Finally! Natalie's 180 Gallon Shallow Reef

NatD · Mar 4, 2019

Hey there. :)

Thanks for stopping in!

I ordered custom blinds for those windows so I can close as needed — and luckily those windows lead out to a covered patio so the light is indirect.
When the blinds arrive, I can close it down completely at sunny times.

I’ve had this tank set up before, and cleaning the far ends isn’t as easy as the front ones. You’re right there. But it’s totally doable because it's so shallow. I’m doing it right now while I clean it up.

Love the thoughts! Feel free to keep them coming. "Have you thought of...." questions are the best questions!

NatD · Mar 4, 2019

NatD · Mar 10, 2019

Weekend update:

I'm so happy with how all of the benches and stand are turning out!

It may not LOOK a lot different from a week ago, but we did a ton of work. The wood is primed and painted (first coat anyway), the blue pine that won't be painted has 3 coats of poly. The doors and remaining trim pieces are done too, just need paint. I'm so impressed with what my husband is putting together for me. :)

I buffed and polished the tank (dang that's a hassle!)

I ordered the light hangers from BRS and they'll arrive Thursday so we will hang the lights next weekend.

Blinds should be along a bit after that (I had to order them custom so it's taking just a bit).

From there it'll be a little delay because the overflow is about 4 more weeks out (it's shipping with the top), but that'll give me time to dry fit the plumbing and get the water mixing station put together.

chefjpaul · Mar 10, 2019

NatD said:
Weekend update:

I'm so happy with how all of the benches and stand are turning out!

It may not LOOK a lot different from a week ago, but we did a ton of work. The wood is primed and painted (first coat anyway), the blue pine that won't be painted has 3 coats of poly. The doors and remaining trim pieces are done too, just need paint. I'm so impressed with what my husband is putting together for me. :)

I buffed and polished the tank (dang that's a hassle!)

I ordered the light hangers from BRS and they'll arrive Thursday so we will hang the lights next weekend.

Blinds should be along a bit after that (I had to order them custom so it's taking just a bit).

From there it'll be a little delay because the overflow is about 4 more weeks out (it's shipping with the top), but that'll give me time to dry fit the plumbing and get the water mixing station put together.

Beautiful!

dbraun15 · Mar 11, 2019

Wow! Great project. What kind of wood and stain/varnish is used on the walls? Really like the look of it!

Clownfish2 · Mar 11, 2019

NatD said:
Thanks for stopping in and looking! I am glad to have found this forum -- so friendly. :)

My favorite part of a reef is actually the ecosystem -- biodiversity and teeming with life and funny little creatures -- so the thing I know for sure is I'll order "The Package" from TBS.

I've never actually tried my hand at SPS, so I would like to do that at least in part. My concern with the shallow depth is some limitation in type here, but tabling/plating types could be awesome. I also intend to select all CB fish.

What is The package and TBS? Makes me feel my Reef tank needs it too.

DannyD · Mar 11, 2019

dbraun15 said:
Wow! Great project. What kind of wood and stain/varnish is used on the walls? Really like the look of it!

Hi, I am her husband. Thought I could answer those for you. The wood is a tongue and groove blue pine. I stained it with just natural stain after I used wood conditioner. I do this so that the stain is taken evenly and not splotchy. Then the poly is an oil based glossy. It tinted the wood a little bit but with all the white, I am happy with how it turned out.

dbraun15 · Mar 11, 2019

DannyD said:
Hi, I am her husband. Thought I could answer those for you. The wood is a tongue and groove blue pine. I stained it with just natural stain after I used wood conditioner. I do this so that the stain is taken evenly and not splotchy. Then the poly is an oil based glossy. It tinted the wood a little bit but with all the white, I am happy with how it turned out.

Agreed. Thanks...impressed with your craftsmanship.

NatD · Mar 11, 2019

Clownfish2 said:
What is The package and TBS? Makes me feel my Reef tank needs it too.

