Chels & Joe's 180 bankrupting beauty!

[ChelseaBidwell]

I love my modular marine overflow! I went with a 36” internal box.

We're going with the external! 24" internal. It's the 2400 gph model I believe.

 

[ChelseaBidwell]

Nice job! Is that a blonde Naso Tang?

Yes. Very aggressive! Might try the mirror trick...

Be careful with that. She might bust the glass. I think they're more powerful than the Mantis

 

[Omgitsjoe]

The overflow box was delivered today (pics to come). I need some advice on the return bulkhead locations!!! I am mounting the overflow centered. There will be 2 returns. I was thinking centered between the left of the tank and the left wall of the overflow and the right of the tank and the right wall of the overflow. For the height maybe 2" below the water line? Not really sure how high or low to mount the return bulkheads. What do you guys think?

 

[DaneGer21]

Here’s how I had mine done. I am using a 36” long overflow, so my return are centered within the remaining space. See cad below of my tank. As you can see my builder drilled mine at 2” on center. I am only using 3/4” returns/bulkheads.

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

I like the returns there. Or out by the sides. Think of final rock work and coral placement.

 

[Paulie069]

Sooooooooooo, I always start out expecting an epic failure when doing a new tank, but I feel pretty darn good about this one! Not only because of our decisions on equipment, but mainly because we are actually planning this one out and taking our time (as opposed to our spur of the moment, impulse buys, and erratic decision making with our previous tanks)

PSA: this is hard for me. I'm impatient and buy whatever looks good at the time instead of putting in the effort to research and make educated decisions. I'm an adult, I know. Blows my mind too! ;Hilarious That being said, bare with me through this disastrous/miraculous (unsure of which yet) adventure and pray we can get through it with full heads of hair! LOL!

To start things off, we decided we didn't want to get a brand new tank - where's the fun in that?! This is how we test the strength and boundaries of our love for each other! Haha!

So, we started looking for a used tank. Something for us to bring back to life! We've searched for weeks and weeks! Yesterday, we FINALLY found our tank. It's a 180, it included the stand and canopy. Trashed this canopy though, we're going build a floating one. We picked it up this morning, cleaned the filthy mess up (4 DAGGUM HOURS BTW), and just finished the 3rd coat of black paint on the back. By the grace of God, there's only ONE TINY scratch on the whole tank. WIN! We're going to be sanding and restaining the stand and probably redo the doors on it. Anywho, here are some pictures of before/after my deep cleaning. And, of course, my predictable shenanigans. ;Wacky
Btw, go ahead and note how hubs is a minuscule contributor. Had to notate that in case he tries to take credit for my hardwork and effort.
Love you babe! ;Smuggrin @Omgitsjoe

I'll update as we go along and hopefully we will have some huge progress in the very near future!
Oh, if you have any funny build pics, send them my way! This hobby is a headache majority of the time, so might as well have a little fun with it, right?! Happy reefing everyone!

Very cool such a large project to take on, but it’s never work if u love what ur doing. I just got done with my tank today and already thinking hmmm what’s next. I can’t wait to see what u do for aqua scape?, with all that room you have I’ll bet it’s gonna be epic. Good luck look forward to seeing more,,, here’s a pic of my new seahorse condominium

 

[splitting_lanes]

The overflow box was delivered today (pics to come). I need some advice on the return bulkhead locations!!! I am mounting the overflow centered. There will be 2 returns. I was thinking centered between the left of the tank and the left wall of the overflow and the right of the tank and the right wall of the overflow. For the height maybe 2" below the water line? Not really sure how high or low to mount the return bulkheads. What do you guys think?

I’d go only an inch below waterline. Less drain back into the sump when the pump is off.

 

[Omgitsjoe]

I’d go only an inch below waterline. Less drain back into the sump when the pump is off.

Im not really too concerned about drain back, I plan on using a check valve on the return pipes. I appreciate the feedback though!!

 

[Omgitsjoe]

Next weekend the first order of our plumbing will be arriving, our plan is to drill and start plumbing this beast!

I want to mimic this overflow piping



I plan on using 1.5" pipe. does anyone see any issue with this?

 

[Hemmdog]

Next weekend the first order of our plumbing will be arriving, our plan is to drill and start plumbing this beast!

I want to mimic this overflow piping



I plan on using 1.5" pipe. does anyone see any issue with this?

1.5 is pretty big, maybe do 1 1/4 inch. The returns I would do 3/4 or 1 inch. I’m not an expert plumber by any means though.

