So It Begins: Reefteck's 120 Reef Build Thread

[ReefTECK]

I'll be brief for my first post in this thread, as anybody who browses this corner of RC has seen me around for a while. Thanks to a gracious best friend price, I am purchasing a 120 gallon tank from SkinnyT120 who will soon be called SkinnyT60.

Today I went to Menards and broke ground on the project. I got 18 square feet of vinyl tiling, 2x4's for framing the stand, and some nicer wood for the canopy. The stand will get churched up later with trim. I only spent 120 bucks.

I immediately broke ground and tore out the carpet:

Installed the vinyl flooring:

And put a basic frame together. There are still 8 more vertical supports to add, full header around the top within the frame, and crossbrace between headers, a rear central support, and some additional support to keep the vertical supports pegged in their respective corners. I am going to leave the front open with no center brace:

Don't worry I know the stand doesn't quite look right, I haven't screwed together most of the frame yet. Thanks to my buddy Dan Z I used his miter saw to make a billion cuts in just 15 minutes!

More tomorrow when the stand is complete. Then off to help Jeff empty that sucker this weekend!

Wish me luck, maybe I'll be able to get to sleep now!

Ltz,
Andy

 

[lil gramps]

so far so good Andy...subscribed. I'll be over at Jeffy's this weekend to help, hopefully you can make it!
~Eric

 

[tangers]

Looks good man! Like the idea of the tile floor around it, will def. help with "minor" spills! Do you still plan on keeping the 75 running too, or is everything getting transfered?

 

[ReefTECK]

Hey Tangers, thanks for chiming in, yeah it will be a total transfer job. I am changing the orientation of how the tank sits to accommodation the layout of the living room. The lights will all be new (2x400 watt radium 20k's with lumenarc mini III reflectors), and there will be a new 1/3hp chiller.

I was pretty meticulous about measuring and cutting, measuring and cutting, but the stand still has a little diagonal wobble. Less than 0.5cm. Is this something I should be concerned about?

The top rail is all doubled up, with a center brace between, with a third flat perimeter capping the top. The front two braces are constructed of 3 2x4's, diagonal bracers on the side, only two 2x4s in the back two corners, a rear vertical center brace.

I gotta say I feel more confident in this design than I do with the out of the box AGA stands I've seen. I think it's going to be just fine.

ttyl,
Andy

 

[lil gramps]

Andy, I wouldnt worry about the wobble. The stand I built did that too, As soon as the tank went on, it went away, and was still level! Maybe I just got lucky and you should be worried, I dont know, I always ask you about these things. :hammer:

 

[ReefTECK]

Andy, I wouldn't worry about the wobble. The stand I built did that too, As soon as the tank went on, it went away, and was still level! Maybe I just got lucky and you should be worried, I dont know, I always ask you about these things. :hammer:

I'm kinda thinking it won't matter, I submitted this question to the DIY forum and the resounding proclaimation is that I should shim the bottom where needed, and check the top of the stand for leveling. I think any fluctuations are probably due to the bottom not being perfectly square. Again this wobble is less than 0.5cm perhaps something on the order of 2-4mm. I'm going to check the top, shim the bottom and load it.

Good to hear you had the same problem, and your tank is rimless right? just glass bracing across the top?

 

[SlukBunWalla]

Yeah my stand I built had a bit of a wobble when it was just framed up too. I would imagine it would be nearly impossible to have it be PERFECT...unless your an engineer. Once my stand was skinned and there was a 600+ pounds of tank on top of it, it was fine. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

I'm stoked about your new tank...and Jeff's new cube. I like how we all trade amongst ourselves...

Be careful where you move your elbows when you're working on that beast. We wouldn't want anything bad to happen to Katie's fairies. We all like you better alive and with all of your vital appendages. haha

 

[lil gramps]

Good to hear you had the same problem, and your tank is rimless right? just glass bracing across the top?

