pdiehm
Valuable Member
This has been ongoing for a while now, for a variety of reasons. First it was reading everything I could, trying to understand what needs to be done, how it can be done and more importantly why.
Backstory is that one day my 4 year old daughter was watching my cichlid tank, and asked why we couldn't have Nemo. I explained to her as best that I could that the waters were different, and such. Little did she know that when she asked that, I immediately asked why can't we? Since I was working from home, with not a whole lot to do, I started reading up on it. I had a plan!
The plan
The plan was to turn my 75 gallon Cichlid tank into a 75 gallon FOWLR tank. I went to the local fish place here in town, and started to ask questions. She offered me a hang on the back overflow box. I told her that I'd think about it. Went home and read some more. I didn't like the idea of the hang on overflow box. If the siphon broke, wet carpets...wife majorly ****** off. Not a good scenario. My tank isn't reef ready...I'll buy a reef ready tank! Oops...jesus h...expensive! More on that later. I thought, why can't I drill the glass? Read up on that. AH HA! It's doable. More reading on what i need, and what kind of overflow I was going to use. At first, I was going to use a kit from glass holes, but where the tank is located, noise of any kind is not an option. Lots of "fixes" to make it quiet. None that I saw interested me very much, and saw a post about the BeanAnimal overflow system. Read more about it, googled it, youtubed it...QUIET!!!!!! YES!!!! Touchdown! 3 holes, but how far down, where to place them, all confused me some. More reading.
While i was reading, I started to think about what i wanted it to look like...and I quickly discovered, my 75 isn't big enough for 2 Nemo's, and Dory, amongst other things. Craigslist...here I come! Guy 5 miles away was selling a 5' 110 gallon Oceanic for $50. Cha-Ching! Was going to go get it, but whammo, tore my calf muscle a week before I was going to get it. Football season was starting, and since I coach, my time was going to be very limited, very soon. I had to wait until 2nd week of September. Went and got the tank. PROBLEM #1: my wife could barely lift it out of the truck with me. This was not going to be a problem easily solved. We got it down, and ****, that thing was heavy. 1/2" glass all around, and a big ole glass center brace. That thing pushed over 200lbs if i had to guess...empty. I cleaned it up the best I could, and noticed a lot of scratches. This shouldn't have bothered me, but it did. I ended up drilling 3 holes...flawlessly. Painted the back. But the issue of how we were going to get it from the garage to the house remained. There wasn't an easy solution. Started looking around for a new tank. Ideally reef ready but again, the cost...insane. Went to That Pet Place in Lancaster, and talked to someone...new 120 gallon for $280? Not bad. How much is the reef ready? $599....WHUT!!!!!! I asked right then and there...why are reef ready tanks so much more expensive than a standard one? I mean, 30 minutes later, and soaking wet shoes, I have 3 holes. He gave me no answer that I found valuable.
The Objective: Sell the Oceanic for as much as I can. I listed it for $250. Had a few inquires...then someone came, saw it, and offered $200. Sold. CHACHING! my $50 tank, just flipped for $200. Ordered the new tank.
In the process, I made my own stand. I'm not a very big DIY person, this was my first woodworking build since High School. It turned out quite nice, but i made some mistakes. First mistake I made was not making the plywood sheeting meet. It's not a big deal, I can easily cover the gaps. Second mistake I made, and this one bothers me is that I didn't leave enough room to hide the trim of the tank bottom on the top of the stand. I basically made the stand 61x18.5". I can do it, but can't really do it until the tank is in it's permanent resting place.
*************
AS of this moment, I have a tank, drilled...with a 48" overflow box on my garage floor (sitting on scrap 2x4's). I have a stand, that's eagerly awaiting it's guest (later this week, it'll get placed on the stand).
I cleared off my credit card, and then promptly put almost $1,000 back on it with black friday deals. Got an Aquamaxx skimmer, 75 lb Pukani Rock, a Hanna Checker for phosphates, a refractometer, 3 brute containers (2 32g, 1 20g), SeaKlear Phosphate remover, and my return pump, a Sicce Syncra 4.0. Explaining to the wife, that I essentially have everything I need to get going except sand, and that I saved approximately $400 was not the easiest thing I've ever done.
Next up is my plumbing. Once the tank is on the stand, I'll start rigging up the plumbing, and place my unions strategically since, I have to move the tank, I can't have the plumbing permanently assembled. It's gotta be able to be disassembled.
I need to order the glass baffles for my sump, and decide if I want to use a refugium or not. That requires more thinking about plumbing!
I need to figure out if I want 2 returns at the top of the tank or just 1 (leaning towards just 1).
Then I have to test it all out...and re-test it...and re-test it...and re-test it. Wet carpet is the quickest way for us to get a dog.
So my build started probably mid September, it's not complete yet. Why? Well, I coach football, and we have off 1 night a week. That night is typically spent with my wife and kids since I don't see a whole lot of them the other 6 days. Once the kids go to bed, I would work on the stand for about 45-60 minutes. this happened for about 2 months. Only in the past month have I really nailed the stand down and gotten it stained and such. Now Christmas is here, and the tree is where the tank would go. It's all good though. I figured January is when it'd go in the house. With my Pukani Rock still leeching phosphates (haven't had it a week yet), I have time. I'll keep dosing with SeaKlear.