 

[Omgitsjoe]

1.5 is pretty big, maybe do 1 1/4 inch. The returns I would do 3/4 or 1 inch. I’m not an expert plumber by any means though.

The reasoning for the 1.5" is because I currently run the triton method on my other tank. Triton suggest 10x turnonver. So im looking at about 2200 GPH

 

[DaneGer21]

For my drains I went with 1” for all three, which I think would be plenty for you, if not 1.25”.

For return piping I ran 1” up to the tank with two 3/4” returns. I have a jebao dct12000 maxed out and only get just under 400gph(via 2 apex 1” sensors). 1- 1” ball valve, 4- 1” 90s, 1- 1” tee, 2- 3/4” 45s, 2- 3/4” 90s. 2- 3/4” bulkheads, 3/4” locline with 3” “flare” nozzles. And roughly 8’ of head pressure.

I actually wish I would have ran 1.25 or 1.5” for my return pipes with my two 3/4” returns.

I didn’t think I’d be so restricted on flow. A return pump with a rating of 3170gph but only getting 375-390gph.

So another words, oversize the return, not so much the drains.

 

[ChelseaBidwell]

What y'all know about that overflow, though? ;Smuggrin
Overflow and returns are finished! We ended up going 2" below the water line for the returns. We measured this thing like 10 times to make sure it was identical. Once the drill starts, you have to commit! Lol but I think it ended up looking really good. Filled it up, and as intended, you can't see the water line! I'm sooooo happy we went with this set up!! @Omgitsjoe is so OCD that he had to plan it all out on Solid Works. All the planning was worth it. I am in love! More updates to come!

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

Sweet! That looks great.

 

[splitting_lanes]

Looks great!

 

[Omgitsjoe]

After all that planning and measuring the overflow box is 1/32 too far to the right Trash it and restart?

 

[ChelseaBidwell]

Money Sucking Tank Update:

So, I am about 2-3 updates behind. So, prepare yourself for tons of pics and unnecessarily elaborated jibberish. Lol!

A couple weeks ago, we started stripping the wood. I couldn't take that ghastly color anymore. So, Joe spent HOURS sanding. No exaggeration. As soon as it was sanded, I started staining it with this pretty grey color (Coastal Grey). Wasn't sure if we would end up liking it, but I LOVE IT.

Then we started attempting to seal the bottom with hopes of creating a "bathtub". So, we put our first coat of epoxy. Then our 5th coat of epoxy. Another few coats, and before you know it, we're at 16 coats. Then, guess what? You guessed it! After buying and smothering the "tub", we ended up doing almost 24 coats. And roughly 1.5 gallons of that stupid epoxy. I NEVER WANT TO HEAR THE WORD EPOXY AGAIN!!!!
NEVERRRR!!!!!!

After we spent 2 weeks sealing it with epoxy, we took an extra precautionary step and sealed the joints (guesstimated 1/4 inch) with white silicone. I DARE THIS THING TO EVER ALLOW WATER ON MY CARPET!!!

After that, we started building our "power box? - cord box? - ugly crap box?" - not sure of the term. But it's where all our apex / modules / and corresponding cords (eyesores) are going to be banished to. Anywho, it's screwed into the frame of the stand and the front cover is removable. We used magnets. Pretty smart huh? It's magic - YEP. The "Dough Boy" kind of magic. ;Smuggrin
So, long story short, we can just pull it off as opposed to using hinges. The right side of the "skin" is removable also (yep - magnets - again) in case we ever need to get to anything from the side.

Then I put a little wood stopper under the front cover just in case the magnets don't hold up. YEP. Another (probably unnecessary) precautionary measure. And after my annoying, OCD, thorough shenanigans, we put the skin on to see how it all looked. I'm diggin it. As for the doors, I am still undecided on what I want. I'll eventually post an update on that once I stop being so indecisive. After those are installed, I believe we will be done with the stand.

Then we semi- started the plumbing. But, we're exhausted. So, we're gonna save that for another day. Side note - all pipes are blue, and we're using all SCH80 fittings. Pretty neat color scheme once I saw it all put together.

After all the hard, time consuming, headache inducing work, this is where we stand today. WHAT A DIFFERENCE. You wouldn't even know it's the same tank/stand if you weren't reading this thread.

Our next step is getting the sump and plumbing done. Maybe the doors. Oh, we're also going to be building a customized ATO. We will see how that goes? HA. Good night, guys! Happy reefing!

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

Loving the costal grey. Did you use a clear over it?

 

[Omgitsjoe]

Loving the costal grey. Did you use a clear over it?

Yes! We used 2 coats of Polycrylic

 

[raultsu]

Looking good