Yessir, my stand was also made out of steel and it even settled right down. If you can get a tiny shim in there it would prob. be a good thing. But like everyone said - the main thing is to make sure the tank is level once you get it on the stand. If its not, u should just give up and give me all your stuff!
~Eric

 

[tangers]

But like everyone said - the main thing is to make sure the tank is level once you get it on the stand. If its not, u should just give up and give me all your stuff!
~Eric

Happened to me also many times, just make sure the tank sits level. If the tank sits level, shim the stand, if not there could other issues. Make sure the tank sits level though because if you rely on the weight of the tank to "make it sit level" you risk stressing the glass and possibly cracking it or splitting a seam! :eek1: :thumbdown

 

[ReefTECK]

Be careful where you move your elbows when you're working on that beast. We wouldn't want anything bad to happen to Katie's fairies. We all like you better alive and with all of your vital appendages. haha

Yeah no **** man! I moved her shelf over. I hope you had a better evening and got to feeling better. It was nice to see Allie, and I really think the store is looking nice. There's alot more open space now, and I like that alot.

Some guy came in to pickup that column tank today, he goes by Snowman on RC and I've seen him around the forums. I hope he chimes in here. Said he has a 120 also. Seemed like he was pretty involved with his reef too.

I'm glad to see everybody stepping up to take control and responsibility. I even think Ron is trying harder.

Happened to me also many times

Somebody gave you all their **** because it just wasn't working out? lol That actually DID happen to me, just once though. A 100 gallon acrylic tank with all sorts of fixings. Among them my Ice Cap 660, my blue tang, and the wet/dry sump and external little giant pump I'm currently using. :spin1:

Yeah they just GAVE it to me. Oh did I mention about 150lbs of live rock, among it about 40lbs of tonga...(that I ****ing sold!...(idiot))

Hey guys I'm going to bed....ugh..exhausted

cya,
Andy

 

[snowman82]

Hey andy thought i'd stop in on this build too. got the tank home and busy searching round trying to figure out what i'm going to do with it. looking for lighting mainly now haha. tank should look good there in the corner. my stand wasn't perfectly level and wobbled a little too but when you put 1200 pounds on it, that kinda takes care of it all if you get any cheap 250w systems in let me know, dont wanna diy a canopy really

 

[ReefTECK]

Hey andy thought i'd stop in on this build too. got the tank home and busy searching round trying to figure out what i'm going to do with it. looking for lighting mainly now haha. tank should look good there in the corner. my stand wasn't perfectly level and wobbled a little too but when you put 1200 pounds on it, that kinda takes care of it all if you get any cheap 250w systems in let me know, dont wanna diy a canopy really

Thanks for chiming in, and giving me more assurance about the quality of my stand. Like I've said before, it really feels like a beast.

I ordered my two new 400watt XM's and 2x Lumenarc III Mini's this evening. I've got a trip for returns and a few more electrical supplies. I'm going to try to get the wiring run tonight when I get home (ambitious I know).

I'll be up in the morning to join Jeff over at his place for some preperations to move into his 60 cube, who knows I might even bring a tank home tomorrow depending on how well things go!

Then I'm going to start buying some really boss new acroporas, need some stylonophora, a couple new pieces of digi.

Actually I'm going to start a wish list:

-Rainbow Acans
-ORA Joe the Coral A.
-ORA Hawkins Blue A.
-Rainbow Stylo
-Red and blue grooved brain coral (Goneastera australensis)
-Pink birds nest
-Purple Acropora formosa
-more to follow not too many more

Edit: ORA Plum Crazy A.

 

[tangers]

Somebody gave you all their **** because it just wasn't working out? lol That actually DID happen to me, just once though. A 100 gallon acrylic tank with all sorts of fixings. Among them my Ice Cap 660, my blue tang, and the wet/dry sump and external little giant pump I'm currently using. :spin1:

Yeah they just GAVE it to me. Oh did I mention about 150lbs of live rock, among it about 40lbs of tonga...(that I ****ing sold!...(idiot))

Hey guys I'm going to bed....ugh..exhausted

cya,
Andy

No, I've had minor gaps/ stands being off when making them!

