Welcome and thanks for visiting my build thread! 
As the title eludes to this is probably going to be a somewhat slow process as I collect all of the required equipment, build a stand, and work through the process of starting a new (and my first!) reef tank. After all a wise reefer or three once told me 'nothing good happens fast in a reef tank!'
First some quick background - I have owned a couple freshwater tanks including a 55g African Cichlid tank back when I was in school, I had always wanted a saltwater tank but never got around to investing the time and money in one. After graduating college and getting my own place I started collecting the equipment to setup a reef tank, but eventually abandoned the project as I decided I was too busy with other things at the time to do it justice. Fast forward a dozen years or more to today and I'm married, have a son, a dog, moved into a new home last year, and decided I wanted to revisit the reef tank idea again.
I posed the idea of setting up a smaller 20-30g cube adjacent to our dining area for a new mixed reef tank to my wife and she didn't seem extremely thrilled with the location, but was open to the idea of having one. She suggested a larger tank on the wall near our front door entry area, which is also easily visible from our living room, couch, kitchen etc. I loved the location but admitted that the larger tank would be quite a bit more expensive, along with all the supporting gear - lighting, pumps, sump, other equipment, ongoing costs, etc. To my surprise she said yep, let’s do it. I took a brief moment to consider if this was some kind of a trap...then quickly said alright and got to planning.
Future Tank Location - replacing the entry table
Excuse my son's Mr Potato Head collection, they will be relocated haha
The space for the tank is somewhat limiting in that I won’t be able to go with a tank much wider (front to back) than about 20" or so and no more than a 60" long tank, taking the standard 150g tank size I was hoping to go with out of the mix. I found SCA made a 112g tank in a stock size of 60" x 18" x 24" (Length x Width x Height), I considered having a custom tank a couple inches wider made, but the lead time and additional cost didn't seem worth the hassle. I see a lot of people recommending 24" wide tanks (or even wider) over the 18" tanks all the time, and I 100% agree but in this case the space simply does not allow for it.Having combed through the house looking for any other potential locations for a tank, trying to find a spot we could fit a larger tank into (now or in the future), and so on we decided that this was about the only workable location and the tank size is as big as we’re going to be able to go.
With that in mind I contacted Steve at SCA who was quick to respond and very helpful so I ended up ordering the 112g euro braced tank with internal overflow from him yesterday - 10/15/2019.
I’ve started some additional planning for equipment as well as the overall setup. The tank is going along a wall that is a little over 5' long and inset about 21" deep compared to the remaining wall of our living room, luckily for me the wall directly adjacent to the right side of the tank borders one of our walk in closets (mine) which I've decided to give up some real estate in to allow space for RODI storage, a salt water mixing station and a couple small ~15 gallon quarantine tanks. This will allow me to incorporate ATO as well as Auto water changes into the design. I plan to install a BRS RODI unit under my vanity (which also borders the closet) so a fresh supply of RODI water and easy access to a drain will be available.
And a little Floor Plan
The Red box represents the Aquarium location and the blue box will be the water mixing station and QT tanks. Hoses/Cables will run through the wall.
Automation and making ongoing maintenance as easy as possible in this build is going to be top of mind. I am going to try and save money where it makes sense either looking for high value offerings (bang for your buck), sales, and/or used equipment however I recognize the value in reliability and quality equipment so I’m open to splurging where it makes sense.
The plan will be to build a custom DIY stand with the sump housed underneath, electronics will probably mostly be contained in a separate compartment under the stand to protect them from salt/moisture. I will be using the Rocket Engineer design with a 2x6 top frame supported by 2x4 uprights which should allow me to span the full 60” without any center supports in the front. I haven’t fully decided how I am going to finish it; I will likely skin it with plywood and then use some hardwood to trim out the edges but still noodling on my options for that. Here is a sketchup model of the structural bits:
Beyond the tank being ordered I also purchased a Leviathan 36 Sump by Wind Rider Creations, I found this for sale locally at a fantastic price ($200), it wasn’t exactly what I would have designed myself but it should work fine for my purposes and saved me quite a bit over what I was expecting to pay. It has sections for input from the overflow, a filter sock (4 or 7”), skimmer, refugium, and return pump.
