[Ganrin]

How is the Achilles doing?

[WhatReef]

Concept Aquarium Systems Inc.

I'm from canada and they are located in Edmonton, im not sure where your from but if you in canada these guys make a desent tank, my 180 ran me about $1600 plus $200 to ship it, mind it came with starphire glass and durso drains, 4 holes drilled and all bulk heads as well as some lock lines for aiming the flowing around the tank, oh and Euro bracing at the top

[WhatReef]

I'm sad to say the Achilles didnt make it, it was doing really well in the QT tank but i got careless, i forgot to turn back on the air stone after feeding him because he prefer to eat with it off and i forgot to turn it back on after and sadly it died and im kinda mad at myself for it. all its ich was cleared up too as i did hypo salinity which worked wonders but i was careless and stupid and i can only blame myself.

Have you ever flushed $250 down a toilet?

did not enjoy that!

[Ganrin]

Originally Posted by WhatReef

Have you ever flushed $250 down a toilet?

did not enjoy that!

Yes, in fact I have, and generally by my own fault.

[WhatReef]

should have more pics soon

[WhatReef]

Hey would anyone out there be able to tell me what size of sump i should go with for my 180g, i was thinking between 50-70g and my skimmer will hang on the out side as well as my sump pump with be an outside pump. let me know thanks, i plan on making it a sump /refugium in one so im think a long tank thats about 18 inches high and 24 wide if i can cause than i can do frags and stuff as well.

[jlombardi29]

i'm gona use a 75 gallon for my 125

[WhatReef]

yes im trying to find the biggest tank possible to fit under my stand, so i can have the refugium and frag section all in one tank, im think 100gallon

[WhatReef]

well i rebuilt the stand legs so that the corner flow plumbing is able to pass through the stand with no problems, also the stand ins't 100% yet i still have to add some more bracing but i will do that once i have got my sump done and i also put up the dry wall (sheetrock) on the out side or the fish room. Also i moved the 180 tank into the basement down a very tight stair case that was fun, anyways here some pick on what thing look like now.

oh and i put my dog (Ringo) in the tank for fun and took some pictures lol

also you can see some of the plumbing for the tank
(thats two huge dursa drains and 2 return hoses)

[WhatReef]

i have to desided to go with a 65 gallon sump/refugium as i visited a local fish store and had them give me a tour of there 220g reef setup thats been running for over a year and only using a 65 gallon sump and looking at how well there tank is doing with its crystal clear water i have desided to use the same setup they have because the tank is just beautiful.

more pics soon.

[map95003]

coming along nice Garrett. Would you be making the sump out of a 65 or you getting a pre-built sump?...I'd make it, it's cheaper and you get exactly what you want. In my previous tank I bought one of those pre-built sumps, it was expensive and I got rid of a lot of the stuff that came with it.

[WhatReef]

yes i am custom building a 65 gallon sump but not by myself because i don't really have the time nor the tools to make it so my local fish store is building it for me to my exact specs which is nice so everything will be just how i want it and i may even ad another tank later on for fragging but thats down the road a ways still but i spent about 1.5 hours with the staff at the lfs who have designed many sumps for there store tanks so we look at a bunch of those designs and came up with one for me, here a clear idea of the sump system i will have (pic attached)

[WhatReef]

also i am having some second thoughts about my stand after spending all evening last night putting 3 coats of primer paint to seal the wooden stand so i don;t run into water damage down the road i have desided i must put more bracing on the stand cause my tank will weigh between 2000 - 2500 pounds and i dont want any mishaps lol that would most likely put me out of the reef hobbie and hurt my wallet at the same time, so im going to reinforce this stand more just to be on the safe side but i going to get the tank on the stand as it sits empty just to get some weight on the stand and have it settle as wood is never 100% straight that way i can do some minor adjusting with the stand and ad the bracing when the tank is in place.

Note: If you have a perfectly level floor (not like me) go for a metal stand, thats the only reason i built my stand as my house is 40-50 years old, you can save alot of time, energy and maybe even money im not to sure but metal is always best over wood.

[WhatReef]

Step: 3

Seal wooden stand with 3 coats of paint so no water damage can occur over time, and cut holes for bulks heads to run threw stand down into 65G sump system. Did i mention how much fun it was to paint 3 coats underneath my stand lol, another reason to go with a metal stand, but its nice to say I made this from scratch(in a manly voice)lol.
(pics attached)
note the last pic of the wall front i had to cut about 3 inches higher on the drywall and that is the exact size of the tank front so that gives you a clear imdea of the tanks size and what it will look like.


Next step is to get the top piece above the tank put in (framing and drywall) than i can place the tank on the stand and ad some extra bracing once the tank is in place stay tuned for more progress. Also i should be buying so electrical things this week provided i don't get side tracked.

Anyone feel free to toss your coments at me at anytime, id love to hear your input.

[WhatReef]

K i finnally figured out how to post pics better so don't bother clicking the pic files above as these are the same pics.

[WhatReef]

i took some pics of my 110 today here they are.
Thought i should mention how time consuming a 110 reef tank can be when you are a business owner and finishing your basement and building a new reef setup at the same time lol im always running around.

[WhatReef]

Step: 4

I desided to put the tank on the stand jsut to make sure everthing lined up nicely and ofcourse it didn't, my plumbing holes were short by a lil but there was no majour problem other than that and hopefull once a get the water in the tank, the tank will settle a lil better on the foam i have under it.
Here some pics.

