WTB a 180 gal tank

[platax88]

Guess what ya'll!!!!

Just been given the OK to go freakin' in-wall!!!

Right in the family/bonus room. Will use the guest bedroom behind it as a fish room/office.

You don't understand how happy i am. This is a dream come true... So now i just need a tank ... no stand or canopy. Still thinking of a 180

 

[james3370]

glasscages would prob be the best route then....since you can customize the drilling the way you want, only need to do starfire on the front pane & can pick it up

 

[Angela Short]

Wooo whooo! If you get custom look at Chucks overflow he had Glasscages do. I really like the idea of it not going all the way to the bottom payne of glass and itwould be almost unoticable when you get the coral in.
On another design idea what about the whole back glass being a huge overflow so you do not see the actual box for the overflow in the tank? I know this is done as a false wall on nanos and I have seen it on a bigger tank at finns. What would be the down side to it if any? It could also function like the HOB fuges do, could it not? Just throwing out ideas to think about... Seriously though... couph it up for taller.... Especially inwall... Need me invite your wife over for a play date with the kids and work on her for ya . Plead the case...
Seriuosly with you as a do it yourselfer you can make this a awsome tank and put the money you would have spent on a Canopy/stand in the tank now.

I will look in the attic but I think I have plenty of left over trim if you want to use the same trim I did. That kinda stuff is where hidden costs creep in!

 

[platax88]

Hey Angela!! ha, a few hours hanging with you and she'll be wanting a separate nano a pred tank and dart frogs!!!

What do you think that instead of going 30" tall i go 30" wide? This would provide an interesting opportunity to aquascape and more swimming space for the larger fish. When you had the old tank setup (the one Brian now has) did you go bare bottom with starboard? I think thats the direction i am leaning towards.

Also, i PMed Wayne about the tank you mentioned in the garage. If i don't run into one soon i will just go with glass cages. What do you think about the glass-holes.com overflows. Thanks for the trim offer, I'll let you know bout that.

If anyone else got some suggestions/feedback they are appreciated!

Thanks all!

 

[poolkeeper1]

Just found this on the drygoods selling forum. Thought you might want to take a look. blFuller 123 Nice tank.

Bill

 

[platax88]

Thanks Bill .... What an awesome tank. Way too tall for my needs though and out of my price range for sure.

I'm sure the right one will come along soon! If not, Glasscages it is

 

[platax88]

Still looking for one ... let me know if you know of any

 

[NeveSSL]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13700095#post13700095 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by james3370
:werd:

you can get this overflow kit from glass-holes.com for $85 that includes the overflow box, bulkhead & fittings, along w/ the glass hole saw. they also have return kits.

http://www.glass-holes.com/product.sc?categoryId=3&productId=7

that is where i'm gettting everything to do my build very soon

FWIW, I'm working out the details, but there will probably be some Glass-Holes stuff for raffle at the Frag Swap.

Those guys rock!

Brandon

 

[platax88]

Thanks Brandon ... i am going glas-holes for sure if i get a glasscages tank.

Do you think there is any risk drilling with the bits they provide... I would hate to crack the new tank. Maybe i should just lt glas cages drill it

BTW -- They do ROCK!!! I appreciate their humor

 

[james3370]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13740615#post13740615 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by platax88
Thanks Brandon ... i am going glas-holes for sure if i get a glasscages tank.

Do you think there is any risk drilling with the bits they provide... I would hate to crack the new tank. Maybe i should just lt glas cages drill it

BTW -- They do ROCK!!! I appreciate their humor

i was considering have glasscages drill my holes back when i was gonna build my tank (might still build one LOL)....

anywhoo, i emailed glass-holes about the location that the bulkhead hole needed to be placed at & the size. they offered to send me a MDF template along w/ the overflow box & even will make a "kit" for you w/out the holesaw if you are gonna have it drilled when tank is being built. they also sent me a drafting diagram of the 700gph box w/ hole location & size. i still have it if ya want it.

i would say, if you decide to have the tank built, get the measurements where the overflow & return bulkheads need to be placed & have glasscages drill them for you while they are building the tank....i think they would only add less than $100 to the price & then there are no worries about breaking it drilling it yourself

 

[NeveSSL]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13740615#post13740615 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by platax88
Thanks Brandon ... i am going glas-holes for sure if i get a glasscages tank.

Do you think there is any risk drilling with the bits they provide... I would hate to crack the new tank. Maybe i should just lt glas cages drill it

BTW -- They do ROCK!!! I appreciate their humor

I love their humor, too! The business name alone is quite awesome.

