Mmbra's 175g Bowfront

[Mmbra]

I just bought this sweet 175g Bow Front for $600. It has dual overflows, a 60g sump underneath, wood hood, solid stand, and is an absolute behemoth(according to my wife.) Dimensions are 6ft length, width is 18" at the narrowest and 24" at the bow, depth i believe is 27"

I haven't even hauled this thing home yet and plan on doing so Wednesday. It will be an upgrade from my current 50g Seaclear system II acrylic all in one.

This tank drives me nuts because of all the scratches on the acrylic and the narrow dimensions i have to work with. My only option is the classic "wall of rock" For the bowfront i am looking to actually build a pleasing scape with islands and caves.

I have been having issues with new fish arrivals in the tank dying after a couple of weeks and i am not sure if it is because of an aggression issue or a hidden disease present(none of the fish really have displayed any symptoms) so i am going to sell my current fish and start over by doing legit quarantine procedures which i neglected to do on my first tank. I plan to keep all the coral and rock and just run them fallow in a 20g while the new tank cycles.

Thats about all i have for this first post now i have a couple questions for you guys:

1)I plan to place as much of my coral and rock as i can fit into a 20g with a heater and power head. Also my snails, hermits, and coral banded shrimp. Should they be ok for a couple months in a tank this small with only live rock for filtration?

2) not really a question, but i am really looking for inspiration on my scape. Have y'all seen any cool bowfront scapes you'd like to share?

Thanks for checking out my post.

 

[Tbabcock]

Wow.. congrats thats a sweet looking tank. Sorry no help on the scape im just a little to jellies at the moment.

 

[Mmbra]

Dont be jelly tbabcock one day you'll have a tank that'll blow this one out of the water! I originally wanted a 120g 4'x2'x2' but i went to check out this one and fell in love. Gonna go tomorrow with my 3 strongest friends to try to get her home in 1 piece.

 

[Tbabcock]

Good luck, cant wait to see the build.

 

[Mmbra]

Well i got this guy home safe and sound. Not for the long process of getting it nice enough to please the wife.

Tank is in great condition, what type of plumbing is this? Dual durso? Is this going to be loud?

The stand is pretty rough needs to get completely stripped and redone. Am undecided whether to repaint or to stain it a dark ebony color. the 2 left doors open like wings so i have a huge space to work on the sump, etc. Really like the design, its just looking pretty rough.

Here is the 50g sump and all its goodies, came with 2 300watt heaters and 2 return pumps, not sure of the exact ratings yet.

 

[Mmbra]

Only had about 30 minutes after work today to start on the stand, have a 3 day weekend so im hoping to get a good chunk done this weekend.

Guy at work told me about this trick to getting the paint off before sanding. Hit it with the heat gun til it bubbles then it scrapes right off! Can anyone identify what type of wood this stand is made out of? It could be the deciding factor on whether i paint or stain.

 

[Tbabcock]

From the look of the grain i would say its oak.

 

[NanaReefer]

That's a heck of an upgrade! Congratulations [emoji2]

 

[Clayton Jessup]

I always have loved bow front aquariums , following .

 

[NanaReefer]

I ran a 26g bow front for 3yrs [emoji4]

 

[Mmbra]

I ran a 26g bow front for 3yrs [emoji4]

Nice NanaReefer, this will be my first bowfront. How did you feel about the distortion people always complain about?

 

[Nick92515]

I would get new heaters, never something to use used. Otherwise looks good. Bow fronts can be nice when scapes are done well and lit property.

 

[Mmbra]

Well i have been so busy with work and holidays that this process is going super slowly but i have got a bit done.

I forgot to take a shot after i sanded and prepped the stand for paint, but here it looks after 2 coats of primer.

I couldn't find Killz Complete anywhere here, the guy at sherwin william said that it is banned in california so i ended up using this zizzner primer as it was the only oil based primer i could find. $30 bucks a can while the kills was $20.

Tomorrow im going to lay down the paint coat i got this Satin Black for the outside:

And this appliance epoxy for the inside

To do list:
Plan Plumbing
Plan Sump Layout
Figure out how i am going to mount my black box leds to canopy.

 

[jp_75]

it's oak. just be careful with heatgun! i have seen many places burned!

 

[NanaReefer]

Nice NanaReefer, this will be my first bowfront. How did you feel about the distortion people always complain about?

Didn't bother me in the least. 99% of the time I was looking straight at it. No distortion at all.

 

[dan40b]

Nice job on the stand. This is going to be an awesome set up. I really like bow front tanks.

 

[jsker]

Looking good, paint job turned out well

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Cool! Following!

 

[Mmbra]

I would get new heaters, never something to use used. Otherwise looks good. Bow fronts can be nice when scapes are done well and lit property.

Do you have any tips or examples of good scapes for a large bowfront? I am brainstorming right now and any tips you could offer would be invaluable.

 

[Mmbra]

Hey y'all, yes im not dead i have just been incredibly busy working 60+hours a week and trying to get a little on my tank done here and there when i have the opportunity. I failed to take pics of many of the steps like was my initial intention, but i did record a few key bits and im here to share them with you.

Here is the stand mostly finished with the satin black, I kind of wish i had gone glossy but my wife wasn't a fan. The satin finish has a constant "sticky" texture that never seems to completely harden and dry.

I got a great deal on this skimmer from a fellow reefer, its a little underrated for my tank size but i couldnt pass up the deal. Its an aquamaxx coneS q2 brand new.

Here is the skimmer design i went with, protein skimmer section on left, refugium section in the middle, and return area to the right pic is actually reversed, and is a back view of the sump. Bonus cat pic i guess too haha.

This is the rock scape i decided on, I wanted a minimalist aquascape with plenty of coral space and a 2 island look. I plan to make the right structure strictly zoas and softies. On the left structure lps on the bottom and sps on the top where lighting is the brightest. I am not quite satisfied and may add a few more rocks, but i ended up running out of epoxy. I used aquaforest stone fix and while it worked alright, i let it set for 24 hours and it didnt quite seem to be enough time, i had to keep repairing parts of the structure that kept coming loose. Hopefully its solid enough to hold up to the reef environment. Sorry about the reflection, the room this is in has no lighting so i had to utilize the window.

Here is a pic of the sump area roughly final. Decided to go with soft plumbing as this is my first sump and the soft plumbing seems to be the most versatile to changes.

And here she is filling up with RO water! I used 4 30lb bags of Tropic eden miniflakes sand for my substrate. After my tank fills ill add the salt, powerheads, a couple heaters, and the cycle begins!

Bonus pic of my first 2 fish. Lightning maroon clown, and lawnmower blenny currently quarantining in my temporary frag system.

Next i have to refinish my canopy and figure out how i want to mount my lighting. I also plan to build a chaeto reactor, get a ato and get my sump compartment organized. Until the next update, thanks for following along!