[WhatReef]

Hello Everyone,
For those who don't know me my name is Garrett i'm 23 years old, been into reefing for the last three years and have had a tank (110) for 1.5 year closer to 2 years i suppose and it has since out grown its stay in the 110g, so i have desided to turn it up and install a 180 gallon into a wall in my basement, i am starting this build from scratch so here we go.......

Step:1
I have desided to document my construction of my 180 gallon reef tank i am building into my basement so that others can see how its down and learn from my mistakes as well along the way. What i am doing is putting the tank directly into the wall witch will be attached to my laundry room for many reasons. Those reasons being, the laundry sink for draining water from the tank and running my R/O Unit and also to contain everything to one room and last but not least there is a floor drain 2 feet from where my tank with be going and thats a very good thing to have being if there was ever an accident but im going to cross my finger and knock on wood that nothing ever does happen.

So first i am building the wall that will incase the tank as my basement is unfinished, so here are a few pickture of want i have down so far there not the best as i am working out camera issues.

[WhatReef]

Step:2

I have already ordered my tank and it will have the following:
(Tank Dimensions 72x24x24)

2-corner overflows, with dersa drains 1.5" and bulkheads
2-1" returns with bulkheads, dual adjustable lock lines x2
Euro bracing around the top edge for easy access
Starphire Glass on the front panel for perfect viewing

The tank is suppost to arrive October,24,2008. so we will see.

[ljv]

Looks good! Make sure that the stand is nice and sturdy. Your setup will weigh close to 2000 pounds when filled. You'll love having the space in the room behind for your sump, refugium and equipment. Make sure to add several GFCI circuits to the room as well. Now is the time to plan ahead and avoid power strips and protect yourself and your critters.

[WhatReef]

yes thats a good point you make about GFCI circuits, I do plan on adding a few in the wall but i also have a battery back up system that i do blieve has ground fault built into it il have to double check that though but basically, i will make this a safe system cause i don't want to die tending to my reef that would just suck lol so yes thanks for that advice.

As for the tank stand i think it should be fine, I put alot of 2x4's into it and am going to ad a few more bracing peaces for ease of mind and it seems to hold me pretty well (195lbs) but thats harldy a 2000 lb reef, but i think to test the stand im going to just pile things on top of it as much as possible just to check cause this tank cost me alot of $ and i would hate to see the stand fail, but im positive it will be fine considering my 110 g tank is held by a big al's partickle board stand and its no comparison to this stand not even close.

Also im thinking for a sump i will build a 50 gallon sump/refugium, a longer 50 gallon i think i wanna go big but not to build but i think 50 would be good what are your thoughts?

[Hosser]

Nice start!!! this will be a good thread I always like watching the progress. First thing that popped into my head was "will the tank stand be in the way of the overflow bulkheads"?. Reason for me always wondering this is everytime I look at tanks (and it could be where I look at tanks) never give a dimension for where the holes are drilled.
Larry brings up some good points and even with everyones input there will be some head scratching and hammer throwing haha. Very well thougth out on the placement...no extra plumbing and plenty of power going to a landry room.

[WhatReef]

yeah well that why i bought this house had a big back yard and an unfinished basement with a perfect spot for an in wall reef setup and if funny that you mention the stand and the bulk heads cause i was actually just thinking that my self, i was thinking that maybe my legs on the back part of my stand may be right in the way of the drains and returns for the tank, Dammit!! so i guess tonight i will be throwing some hammers around lol, no i will just change it up no big deal im pretty laid back with projects, won't ruin my day over it but its funny how i was thinking that and you posted it right after i was thinking about it.

Oh and yes i think this spot is the best choice for a big reef i feel, the only thing im worried about is that in a few years il want a bigger tank, yikeesss. I think my lady would kill me lol, but than again i doubt it cause this tank will be very sweet when done.

