devildog12210
New member
So I have been a long time lurker. You guys have helped me with more problems than everyone of my old LFS combined. I got into the hobby by working at one back in high school. I had to come here to "unlearn" everything that I was taught. I have had various tanks throughout the years but decided to go a bit bigger this go round and not take as many short cuts as I have in the past.
I started out buying a 250 gallon glass tank off of craigslist sight unseen. :headwally: It was advertised as drilled and ready for water. I go and pick this thing up and it appears to be a one off tank. 72x22x36. Then it had one corner overflow drilled and two center holes for what I was told originated as a closed loop system. Then come to find out they were all drilled for 3/4 bulk heads. Who does that? After looking closely at the seams it appears to have some algae buildup though the inner silicone and all the way to the actual tank seam in a few places. I decided to cough it up as a lesson learned and just set that thing aside.
I made a few calls and scored a new Marineland 180 drilled with dual corner overflows and black silicone for $700. I was pretty happy with that. Tank prices seem to have come down quite a bit over the last 10 years or so.
After spending about 2 weeks looking at rocketengineer's thread I decided to tackle my stand. I wanted something that looked like a piece of furniture. My father-in-law is a very skilled carpenter and was more than happy to let me use his shop. I went for the slight overkill and used a 2x10 as my top brace and 2x4s everywhere else.
After prepping to frame and getting everything glued into place I went for a test fit of the tank before we skinned the stand. As it so happens the tank itself isn't level. :hmm3:
I am assuming it has excess silicone in the center front that isn't letting the brace sit level on the glass. It touches in the center but is off by about an eighth of an inch on both ends. The back sits flush. I called the LFS I bought the tank from and he said to fill it and it wont be a problem and to just fill her up. Knowing that Marineland will probably not accept a warranty claim with a homemade stand I am waiting for Monday to come around and speak to them directly. Hopefully I can get something in writing from them saying it is good to go or start the process of getting the tank swapped out.
Wife wants to skin the tank with cedar. I have ordered the wood and we should be starting the skinning process this week. As far as lighting goes it seems that LEDs are the new rage. When I got out back in 2007ish they were just starting to get decent. Before jumping all the way in with a several thousand dollar investment I ordered a trio of D120 Evergrow LED fixtures just to see if I can get over the fact they aren't halides. For only $375 for all three fixtures that is something I can love with as they can always be re-purposed to smaller tanks.
My LFS gave me a sump that he had laying around that needs some minor repairs. I think I am going to run it along with a side refugium that will gravity drain into it. I am doing it this way due to the fact I want a slightly larger refugium than the sump has plus the excess water doesn't hurt either. I've spent time now doing various sketches on plumbing.
For pumps I have a Mag 12 left over from my last tank. I plan on using this until I can do some more research and make a more informed decision. Eventually I want to pick up an Apex controller so I would like everything to be compatible. I'm not worried about the dimming on the D120 fixtures at the moment as I view them as a temporary light source. The verdict is still out on a skimmer. There are a ton of options out there at many different price points. While great for the consumer it does leave a bit to wade though.
If anybody see any glaring disasters along the way please point them out to me. I want to do this one right and not drive myself into bankruptcy at the same time.
It also looks like there are a ton of build threads from around SWFL so if anybody has any used equipment feel free to send me a PM. The next step is just to get with Marineland on the tank issue. I'm just not motivated to do anything until I get that issue resolved first.
I started out buying a 250 gallon glass tank off of craigslist sight unseen. :headwally: It was advertised as drilled and ready for water. I go and pick this thing up and it appears to be a one off tank. 72x22x36. Then it had one corner overflow drilled and two center holes for what I was told originated as a closed loop system. Then come to find out they were all drilled for 3/4 bulk heads. Who does that? After looking closely at the seams it appears to have some algae buildup though the inner silicone and all the way to the actual tank seam in a few places. I decided to cough it up as a lesson learned and just set that thing aside.
I made a few calls and scored a new Marineland 180 drilled with dual corner overflows and black silicone for $700. I was pretty happy with that. Tank prices seem to have come down quite a bit over the last 10 years or so.
After spending about 2 weeks looking at rocketengineer's thread I decided to tackle my stand. I wanted something that looked like a piece of furniture. My father-in-law is a very skilled carpenter and was more than happy to let me use his shop. I went for the slight overkill and used a 2x10 as my top brace and 2x4s everywhere else.
After prepping to frame and getting everything glued into place I went for a test fit of the tank before we skinned the stand. As it so happens the tank itself isn't level. :hmm3:
I am assuming it has excess silicone in the center front that isn't letting the brace sit level on the glass. It touches in the center but is off by about an eighth of an inch on both ends. The back sits flush. I called the LFS I bought the tank from and he said to fill it and it wont be a problem and to just fill her up. Knowing that Marineland will probably not accept a warranty claim with a homemade stand I am waiting for Monday to come around and speak to them directly. Hopefully I can get something in writing from them saying it is good to go or start the process of getting the tank swapped out.
Wife wants to skin the tank with cedar. I have ordered the wood and we should be starting the skinning process this week. As far as lighting goes it seems that LEDs are the new rage. When I got out back in 2007ish they were just starting to get decent. Before jumping all the way in with a several thousand dollar investment I ordered a trio of D120 Evergrow LED fixtures just to see if I can get over the fact they aren't halides. For only $375 for all three fixtures that is something I can love with as they can always be re-purposed to smaller tanks.
My LFS gave me a sump that he had laying around that needs some minor repairs. I think I am going to run it along with a side refugium that will gravity drain into it. I am doing it this way due to the fact I want a slightly larger refugium than the sump has plus the excess water doesn't hurt either. I've spent time now doing various sketches on plumbing.
For pumps I have a Mag 12 left over from my last tank. I plan on using this until I can do some more research and make a more informed decision. Eventually I want to pick up an Apex controller so I would like everything to be compatible. I'm not worried about the dimming on the D120 fixtures at the moment as I view them as a temporary light source. The verdict is still out on a skimmer. There are a ton of options out there at many different price points. While great for the consumer it does leave a bit to wade though.
If anybody see any glaring disasters along the way please point them out to me. I want to do this one right and not drive myself into bankruptcy at the same time.
It also looks like there are a ton of build threads from around SWFL so if anybody has any used equipment feel free to send me a PM. The next step is just to get with Marineland on the tank issue. I'm just not motivated to do anything until I get that issue resolved first.
