Our New 190-Gallon Build

[ShepherdReefer]

We required upgrading our existing tank of around 60-gallons, the fish were getting too big, and one of my friends decided to sell his 190-gallon Coast-to-Coast custom aquarium. We started building the tank around the end of January and added three new fish on April 21st. We still need to construct the outer shell cabinet and intergrade the controls inside. Here is the entire photo video but I will post pictures on the page.



This is what the tank looks like today:

 

[CoralB]

Awesome build !!! Jealous !!! Neat plumbing . Loved the movie

 

[Buckster]

Looking awesome!

 

[ShepherdReefer]

When we started with the new build, we had to relocate the existing 50-gallon because the new 190-gallon was going to be placed in that location. The move took around 8-hours, moving the water, fish, corals, and breaking down the plumbing and controller.

These are just a few pictures of the move.

 

[ShepherdReefer]

Before we picked up the 190-gallon, we needed a platform to temporarily set the tank on because we had some work to the sump area before putting everything in place, plus we needed some kind of starboard to set the tank on...needed to find this. It was cold.

 

[ShepherdReefer]

We are moving the 190-gallon from the seller's home

We made it home with the new tank. 2"x2" metal stand with adjustable feet. The tank is a 190 -gallon custom Coast-to-Coast aquarium.

 

[jsker]

Really nice thanks. I have to say I am envious of the 190.

 

[Billscountry]

Love the progress pics!

 

[Jeffcb]

Great build!

 

[ShepherdReefer]

I am continuing to add the progress pictures. I wanted something different than the past builds. Not sure if we really needed this but I said...what the heck, why not. Might come in handy one day and keep the hardwood floors from rotting, and if I wanted to, we could place a drain in the bottom pan.

The company did not make the pan correctly. We wanted the lip around the pan to go around the outer perimeter on the front and sides instead of what you see here, give us less room for other equipment. Still looks nice!

 

[ShepherdReefer]

Well, the grandkids wanted to get into the tank. But grandma said no...they might break the glass. So, when she was not looking, I put the smallest one into the tank, and someone took the picture. So cute.

We still have more work to do.

 

[ShepherdReefer]

I wanted the build to have two return pumps. I also decided to have one pump run a few pieces of equipment and the other run other equipment. I also wanted to have the ability to have one pump run on both sides in case something happens to the other. The drawing, well, the drawings took some time but in the end, was easier than expected. We wanted to add color but I came up with the idea to have one pump be one color and the other pump be a different color. Plus, the drain was totally different.

The red side will be running the display tank and one other such as reactor or two. On the end, I also have a ball valve if I ever decide to add more. The blue will be running the UV, located on the back and pumps back into the sump just behind the protein skimmer, and runn a few more pieces of equipment...such as chiller or Ca reactor or both. All the returns are 1" pvc piping. There are three 1.5" return drains. I will say...the tank is loud. Something I found at Lowes, was the hangers you see on the left side of the ball valves. Turned out to be really nice. If you want a picture of the hangers, I can always posted it.

Here is the back side of the tank,

I know, there is a blue 90 degree elbow...we did not have another red one and wanted to get the tank running. The overflow drains have been changed to help make the tank little more quite.

 

[ShepherdReefer]

The platform we used to house the tank while we were waiting for the bottom sump pan to be made was used to help us construct the rock formation. We used some live rock we had from other tanks, some Marco rock from other tanks, and we purchased new Marco rock.

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Not completely what we ended up with but close. Everything was glued, cemented, and more glued together. We Tried to hide the glue and joints with little piece of rock, did not turn out as I wanted but looks good.

 

[ShepherdReefer]

We also wanted to add a mixing station to improve water changes and RO fill-ups. WOW! I wish we would have done this years ago. We purchased a stackable washer and dryer set and sold our old units. This made room in the wallway closet where the laundry is located.

The pump is a Jabao DCP-13000, and we added a motor switch that came with a handheld key fob allowing us to control the motor remotely anywhere nearby. We added a 25' garden hose to disperse the water into our tanks. The tanks are around 35-gallons each, and we used the left-over PVC to connect them; well, we had to order a few 90 degrees. Turned out nice.

 

[ShepherdReefer]

Before we continued, we needed to add the lighting structure. I wanted something different, and I picked up a sit-stand desk for an excellent price. The only problem was coming up with a way to suspend the legs off the floor or add length to the legs. I had two flat aluminum sheets bent into a 90-degree and tacked welded them together for the desk legs would fit inside. I used a through bolt to keep the legs from going too far.

 

[ShepherdReefer]

To this point, the tank without water was set on two furniture rollers. This helped us move the tank around while we constructed the plumbing. We needed to get the tank off the rollers to add the rock construction and water. Here is a short video of us lowering the tank using an automotive jack. Well, the video did not load, just a picture.

 

[ReefLaw]

Where did you get your water storage tanks from?

 

[ShepherdReefer]

Here is a link

http://kentuckytank.com/

 

[ShepherdReefer]

Guess I am doing a good job...thumbs up.

We order and constructed our lighting holder with 8020 aluminum 1.5x1.5" square tubing.

I make the structure for future use incase we decided to add more light to the front and rear of the tank. The lighting requirements, well, what we wanted, we went back for forth between many different brands. At the end, we decided to go with two Kessil LED A500X with the dongle. My wife wanted the lights to look like a light fixture, so we search and search for a light fixture we could use to go around the Kessil's. This is what we found:

Mounting the lights took some time, I used some all-thread and man-made washers with nuts on top and bottom. Dont have a picture for that.

Getting late

 

[ShepherdReefer]

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