I know their diamond hole saws are just as good as any of the others... in fact, I would bet that almost all of them are made in the same factory somewhere over the pond.

There is definitely always a risk, but I would consider it low if you do it correctly, which isn't difficult to do by any means. In my experience and from talking to others, as long as you take your time and cool the bit and glass (which can be done with a spray bottle... you don't HAVE to do the pool of water thing) you should be fine. If you'd prefer to have Glass Cages do it, then by all means have them do it, I just don't like the thought of paying $25 per hole (although I do understand why they charge that much... its a bit of a liability).

Brandon

 

[platax88]

Thanks James ... i think the holes are only $20 a piece to have them drilled by glass cages.

I am actually talking to someone about a 220g with built-in overflows Hopefully that would work!

 

[james3370]

the funniest (since it is sooooo true) thing on their site is this quote:

<i><b>An aquarium is a hole between sheets of glass that the aquarist fills with money</i></b>

 

[platax88]

Looks like i may have found a tank! A Perfecto 220g (6'X2'X30") in Chattanooga in almost new condition. Just waiting on pics to give the final ok.

Angela ... you win -- I ended up going 30" high. I hope my 3X250 hqi will be sufficient.

I will keep you posted and stay tuned for my in-wall built thread!

 

[NeveSSL]

Sweet, man! Can't wait to see the build thread. I plan on doing an in-wall eventually as well.

Brandon

 

[Angela Short]

Cool! You know Brian only ran T5's and I am gonna run 250 SE's So I think you will be fine. Unless you get some super rare high light SPS that is .
FWIW I rigged up a 400watt 20 K over Claudias tank (just what I had laying around) and hung it WAY above the water... like 2 ft and bleached out all the caps I had! I only ran the bulb a hour in the morning and about 3 in the evening trying to acclimate them! The polyps are still out and look fine but they are just pale white now, especially one. Funny thing is my brain seems to like the new light and is changing for the good. Glad you found a tank!!

 

[platax88]

Thanks Angela ... what 250 bulbs are you gonna run?

 

[Angela Short]

Ushio 20K, I love the color of the bulb. Not at all to blue, just right IMO and I don't care for a high blue 20K look but this is a very nice color. I got the 400 watters on a big bag deal with the bulbs also and ended up loving the color. I would love to run this bulb in a 250 but wonder if it will give the same look, just without as many watts? I may use 2 400's in the center, especially since I have them laying around and 2 250's on the ends. I run 4 halides since my tank is 7 ft. The 400 bulbs are new and the 250's I have are all real old so that would only put me buying 2 new bulbs to try out the 250 ushio 20k's next to the 400's also to see if the 400 is much different than the 250's.
I personally will probably swap out the 400's to all 250's when the bulbs are spent just to save on the electric bill, ya know? I have all 4 250 ballasts also from my old tank so I can play with what will work and if a 400 really is needed without having to buy ballasts and bulbs to just see.
I don't think I will have anything that "needs" the intensity of a 400 and my tank did real good even down on the sand with SPS with 250's in the old tank.
Also I love the look of the hamilton 14K I was running on the 250's but the ushios look like the hamiltons did with my added actinic I had to run to give the stuff that final pop you get from actinics. So with the ushios I am going to try to run just the halides during the day and have the actinics come on just for the dawn to dusk look to save energy.

I am also planning a gradual ramp up of lights by having the actinics first, then a set of T5 daylights for a time, then the halides and back down. My tank is the center of the home and I want light all day, not just from 1-7ish since a tank can't really have halides burn all day. Poolkeeprs tank looked great and he has this lighting theam and his t5's looked great and was plenty bright to have the tank look good during non halide times.

 

[platax88]

Thanks Angela ... your plan sounds good. I would love to see your system one day -- now that i am part of the "large reef" club!

What are you doing for flow? Please, check out my plan if you have a sec and let me know what you think:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1512539

Are you going BB with the new tank? I am thinking of starboard or bare glass.

Here is the scoop with my lighting.

I do not run any supplemental lighting so after much research i decided to go with M80(250w) HQI ballasts running 14k pheonix. This combo gives the most PAR and gives a nice crisp white/blue color without the blue/purple color shift that Pheonix tend to have on other ballasts. I think since i am going WAY deeper now ... when it comes time to upgrade, i will run 10K XM and add some VHO or T5 actinic.

Oh and FWIW -- it will be a mixed rreef but heavy on the SPS