Fin
Professional Procrastinator
Someone had posted today to ask if it was ok to post build threads of tanks that were put together years ago. This is actually something I had thought of doing a while back, but figured there wouldn't be many people interested and never started it. After a little encouragement, I decided to see how this goes. If there is interest in seeing this, I will continue. If not, it will just fade away. 
I was no stranger to saltwater tanks in 1999, I had kept a number of fish only tanks from the early 80s. There was a time that I had a 200, 77, 58, a 48 "flatback" and a 10 gallon all running at the same time in my small house. I decided (with my wife's encouragement) that we needed room for real furniture, so all of the tanks were sold. That was about 1995. The sound of a house void of all aquariums was a bit unsettling at first. It was too quiet!
Well, being out of the hobby completely wasn't going to work, so I decided after a few years on a modestly sized 75 gallon Oceanic tank that I would attempt to turn into my first real reef tank. This is still my favorite tank that I have ever had, even though I went to a 140 about 7 years later. I hope some of you will enjoy at a look back at reefing almost 20 years ago. I have lots of pictures of this tank coming together to show. I know I got nothing on @PaulB, but I thought I would share this tank, since it never had a build thread and may have deserved one.
So here goes. I went down to a new LFS (Mosaic Marine) and ordered the tank and a custom made cypress stand. A local cabinet maker was making stands for them. I love cypress, so that was an easy choice of materials.
The tank:
The stand and canopy:
The staining process:
I decided to drill the tank myself, since I have a commercial glass drill that I conned a LFS into giving me when they closed up shop. I still have the drill and it has drilled many holes over the years. So, it was time to drill for my custom built overflow.
I decided to build an overflow that would skim the surface for most of the length of the tank. This was something I just thought of and it was long before I had ever heard of a "Calfo or Coast to Coast" overflow. I built it out of dark tinted glass. This is how that looked:
My lights were 2 250 watt metal halides and 4 VHO bulbs. There is a lsrge flat reflector on the underside of the canopy.
My first filter / sump was a Tidepool. Ibuilt a 16 gallon ATO reservoir that fit well inside of the stand.
That huge Bio-Ball chamber in back of the stand was my first mistake. This is the only biological filter that I knew of from my early years in the hobby. That, plus the huge bio wheel inside of the sump. I had no shortage of nitrates! It was a learning process. This would all be removed by the end of the first year. There was also a skimmer that was a DIY from a local reefer. How loing has it been since anyone bought a DIY skimmer from another reefer?
My plumbing of my overflow and returns.
My IceCap light timers. These were actually pretty nice timers and wish they still made them.
My VHO & halide ballasts mounted inside the stand and under the tank. I added a panel to mount these neatly and out of the way. They were also easy to get to if I needed to change them.
I also had a Pinpoint pH and ORP monitor mounted on the inside of the door. That's a Red Sea Wavemaker is located under the ATO reservoir and a UV sterilizer in between the ATO and sump.
Then it was time for some Walt Smith Premium Fiji Rock!
Here it is all set up and running. Note the "invisible" overflow at the back of the tank.
Well, that's enough of a start to see if this concept of an old build thread warrants interest from other R2R folks. Hope you are enjoying it so far.
I was no stranger to saltwater tanks in 1999, I had kept a number of fish only tanks from the early 80s. There was a time that I had a 200, 77, 58, a 48 "flatback" and a 10 gallon all running at the same time in my small house. I decided (with my wife's encouragement) that we needed room for real furniture, so all of the tanks were sold. That was about 1995. The sound of a house void of all aquariums was a bit unsettling at first. It was too quiet!
Well, being out of the hobby completely wasn't going to work, so I decided after a few years on a modestly sized 75 gallon Oceanic tank that I would attempt to turn into my first real reef tank. This is still my favorite tank that I have ever had, even though I went to a 140 about 7 years later. I hope some of you will enjoy at a look back at reefing almost 20 years ago. I have lots of pictures of this tank coming together to show. I know I got nothing on @PaulB, but I thought I would share this tank, since it never had a build thread and may have deserved one.
So here goes. I went down to a new LFS (Mosaic Marine) and ordered the tank and a custom made cypress stand. A local cabinet maker was making stands for them. I love cypress, so that was an easy choice of materials.
The tank:
The stand and canopy:
The staining process:
I decided to drill the tank myself, since I have a commercial glass drill that I conned a LFS into giving me when they closed up shop. I still have the drill and it has drilled many holes over the years. So, it was time to drill for my custom built overflow.
I decided to build an overflow that would skim the surface for most of the length of the tank. This was something I just thought of and it was long before I had ever heard of a "Calfo or Coast to Coast" overflow. I built it out of dark tinted glass. This is how that looked:
My lights were 2 250 watt metal halides and 4 VHO bulbs. There is a lsrge flat reflector on the underside of the canopy.
My first filter / sump was a Tidepool. Ibuilt a 16 gallon ATO reservoir that fit well inside of the stand.
That huge Bio-Ball chamber in back of the stand was my first mistake. This is the only biological filter that I knew of from my early years in the hobby. That, plus the huge bio wheel inside of the sump. I had no shortage of nitrates! It was a learning process. This would all be removed by the end of the first year.
There was also a skimmer that was a DIY from a local reefer. How loing has it been since anyone bought a DIY skimmer from another reefer? My plumbing of my overflow and returns.
My IceCap light timers. These were actually pretty nice timers and wish they still made them.
My VHO & halide ballasts mounted inside the stand and under the tank. I added a panel to mount these neatly and out of the way. They were also easy to get to if I needed to change them.
I also had a Pinpoint pH and ORP monitor mounted on the inside of the door. That's a Red Sea Wavemaker is located under the ATO reservoir and a UV sterilizer in between the ATO and sump.
Then it was time for some Walt Smith Premium Fiji Rock!
Here it is all set up and running. Note the "invisible" overflow at the back of the tank.
Well, that's enough of a start to see if this concept of an old build thread warrants interest from other R2R folks. Hope you are enjoying it so far.
