Hello everyone, I figured its probably about time to start my build thread on my new build since I already have livestock and equipment getting here for the new tank.
So here is a bit of background. I started this wet hobby 6 or 7 years ago now by getting into freshwater. We had just bought our first house and I really wanted to go with a large tank but we were remodeling and I knew I just didn't have the money. So I had a small nano tank that I setup. After getting bored of high tech planted tanks, I decided to turn my nano planted tank into a saltwater tank. Something I had wanted to do for years. I knew it would be difficult to start with a small tank but I was up for the challenge. I started my first saltwater tank a year and two weeks ago. I instantly knew that I would want a larger tank. Maybe 3 months in I upgraded from my small 9g nano to a MUCH larger all in one tank I made from a 20gal long aquarium.
You can see a bit about that tank in my build thread. Its doing great, and I'm learning new things as I go.
A few months after upgrading to that tank, I knew I wanted to upgrade again, but this time, I knew it would be a substantial upgrade. When I mentioned I wanted to upgrade the tank, my fiancé instantly said no tanks above 100 gallons and I have to finish the upstairs remodel we are in the middle of before I can set up another tank. Wanting to respect her wishes, I started looking at standard 90 gallon tanks. Keeping my eye out for a good deal. Then I realized that the 120 gallon tanks were the same foot print, and after some discussion I got permission. Shortly after this we found out that there is an amazing LFS that is about 45min north of us. The owner is awesome and super knowledgeable, and it definitely shows in his shop. While there my fiancé spotted a beautiful purple tang and asked if we would be able to fit that into a 120 or 90 gal tank. I knew she wanted it bad. Explaining that others have done so with success, it would be best for the fish to be in a 6' aquarium and that if she wanted one that bad, I could get a 125 standard tank and it would be just about the same water volume, just a different foot print. At first she said that was too big of a tank for our house, but after a few weeks of showing her other tangs and pictures of purple tangs she finally caved and agreed. So I began scouring marketplace for a good deal, knowing I still had to keep my end of the deal where I finish our remodel. A few weeks go by and I find a local guy selling a 180g tank, without a listed price. Now for my current house, a 180g tank was my dream tank so out of curiosity I message him asking for a price, and he says, if you come and get it this weekend and help me move a 210 gal tank then you can have it for $180. So I went right to the boss lady and started begging. She was not happy with me, but hit me with the, we bought this house for us to enjoy our own hobbies but just know that I'm not happy about such a large tank. I'm truly lucking to have such an amazing partner that understands and accepts my hobbies, even if I ended up with a tank that was double the original size we agreed upon. So I borrowed a box truck and some suction cups from work and got a few of my buddies to lend a hand.
When we arrived, I realized that there was a large issue with this tank. This tank wasn't a standard 180gal tank, it was completely custom. Instead of my dream dimensions of 72"x24"x24" it was 72"x18"x30". I thought about it for a minute and decided that for the price, the glass seemed high quality and was scratch free, so I couldn't really complain about the dimensions.. or so I thought. As it sat in my garage over the last few months, I came to the conclusion that a tank that tall and narrow would just be inconvenient and I had a major issue with it. I knew I wouldn't get a rockscape that I would be happy with and I knew that I would hate working in the tank as I'd have to keep a mask and snorkel nearby at all times. So I debated on selling the tank, and after a few days I told myself it was worth starting a new search. I was planning on listing the tank for sale the following day when I came across another thread here on the forums where the OP took apart an existing tank and used the glass to build a tank with different dimensions. What a brilliant idea! This would allow me to use the tank I got for such a great deal and I could try to change the dimensions to something I would actually like! So I spent the rest of the night doing some math seeing what I could end up with. I settled on the largest size that I can get out of the tank without going out and buying more glass.
Whew, I apologize for the long winded intro, but onto the good stuff. So Here is the plan.
Tank:
Tank size will be 72"x30"x18" which is approximately 168gal in volume. I chose this size for a few reasons. Firstly, I would only need to cut one panel down and I'd be able to cut out the existing drilled holes on the back panel. Secondly, this would actually create more useable swimming room for the fish. The height of tank is not really considered swimming room as fish don't generally spend all day swimming up and down, but by converting that height into width, that volume or space is then more useable for the fish. Thirdly, shallower lagoon style tanks are something that I've been in love with ever since I first saw a picture of one. The glass is 3/4" thick which should allow me to go rimless and ditch the black aluminum rims that came with on the tank. The tank will be located in my office which is open to my dinning room which is in the center of my house.
