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- Dec 3, 2017
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I don't usually post here on R2R, having started a while ago on RC, but it seems like everyone is here now lol. I have our build thread there from our journey into the hobby almost 2 years ago, and it's time for a tank upgrade!
Husband and I have learned a lot on the past couple of years, and somehow we are still brave / bonkers enough to want to go bigger.
Our first tank was a Red Sea Reefer 425xl...and I regretted it almost immediately. It was too big to be a small tank, and too small to be a big tank. I actually love our 30 Gallon Red Sea nano 1000x more than the approx 90g tank. I think I even like the 55g generic QT setup more than the 90... Which is ridiculous.
To solve our issues, we are building a 210g setup in our attached garage, and turning the space into livable gaming area.
We found a tank through a local FB group, but unfortunately the guy who sold it to us had no clue what he was doing... But he seemed confident and we didn't ask enough questions. What he sold as a 250g is actually a 210. If he counted his sump, the total was probably 250 in total volume, but that isn't what he told us. We didn't do the math for the dimensions , so I guess it's shame on us.
The next thing we realized once we got into it was that there was NO POSSIBLE WAY that the tank had been properly sitting on the steel frame stand he sold us with the corner over flow down pipes where they are. The steel frame is 2 inches per rail, and the return pipe hole is only 1.5 inches from the back of the tank... To have the tank plumbed the way he did, the tank would have had to be shifted forward on the frame and over hanging the front ledge. Not good.
The glass is also very scratched, much more than was visible with the lights he had over it and the light blue painted background. We have buffed as much as we can but it is miserable and there are a lot left. We are hoping that they will continue to be as "invisible" as they were when we looked at it. With no water in it they are painfully obvious.
We are left wondering now what we really got when we bought this tank... But for better or worse, we have decided to go forward with it.
So far we have
-buffed the glass
-repainted the back in the area where he had applied a decal
-applied Rustoleum to the stand
-leveled the stand
-cut a new (nicer) 1.5 inch plywood top for the stand and sealed it
-cut holes in the plywood for the drain pipes and sealed them
-put screws down through it to secure to the metal frame (sunk below the surface) and applied more sealant.
Next up go the lights before the tank is placed on the stand because the ceiling is really high in the garage and we don't want to have to work around the tank.
We plan to make this a FOWLR tank and keep the 90 as a reef tank. Maybe. Probably. The 90 is still annoying, but mostly because our tang is going to be too big for it soon. He was little when we got him, but he is a fat and happy little guy who just wants to get fatter. [emoji23]
Pics coming momentarily...wish us luck! If this tank busts apart because the former owner did stupid things we will be very sad. I'm hoping he didn't ruin the integrity of the tank... We did see it holding water... But who knows?
Husband and I have learned a lot on the past couple of years, and somehow we are still brave / bonkers enough to want to go bigger.
Our first tank was a Red Sea Reefer 425xl...and I regretted it almost immediately. It was too big to be a small tank, and too small to be a big tank. I actually love our 30 Gallon Red Sea nano 1000x more than the approx 90g tank. I think I even like the 55g generic QT setup more than the 90... Which is ridiculous.
To solve our issues, we are building a 210g setup in our attached garage, and turning the space into livable gaming area.
We found a tank through a local FB group, but unfortunately the guy who sold it to us had no clue what he was doing... But he seemed confident and we didn't ask enough questions. What he sold as a 250g is actually a 210. If he counted his sump, the total was probably 250 in total volume, but that isn't what he told us. We didn't do the math for the dimensions , so I guess it's shame on us.
The next thing we realized once we got into it was that there was NO POSSIBLE WAY that the tank had been properly sitting on the steel frame stand he sold us with the corner over flow down pipes where they are. The steel frame is 2 inches per rail, and the return pipe hole is only 1.5 inches from the back of the tank... To have the tank plumbed the way he did, the tank would have had to be shifted forward on the frame and over hanging the front ledge. Not good.
The glass is also very scratched, much more than was visible with the lights he had over it and the light blue painted background. We have buffed as much as we can but it is miserable and there are a lot left. We are hoping that they will continue to be as "invisible" as they were when we looked at it. With no water in it they are painfully obvious.
We are left wondering now what we really got when we bought this tank... But for better or worse, we have decided to go forward with it.
So far we have
-buffed the glass
-repainted the back in the area where he had applied a decal
-applied Rustoleum to the stand
-leveled the stand
-cut a new (nicer) 1.5 inch plywood top for the stand and sealed it
-cut holes in the plywood for the drain pipes and sealed them
-put screws down through it to secure to the metal frame (sunk below the surface) and applied more sealant.
Next up go the lights before the tank is placed on the stand because the ceiling is really high in the garage and we don't want to have to work around the tank.
We plan to make this a FOWLR tank and keep the 90 as a reef tank. Maybe. Probably. The 90 is still annoying, but mostly because our tang is going to be too big for it soon. He was little when we got him, but he is a fat and happy little guy who just wants to get fatter. [emoji23]
Pics coming momentarily...wish us luck! If this tank busts apart because the former owner did stupid things we will be very sad. I'm hoping he didn't ruin the integrity of the tank... We did see it holding water... But who knows?