josvanmeer
Well-Known Member
Hello everyone!
My 40gal B needs an upgrade and I have been hunting the Marketplace for some used tanks lately.
Came upon a 120gal 48x24x24 with overflow built in (kind of, more on that later) and I picked it up for less than the price of an in-sump skimmer.
So he told me this tank he bought a long time ago and was basically just collecting dust in his garage, and he got this from a lady who ran a freshwater setup on it, but she didn't use the overflow; she used two fx6's to filter the tank so her smart idea was to plug everything up. How do you plug up an overflow? You usually leave the bulkheads on it and just cap them off with pvc caps or something of the like. Not these folks, I still have to take pictures of it, to show you guys what I am dealing with but the entire bottom 3 drains are covered with another piece of plexiglass now, with some narly silicone in between. Truthfully I can still see all three drain holes so I can easily drill them again but the bulkheads would now be sitting in between almost an inch of ****** acrylic, so Im hoping once I install them back they won't have any leaks.
Also, for some reason they thought it was necessary to dump an entire tube of silicone down the overflow so the whole bottom is now covered in some spungy contraption that I am now deciding on whether to just leave it (it's silicone, not gonna hurt anything) since it outs of sight anyway, or to redo the overflow of the tank.
If I redo the overflow I have to dremel the overflow out, which doesn't leave a nice finish but it gives me the chance to get all the silicone out, and since they acrylic blocked the overflow anyway I might as well just leave the overflow gone out of the tank and drill the back instead for a slim overflow like one from Synergy. Obviously this is gonna cost extra, so I'm not sure I want to go this route, since the goal with this tank was to just have it as a project tank, and if it didn't work out the way I wanted it to, just to buy a brand new glass one instead.
Things to do with this tank:
Leak test it's current state. Owner said he already did that, but you know how that goes.
Clean and polish the whole tank, the inside has lots of fine scratches on it I don't think they understood the concept of an acrylic algae scraper.
Possibly take out the overflow, drill back instead for a Synergy or other slim profile overflow.
Paint the stand, has to be white to match the kitchen.
Build a door for the opening, most likely just a big panel with some shaker trim on it, keeping it simple. Probably will fit in the opening with some magnetic latches that I will put in 4 or so places so it sits snug in place.
I bought this tank right before I am pretty much doing 12h shifts for a whole month so I won't be getting much done anytime soon.
Planning on getting this whole tank done by the end of the year, and then I have to start planning getting new equipment on it.
I do have a "wishlist" of things that are going on this tank, some of them brought over from my current setup.
Since this tank is going to be a mixed reef, possibly SPS dominant, I really wanted automation to be a big thing since it eases feeding coral and maintaining parameters.
I have learned a lot over the past year in reefing and I think I am ready to make the step towards more expensive livestock, currently I have only bought cheaper frags.
This should be the startup setup, ETA February 2021:
40gal sump, Jax Rax acrylic baffle kit (I have the 20gal long jax rax version now, I love it)
Aquamaxx Cones Q1 (medium Bioload can handle 110gal) Might have to upgrade to a Q2 for better handle on bioload. (200 medium, 130 heavy)
2x Radion Gen4 XR30W /Diffusers and RMS mounts. (this should cover the whole tank easily since ideal spread of these lights are 24x24, perfect!)
Phosban Reactor Two Little Fishies
Neptune Apex
Neptune Trident
Neptune DOS
Neptune COR-20 Return Pump
2x Vortech MP-40's
I think this should be enough to run this tank for a few years, and even would be enough if I wanted to upgrade something bigger, although thats quite unlikely.
This is gonna be quite a slow thread, feel free to follow it but updates should slowly come out over the next few months. If I hit the snag in that I think this acrylic box is unsalvageable I will have to sacrifice some shiny new equipment to buy a new tank instead. I think I will definitely keep the stand, what I love about it is that it's 38" high and I like the tall look. Im 5"10 and every reef tank setup I see I have to bend over to look at, that's just not my preference.
