Hello All,
Long-time lurker first time poster! I would like to use this thread as a space to show off my successes and seek help to rectify my failures.
Having kept freshwater tanks a number of times in my life I have recently decided (albeit a little forced, more on that later) to enter the exciting world of saltwater aquariums.
Just over a year ago I had a custom sized aquarium and sump built, my intention was to have the tank as a central piece within a set of cupboards and shelving units. Looking back on it I wish I would have done things a little differently such increase in tank width and also one more hole drilled in the bottom, but this will be rectified in the future at some point I'm sure, for now I am happy with what I have.
So, up and until October I was happily keeping African Cichlids, that was until a I sprung leak from a badly installed bulkhead that became lose after I moved the pipe connected to it during a water change. After hours of trying to fix it with the tank in situ, I came to realisation that the only option I had was to break the tank down and remove it from its stand, I ended up having to hacksaw the bulkhead off even after doing this though! After some deliberation I decided on the following things, firstly I would use this as an opportunity to fix all the things I didn’t like about my DIY setup and secondly, to convert to something I have wanted to do since I was a little boy and have an mixed reef aquarium!
After re-homing my Cichlids, I set about planning and implementing the conversion.
First on the cards was building a new custom stand, from which I would then build the cupboards and shelving units around. Built from 18mm plywood and a mix of 2x4 and 2x3, painted black and sealed with several coats of PVA for some water resistivity.
The Tank is 120cm long X 39cm wide X 60cm deep with a central weir and 2 holes drilled for 1" plumbing.
The sump is 90cm long X 30cm wide X 55cm deep with 3 chambers. I am making a few modifications to this sump, firstly I am running 2x Red Sea filter cups in the first chamber so I needed to add a horizontal plate to hold the cups in the first chamber and secondly I am splitting the third chamber into two to hold fresh RO for my auto top off.
The equipment
2x Red Sea Reef LED 90s
1x Reefwave 25
1x Jecod SW80
3x 100 watt heaters
Bubble Magus Curve 5 protein skimmer
TMC auto top off
TMC Reef pump 8000 return pump
The scape
Due to the narrowness of the tank and to avoid the look of a pile of rocks, I wanted to make some of my own rock formations and create negative space by building overhangs caves and swim throughs. The rest of the rock I use will be live, I want to avoid the tank of rock look and so will probably stick some additional rock inside of the sump.
From here, I need to glue all my pipe work together, seal in the modifications in the sump and also a new weir I had made. Once this is completed, I will run a leak test before filling it with salt water and get the tank ready for its inhabitants.
Anyway, this is my setup and where I am at and I look forward to where it takes me.
Karl
Long-time lurker first time poster! I would like to use this thread as a space to show off my successes and seek help to rectify my failures.
Having kept freshwater tanks a number of times in my life I have recently decided (albeit a little forced, more on that later) to enter the exciting world of saltwater aquariums.
Just over a year ago I had a custom sized aquarium and sump built, my intention was to have the tank as a central piece within a set of cupboards and shelving units. Looking back on it I wish I would have done things a little differently such increase in tank width and also one more hole drilled in the bottom, but this will be rectified in the future at some point I'm sure, for now I am happy with what I have.
So, up and until October I was happily keeping African Cichlids, that was until a I sprung leak from a badly installed bulkhead that became lose after I moved the pipe connected to it during a water change. After hours of trying to fix it with the tank in situ, I came to realisation that the only option I had was to break the tank down and remove it from its stand, I ended up having to hacksaw the bulkhead off even after doing this though! After some deliberation I decided on the following things, firstly I would use this as an opportunity to fix all the things I didn’t like about my DIY setup and secondly, to convert to something I have wanted to do since I was a little boy and have an mixed reef aquarium!
After re-homing my Cichlids, I set about planning and implementing the conversion.
First on the cards was building a new custom stand, from which I would then build the cupboards and shelving units around. Built from 18mm plywood and a mix of 2x4 and 2x3, painted black and sealed with several coats of PVA for some water resistivity.
The Tank is 120cm long X 39cm wide X 60cm deep with a central weir and 2 holes drilled for 1" plumbing.
The sump is 90cm long X 30cm wide X 55cm deep with 3 chambers. I am making a few modifications to this sump, firstly I am running 2x Red Sea filter cups in the first chamber so I needed to add a horizontal plate to hold the cups in the first chamber and secondly I am splitting the third chamber into two to hold fresh RO for my auto top off.
The equipment
2x Red Sea Reef LED 90s
1x Reefwave 25
1x Jecod SW80
3x 100 watt heaters
Bubble Magus Curve 5 protein skimmer
TMC auto top off
TMC Reef pump 8000 return pump
The scape
Due to the narrowness of the tank and to avoid the look of a pile of rocks, I wanted to make some of my own rock formations and create negative space by building overhangs caves and swim throughs. The rest of the rock I use will be live, I want to avoid the tank of rock look and so will probably stick some additional rock inside of the sump.
From here, I need to glue all my pipe work together, seal in the modifications in the sump and also a new weir I had made. Once this is completed, I will run a leak test before filling it with salt water and get the tank ready for its inhabitants.
Anyway, this is my setup and where I am at and I look forward to where it takes me.
Karl