 

[ReefTECK]

No, I've had minor gaps/ stands being off when making them!

lol. I was actually being sarcastic. haha sorry, I knew what you meant, just thought I would gloat a little :fun2:

The tank is in place on the stand, I am going to still be taking it down to install a diagonal brace in the back to prevent racking. Also, I need to remove my header from the back side of the stand because it is blocking where my bulkheads will be dropping down through.

I ran my wiring last night through a bunch of PVC conduit and it was a real *****. I was up until 5am this morning finishing wiring the circuits into it. Now I have a draw from the living room circuit and one from the outdoor/garage circuit which never gets used anyways. I'm going to do some calculations and figure out how I'm going to split the draw between these two circuits.

I'm building the canopy today! Can't wait for my lights!

 

[tangers]

lol. I was actually being sarcastic. haha sorry, I knew what you meant, just thought I would gloat a little :fun2:

Lol, gotcha! Lookin good, makin some fast progress!

 

[buy_baff]

andy don't use that stand like that it's all going to come crashing down bro!!!:lmao:
just kidding it should be fine. looks good so far, i'm subscribing to your thread.

 

[snowman82]

I figured you would go with some radium bulbs i take it you didn't buy the light setup with the tank then? i have thought about putting better reflectors on my tank and stuff but i'm lazy and a dont want to mess with something that works already haha. what are you going to skin it with? cheap pine or go exotic? i'm really starting to like the look of maple with just a poly coat on it.

here is a pic of mine right after i set it up after my move..i need a new one
http://i575.photobucket.com/albums/ss193/chrisfrost82/P4300210.jpg

 

[ReefTECK]

I figured you would go with some radium bulbs i take it you didn't buy the light setup with the tank then?

Yeah there are two 400 watt metal halide ballasts that came with the tank, I trashed the old canopy, and the bulbs were spent. I knew I wanted Lumenarc reflectors so I've got them ordered. I was going to go radium but one of my ballasts are electric and the other is magnetic, and radiums only run on electric ballasts. So I opted for XM's they've been good to me before and I know alot of people who use them with good results.

What are you going to skin it with? cheap pine or go exotic? i'm really starting to like the look of maple with just a poly coat on it.

Cheap pine for me! I'm staining everything black though. I really like that ledge on your tank by the way.

andy don't use that stand like that it's all going to come crashing down bro!!!:lmao:
just kidding it should be fine. looks good so far, i'm subscribing to your thread.

Lol oh yeah I made some improvements today man!

I added a lengthwise diagonal brace to prevent racking and since I had to cut out part of my header on the back top panel for my bulkheads, I put in two more vertical braces on the back wall. This baby isn't going anywhere.

Also did the canopy, cleaned off the walls, painted the back of the tank blue, and removed the left hand overflow;

I decided that a good return flow of 400-500gph would be sufficient for water treatment in the sump, and I could utilize the extra space for improved water flow, coral placement, and fish space.

I'll seal the holes left with a 3/8" piece of acrylic and silicone placed over top from the inside. I also started staining the canopy today, got a couple more coats to go before I call it good. I'll finish that and skin the stand this week.

My Lumenarcs won't be here till the following week Aquacave has great prices, but everything I order is on back order. Suck.

G'night,
Andy

 

[snowman82]

umm how close are those reflectors going to be??? i had a lumenarc and it was about 6-9 inches tall. my lights right now are about 12-14 inches off the water surface and i'm still getting burn spots on my birdsnest with really crappy home built reflector setup. i think those lights are going to be super super close. just my though on initial observation, but picture could be deceiving and canopy could be taller than i think

 

[snowman82]

oh i would definately get 2 of the same ballasts though