New 120 upgrade

[FDchase]

So just I brought home my uncles old reef tank. It crashed then gave it to my brother and he used it for fresh water. Seals are still nice and soft.

It’s going to be a very slow build. First on the list is paint the stand to make it better match our furniture and build new handles for the doors. Then get new sand, a hydra 32, and get it running. Once it’s up I’m going to transfer everything from my 14 gallon cube into the 120. It’s going to be quite bare as I plan on slowly adding rock, coral and fish.

I plan on having the reef mostly sps and lps. Anyway. Here are a couple pictures.

Here it is in the back of my truck.

This is where we are thinking of putting the tank.

 

[FDchase]

Rinsed it out some and moved to the work bench in the garage. Don’t mind the mess. Garage is a disaster right now.

 

[mmpadi3d]

Following, I have a very similar 180g with two downspouts each having two drilled holes at the bottom. I'm interested in how you plan on plumbing this. I just got my tank this week used and it was very dirty. I took some time to really clean out the tank and am also going to take my sweet time getting it set up.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along!

 

[Cthulukelele]

Beautiful tank! just a heads up that natural sunlight might cause you some headaches down the line, and the salt spray off that may shorten the life of those speakers/tv considerably, but aesthetically very nice!

 

[cvrle1]

I had same 120 that I was going to use with 2 durso overflows. After doing a bunch of research I decided to remove them, and go with beananimal overflow type instead. Much easier to setup and maintain than durso. To remove durso overflows, I used oscillating multi-tool and cut plastic as close to the glass as I could. Then I scraped off with razor blade remaining plastic and silicone from back and bottom of the tank. To plug holes I used scrap glass pieces, approximately 2" x 2" and siliconed them on both sides of the holes. It didnt look great, but once sand is in, no one would see those patches anyways. It's a bit of work, but it will save you potentially a lot of headaches down the road with durso setup, which is pain to do and to keep functioning properly.

Good luck with your build

 

[FDchase]

Work got real busy so build is going to take longer as I don’t have time to set up and transfer. I’m not concerned about the tv and the subwoofer is moving once my current tank moves. The curtain stays closed most of the time. If it’s open it’s only about a foot.

I want to use a bean animal style overflow. I also want to get a new sump as it’s just one large chamber, and the acrylic looks like it was resting on something hot because there’s a large melted spot on it.

 

[mmpadi3d]

I had same 120 that I was going to use with 2 durso overflows. After doing a bunch of research I decided to remove them, and go with beananimal overflow type instead. Much easier to setup and maintain than durso. To remove durso overflows, I used oscillating multi-tool and cut plastic as close to the glass as I could. Then I scraped off with razor blade remaining plastic and silicone from back and bottom of the tank. To plug holes I used scrap glass pieces, approximately 2" x 2" and siliconed them on both sides of the holes. It didnt look great, but once sand is in, no one would see those patches anyways. It's a bit of work, but it will save you potentially a lot of headaches down the road with durso setup, which is pain to do and to keep functioning properly.

Good luck with your build

Thanks for this, I hate to highjack his post but I was wondering if you could do bean animal on these tanks. You had no problems with the patches leaking?

 

[cvrle1]

Thanks for this, I hate to highjack his post but I was wondering if you could do bean animal on these tanks. You had no problems with the patches leaking?

None at all. I just made sure I put good amount of silicone on both patches. I tested it for 4 days I believe, and not a single drop of water from either patch.

As for beananimal, you can do it on any tank, as long as it can be drilled and you use proper overflow that allows you to setup beananimal style.

 

[FDchase]

So I’m finally working back in town and not on 6-12s. I’ll miss the pay but it gives me time with my family and time to do stuff around the house again. Even though I’m an OT w*0#€ and was taking 12 hour shifts on Sunday on a different job site. But I got news yesterday that my next job is supposed to start on March 1st, so I finally started prepping for the new tank as this job is supposed to be 6-12s for months. So step one has been finished, stand is painted.

Still need to paint the doors. Also drug the stand in a little early but it’s been getting below freezing here so I wanted to make sure it’s inside the warm house.

 

[jdthome]

Watching this build. We are both building 120 Gallon displays at the moment. I get the OT w#o$e problem. Had 2 days off in January and 0 so far in February with a 15.5 hour day yesterday. Can't wait to see your choices in this build

 

[FDchase]

It’s going to be hopefully a simple build. Aiming to keep mostly sps and lps. I do want a green polyp toadstool just because that was my main display piece in my old tank about 12 years ago.

 

[FDchase]

Little update, the exterior of the stand is painted. Doesn’t match the furniture perfect but is close enough to keep the wife and I happy.

Also changed out the hinges since they were a rusty mess, upgraded to soft close also. Next on the list is painting the interior of the stand and making new handles for the door.

I plan on painting the bottom black and the walls white for a little bit more light reflection.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

The stand looks great painted!

 

[FDchase]

Took a block of wood over to my dads house to have him cut my new handles for the doors. I could have done it but I didn’t feel like dragging my car and jetski out of the garage to get to the table saw. He has nicer wood working tools anyway.

Just need to cut it in half, paint them, throw them on and the stand will be ready. I also painted the inside of the stand today. I will grab a picture once I drag it back inside from the garage.

 

[FDchase]

My son spent about 20 minutes inspecting the new handles.

Here’s the inside painted.

I didn’t put as much care to the inside since it’s just utility space.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Took a block of wood over to my dads house to have him cut my new handles for the doors. I could have done it but I didn’t feel like dragging my car and jetski out of the garage to get to the table saw. He has nicer wood working tools anyway.

Just need to cut it in half, paint them, throw them on and the stand will be ready. I also painted the inside of the stand today. I will grab a picture once I drag it back inside from the garage.

Those are a good idea for handles!

 

[FDchase]

Thanks, but I just copied the handles on the furniture I already have in the living room. I do like them though.

 

[FDchase]

Got a shipment in today for the tank, been saving my cash back for about 6 months and had enough for this.

long term plan is to end up with 4 AI 32s total. But this one and the 16 is enough to get me started.

 

[FDchase]

Got a new (used) trigger system sump from a kinda local reefer.

Hoping to have the tank cleaned up tomorrow and ready to bring in the house next weekend.