220 Aquarium Rebuild

cbrack83

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So I have read these types of threads for years and always loved them, so figured if im doing a rebuild on my 220 I should bring everyone along for my journey. Please excuse my writing I am far from an English major! :)

Currently I'm running a 220 gallon aquarium that I picked up used about 4 years ago on Craigslist. The tank has some imperfections but at the time I got a steal on it and it was the best way for me to get into a larger aquarium without breaking the bank. (Well atleast for aquarium standards ... haha)

I've been wanting to get a new aquarium but I had a well established tank and never wanted to take the risk of losing my fish or corals as a result of making a large change like this. Unfortunately around the time "covid" hit i added some new fish to my tank which were not a good fit and led to stress and other issues that basically wiped out my tank minus a couple fish. As alot of you know all to well how it feels and it was a gut wrenching time but its now put me in a place were I am going to be able rebuild it from the ground up with minimal worry. I have purchased a new tank and it should arrive in the next week or so. I'm going to build a custom stand that goes with the style of my house and not just a cheep stand that normally comes with them that well lets face it, they aren't usually the best looking things. (No offense if you have one :) )

I'm also going to make some changes to the sump and equipment along the way. I am not one to be a planner so I'm just going to role with it and plan and figure it out as I go. Don't get me wrong I have a good idea of what I want just don't have it down on paper. So stay tuned and I look forward to seeing what everyone thinks along the way...

Here's a picture of my current reef aquarium.

20200917_205039.jpg
 

kenchilada

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That's funny... I am building out a 215G and my stand is the same design with inset doors and trim. We have good taste.

By the way, who made your tank? Is that an external overflow?
 
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cbrack83

cbrack83

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Just got back for Lowes picking up some 2x4, 2x6 and some plywood... wow prices have gone up! Hoping to get started on the stand tonight or tomorrow.. i will posted pictures of the progress....

I also figured I would post picture of my existing sump setup that I will be reconfiguring as well..

20200918_170336.jpg
 
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cbrack83

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Got started on the stand last night. I should be able to park a car on it by the time I'm done which is probably good because my setup will probably weight more then a small car. Haha

20200913_180147.jpg
 
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cbrack83

cbrack83

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Just an FYI I just realized the stand is upside down in this picture... the 2x6 are the top of the stand...
 

kenchilada

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I didn't get to start on mine today because of storms! The tank is 72x24x29, but the stand will be 72x28. The extra four inches in back will be to hide an external overflow and plumbing. I'm curious to see how you skin yours.

Haven't had a tank quite this big before, so post any tips if you got em! :cool:
 
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cbrack83

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I'm going to most likely finish mine we top grade pineboards from a local lumber mill. Since I am painting it solid white no need to spend the money on something like maple... my stand us actually going to be 7' wide. Its going to allow me tobuild a vertical cabinet about 12" wide to house some of my controllers and other equipment.
 
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cbrack83

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I did get the top and bottom cut out and I will hopefully do a coat of paint on it today. Its not the finished product but I want everything white inside and out.. I'm also using an exterior paint to give it some water resistance incase of any water spills or leaks...

20200916_193551.jpg


20200916_200519.jpg
 
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cbrack83

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I had some time tonight so I got the first coat of paint on the frame of my new stand.. then headed into Lowes to pick up all my trim boards so I can start to trim out the stand... hoping to get going on that tomorrow night....

I also got word from BulkReef that my auto top off finally shipped that had been back ordered so hopefully that will show up by the end of the week...

Here a look at the stand so far. (I haven't secured the top down yet because it makes the painting of the frame much easier...

20200922_204555.jpg
 
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cbrack83

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So thinking about some aspects of my setup last night and I have a dilemma. I really want to make one of my cabinets a control box housing my apex and everything else however my tank is on my main floor and my sump is in my basement. Do they make any sort of extension for for the apex probes so I can have the apex upstairs but the probes in the sump in my basement?
 
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cbrack83

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Its been a few days since I had a chance to work on the tank. I spent the weekend camping with the family but put in sometime this evening starting to get the tank trimmed out.

Was definitely a process getting to this point like usual as you put it together different things come up with spacing and appearance that you didn't anticipate or visualize when planning it out.

20200927_150324.jpg
20200927_180826.jpg
 

vetteguy53081

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Great work on the stand
 

High pressure shells: Do you look for signs of stress in the invertebrates in your reef tank?

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  • I rarely look for signs of invertebrate stress in my reef tank.

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  • I never look for signs of invertebrate stress in my reef tank.

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