a single sump that conveniently lives on the other side of the wall right next to the sink, the RO source and the most obvious spot for a frag tank I have ever seen (not mentioning it to the wife just yet, since it might involve moving a few extraneous bits and pieces like a washer, a dryer and some plumbing).

Anyway, got the tanks last week, so phase 1 began over the 4th of July weekend.
Phase 1 - "Put some Lipstick on that pig. Then nail some trim onto it."

So - I started with 2 standard Marineland reef ready tanks, and 2 of their Ventura red oak stands:

IMG_0437.jpg


I moved them into position, and put them onto a single sheet of 3/4" plywood since they would be an absolute nightmare to level together on carpet:

IMG_0439.jpg


Next came a cap cunningly constructed from some cheap plastic trim from the Home Despot and some even cheaper 1x2's:

IMG_0444.jpg


Next came more cheap plasti-trim, and you can see the removable nature of the front of the cap, which is held in place by neodymium magnets and hope.

IMG_0447.jpg


And finally some paint, some more cheap trim, and some limo tint for the back glass up to the sides of the overflows:

IMG_0450.jpg

IMG_0453.jpg


So far, it has turned out pretty well considering all I am doing is winging it and randomly nailing trim to anything that looks like a candidate to have trim nailed to it.

Phase 2 will be plumbing, and mounting the lights. I definitely haven't ruled out nailing trim to either or both of those.

Dave
 
Color me intrigued. I'll even give you a pass for not "technically" being a large tank since you so cleverly bonded them together. :) Plus I just naturally like any thread that uses the phrase "Lipstick on a pig".

I'm interested to see how this turns out. Good luck!







Current tunes: Anderson/Bruford/Wakeman/Howe - Fist of Fire
 
Why the book/space between the two tanks?

Are you really trying to set this all up on a carpeted floor? I think you may be setting yourself up for a lot of problems. Even a sheet of plywood under the two cabinets might make a better subfloor that just having them sit on the carpet directly.

Dave.M
 
dave.m said:
Why the book/space between the two tanks?

Are you really trying to set this all up on a carpeted floor? I think you may be setting yourself up for a lot of problems. Even a sheet of plywood under the two cabinets might make a better subfloor that just having them sit on the carpet directly.

Dave.M
Click to expand...

I would assume that the space is due to the rims of each cube, they are likely about 3/4" thick each.

As far as the subfloor goes, if you look closely you can see that he did indeed use a plywood sheet beneath the tanks
 
pmcarbrey said:
I would assume that the space is due to the rims of each cube, they are likely about 3/4" thick each.

As far as the subfloor goes, if you look closely you can see that he did indeed use a plywood sheet beneath the tanks
Click to expand...
Okay, I was looking at the first photo where there is no plywood - and no rims that I can see, either. I can see the plywood was added later. The gap remains a mystery to me.

Dave.M
 
I've done something similar, for more or less the same reasons :lol:

I have a thread about it in the SPS forums, have a look if you like. The primary difference between mine and your setup, is that I've left a "workspace" gap between the 2 tanks of about 2 feet. I find it very convenient.

Following along :thumbsup:
 
I like the concept..the big look with some flexibility. Looking forward to the sump, frag and mechanicals.

Will you be able to clean the glass between the tanks?

On your seam bust, can to tell us more? Glass, acrylic etc. Store bought vs DIY?
 
dave.m said:
Why the book/space between the two tanks?

Dave.M
Click to expand...

The stands have no tops, which means I have no side to side latitude on where the tanks sit on top of them (if the tanks were touching I would have absolutely no support under the opposite side on each tank). Basically, with the two stands designed the way that they are, this is as close as they get.

As for the book, that's there because I happen to know exactly what happens when two rimless glass tanks come together a little too fast, and it just keeps the tanks apart should they shift while there is no water in them (and can literally be moved with a finger right now). It will be removed when I add water.

Dave
 
Mark... said:
Will you be able to clean the glass between the tanks?
Click to expand...

With a little ingenuity and a swiffer. The gap is about 3", which is a minor pain for cleaning (though hopefully I won't need to clean the inner glass too often), but it does rather conveniently leave enough space to run the return lines between the tanks (I'm using both drilled holes as drains in both tanks) and avoid having to drill up my hugely expensive cap trim.


Mark... said:
On your seam bust, can to tell us more? Glass, acrylic etc. Store bought vs DIY?
Click to expand...

Custom 6x2x2 with 3 starphire sides and a full length external overflow. The seam didn't actually fail, it just obviously weakened to the point where I didn't trust it any more, and resealing that beast was a challenge beyond what I felt i could accomplish.

A thread with pictures of the tank and stand can be found here if you are interested.

Dave
 
I had either a good idea or a bad idea for setting my lighting rig onto rails for mobility today. I worked on it a little today and will be busy nailing trim to it tomorrow. If it works then (a) it will look awesome, (b) it will allow easy movement of my light rig and (c) I will have pictures up at some point in the next couple of days.

If it doesn't work then I will deny all knowledge of this post. It never happened.

Dave
 
Really looking forward to your build. Get those lights hung and I can't wait to see the lights and these babies getting wet.
 
Well, I have done about as close to nothing on the build as it is possible to do so far this week. I have stained, sanded, lacquered, sanded, lacquered and sanded one piece of wood for the lighting rig.

On the downside, at this rate it is going to take until Christmas. On the upside it is one attractively finished piece of wood.

Life might allow me to work on the plumbing at some point this week.

Dave
 
asudavew said:
And not 1 pic for us Dave?
Click to expand...

As you wish - not just one but *two* pictures of my piece of wood. I don't think my photography skills really do justice to the majestic lumber of the noble plywood tree (it's the only tree with a laminated grain).

IMG_0472.jpg

IMG_0474.jpg


They say patience is a virtue in this hobby, but my wife has started hinting that maybe I should have a bit less patience and get a bit more done. I think she is losing the Zen in the keeping of a fish tank.

Dave
 
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