I'd like to start off by saying hello, as I'm new to the forum. I haven't been into SW tanks for very long, maybe a year at most. My current setup is a rimless 20 long with a 20 long sump. I have quickly outgrown that tank so a couple months ago I started sourcing everything for my upgrade. Between research and planning I have a pretty solid plan so I decided to kick this build off.
So lets begin...
Here is my current setup that I've had running for about 8-9 months now:
It's fairly basic but it was really my first jump into a reef. I had a 27 gallon cube as my first saltwater tank but I didn't really like it as my reef.
I got the itch for something bigger so I started searching local CL ads and found a 75 gallon tank. Guy wanted very little for it so I jumped on it. It holds water and is in really good shape so I bought it. I decided to build my own stand for it since i'm pretty inclined with my hands and I have any tool I might need either at my finger tips or a phone call away.
Here's the tank sitting on the stand when I first completed the frame itself:
It's your basic run-of-the-mill 2x4 stand. I opted out of using 2x6 for the top frame as i'm fairly certain 2x4 is plenty enough to support this tank especially with the amount of plywood support it will also have.
This weekend I spent a few hours skinning the stand and getting it exactly how I want it. Here's how it sits as of now:
The stand still needs to be filled, sanded and painted. There's also some stand accessories (i.e. surface mount power strips, led strip, etc.) on the way that I plan to install one night this week. Also I will be making the doors hopefully this week and securing the shelves I have for the side cabinets of the stand. I plan to keep my food, test kits, glass scraper, fish net, etc. in the side cabinets. The stand will be painted black on the exterior and white for all interior panels. More than likely will use marine grade boat sump paint and silicone everything in case of a leak.
The sump is a 40 breeder I just picked up last week as well. I will be ordering glass baffles for it tomorrow and will hopefully have those cut and ready to pick up by Wednesday. Here is a sketch-up drawing of what My sump plans are:
Layout goes as follows: From left - drain/overflow, filter socks, bubble trap/piece to keep socks in place, skimmer/reactor, return, the fuge is last. I know it's not common to see the fuge setup this way but that's how I have my current fuge setup and I absolutely love it. The lower flow and control-ability of it is really nice.
So lets begin...
Here is my current setup that I've had running for about 8-9 months now:
It's fairly basic but it was really my first jump into a reef. I had a 27 gallon cube as my first saltwater tank but I didn't really like it as my reef.
I got the itch for something bigger so I started searching local CL ads and found a 75 gallon tank. Guy wanted very little for it so I jumped on it. It holds water and is in really good shape so I bought it. I decided to build my own stand for it since i'm pretty inclined with my hands and I have any tool I might need either at my finger tips or a phone call away.
Here's the tank sitting on the stand when I first completed the frame itself:
It's your basic run-of-the-mill 2x4 stand. I opted out of using 2x6 for the top frame as i'm fairly certain 2x4 is plenty enough to support this tank especially with the amount of plywood support it will also have.
This weekend I spent a few hours skinning the stand and getting it exactly how I want it. Here's how it sits as of now:
The stand still needs to be filled, sanded and painted. There's also some stand accessories (i.e. surface mount power strips, led strip, etc.) on the way that I plan to install one night this week. Also I will be making the doors hopefully this week and securing the shelves I have for the side cabinets of the stand. I plan to keep my food, test kits, glass scraper, fish net, etc. in the side cabinets. The stand will be painted black on the exterior and white for all interior panels. More than likely will use marine grade boat sump paint and silicone everything in case of a leak.
The sump is a 40 breeder I just picked up last week as well. I will be ordering glass baffles for it tomorrow and will hopefully have those cut and ready to pick up by Wednesday. Here is a sketch-up drawing of what My sump plans are:
Layout goes as follows: From left - drain/overflow, filter socks, bubble trap/piece to keep socks in place, skimmer/reactor, return, the fuge is last. I know it's not common to see the fuge setup this way but that's how I have my current fuge setup and I absolutely love it. The lower flow and control-ability of it is really nice.
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