120 gallon RR build

ChrspnicholsI · Apr 5, 2017

So this is my attempt at my first thread and documenting my new build. I talked the wife into a new 120 gallon RR tank if I replaced the carpet in the house at the time of the swap. This tank will be replacing a 90 gallon RR tank that has been set up for about 1.5 years now. Currently in the process of painting the inside of the stand and canopy a nice white.
My current 90 gallon has been put together with plans of a future up grade so all of the equipment will be moved over at the time of the swap. Also working on plans for some sort of cabinet to keep all the electrical stuff in and hidden away- things such as my apex and battery back ups for pumps. Also working on plans for plumbing. More up dates to come.

Murrel · Apr 5, 2017

Going to be beautiful Chris! Can't wait to see it come together for you!

ChrspnicholsI · Apr 16, 2017

Making small progress on the build. Got out to the garage Friday night and worked on how to install fans into canopy without cutting holes in new canopy. I am going to install the other fan off the old tank once it is ready to come down. Not too bad. canopy came out pretty nice after painting it.
I also think I got most of the plumbing here minus maybe one or 2 connections. Kind of like a big puzzle now.

ChrspnicholsI · Apr 16, 2017

Just finished up mounting the LED strip in the stand- this turned out pretty sweet and way brighter than I thought it would be. Gonna hook them to a break out box so they trigger when the door opens.

ChrspnicholsI · Apr 16, 2017

Figured I would take the time to add some pics of what this will be replacing. Also just picked up a piece of Gonzo Saphire Sage I'm stoked about! Will try to get a pick of this tomorrow.

dbl · Apr 17, 2017

Congrats on the upgrade...coming together very nicely. Your old system looks terrific by the way, so this one will surely impress!!!

ChrspnicholsI · Apr 30, 2017

Time for another up date-

Date has been set- May 16th is when the old will go down and new tank will go up. carpet is all paid for and ready to go. Got some more goodies in for the new tank. A return pump rated at 2400 gallons/hour and I got in the break out box to power the lights in the stand. I am also going to try the aqua scapefix to help make scape look cool. Its basically plastic beads you heat up then us to hold rock in different spots/positions.

I also made it up to aquatic art and picked up some killer frags for the new tank. They are chillin on the frag rack until the new tank comes. The Green Goblin which is a anacropora and then also the gonzo sapphire sage behind it. I also picked up a nice frag of WWC grafted monti and a killer milli.

here's a few more pics of how the 90 gallon is doing. Making the switch to metal halide about 2 month ago has done wonders for it.

Daniel@R2R · May 1, 2017

Looking good!

ChrspnicholsI · Jun 25, 2017

Been a very long time since I have been on here- I guess you could say life caught up to me and all of its business. Needless to say, the new tank is now set up and thriving. I will try cover some of what went on.

I ended up getting a cabinet from amazon to house all my apex stuff in- the deal with the wife is no cords allowed to show when looking at stuff- here is what I went with.

I built a fake door in the top side of it to house all the electronic stuff that goes along with a reef tank.

As with the actual break down and move of the tanks- I did loss quite a bit of fish and coral. Rookie mistake of not a big enough pump in the horse trough I used and lost them due to lack of oxygen. Caught it before it was a total loss but took the opportunity to get rid of the more "common" corals that were being housed in the aquarium. Here's a pic of the horse trough lined with plastic- I didn't want them coming into contact with the metal of the trough.