6 years ago when building my new home I decided to upgrade from a 90 gallon reef to a 220. Although I got a lot more right this time around, I definitely made a few mistakes. I tried to mix and match and purchase equipment from different people around my local area thinking that everything would be ok. I bought a very nice stand and canopy meant to house a 220g tank from one person and the tank from another, among the other equipment I purchased. On my 180 mile drive to my new home I was rear ended at 65 mph which quickly put an end to me being able to help move and setup my tank so as a last minute request I got some help from some new friends. First we carried the stand to the basement and then the tank. Expecting the tank to slide right into place I was quite shocked when it didn’t. Here I’ve got four basically strangers doing a good deed for a neighbor holding this extremely heavy tank and me trying to scramble to make it fit. Needless to say that in the spur of the moment I tore off all the trim from the stand and re-drilled holes so that the overflows would fit. PHEW! That part was done. Unfortunately I learned after this, that the stand was built for an acrylic tank and that that additional 1/4” of trim around the bottom of a glass tank didn’t fit so well...:-(
Nevertheless with some time and effort and I ended up with a pretty decent setup
Fast forward six years later (just shortly after fighting a bad spell of AEFW) I learned another hard lesson...used stands, built out of MDF with multiple screw holes that aren’t filled, don’t hold up well to salt creep! The last thing I wanted was to come home to 220g of saltwater, fish, and corals spread out all over my floor. It was then and there that I decided I had to get this tank torn down quickly and replaced with something I felt better about and this begins my 220g re-build...
Nevertheless with some time and effort and I ended up with a pretty decent setup
Fast forward six years later (just shortly after fighting a bad spell of AEFW) I learned another hard lesson...used stands, built out of MDF with multiple screw holes that aren’t filled, don’t hold up well to salt creep! The last thing I wanted was to come home to 220g of saltwater, fish, and corals spread out all over my floor. It was then and there that I decided I had to get this tank torn down quickly and replaced with something I felt better about and this begins my 220g re-build...