Okay so it's not exactly my first tank, but it was my first full sized tank with a sump so a lot of this process was new to me. I started in the hobby four months ago with a 28g cube that I found on Craigslist. It's a nice little tank and it's doing great, but I have been wanting to upgrade to something bigger since I started. My husband was totally against a bigger tank at first, thinking that I would lose interest quickly, so the 28g was a compromise with the understanding that I'd move up to something bigger if I liked reefing. Then he surprised me a month ago with a 75g tank as an early birthday present!
Ever since I got the tank, I've been spending almost all of my spare time researching or buying equipment for the new tank. My current tank doesn't have a sump, protein skimmer, ATO, or refugium so all of this was new to me. I probably would have been better off with an AIO tank but the spouse was finally on board with reefing so I was going to embrace this tank!
Anyways, a month later I finally have everything I need to get this tank up and running. I took two days off work and spent my long weekend getting my tank ready. First I had to drill the tank for the overflow and returns. I hadn't used an electric drill before this so it was intimidating to say the least...
It took me THREE HOURS to drill the first hole. I was so scared that the entire thing was going to explode at any second. Even though I had checked with the manufacturer to make sure it wasn't tempered, it was still pretty scary. After the first hole was done and I was sure the tank wasn't tempered, the next three went a bit smoother. I took it really slow the entire time and ended up spending the entire day just drilling those four holes but in the end I got a good result so it was worth it to me!
Please forgive these crappy pictures, the room my tanks are in is TINY and extremely cluttered right now. The cheap phone quality isn't helping, I guess my next tank upgrade should be a proper camera! Anyway, my next step was to dry fit the plumbing. I put together a diagram but this was a daunting task since I have no plumbing experience and no reefing friends to help me out. My awesome co-worker did have some plumbing experience so he offered to come over and help me put it together. I thought we'd be able to knock it out in a few hours since I already had a diagram but no, this process ended up taking another three days. Everyone on the R2R forums was really helpful and quick to give me advice, especially @W1ngz who patiently answered a dozen questions while I tried to figure out how to make this work! After a lot of adjustments, my plumbing was finally installed!
I dressed up the front of the stand a little bit too. I feel kind of silly posting it when so many other people on here make their own stands from scratch, but I'm really happy with the way it turned out.
I'll be testing the tank for leaks after I get home from work today. If all goes well, I'm hoping to finish laying out my aquascaping tomorrow and start adding water. My RODI is slow so I expect this to take a few days. I already have some bottled bacteria for cycling and I'll be adding a few pieces of rock from my current tank as well.
I can't wait to get it up and running! Best birthday present ever!
Ever since I got the tank, I've been spending almost all of my spare time researching or buying equipment for the new tank. My current tank doesn't have a sump, protein skimmer, ATO, or refugium so all of this was new to me. I probably would have been better off with an AIO tank but the spouse was finally on board with reefing so I was going to embrace this tank!
Anyways, a month later I finally have everything I need to get this tank up and running. I took two days off work and spent my long weekend getting my tank ready. First I had to drill the tank for the overflow and returns. I hadn't used an electric drill before this so it was intimidating to say the least...
It took me THREE HOURS to drill the first hole. I was so scared that the entire thing was going to explode at any second. Even though I had checked with the manufacturer to make sure it wasn't tempered, it was still pretty scary. After the first hole was done and I was sure the tank wasn't tempered, the next three went a bit smoother. I took it really slow the entire time and ended up spending the entire day just drilling those four holes but in the end I got a good result so it was worth it to me!
Please forgive these crappy pictures, the room my tanks are in is TINY and extremely cluttered right now. The cheap phone quality isn't helping, I guess my next tank upgrade should be a proper camera! Anyway, my next step was to dry fit the plumbing. I put together a diagram but this was a daunting task since I have no plumbing experience and no reefing friends to help me out. My awesome co-worker did have some plumbing experience so he offered to come over and help me put it together. I thought we'd be able to knock it out in a few hours since I already had a diagram but no, this process ended up taking another three days. Everyone on the R2R forums was really helpful and quick to give me advice, especially @W1ngz who patiently answered a dozen questions while I tried to figure out how to make this work! After a lot of adjustments, my plumbing was finally installed!
I dressed up the front of the stand a little bit too. I feel kind of silly posting it when so many other people on here make their own stands from scratch, but I'm really happy with the way it turned out.
I'll be testing the tank for leaks after I get home from work today. If all goes well, I'm hoping to finish laying out my aquascaping tomorrow and start adding water. My RODI is slow so I expect this to take a few days. I already have some bottled bacteria for cycling and I'll be adding a few pieces of rock from my current tank as well.
I can't wait to get it up and running! Best birthday present ever!