ADDED FISH/CORAL 550g+ Franken-tank System | Coral Propagation

kilgoretrout · Feb 18, 2018

Hi. I've decided to better document my rebuild. I've had my tanks at my office, however, I have neglected them recently due to my busy schedule.

Long story short, I am bringing them home and putting them into my unfinished basement. It will be easier for me to care for them at home,versus at my work. This way I can come home, have a drink, and work at my leisure. This build will be a little slow, however, I should have it all set up in 4-6 weeks, so be a little patient with me.

Here is what I plan on using.

90g Frag Tank
Glass Tank 48x36x12
2 Gyres
48" ATI 10bulb Dimmable

I will have two identical 90g tanks running the same equipment. I already have these set up.

220g+ Buckhorn Bin. I plan on using this as a look down tank. It is 48x44x29 and holds about 265g but I plan on going to around 220g. This will use a 48" ATI 8 bulb non-dimmable unit. I am going to toss in my Vectra M1 at the bottom and create some sort of spray bar for it.

Lastly, I will be running an Aquamaxx skimmer. I forgot the exact model, but its rated at around 400g. I plan on using this temporalily until I can upgrade to a much larger skimmer. The sump is around 42" long and holds around 100g. I may run an ATI 36" 6 bulb non-dimmable unit over this, however, am not sure. I am not a huge fan of fuges, so I may have it full of bricks and some frags or clowns.

Lastly, these will all be hooked together using a Hammerhead/Barracuda Hybrid. I may need two but am not super sure yet. I want this to also mix the saltwater in my 100g mixing station.

Below are some images of where things will sit.

Thanks for reading!

DLHDesign · Feb 20, 2018

Can't wait to see what that 90g is going to look like on top of the piano! ;-)

Looking forward to following along.

kilgoretrout · Feb 20, 2018

Do you not think the piano will support the 90g?

Thanks for following! I should have more updates in a couple of days. An electrician is coming over later today to wire in some dedicated power, and tomorrow morning a plumber is coming over to install my sink.

kilgoretrout · Feb 26, 2018

Okay, so there was a slight delay in this project. It got much bigger than I had expected. Or I should say more work than I could cram into my evenings. The problem is my 90g frag tanks are fully stocked. So I have been working on keeping what I want, moving some over to a display (I have a 100g display at my shop so I may keep it there), and clearing out the tanks. I am hoping to get them moved over this Sunday.

That said, here are some pics of some electrical work and my baby sink. There is not much to see, however, this was a pretty big step for me as I did not have any power/water before. I am excited that I can clean all my gear without having to move buckets around the house.

Also, I get my 2 100g water reservoirs tomorrow.

PS. My 13 lb. dog is checking out the tank, hopefully it shows some scale. She is small, but not super tiny.

kilgoretrout · Feb 27, 2018

My reservoirs are here! Coming home to these bad boys was like Christmas. So excited for the almost effortless water change system.

kilgoretrout · Mar 8, 2018

I'm going on a few weeks, however, making a ton of progress so I my timeline will be hit. Simply getting my tanks cleared out and to a position to move was tough. I did not realize I had so much crap in them, and forgot how heavy they were. My tanks are all in the basement, however, just getting them home was a task. The stands are almost too tight to fit down the stairs. I had to pop the door off.

Also, I had to rent a Home Depot truck since I drive a station wagon. To boot, as I was loading the tanks I left the lights on the truck, since we spent maybe 15 minutes doing it, however, that killed the battery. I then tried to jump it but couldn't find the battery in my car. It turns out it was in the trunk, however, I had already loaded a tank into it and did not want to pull it back out. What a nightmare.

Anyway, here are some images of my tanks in a disarray but at least they are home. I'd say I am 75% down at this point, as all of the heavy lifting and moving is done. Now I can just work at my leisure.

My buddy is super good at building, so really, all of this work is his. We have almost finished the stand for the water storage, and are almost done framing out the look down bins. You can see the giant mess I have. Those lights all of my couch are 48", to give you an idea of the scale of mess I have.

Anyway, thanks to those who follow.

P-Dub · Mar 8, 2018

Alright! I'm following. Keep up the good work. No one checks out my build thread but to be fair I am moving on it really really slowly. Time and travel are killing progress and updates. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/reboot-standard-125-nothing-special-here.355477/ if you are so inclined. Not as extravagant as yours though...

kilgoretrout · Mar 8, 2018

Thanks for following P-Dub! It definitely takes some time to get things going. I'll try and keep updating on my end.

kilgoretrout · Mar 8, 2018

Okay, we moved the tanks into the position we feel is best. My goal is to be able to walk in, turn the corner, and see fish swimming. I also want to be able to sit on the couch and have a drink and just watch the fish swim.

As it sits, the tanks are lengthwise on the front of the look down. There will be a shared pump/sump under and a large skimmer. This will keep all the plumbing nice and clean and allow three sides to be seen on each tank, as well as three sides on the look down.

Also, we will be hanging my lights from the ceiling and running power up to them. If the Apex wires are long enough, I plan on not having any wires hanging down and just mounting my Apex on a rafter.

Dian_Landman · Mar 8, 2018

kilgoretrout said:
Okay, we moved the tanks into the position we feel is best. My goal is to be able to walk in, turn the corner, and see fish swimming. I also want to be able to sit on the couch and have a drink and just watch the fish swim.

As it sits, the tanks are lengthwise on the front of the look down. There will be a shared pump/sump under and a large skimmer. This will keep all the plumbing nice and clean and allow three sides to be seen on each tank, as well as three sides on the look down.

Also, we will be hanging my lights from the ceiling and running power up to them. If the Apex wires are long enough, I plan on not having any wires hanging down and just mounting my Apex on a rafter.

Thats going to look great

P-Dub · Mar 8, 2018

kilgoretrout said:
Okay, we moved the tanks into the position we feel is best. My goal is to be able to walk in, turn the corner, and see fish swimming. I also want to be able to sit on the couch and have a drink and just watch the fish swim.

As it sits, the tanks are lengthwise on the front of the look down. There will be a shared pump/sump under and a large skimmer. This will keep all the plumbing nice and clean and allow three sides to be seen on each tank, as well as three sides on the look down.

Also, we will be hanging my lights from the ceiling and running power up to them. If the Apex wires are long enough, I plan on not having any wires hanging down and just mounting my Apex on a rafter.

So, is there power near the couch for the beer fridge?

Teknik777 · Mar 9, 2018

This is an amazing build! Can't wait to see more updates

dca22anderson · Mar 9, 2018

This is going to be awesome!! Following along!!

dca22anderson · Mar 9, 2018

Love the lay out and the access all the way around the system!

joseserrano · Mar 9, 2018

Thank you for ssharing. Following along .

kilgoretrout · Mar 12, 2018

dca22anderson ! Of course you love it, you are the master behind this all!

Teknik777 - you need to see this in person. Its much larger than it looks!

joseserrano & Dian_Landman - thank you two! Super excited for this. I have some awesome ideas for the look down tank, just waiting for my rock to arrive.

P-Dub - you know it! I am going to commandeer my wife's bar cart and wheel it right next to the couch.

P-Dub · Mar 12, 2018

P-Dub - you know it! I am going to commandeer my wife's bar cart and wheel it right next to the couch.[/QUOTE said:
Nice!

kilgoretrout · Mar 16, 2018

So... dca22anderson is a GD genius. Today he finished framing the lookdown, hung a light over the lookdown, moved all tanks into their final position, and set the water station where it belongs.

Here are some sexy sample pics of how things are coming along!