Fish76's Long Time Coming 120XH Build

Fish76 · Oct 8, 2014

Fish76's Ultra 120XH Build

So this build has been a long time coming. I've been accumulating equipment over the past 2yrs anticipating a larger tank build, I actually bought my skimmer 2yrs ago :neutral:. But, I finally started working on it this May! A couple months ago my 65gal developed a leak at the bottom seams and Marineland was kind enough to honor their Lifetime Warranty and reimbursed me for both the stand and the tank! This was enough reason to start looking into a bigger tank. With the approval of the wifey :smile:, I decided to relocate the aquarium which meant I wasn't bound by a 36" wide tank. Sooo, a LFS was having a sale and I bought a 120XH tank and a 30gal sump. I've taken pics of my build since May of this year, so these next posts will be showing what I've done so far.

Fish76 · Oct 8, 2014

Here's my list of equipment so far:

Existing Eqiupment

120XH Marineland Tank (60x08x26)
30gal Marineland tank for sump (36x13x16)
(2) Kessil A360WE's (controlled by Apex)
DIY 12 Cree LED Supplemental Lighting w/Meanwell ELN-60-27D Driver (8RB & 4CW LED's)
DIY 4 LED (2RB & 2CW) Manual Dimming Moonlight (modified RapidLED parts)
Apex System: (3) EB8 bars, WMX Module, PM2 Module, AFS Feeder (2), (2) Breakout Boxes, (2) temp probes, standard pH probe, salinity probe
Float switches, leak sensors, magnetic sensors for Apex
Neptune Apex MPR probe holder
Reef Octopus XP1000SSS with Auto Neck Cleaner
Eheim 1262 Return Pump
Maxspect XF150 Gyre Pump
Santa Monica Algae Scrubber Surf2
Neptune DOS System for Continuous Water Changes w/44gal Brute Storage Container
Avast Marine MR5 Bio-Pellet Reactor (going w/Ecobak Plus pellets)
Avast Marine Davy Jones' Skimmate Locker (5.9L size)
Avast Marine Water Level Pressure Switches (bare lead version for Apex interface)
Aqua Medic 1000 Kalk Reactor
(2) Deluxe BRS Reactors (for Carbon & possibly GFO)
Custom 8x3.5x6 Internal Overflow Box (going w/Herbie)
BRS 150GPD RO Sys w/Booster Pump, DI Canister & 3gal RO Tank
Universal Rocks Marine 3D Background
110lbs Base Rock (Marco Rocks & CaribSea)
140lbs CaribSea Arag-Alive Special Grade Reef Sand
DIY Mesh Screen Tops
DIY Stand & Canopy

Possible Future Equipment

?????

Fish76 · Oct 8, 2014

This is what I drew up for the design of my tank. The right side of the stand is where all the electrical stuff will be. It'll have the sump, 3 reactors (carbon, bio-pellet & maybe GFO) and a Kalk stirrer. The tank will sit in a corner so the plumbing will be coming out on the left side of the tank.

SantaMonicaHelp · Oct 8, 2014

Very cool and impressive list. Looking forward to seeing your progress :whoo:

Fish76 · Oct 8, 2014

SantaMonicaHelp said:
Very cool and impressive list. Looking forward to seeing your progress :whoo:

Glad I got it over a 2yr period, or else I would have had to take out a small loan to buy it all at once :shocked:

Fish76 · Oct 9, 2014

Here's some pics of the stand I built. I used 2x4's and 2x6's. Used the 2x6's as headers so that I didn't need a center leg support. I used pocket hole screws only to secure all the pieces together.

2x4's and 2x6's all cut up

Bottom and top frames. I ended up changing the location of that center brace and ended up placing two center braces since my skimmer height would be a bit too tall and would interfere with that center brace.

Legs of the stand

All done!

Fish76 · Oct 9, 2014

Here's pics of the canopy I built. I used 1/2" plywood and bracing with wood glue and brad nails. I was gonna use 3/4" wood since that's what I used for my 65gal but thought that it would weigh a good amount for me to take it off and on myself if I needed to. So I went with 1/2" plywood. What I found though is that it did flex a bit more than I felt comfortable with so I had to add extra bracing as you can see in the pics. That solved it and stiffened up the canopy and made it light enough for me to remove and install it without the help of someone else.