Sump/filtration:
At first I was just going to do a 40gal breeder sump in the stand. Then I thought, well a basement setup would be neat and doable. The fiancé then said no holes in the wall or floors. A few days later I asked why she wouldn't want the sump in the basement and her response was, if you drill holes in the floor, what are you going to do when we sell the house down the road? I came up with, cover it with a fake floor vent. She did one of these
So now the plan is to have a fish room in the basement with a large sump and attached frag tank. I'm hoping for a total system volume of 250-350 gallons. I will also have my water change station and hospital tanks down there. I have already gone ahead and gotten the fishroom ready to go and painted but I will post pictures tomorrow. I have even gotten a hospital tank up and cycled which I'm currently housing a pair of beautiful blue throat triggers that I just happened across and couldn't pass up. I'm not super worried about QT tanks, as my awesome LFS quarantines all his fish when they come in and he always has powder blues and browns in his tanks without a sign of ICH. I plan on buying all my fish through my LFS which means I don't necessarily need QT tanks, but I will keep a Hospital tank just incase. The sump I'm thinking I will make it out of plywood, pond armor, and acrylic for the baffles. Currently I'm thinking dimensions of 60"x30"x20" and utilizing a wet/dry system to handle minimal rockwork in the display and no rockwork in the frag tank. I also plan on a nice sized refugium in the sump. For a frag tank, I'm thinking of using a standard 45gal frag tank or possibly making my own frag tank in a similar manner to my sump. In which case, I'd probably go fairly large, 48"x30"x12" or something.
Stocking List:
Existing Fish:
Half Naked mocha clown x2
Purple Fire Fish
Scooter Blenny
Blue Throat Trigger x2
Would Like to add:
Purple Tang (Per fiancé's request)
Sailfin Tang
skopas or another zebrosoma tang
Powder Brown or achillies tang
Bristle Tooth Tang
Large school or two small schools of anthias (per fiancé's request)
Sailfin or Starry Blenny (per fiancé's request)
Midas Blenny (Per fiancé's request)
Flame Angel
Swallow Tail, Watanabe, or Bellus Angelfish (some of my personal favorite fish)
Coralbeauty Angel (Per fiancé's request)
A wrasse or two of some sort
probably a goby of some sort
Others I'm sure
I know I probably won't be able to follow my list 100% but I've really just more of a wishlist at this point.
Equipment:
Sump- custom made by me. Currently I'm thinking dimensions of 60"x30"x20" and utilizing a wet/dry system to handle minimal rockwork in the display and no rockwork in the frag tank
Lighting - I'm aiming for mixed reef and with such a wide tank I struggled with this. I was originally going to go with 3 kessil A360x's but I think I'm going to try out 3 Reefi Uno's instead.
Skimmer- I'm would really like an external skimmer like a Reef Octopus 250-EXT but I'm not decided at this point. I might try to find a used Lifereef skimmer. If I had to go internal I wouldn't be opposed as I'll be able to have plenty of room in my sump.
Pump- After doing some math between a DC and AC pump, I decided that the extra cost to run the AC pump was not worth the extra flow that isn't really needed. I can't afford an Abyzz so that pretty much left me with one choice, Sicce pumps. It just so happens that BRS had the Sicce Syncra pumps on sale for black friday and I picked up the Syncra SDC 9.0. Figuring I won't be running a controller for some time, the built in app will be beneficial to me. Plus when I feed, I can pause the pump without having to run downstairs. Also as a bonus, 5 year warranty!
Flow: Not sure, I'm using a Jeabo powerhead on my current tank and I'm happy with it, but I face a dilemma here. My glass is 3/4" thick. So I've been struggling to find any wavemakers that will work with 3/4" glass. I'd love some MP40's or 60's , but that just isn't in the budget. A pair of large gyres may work just fine for me. Likely it will be something I can find for a good price used.
For now though, as agreed upon with the boss lady around here, I must finish my upstairs remodel. Which I've been working hard on over the last few months and I'm finally on the home stretch and I hope to use the upcoming holiday weekend to complete everything. I'll post some pictures tomorrow of the fishroom. For now, just so there is at least one picture, the tank as it sits now.