Thanks for reading and bear with me as I embark on this project!
My 40gal B needs an upgrade and I have been hunting the Marketplace for some used tanks lately.
Came upon a 120gal 48x24x24 with overflow built in (kind of, more on that later) and I picked it up for less than the price of an in-sump skimmer.
So he told me this tank he bought a long time ago and was basically just collecting dust in his garage, and he got this from a lady who ran a freshwater setup on it, but she didn't use the overflow; she used two fx6's to filter the tank so her smart idea was to plug everything up. How do you plug up an overflow? You usually leave the bulkheads on it and just cap them off with pvc caps or something of the like. Not these folks, I still have to take pictures of it, to show you guys what I am dealing with but the entire bottom 3 drains are covered with another piece of plexiglass now, with some narly silicone in between. Truthfully I can still see all three drain holes so I can easily drill them again but the bulkheads would now be sitting in between almost an inch of ****** acrylic, so Im hoping once I install them back they won't have any leaks.
Also, for some reason they thought it was necessary to dump an entire tube of silicone down the overflow so the whole bottom is now covered in some spungy contraption that I am now deciding on whether to just leave it (it's silicone, not gonna hurt anything) since it outs of sight anyway, or to redo the overflow of the tank.
If I redo the overflow I have to dremel the overflow out, which doesn't leave a nice finish but it gives me the chance to get all the silicone out, and since they acrylic blocked the overflow anyway I might as well just leave the overflow gone out of the tank and drill the back instead for a slim overflow like one from Synergy. Obviously this is gonna cost extra, so I'm not sure I want to go this route, since the goal with this tank was to just have it as a project tank, and if it didn't work out the way I wanted it to, just to buy a brand new glass one instead.
Things to do with this tank:
Leak test it's current state. Owner said he already did that, but you know how that goes.
Clean and polish the whole tank, the inside has lots of fine scratches on it I don't think they understood the concept of an acrylic algae scraper.
Possibly take out the overflow, drill back instead for a Synergy or other slim profile overflow.
Paint the stand, has to be white to match the kitchen.
Build a door for the opening, most likely just a big panel with some shaker trim on it, keeping it simple. Probably will fit in the opening with some magnetic latches that I will put in 4 or so places so it sits snug in place.
I bought this tank right before I am pretty much doing 12h shifts for a whole month so I won't be getting much done anytime soon.
Planning on getting this whole tank done by the end of the year, and then I have to start planning getting new equipment on it.
I do have a "wishlist" of things that are going on this tank, some of them brought over from my current setup.
Since this tank is going to be a mixed reef, possibly SPS dominant, I really wanted automation to be a big thing since it eases feeding coral and maintaining parameters.
I have learned a lot over the past year in reefing and I think I am ready to make the step towards more expensive livestock, currently I have only bought cheaper frags.
This should be the startup setup, ETA February 2021:
40gal sump, Jax Rax acrylic baffle kit (I have the 20gal long jax rax version now, I love it)
Aquamaxx Cones Q1 (medium Bioload can handle 110gal) Might have to upgrade to a Q2 for better handle on bioload. (200 medium, 130 heavy)
2x Radion Gen4 XR30W /Diffusers and RMS mounts. (this should cover the whole tank easily since ideal spread of these lights are 24x24, perfect!)
Phosban Reactor Two Little Fishies
Neptune Apex
Neptune Trident
Neptune DOS
Neptune COR-20 Return Pump
2x Vortech MP-40's
I think this should be enough to run this tank for a few years, and even would be enough if I wanted to upgrade something bigger, although thats quite unlikely.
This is gonna be quite a slow thread, feel free to follow it but updates should slowly come out over the next few months. If I hit the snag in that I think this acrylic box is unsalvageable I will have to sacrifice some shiny new equipment to buy a new tank instead. I think I will definitely keep the stand, what I love about it is that it's 38" high and I like the tall look. Im 5"10 and every reef tank setup I see I have to bend over to look at, that's just not my preference.
Thanks for reading and bear with me as I embark on this project!
