Hi everyone,
I have been in the hobby since about 2006, but recently took a 2 year hiatus due to losing interest, moving, being extremely busy at work, and a few other things. I knew I'd get back in once my wife and I bought a house, and we did that back in March. The wheels in my head have been turning about another tank since January, though.
I've always wanted a 180g (mainly due to hoping to keep an achilles tang), and finally had the opportunity when a very nice gentleman down in Alabama decided to give all of his stuff away to whomever could get there first. I scored the tank, stand, some rock, new sand in the bag, a skimmer, and various odds and ends. Couldn't be more ecstatic about this! And certainly have a hard time believing this happened! Many, many thanks to Jimmy, the gentleman who gave his tank to me. I'm hoping to do the tank justice.
This is a Glass-Cages tank from about 6 or 7 years ago. What does that mean? It means its 1/2" glass all the way around with euro-bracing on EVERYthing. :squigglemouth: It weighs at least 300lbs I believe. Built like a (wait for it...) tank, though, and I feel comfortable placing it in my formal dining room. This is how is sits today:
Its laying on its back due to bulkheads still being attached to it. Will be cutting those out tomorrow.
This build is going to be a bit slow. I'm doing this with extra money and am taking my time with it. My goal is to have everything up and running 100% by next April, which is when our next local frag swap is.
Here's the plan, as it stands:
So, tonight I tried to get a few things done. I wanted to get the rock bleached this weekend and get some of the horrible stench out of my garage (the heat index is triple digits this week, so the heat was making that rock STINK). Here is all of the rock I got out of the tank Wednesday:
This was just after hosing it down, trying to wash off all the debris, algae, and all other things I could before sticking it into the bleach.
Decided to put this on the little deck next to the door in our garage that leads to the back yard. Bad idea. Right after I filled it, one whole corner took a DIVE. Scared the CRAP out of me, but no permanent damage and all is well overall. Looks like I'll be buying a 4x4 tomorrow.
So, lesson learned. Drained the water out of the trash can, pulled it back into the garage, and filled it back up again.
So now the rock is soaking in a Continental Huskee (Brute alternative) 44g garbage can with an MJ1200 and MJ900 for circulation. I've got all of the pumps I found and the heaters soaking in vinegar and I washed the 100g stock tank that I will be using for a sump out as it had the drainings (for lack of a better word) from the live rock transport. Overall, a fairly productive night. But its time for bed for now. I'm exhausted, plus I've got to get up early to study (working on IT certifications.
I am beyond excited to get this build started!
Brandon
I have been in the hobby since about 2006, but recently took a 2 year hiatus due to losing interest, moving, being extremely busy at work, and a few other things. I knew I'd get back in once my wife and I bought a house, and we did that back in March. The wheels in my head have been turning about another tank since January, though.
I've always wanted a 180g (mainly due to hoping to keep an achilles tang), and finally had the opportunity when a very nice gentleman down in Alabama decided to give all of his stuff away to whomever could get there first. I scored the tank, stand, some rock, new sand in the bag, a skimmer, and various odds and ends. Couldn't be more ecstatic about this! And certainly have a hard time believing this happened! Many, many thanks to Jimmy, the gentleman who gave his tank to me. I'm hoping to do the tank justice. This is a Glass-Cages tank from about 6 or 7 years ago. What does that mean? It means its 1/2" glass all the way around with euro-bracing on EVERYthing. :squigglemouth: It weighs at least 300lbs I believe. Built like a (wait for it...) tank, though, and I feel comfortable placing it in my formal dining room.
This is how is sits today:
Its laying on its back due to bulkheads still being attached to it. Will be cutting those out tomorrow.
This build is going to be a bit slow. I'm doing this with extra money and am taking my time with it. My goal is to have everything up and running 100% by next April, which is when our next local frag swap is.
Here's the plan, as it stands:
- Tank: 180g Glass Cages
- Skimmer: Reef Octopus Extreme 250 (with 2 Sicce PSK 2500s)
- Lights: Definitely LED, probably ReefBreeders value fixtures. I just can't justify the extra cost for sunrise/sunset features.
- Return Pump: One of the DC models, probably a Waveline. 3000GPH at 85 watts? Yes, please.
- Water Circulation: WP40s and WP25s most likely
- Control: No clue yet. Looking into a Reef Angel, had an Apex in the past and loved it. I think there was a new controller announced at MACNA today, too.
- Sump: Rubbermaid 100g Stock Tank
- Other: Thinking about doing a remote deep sand bed, and algae turf scrubber, bio pellets, and a few other things. Not entirely sure yet.
So, tonight I tried to get a few things done. I wanted to get the rock bleached this weekend and get some of the horrible stench out of my garage (the heat index is triple digits this week, so the heat was making that rock STINK). Here is all of the rock I got out of the tank Wednesday:
This was just after hosing it down, trying to wash off all the debris, algae, and all other things I could before sticking it into the bleach.
Decided to put this on the little deck next to the door in our garage that leads to the back yard. Bad idea. Right after I filled it, one whole corner took a DIVE. Scared the CRAP out of me, but no permanent damage and all is well overall. Looks like I'll be buying a 4x4 tomorrow.
So, lesson learned. Drained the water out of the trash can, pulled it back into the garage, and filled it back up again.
So now the rock is soaking in a Continental Huskee (Brute alternative) 44g garbage can with an MJ1200 and MJ900 for circulation. I've got all of the pumps I found and the heaters soaking in vinegar and I washed the 100g stock tank that I will be using for a sump out as it had the drainings (for lack of a better word) from the live rock transport. Overall, a fairly productive night. But its time for bed for now. I'm exhausted, plus I've got to get up early to study (working on IT certifications.
I am beyond excited to get this build started!
Brandon
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