180G build. First large tank!

keithw283 · Jan 30, 2019

Hey guys, I appreciate the warm welcome from everyone. This build is very new but some of you have been pressuring me to start the build thread (just kidding I love talking tanks) so here are a couple pictures of my stand, sump and tank.

I'm a little nervous about this stand just because I over engineered the hell out of my last stand. I'm sure this will hold fine as the store I bought it from has probably sold 1000s of these for this very tank. Still wish I would have just built my own though not only for peace of mind, but also I could have built one for much cheaper. Always build your own stands if possible. That's what I have learned from this.

Front of the stand

My old 90 gallon tank that I will be using for the sump

The tank itself. Anyone ever use SeaPora tanks? For all I know, it could just be made by my LFS and that's their brand. I've never heard of them and I had a really tough time finding anything online. The LFS is pretty reputable though so I fully trust them. Each overflow has a 1 1/4" and 3/4" holes drilled in the bottom.

Sorry for the mess in the house. This house has old wiring so those two blue boxes to the right are four outlets that I will mount to the stand plus I have a couple on the wall not pictured. didn't have time to do the whole room so just did what I needed for my tank. That is a fireplace behind the tank that I ended up covering up and making sure my spot for the tank was level because although it is currently -30 degrees with the wind chill where I live while I'm typing this, who needs a fireplace when you can have a reef aquarium?

This is all I have right now for this tank. My main thing I'm thinking about is my lighting. I'm between the Hydra 52s and the radion XR30 G4. are the radions worth the extra 200 each? Also, Both of these cover 36" and my tank is 72". will 2 of them be enough or should I probably get a 3rd one? I'll be posting more pics soon as I make more progress.

Edit: I will be adding a 2 x 12 frame beneath the tank that will raise it to be tall enough to give me plenty of room to work in the tank. I will also be adding some more bracing to the stand.

virtual reality · Jan 30, 2019

Will you have enough room to work in your sump? From the picture it looks really tall in the stand.

keithw283 · Jan 30, 2019

virtual reality said:
Will you have enough room to work in your sump? From the picture it looks really tall in the stand.

That is something I'm worried about. Only have about 7 inches. That sump is probably temporary but wanted to get some of my bigger equipment first and see if its doable just because I already had that tank

virtual reality · Jan 30, 2019

What do you plan to put in the sump?

wangspeed · Jan 30, 2019

Yikes. If it were me, I would reinforce that stand. Particularly the corners and something to keep it from racking from side to side.

Honestly, when I first saw the pic, I thought it was a canopy!

keithw283 · Jan 30, 2019

wangspeed said:
Yikes. If it were me, I would reinforce that stand. Particularly the corners and something to keep it from racking from side to side.

Honestly, when I first saw the pic, I thought it was a canopy!

Yeah it has me a little nervous. I have been thinking about reinforcing it a bit. I have everything I need to do it out back so I may do that today.

keithw283 · Jan 30, 2019

virtual reality said:
What do you plan to put in the sump?

Well for one I plan on putting a protein skimmer in there that I will never be able to get out as long as the tank is on the stand lol. Going with a slightly smaller sump. That's not bad news though because this just means I can make my 90 a FOWLR haha. That's for another time down the road though.

CindyKz · Jan 30, 2019

I would definitely go with a smaller sump. Mine is a tight squeeze and it got old really quick - I can only get the skimmer out by taking it apart, which means it doesn't get a full cleaning nearly as often as it should. You will appreciate the room to work.

keithw283 · Jan 30, 2019

CindyKz said:
I would definitely go with a smaller sump. Mine is a tight squeeze and it got old really quick - I can only get the skimmer out by taking it apart, which means it doesn't get a full cleaning nearly as often as it should. You will appreciate the room to work.

Yeah that's probably the best move. I have my skimmer list narrowed down to 4. going to look a little harder at those 4 and see if I can narrow it down even more.

keithw283 · Feb 1, 2019

Curing my rock from old tank. Is this even necessary since they are going into an empty tank? Ordered my protein skimmer, return pump, lights, wavemakers and reeflink for my radions. Will take pictures when they arrive.

keithw283 · Feb 7, 2019

added a 2x12 frame to raise it up to have plenty of room for sump. Gonna need a step ladder to work in it but that's fine lol. Also, I reinforced the stand with 1x4 and 2x4 in the corners and laying across the bottom. Going to add another 1x4 across the entire back for peace of mind but this thing isn't going anywhere.

I now have everything I need to plumb it and get started. Not pictured are my XR30 pros because obviously I had to test the thunderstorm and disco modes. I have all my plumbing parts and I'm thinking I'm going to use all 4 holes as drains and run 2 returns over the back of the tank. Hopefully will have water in it by the end of the weekend.

My rocks have been curing for about a week now. Once I get this filled I'm going to finish curing the rock in the tank so I can take 2-3 weeks working on my aquascape lol. You guys will hopefully help along the way. Let me know if I did a horrible job. Would love to start stocking it March 1 since I started curing my rocks February 1 but obviously I'll make sure the cycle is done before I do that. That's still 3 weeks out so we will have a few updates before that