My 225 gallon build project.

[Jose Berry]

Hello all, recently obtained a 225g aquarium and extra things for one heck of a deal. List of items known are below.

225 gallon acrylic aquarium.
Zero edge series 7 sump
Seaside aquatics A21 skimmer
Aquarium stand
2- MP40W power heads
2- T5s lights.

Unknown list includes
1 box of random stuff- more power heads and small pumps and lights plus random electrical stuff.

Trampoline
Lawnmower
2 rollers for moving stuff with.

The story behind the tank is not so good. The original owner names James lost his house to hurricane Florence. That being said I picked up this tank for a whopping 500 bucks. The drive was worth it. I truly cant thank him enough.

Now the next things to do are to fix a few things with the tank. Small stuff such as holes I won’t be using or the center over flow box. I plan on going a different route with a few things.

Makeing a euro brace for the tank with lips so I can add a screen cover top.

Using a ghost over flow or something similar to the idea.

Refinishing and polishing the tank also going to redo the stand. I’m short so is my wife. We don’t need a stand that’s as tall as she is lol.

 

[jdpeters]

Looking forward to seeing progress!

 

[Jose Berry]

Stage 1 stand tear down

 

[Jose Berry]

I also cleaned the sump and skimmer. Cleaned out the tank too.

I got two free fish out of it, they are in a holding tank lol.

 

[Jose Berry]

Looking forward to seeing progress!

I have a few questions I was wondering if you could answer them?

What kind of lights would you suggest? I’m not a fan of the T5s just because of how big they are mainly. I like slim sleek designs. I was thinking of going with these.

But I also want them to be mounted to the back of the tank. Would that be ok on a 225?

 

[Jose Berry]

So I took out the center over flow and am slowly getting rid of the black acrylic wall that was there. Supposedly it was bonded. Most of it is although I am still able to tear it out

 

[Jose Berry]

So update, the stand can’t be re used. So I will be building one from scratch. With this in mind it will be 96”x30”x44”. That’s outer measuermeants

The lower half will consist of
Front 4x4@96” I need 2 extra inches for a door guide.
Rear 2x4@96”
Sides 2x4@26”

The upper will consist of
Front 2x6@96”
Rear 2x6@96
Sides 2x6@26”

Support beams will consist of
8-4x4@44”

Over all what it will look like is posted except the doors will be different and so will the top.

The center will be where I put the electrical items and screens. I will have an organized wiring system.

The left when opened will have access to skimmer and sump plus my auto top off tank.

The right when opened will have 3 10g ready to use hospital tanks/qt tanks. I know the 10ft rule and have chosen to seal off the tanks in there own little box kinda style. these tanks will be empty untill use.