So here is a bit of background. I started this wet hobby 6 or 7 years ago now by getting into freshwater. We had just bought our first house and I really wanted to go with a large tank but we were remodeling and I knew I just didn't have the money. So I had a small nano tank that I setup. After getting bored of high tech planted tanks, I decided to turn my nano planted tank into a saltwater tank. Something I had wanted to do for years. I knew it would be difficult to start with a small tank but I was up for the challenge. I started my first saltwater tank a year and two weeks ago. I instantly knew that I would want a larger tank. Maybe 3 months in I upgraded from my small 9g nano to a MUCH larger all in one tank I made from a 20gal long aquarium.
You can see a bit about that tank in my build thread. Its doing great, and I'm learning new things as I go.A few months after upgrading to that tank, I knew I wanted to upgrade again, but this time, I knew it would be a substantial upgrade. When I mentioned I wanted to upgrade the tank, my fiancé instantly said no tanks above 100 gallons and I have to finish the upstairs remodel we are in the middle of before I can set up another tank. Wanting to respect her wishes, I started looking at standard 90 gallon tanks. Keeping my eye out for a good deal. Then I realized that the 120 gallon tanks were the same foot print, and after some discussion I got permission. Shortly after this we found out that there is an amazing LFS that is about 45min north of us. The owner is awesome and super knowledgeable, and it definitely shows in his shop. While there my fiancé spotted a beautiful purple tang and asked if we would be able to fit that into a 120 or 90 gal tank. I knew she wanted it bad. Explaining that others have done so with success, it would be best for the fish to be in a 6' aquarium and that if she wanted one that bad, I could get a 125 standard tank and it would be just about the same water volume, just a different foot print. At first she said that was too big of a tank for our house, but after a few weeks of showing her other tangs and pictures of purple tangs she finally caved and agreed. So I began scouring marketplace for a good deal, knowing I still had to keep my end of the deal where I finish our remodel. A few weeks go by and I find a local guy selling a 180g tank, without a listed price. Now for my current house, a 180g tank was my dream tank so out of curiosity I message him asking for a price, and he says, if you come and get it this weekend and help me move a 210 gal tank then you can have it for $180.
So I went right to the boss lady and started begging. She was not happy with me, but hit me with the, we bought this house for us to enjoy our own hobbies but just know that I'm not happy about such a large tank. I'm truly lucking to have such an amazing partner that understands and accepts my hobbies, even if I ended up with a tank that was double the original size we agreed upon. So I borrowed a box truck and some suction cups from work and got a few of my buddies to lend a hand.When we arrived, I realized that there was a large issue with this tank. This tank wasn't a standard 180gal tank, it was completely custom. Instead of my dream dimensions of 72"x24"x24" it was 72"x18"x30". I thought about it for a minute and decided that for the price, the glass seemed high quality and was scratch free, so I couldn't really complain about the dimensions.. or so I thought. As it sat in my garage over the last few months, I came to the conclusion that a tank that tall and narrow would just be inconvenient and I had a major issue with it. I knew I wouldn't get a rockscape that I would be happy with and I knew that I would hate working in the tank as I'd have to keep a mask and snorkel nearby at all times. So I debated on selling the tank, and after a few days I told myself it was worth starting a new search. I was planning on listing the tank for sale the following day when I came across another thread here on the forums where the OP took apart an existing tank and used the glass to build a tank with different dimensions. What a brilliant idea! This would allow me to use the tank I got for such a great deal and I could try to change the dimensions to something I would actually like! So I spent the rest of the night doing some math seeing what I could end up with. I settled on the largest size that I can get out of the tank without going out and buying more glass.
Whew, I apologize for the long winded intro, but onto the good stuff. So Here is the plan.
Tank:
Tank size will be 72"x30"x18" which is approximately 168gal in volume. I chose this size for a few reasons. Firstly, I would only need to cut one panel down and I'd be able to cut out the existing drilled holes on the back panel. Secondly, this would actually create more useable swimming room for the fish. The height of tank is not really considered swimming room as fish don't generally spend all day swimming up and down, but by converting that height into width, that volume or space is then more useable for the fish. Thirdly, shallower lagoon style tanks are something that I've been in love with ever since I first saw a picture of one. The glass is 3/4" thick which should allow me to go rimless and ditch the black aluminum rims that came with on the tank. The tank will be located in my office which is open to my dinning room which is in the center of my house.