When I get home, I'll add the pictures. It's crazy to see where it started...to where it is now...and it all began with a simple question:
Daddy, can we get Nemo?
Backstory is that one day my 4 year old daughter was watching my cichlid tank, and asked why we couldn't have Nemo. I explained to her as best that I could that the waters were different, and such. Little did she know that when she asked that, I immediately asked why can't we? Since I was working from home, with not a whole lot to do, I started reading up on it. I had a plan!
The plan
The plan was to turn my 75 gallon Cichlid tank into a 75 gallon FOWLR tank. I went to the local fish place here in town, and started to ask questions. She offered me a hang on the back overflow box. I told her that I'd think about it. Went home and read some more. I didn't like the idea of the hang on overflow box. If the siphon broke, wet carpets...wife majorly ****** off. Not a good scenario. My tank isn't reef ready...I'll buy a reef ready tank! Oops...jesus h...expensive! More on that later. I thought, why can't I drill the glass? Read up on that. AH HA! It's doable. More reading on what i need, and what kind of overflow I was going to use. At first, I was going to use a kit from glass holes, but where the tank is located, noise of any kind is not an option. Lots of "fixes" to make it quiet. None that I saw interested me very much, and saw a post about the BeanAnimal overflow system. Read more about it, googled it, youtubed it...QUIET!!!!!! YES!!!! Touchdown! 3 holes, but how far down, where to place them, all confused me some. More reading.
While i was reading, I started to think about what i wanted it to look like...and I quickly discovered, my 75 isn't big enough for 2 Nemo's, and Dory, amongst other things. Craigslist...here I come! Guy 5 miles away was selling a 5' 110 gallon Oceanic for $50. Cha-Ching! Was going to go get it, but whammo, tore my calf muscle a week before I was going to get it. Football season was starting, and since I coach, my time was going to be very limited, very soon. I had to wait until 2nd week of September. Went and got the tank. PROBLEM #1: my wife could barely lift it out of the truck with me. This was not going to be a problem easily solved. We got it down, and ****, that thing was heavy. 1/2" glass all around, and a big ole glass center brace. That thing pushed over 200lbs if i had to guess...empty. I cleaned it up the best I could, and noticed a lot of scratches. This shouldn't have bothered me, but it did. I ended up drilling 3 holes...flawlessly. Painted the back. But the issue of how we were going to get it from the garage to the house remained. There wasn't an easy solution. Started looking around for a new tank. Ideally reef ready but again, the cost...insane. Went to That Pet Place in Lancaster, and talked to someone...new 120 gallon for $280? Not bad. How much is the reef ready? $599....WHUT!!!!!! I asked right then and there...why are reef ready tanks so much more expensive than a standard one? I mean, 30 minutes later, and soaking wet shoes, I have 3 holes. He gave me no answer that I found valuable.
The Objective: Sell the Oceanic for as much as I can. I listed it for $250. Had a few inquires...then someone came, saw it, and offered $200. Sold. CHACHING! my $50 tank, just flipped for $200. Ordered the new tank.
In the process, I made my own stand. I'm not a very big DIY person, this was my first woodworking build since High School. It turned out quite nice, but i made some mistakes. First mistake I made was not making the plywood sheeting meet. It's not a big deal, I can easily cover the gaps. Second mistake I made, and this one bothers me is that I didn't leave enough room to hide the trim of the tank bottom on the top of the stand. I basically made the stand 61x18.5". I can do it, but can't really do it until the tank is in it's permanent resting place.
*************
AS of this moment, I have a tank, drilled...with a 48" overflow box on my garage floor (sitting on scrap 2x4's). I have a stand, that's eagerly awaiting it's guest (later this week, it'll get placed on the stand).
I cleared off my credit card, and then promptly put almost $1,000 back on it with black friday deals. Got an Aquamaxx skimmer, 75 lb Pukani Rock, a Hanna Checker for phosphates, a refractometer, 3 brute containers (2 32g, 1 20g), SeaKlear Phosphate remover, and my return pump, a Sicce Syncra 4.0. Explaining to the wife, that I essentially have everything I need to get going except sand, and that I saved approximately $400 was not the easiest thing I've ever done.
Next up is my plumbing. Once the tank is on the stand, I'll start rigging up the plumbing, and place my unions strategically since, I have to move the tank, I can't have the plumbing permanently assembled. It's gotta be able to be disassembled.
I need to order the glass baffles for my sump, and decide if I want to use a refugium or not. That requires more thinking about plumbing!
I need to figure out if I want 2 returns at the top of the tank or just 1 (leaning towards just 1).
Then I have to test it all out...and re-test it...and re-test it...and re-test it. Wet carpet is the quickest way for us to get a dog.
So my build started probably mid September, it's not complete yet. Why? Well, I coach football, and we have off 1 night a week. That night is typically spent with my wife and kids since I don't see a whole lot of them the other 6 days. Once the kids go to bed, I would work on the stand for about 45-60 minutes. this happened for about 2 months. Only in the past month have I really nailed the stand down and gotten it stained and such. Now Christmas is here, and the tree is where the tank would go. It's all good though. I figured January is when it'd go in the house. With my Pukani Rock still leeching phosphates (haven't had it a week yet), I have time. I'll keep dosing with SeaKlear.
When I get home, I'll add the pictures. It's crazy to see where it started...to where it is now...and it all began with a simple question:
Daddy, can we get Nemo?