As the title eludes to this is probably going to be a somewhat slow process as I collect all of the required equipment, build a stand, and work through the process of starting a new (and my first!) reef tank. After all a wise reefer or three once told me 'nothing good happens fast in a reef tank!'
First some quick background - I have owned a couple freshwater tanks including a 55g African Cichlid tank back when I was in school, I had always wanted a saltwater tank but never got around to investing the time and money in one. After graduating college and getting my own place I started collecting the equipment to setup a reef tank, but eventually abandoned the project as I decided I was too busy with other things at the time to do it justice. Fast forward a dozen years or more to today and I'm married, have a son, a dog, moved into a new home last year, and decided I wanted to revisit the reef tank idea again.
I posed the idea of setting up a smaller 20-30g cube adjacent to our dining area for a new mixed reef tank to my wife and she didn't seem extremely thrilled with the location, but was open to the idea of having one. She suggested a larger tank on the wall near our front door entry area, which is also easily visible from our living room, couch, kitchen etc. I loved the location but admitted that the larger tank would be quite a bit more expensive, along with all the supporting gear - lighting, pumps, sump, other equipment, ongoing costs, etc. To my surprise she said yep, let’s do it. I took a brief moment to consider if this was some kind of a trap...then quickly said alright and got to planning.
Future Tank Location - replacing the entry table
Excuse my son's Mr Potato Head collection, they will be relocated haha
The space for the tank is somewhat limiting in that I won’t be able to go with a tank much wider (front to back) than about 20" or so and no more than a 60" long tank, taking the standard 150g tank size I was hoping to go with out of the mix. I found SCA made a 112g tank in a stock size of 60" x 18" x 24" (Length x Width x Height), I considered having a custom tank a couple inches wider made, but the lead time and additional cost didn't seem worth the hassle. I see a lot of people recommending 24" wide tanks (or even wider) over the 18" tanks all the time, and I 100% agree but in this case the space simply does not allow for it.Having combed through the house looking for any other potential locations for a tank, trying to find a spot we could fit a larger tank into (now or in the future), and so on we decided that this was about the only workable location and the tank size is as big as we’re going to be able to go.
With that in mind I contacted Steve at SCA who was quick to respond and very helpful so I ended up ordering the 112g euro braced tank with internal overflow from him yesterday - 10/15/2019.
I’ve started some additional planning for equipment as well as the overall setup. The tank is going along a wall that is a little over 5' long and inset about 21" deep compared to the remaining wall of our living room, luckily for me the wall directly adjacent to the right side of the tank borders one of our walk in closets (mine) which I've decided to give up some real estate in to allow space for RODI storage, a salt water mixing station and a couple small ~15 gallon quarantine tanks. This will allow me to incorporate ATO as well as Auto water changes into the design. I plan to install a BRS RODI unit under my vanity (which also borders the closet) so a fresh supply of RODI water and easy access to a drain will be available.
And a little Floor Plan
The Red box represents the Aquarium location and the blue box will be the water mixing station and QT tanks. Hoses/Cables will run through the wall.
Automation and making ongoing maintenance as easy as possible in this build is going to be top of mind. I am going to try and save money where it makes sense either looking for high value offerings (bang for your buck), sales, and/or used equipment however I recognize the value in reliability and quality equipment so I’m open to splurging where it makes sense.
The plan will be to build a custom DIY stand with the sump housed underneath, electronics will probably mostly be contained in a separate compartment under the stand to protect them from salt/moisture. I will be using the Rocket Engineer design with a 2x6 top frame supported by 2x4 uprights which should allow me to span the full 60” without any center supports in the front. I haven’t fully decided how I am going to finish it; I will likely skin it with plywood and then use some hardwood to trim out the edges but still noodling on my options for that. Here is a sketchup model of the structural bits:
Beyond the tank being ordered I also purchased a Leviathan 36 Sump by Wind Rider Creations, I found this for sale locally at a fantastic price ($200), it wasn’t exactly what I would have designed myself but it should work fine for my purposes and saved me quite a bit over what I was expecting to pay. It has sections for input from the overflow, a filter sock (4 or 7”), skimmer, refugium, and return pump.
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