Oh definitely check it out! TBS is Tampa Bay Saltwater. TBSaltwaterdotcom

Lately it appears to be more common to start from dry rock to avoid bad hitchhikers, but I love the diversity of the base of the ecosystem so much that I’m willing to spend the weeks (or more lol) trapping naughty crabs before I stock in order to achieve it.

StingrayNYC · Mar 11, 2019

NatD said:
Weekend update!

Decided to polish out the scratches while it’s empty.

Bought the requisite sandpapers and Novus 1, 2, 3.

Learned that polishing acrylic is a gigantic PITA and has a learning curve.

Yes it's a lot of work. I polished an 8 ft long panel but I used 1000-6000 grit sand paper and also used an electric car buffer which made the job easier.

The build looks great so far!!!

HairyGary · Mar 11, 2019

Looks great! Where did you get the tank? Love the dimensions!

NatD · Mar 11, 2019

HairyGary said:
Looks great! Where did you get the tank? Love the dimensions!

Thank you! I had it built locally a few years ago.

NatD · Mar 11, 2019

StingrayNYC said:
Yes it's a lot of work. I polished an 8 ft long panel but I used 1000-6000 grit sand paper and also used an electric car buffer which made the job easier.

The build looks great so far!!!

Yes! I made it about an hour before we went and and bought an electric buffer. It wasn’t terribly scratched, but had a few for sure. Made an incredible difference.

NatD · Mar 28, 2019

We have light!

Getting this to look the way I want ended up being a bigger challenge than I anticipated.

First, I had to figure out how best to space the 4 Vervve fixtures. The wonderful @oreo5457 calculated the light cone from each puck for me, and so I was able to land on what I believe will be the best spacing (attached).

The next challenge was how to hang these above the tank securely, so we painted, trimmed, and mounted a 4'x4'x1" panel above the tank and secured it into the floor joists above. That won't fall!

This is about the point when I realized that the cords for the power supplies won't reach up/over/down and into the stand and I had no idea where to put these big ugly things. We bantered around a few ideas, and my husband came up with this winner:

It does a wonderful job hiding these monsters

He put silent fans in each end to keep air moving in there.

We are still considering whether we want to do more to paint/hide the remaining black cords.

I think it looks quite nice all put together. Here it is with the lights on as low as possible:

One of the lights started acting up just a bit -- disconnecting from the master, etc -- I bought them used off a couple display tanks in a LFS that was going out of business and this one looked like it may have had some trauma but worked when I bought them. So, we went ahead and just ordered a replacement while I can still get them easily. Then that one that's acting up can just be a back up or something.

The blinds came and I love them on those windows!

We also had a structural engineer out yesterday to assess the floor under the tank. She advised us on how to reinforce by sistering 2x10s up to the 4 floor joists that run under the tank so we will do that before filling -- really easy since the basement is unfinished.

I received and approved the final rendering for the top from Octo Aquatics. Looks awesome. Matt is really great to work with.

The return pump will arrive from BRS today! I went with the Reeflo Hammerhead/Barracuda Gold Hybrid because of how it handles head pressure. It will feed a manifold to allow me to adjust how much flow goes to the display vs the 92-gallon refugium.

Tomorrow a Kessil A80 will arrive for my nano so I can take the A360 back for this build -- I'll have a pair of these on the refugium.

Next job: designing the plumbing. This is my least favorite bit. ;Bookworm

Janci · Apr 1, 2019

Nice job on the lights.
I have my tank also in sunlight during a part of the year.
This is only a couple of hours a day in the late afternoon, but I love the look and the corals love the light.

NatD · May 3, 2019

Toys!

This is a happy update!

I received my OctoLid, and it's so gorgeous.

Skimmer arrived a few minutes ago -- went with the RSK600.

The return pump is also here. Went with the Reeflo Barracuda Gold Hybrid. This thing is beefy. It weighs as much as my toddler. I have no doubt it'll push the water up from the basement just fine. :)

I guess I can't procrastinate on putting together the plumbing any longer. Here we gooooooo....