[WhatReef]

Step: 5

Plumbing the sump and tank using PVC white piping and special cement to bond together the joints. I was able to find all this at Home Depot/Lowes for under $50. Now i have desided to only use 1 ball valve as i feel it is only needed for the return lines so that when the pump is off i don't get any back flow and when the pumps off i would think that the drain pipes would stop draining as the main tank is not filling up with water since the pumps off. But during construction you never know i may deside to ad another one if someone conviences me otherwise.

Note: When using this cement be sure to wear gloves as it has be known to cause kidney failure if handled wrong ( thats just in extreme cases but better safe than sorry)

[WhatReef]

i know how much i love seeing pictures of other peoples tanks on here so thats why i have made the effort to take as many pics as possible while building this system, So heres some picks of the sump.

Here's an end shot of the sump where the pump will hook up(big hole) and the auto top off (small hole)

Heres the sump compared to the display tank, i could barely move the sump by my self (sliding it across the floor)

[WhatReef]

Well after getting all the plumbing and everything at 10pm at night, i found i didn't have a saw to cut it to length so i was left with nothing much to do so I added a bag of Reef Sand to the display tank as i plan on filling it with water within the next week. I guess i could of hung up my shirt thats been in the back ground for quite sometime lol

$50 a bag for this Reef Sand

[jlombardi29]

what r u useing for support on the front of your stand

[WhatReef]

the stand is incorporated into the wall if you go back to the first post of this thread, the first picture posted is of just the framing and you can see everything bare and what i have done to support the front of the stand and as for the back of the stand after i get the sump put in its final place with the plumbing and everything I will be adding a center brace at the back of the stand for extra support most likely in the form of a steal sqaured piece im not exactly sure yet as i want as much access as possible. Hope that helped.

[WhatReef]

As for my plan above the tank i will be hanging some Metal Halides not exactly sure what im gong to do yet but im going to design it so that they can move up and down easily so if i need in the tank or whatever they can be moved. Also for the bulkheads they came with a rubber gasket on the one side that goes in the tank so all i did was tighten them up and water test them and they had no leaks i didn't glue them or nothing so that was pretty easy and i only tightened them by hand as i don't know anyone with a wrench that size or even how i would get a wrench in the tight spot that are in so i tightened them as tight as my hands would allow and they don't leak so im happy

As for a finish date I don't really have one set im just going as fast as i can and making sure i do things correctly but im hoping by the end of next week to have the tank filled and running providing everything goes to plan, as long as the LFS has my pump and Auto top in stock it should be good than i will seed the sand bed with some sand from my 110 to cut the seeding time in half and than i will start Aqua Scaping, but im not sure if i wanna go out and buy new larger pieces of rock or use my rock from my 110 as some times it can be tricky when your rocks are covered in coral and its already a pain in the A$$ getting in and out of that tank so i might start with fresh rock im not 100% sure what i wanna do yet cause i wanna make sure this tank looks amazing when its done i don't wanna just throw rock in a pile like i have seen people do on here, i wanna actually take the time and REEF SCAPE some nice ledges and caves and what not, i have saved a rock from my very first setup which i think will make an awesome cave door for my fish and i have had this rock for over 2 years and have been saving it for this tank so im very excited to put it in there. So over the next week i will deside what i wanna do but i think i may go buy a few un cured show piece rocks cause why do all this work unless its going to look amazing right i mean ill have around $4000 in equipment alone when i get the pump and lights and such plus all my fish and coral i have now, this system will be worth around $6000-$7000 like thats alot of money lol mind you i have had everything custom made Im sure if i went with a generic tank and sump i would of saved alot of money but i wanted it to be exactly what i wanted and i plan on living here a while and hopefully this ads valve to my house I hope.

[Daddyoh1]

Cool ! It's funny I have 2 pieces of coral from one of my originals from 30yrs ago and feel the same way. One piece is in my sons nano being seeded the other real big piece I hope to use as a center piece ( it has 2 holes in good spots and has a slight curveiture at the top which I envision somebody cosying up to ) in what I hope will be like a three island set up. Same here as for shelfs and caves and tunnels and alley ways & so on & so on. Just found out today a fs assistant will be working at a new fs and says he will help with accessories when needed and as well with rock and live stock. the new store wants to generate a buzz which wil be a win win. Where do you get your rock from? my son is thinking of breaking down his nano to souly concentrate on the 120. He's got alot of nice rock and corals which will be a big boost. Are you thinking of different ratios of sub say live to sand or finr to med. ? I plan on pearlys so I need some mix for them to build in. Was planning at least a 4" bed going up 6 ? in the middle of the tank.

[WhatReef]

Personally i would go no lower than 1 inch and no higher than 2.5 inches as you have a sump with a sandbed which mine will be 2.5-3 inches deep and in the sump is where all the magic happens, if you go to deep in your display tank you will have to maintain it alot more but if you dont have a sump a deeper sand bed can be better however it is not always the case, search through some forums and read up on sand beds because a 4 inch bed it very high and would take away from your displaying view as the substrate would be showing 3 inches up the front of your tank and also it would cost you big bucks.
As for sand i plan on using just regular reef grade sand as its the most beneficial and easy to maintain i had very fine sand in a tank and i found it to be more of a hassle than anything although it looked very nice I think im just stick with the caribsea substrate.
Also you wanna make sure your rock are proped up off the sand or make sure they are touching the bottom of the tank as sand with move and your critters will move it so you don't want things falling over in a 120. As for my Rock i just search around for the best deals i have no particular supplier as no one should cause there are always better deals somewhere else but for the most part i deal with Big Al's for my hardware and what not because i have found if you go to smaller lil fish store things are more expensive usually double.