[Hosser]

haha, well take a gander sometime at the stands companies sell for your size tank....they are dispicable. I cant honestly see how they stay standing. Keep that laid back attitude most of us have to learn that haha. When designing my stand I may very well be utilizing a arch support to open up under the tank while displacing the weight.
Its suprising how annoying having to plumb around you nicely new built stand can be haha. Your project is going to look nice Im sure

[WhatReef]

yeah honestly i think the only part im not looking forward to is the plumbing aspect of the project although my brother has alot of plumbing experience and has renovated over 20 houses i may call him for some advice and tips lol but i think il be alright for the most part. A project like this will take up ALOT of my time so i plan on building this setup swiftly and nicely. You should see my 110 tank its made of half inch partickle board, everyday i wonder if my tank has fallen over cause when i clean the glass the tank moves a bit and it stresses me out so the sooner i get this tank up and running the better.

[WhatReef]

my current stock in my 110 is:
(L-lareg M-medium S-small)

Regal tang (L )
Scopus tang (L )
2 Yellow tangs (M)
Atlantic Blue Tang (M)
Purple Tang (S-M)
Perc Clown (S)
Naso Tang (M)
Long Nose Hawk (M)
Koran Angel (M-L)
Six Line Wrasse (S)
Zebra eel (M) 3ft long 1.5" thick
blue linkia star fish (M) 5" reach
Green bristle stair (L ) 7" reach
Coral banded shrip (L )
various snails and crabs
and a crap load of coral and premium live rock

[Hosser]

how about some pics?

[WhatReef]

Heres some pics of my fish havn't got any of the Moral yet cause he always hiding. And im still getting use to my camera as you can see in the project pics i posted earlier, but here some i could find that are alright.

[WhatReef]

more pics, except the vlingi tang died a traggic dead one day.

[Hosser]

wow Nice!!!! hey enter that crab pic in the POTM ...... looks good

[WhatReef]

ok never down that before, will do, you call tell which pics are better than ther others thats when i knew how to work my carema now i dunno what im doing lol

where exactly is the POTM thread i cant seem to find it?

[Hosser]

Let me give you a link http://www.reefbuilders.com/forums/c...html#post95259

There ya go

[WhatReef]

thats man, and nice display pic lol super classy, is that yager he's drinking?

[Hosser]

yeah haah, found it on break.com
jeager = yummmm

[WhatReef]

just picked up an achilles tang($250)from the airport last week and with no suprize it got ich. so its in my QT and im doing hyposalinty to try and kill off the ich hopefully it survives as this can prove to be difficult to do with such a fragile fish. he was in my 110 fora couple days and he was eating a lil which was good to see him eat, so we will see how he makes out in the QT. the fish is 5 inches in sizeand very beautiful well he was until the ich came in lol but we will hope for the best. my plan was to wait until my new tank was up and running but these fish are not available very often so i already passed up a 6incher 3 months ago and this one was the perfect size, so i could resist.

will post some pictures of this beauty soon...

[WhatReef]

here the best pics I could get of my achilles in the QT tank

[WhatReef]

well i just got news that my tank is on its way from Edmonton to Ontario, should arrive next week sometime, im thinking thursday.

But in the mean time i have been adjusting my tank stand i built because i didn't think about my corner overflows when i built it so once thats fixed up and i got the drywall up i will post more pictures this weekend im hoping to have everything done, well except for the mudding and all that fun stuff.

[WhatReef]

IT HAS ARRIVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The 180 Gallon was delivered today and was still instacted from being shipped from edmonton to ontario anyways here's some pics of the tank

[Lightsluvr]

Now the fun begins!

That's a beautiful tang...

LL

[WhatReef]

lol well moving the tank down my narrow stair case was a success and nothing got broken except a little peice of the plastic edging which im going to remove anyways because i had the tank custome made and though they would not put that on but the did for moving purposes so i will post pics of my progress soon

[jlombardi29]

where did you get your tank made I'm looking for a good place to have a custom tank build

[jimw369]

Keep the pics coming!