Sump/filtration:
At first I was just going to do a 40gal breeder sump in the stand. Then I thought, well a basement setup would be neat and doable. The fiancé then said no holes in the wall or floors.
A few days later I asked why she wouldn't want the sump in the basement and her response was, if you drill holes in the floor, what are you going to do when we sell the house down the road? I came up with, cover it with a fake floor vent. She did one of these
So now the plan is to have a fish room in the basement with a large sump and attached frag tank. I'm hoping for a total system volume of 250-350 gallons. I will also have my water change station and hospital tanks down there. I have already gone ahead and gotten the fishroom ready to go and painted but I will post pictures tomorrow. I have even gotten a hospital tank up and cycled which I'm currently housing a pair of beautiful blue throat triggers that I just happened across and couldn't pass up. I'm not super worried about QT tanks, as my awesome LFS quarantines all his fish when they come in and he always has powder blues and browns in his tanks without a sign of ICH. I plan on buying all my fish through my LFS which means I don't necessarily need QT tanks, but I will keep a Hospital tank just incase. The sump I'm thinking I will make it out of plywood, pond armor, and acrylic for the baffles. Currently I'm thinking dimensions of 60"x30"x20" and utilizing a wet/dry system to handle minimal rockwork in the display and no rockwork in the frag tank. I also plan on a nice sized refugium in the sump. For a frag tank, I'm thinking of using a standard 45gal frag tank or possibly making my own frag tank in a similar manner to my sump. In which case, I'd probably go fairly large, 48"x30"x12" or something.
Stocking List:
Existing Fish:
Half Naked mocha clown x2
Purple Fire Fish
Scooter Blenny
Blue Throat Trigger x2
Would Like to add:
Purple Tang (Per fiancé's request)
Sailfin Tang
skopas or another zebrosoma tang
Powder Brown or achillies tang
Bristle Tooth Tang
Large school or two small schools of anthias (per fiancé's request)
Sailfin or Starry Blenny (per fiancé's request)
Midas Blenny (Per fiancé's request)
Flame Angel
Swallow Tail, Watanabe, or Bellus Angelfish (some of my personal favorite fish)
Coralbeauty Angel (Per fiancé's request)
A wrasse or two of some sort
probably a goby of some sort
Others I'm sure
I know I probably won't be able to follow my list 100% but I've really just more of a wishlist at this point.
Equipment:
Sump- custom made by me. Currently I'm thinking dimensions of 60"x30"x20" and utilizing a wet/dry system to handle minimal rockwork in the display and no rockwork in the frag tank
Lighting - I'm aiming for mixed reef and with such a wide tank I struggled with this. I was originally going to go with 3 kessil A360x's but I think I'm going to try out 3 Reefi Uno's instead.
Skimmer- I'm would really like an external skimmer like a Reef Octopus 250-EXT but I'm not decided at this point. I might try to find a used Lifereef skimmer. If I had to go internal I wouldn't be opposed as I'll be able to have plenty of room in my sump.
Pump- After doing some math between a DC and AC pump, I decided that the extra cost to run the AC pump was not worth the extra flow that isn't really needed. I can't afford an Abyzz so that pretty much left me with one choice, Sicce pumps. It just so happens that BRS had the Sicce Syncra pumps on sale for black friday and I picked up the Syncra SDC 9.0. Figuring I won't be running a controller for some time, the built in app will be beneficial to me. Plus when I feed, I can pause the pump without having to run downstairs. Also as a bonus, 5 year warranty!
Flow: Not sure, I'm using a Jeabo powerhead on my current tank and I'm happy with it, but I face a dilemma here. My glass is 3/4" thick. So I've been struggling to find any wavemakers that will work with 3/4" glass. I'd love some MP40's or 60's , but that just isn't in the budget. A pair of large gyres may work just fine for me. Likely it will be something I can find for a good price used.
For now though, as agreed upon with the boss lady around here, I must finish my upstairs remodel. Which I've been working hard on over the last few months and I'm finally on the home stretch and I hope to use the upcoming holiday weekend to complete everything. I'll post some pictures tomorrow of the fishroom. For now, just so there is at least one picture, the tank as it sits now.