I know, it looks like a coffin, needs some trim!

4" bracing found to be inadequate.

My little helper holding the trim for me while I nail it in.

Added extra bracing to stiffen it up, which did the trick!

All trimmed out, ready for some black paint!

Eienna · Oct 9, 2014

Be sure the stand is dead level!
Looks like that's gonna shape up real nice <3

Fish76 · Oct 9, 2014

Here's the doors to the stand. I originally was going with 4 doors as shown on my design pic in post #3, but decided to do just 3 since it's less work for me :bigsmile:, but also made it look less busy. Other than that, I pretty much stuck to the design.

Doors weren't mounted yet. I had to install another 1x2 on each side to mount the doors to the stand.

Fish76 · Oct 9, 2014

Eienna said:
Be sure the stand is dead level!

The stand was nice and level but when I eventually put it where it was going, I found the tile floor was somewhat un-even, so I had to shim it in the front a bit. I was very concerned about making sure everything was level. My original tank leaked at the seams on the bottom and even though I thought I leveled it properly when I set it up (on carpet), I'm thinking maybe it wasn't as level as I thought and over the 6yrs maybe that might have contributed to it leaking.

Fish76 · Oct 9, 2014

Here's the stand getting it's skin and some trim!! This was pretty cool seeing the skeleton stand transform into something that looked somewhat decent. This is the first stand I had built so I was a bit nervous on how it would turn out.

The front skin before being glued and nailed

Nice gluey mess!

Ok I may have gone a little overboard on the clamps......but the blue tape is where the doors would hide the nails and I didn't want any nail holes above it so relied on the glue to hold.

Another gluey mess!

Side installed

Eienna · Oct 9, 2014

Fish76 said:
The stand was nice and level but when I eventually put it where it was going, I found the tile floor was somewhat un-even, so I had to shim it in the front a bit. I was very concerned about making sure everything was level. My original tank leaked at the seams on the bottom and even though I thought I leveled it properly when I set it up (on carpet), I'm thinking maybe it wasn't as level as I thought and over the 6yrs maybe that might have contributed to it leaking.

OK. I'm loving what you'd done with it so far.

Fish76 · Oct 9, 2014

More pics of the stand getting skinned and trimmed.....

All skinned and trimmed out!!

Fish76 · Oct 9, 2014

So I was very nervous about drilling the tank for two reasons. One, I've never done it before and two, I've never done it before!! It would be a major fail if I cracked this tank. I read up a lot on it and watched youtube clips. I said screw it and went forward with it and honestly it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Yes, I was sweating bullets big time during drilling but when it was all done, it was all good.

I made a template for the drill bit to avoid the bit from walking and also to make sure the holes would be within my overflow box. I got my diamond bit's from BRS and eBay, both were cheapo's and honestly probably only could do 2 clean cuts per bit. I made a bone head mistake on my first hole, I would occasionally take the bit out to see my progress and then reinsert into the hole. Like an idiot, I took the bit out and didn't stop the drill when I reinserted it and the drill bit went all crazy and made a loud noise! I literally was sh---ng bricks. Luckily, only the glass plug got cracked and the glass around it was not damaged :doh:. I think the template saved me on that one......"Rule #1, make sure drill is turned off when reinserting into the hole".....noted :fish:

Two holes down, one more to go!

Success! Holes are all good!

Rob&Gab · Oct 9, 2014

Looks great!

Rule#1. Is always a must ;p

Fish76 · Oct 9, 2014

With the bulkhead holes all drilled out, I could finally install the overflow box. I'm going with the Herbie drains.

Fish76 · Oct 9, 2014

I always liked the look of 3D backgrounds. Plus I'm lazy and didn't want to have to always clean the glass when algae grows on it. I got this Universal Backgrounds Marine Rock which is super flexible allowing it to bend around the center brace. It's also pretty sturdy, made of some type of flexible silicone/epoxy I think with real crushed rocks stuck to it. On my 65gal, I had a foam 3D background and my hermit crabs would climb on it and actually pick off the foam. I don't think they'll be able to pick this one apart....

This is actually a 72" length. I had to trim it down to 60", which was easily done with scissors.