My first build 180g

[nbc101]

The stand is done all but the finishing touches and I'm still debating waterproofing the entire bottom of the stand to the doors. I have been gathering some of the equipment that will be going into it.
I have a Bashsea biofuge 36" sump and a vectra simplicity skimmer 320 dc. Anyone with any experience with these?
On my 75g I went with the current usa loop led light and have been pretty pleased with it and like the control of everything with one remote. I'm sure higher end lights are better but with the ease of use and price I plan on staying with current usa. So my next purchase will be the dual 72" option thats on sale now for just under $500.
I have a couple of the loop wave makers already and got the dc return pump. Maybe current usa could sponsor my build?
I upgraded my RODI to the 6 stage liquigen but when it was delivered yesterday it was not what the model I ordered and was damaged and missing pieces. Since then I've been trying to contact their customer service without an answer or call back.
I have heaters already and a fuge light. I have a large battery backup for the return pump and some wavemakers. Anyone with any experience or input on the equipment or thoughts on anything i'm forgetting or overlooking? I learned about every lesson the hard way setting up my current 75g setup so I want to be more prepared this time and try to stay in front of this as much as I can.

 

[Style185]

The stand is done all but the finishing touches and I'm still debating waterproofing the entire bottom of the stand to the doors. I have been gathering some of the equipment that will be going into it.
I have a Bashsea biofuge 36" sump and a vectra simplicity skimmer 320 dc. Anyone with any experience with these?
On my 75g I went with the current usa loop led light and have been pretty pleased with it and like the control of everything with one remote. I'm sure higher end lights are better but with the ease of use and price I plan on staying with current usa. So my next purchase will be the dual 72" option thats on sale now for just under $500.
I have a couple of the loop wave makers already and got the dc return pump. Maybe current usa could sponsor my build?
I upgraded my RODI to the 6 stage liquigen but when it was delivered yesterday it was not what the model I ordered and was damaged and missing pieces. Since then I've been trying to contact their customer service without an answer or call back.
I have heaters already and a fuge light. I have a large battery backup for the return pump and some wavemakers. Anyone with any experience or input on the equipment or thoughts on anything i'm forgetting or overlooking? I learned about every lesson the hard way setting up my current 75g setup so I want to be more prepared this time and try to stay in front of this as much as I can.

I dig the stand! Is that old barn wood or new pine just stained? Either way looks good!

 

[nbc101]

I dig the stand! Is that old barn wood or new pine just stained? Either way looks good!

New pine with stain. My gf likes that stain so all of our furniture is turning into that haha I like it too though. I will be putting some trim pieces to cover all the screws even though I kinda liked them. I didn't take my time and make them uniform because I knew I was covering them.

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Didn't see mention of a controller for your heaters. Other than that nothing is jumping out at me. What are your plans for this tank?

 

[Style185]

I should have noticed the stain cans lol looks nice I was thinking about doing this for my floors in my house. Ill be following your progress. Sounds like youve got a most of the equipment covered.

 

[nbc101]

Didn't see mention of a controller for your heaters. Other than that nothing is jumping out at me. What are your plans for this tank?

I've never had any controller for heaters. Any you would recommend?

 

[nbc101]

I should have noticed the stain cans lol looks nice I was thinking about doing this for my floors in my house. Ill be following your progress. Sounds like youve got a most of the equipment covered.

I'm surprised no one has called out the beer bottle hiding in there!

 

[hdsoftail1065]

There are several options and brands. I use the inkbird but it's the only brand I have used so I can't really say if one brand is better than the other based on experience. Some people complain about them not staying calibrated, I have not experienced that issue.

 

[Dub_G]

Nice looking stand. Looking forward to the build progressing.

 

[nbc101]

An update since the last post.
I basically had to start over. The frame of the stand came with the tank. I just planned on putting the stained wood around the outside to make it pretty and it was moving along fine. Once I got to hanging the doors they would never line up. I finally figured out the stand was not square and was not going to work. I pulled my stained wood off and bought new lumber and started from complete scratch.

The weather has finally cooperated and cooled off so I have been working on this a lot recently. The stand is done. Sump is in place. The tank is plumbed and filling with RODI water. I am about 2" from going over the overflows and plan on that happening tonight.

I will update some pics in the morning after I clean it all up tonight.

I plumbed everything with flexible hose and barbed ball valves. The guy who runs my LFS recommended this over classic PVC and I think he was right. It's almost as clean with some flexibility.