Terry's 180 SPS Peninsula Upgrade

[Terry4505]

Hey guys and girls,

I am in the process of selling my house, moving to a new house and upgrading my tank and I thought I should begin to document that process here.

When my wife proposed to idea of moving, I agreed on one condition, I got to upgrade my tank. This is my dream tank, a room dividing peninsula.

My current setup is a standard dual megaflow 120, plumbed to the basement:

The light is a custom 8 bulb Tek light that I modified for my Gen 3 Radions. I plan on doing something similar with a 6 foot fixture, possibly incorporating a few Kessil A360s

The tank has been up and running for about 6 years and has been a work in progress. Last year I moved the sump to the basement, upgraded the skimmer to a Vertex Omega 150 and went more SPS.

We are planning on closing on the new house mid-November, which means I have 4 weeks or so to finish installing the flooring, move our stuff and set up the new tank (the buyer is interested in buying my tank, stand, T5 light, plumbing to the basement and sump.

I have an iron worker cousin who helped me get started with the new stand this weekend.

$107 in 1.5 inch steel tube became this:

The stand needs final welds and lots and lots of bracing, which will be done this week. I also pick up the tank this week. It is a standard 180 that I am drilling myself for a ghost overflow with a Bean Animal set up.

The sump will initially be under the stand, but will eventually move to the basement.

I am crazy excited for this process

 

[steelheader.262]

SWEET!!!

 

[Terry4505]

I spent the better part of the last few days getting the floor installed in the new house. The tank is going to divide the living room (shown) from the kitchen (to the right of the door to the right of this pic).

I have a question...

I picked up my tank today (perfecto 180) which I am planning on drilling for a Ghost Overflow. Can I stand the tank on it's end to drill? The overflow is going on one end of the tank. How do I drill the end of a 6 foot tank? I am worried about all of that weight on one end of the tank.

 

[ReeferEric]

I wouldn't worry about standing it on its side so much. Ask the wife nicely, maybe cut a deal with her to helping you drill the hole by just holding the water hose while you do it.

I was able to drill five holes in my 210G by myself because my girlfriend was sleeping. LOL

Just take your time to drill once you get to the end. Some advice, if your looking for clean holes then drill from the side where the gasket will be seated. The side that the drill goes out will have some chipping. I lose pactience after the first hole. Also, duct tape the back side of the hole before drilling and toss a towel on the inside of the tank so the glass cut out does hit the tank.

 

[ReeferEric]

BTW my 210G build is in my sig below. I drilled it for the ghost overflow as well with pictures.

 

[Lesley]

Very interested in following this build. We have a peninsular dividing our kitchen - meals / lounge room. Love them. Can't wait to see how yours turns out.

 

[Terry4505]

When you say, don't worry about putting it on its end, do you mean just drill in from the side with the tank sitting normally? How does that work with keeping the bit wet?

Floors are almost done (I'm exhausted from the last two days). And the tank is in the garage, just waiting for the stand to be finished this week. I am ordering the Synergy Reef Overflow this week as well.

I am hoping to get this thing up and running a the next few weeks so that I can avoid any issues with transferring the inhabitants from the current tank

 

[Terry4505]

Your build looks fantastic ReeferEric. Lots of similarities with what I am planning.

I need a light fixture similar to what you used. Anything 72 inches that I can retrofit some T5 bulbs and my Radions along with a 3rd XR30 or a Kessil A360. So far, no luck finding anything. I was considering DIYing something out of 80/20, but ordering the right parts seems overwhelming.

 

[Terry4505]

Glad to finally have some updates...

The floors are almost finished. I am fairly confident that I can have them done by the end of the weekend, which is good as we are looking to move out the weekend of the 14th of November.

I got a text from my cousin tonight that the stand is just about done:

Just waiting on some final welds...

I am ordering the Synergy Reef overflow tomorrow, along with some plumbing stuff and reef saver rock. The guy I am selling the house to is interested in my current tank, and its inhabitants. He is a novice, so I am not comfortable leaving him all of my SPS, my APEX and Radions. I'd love to be able to leave the tank, as it is plumbed to the basement, and I have a bad feeling about how the hardwoods are going to look under the stand. The sump used to be under the stand, and there was more than one skimmer overflow...

Our new floors are bamboo... any idea if I should put anything between the stand and the floor? Carpet? nothing?

 

[Terry4505]

Overflow, plumbing and some accessories are ordered. Things are finally moving.

I am having a difficult time with the decision about rock for the new tank. I know with the 180 I am going to need a lot. That and the guy who is buying my house wants my tank semi-as-is. So I will most likely have to leave a lot of my rock, which is fine. My goal for this tank is to reduce/limit my environmental impact as much as possible. With that in mind, I am considering the Real Reef Rock 2.1, or BRS Reef Saver. I am going to be moving over and connecting my 20 gallon refugium, which is pretty loaded with rock and sand, so getting it cycled quickly should be no problem. But that is going to be a lot of brand new rock and sand.

Suggestions?

Once the stand is primed using this:

I am going to use the soft side of some sticky roll velcro to keep the bottom of the stand from scratching the new floors:

 

[Terry4505]

Where the tank is going in the new house:

 

[Maximizer]

Exciting build. I would love to have a room dividing tank. Can't want to see it stocked. Any stocking plans yet?

 

[Terry4505]

Mostly SPS. A few tangs, larger and dwarf Angels, my mandarin.

I am really excited to get going

 

[drstratton]

Following! When I upgrade my tank I also want to do a bean animal & synergy overflow. I hope that you'll post lots of pictures!

 

[Terry4505]

I absolutely will!

Orders were placed this morning. Hoping to have the plumbing stuff in early next week. The stand should be finished this weekend. I'll get it primed up and in place as soon as it's done.

Once I have the overflow I can drill the tank.

 

[Terry4505]

Not directly tank-build related, but after a grueling couple of weeks, the floors are finally done. With help from my sister and my dad, we installed just over 1000 sq/ft of bamboo in the house. I also installed concrete countertops, which just need to be sanded and sealed and we are DONE!

This is the last spot of flooring, the stupid linen closet:

As of now, the plan is to move the weekend of the 14th. I'd like to have the new tank up and cycling this weekend if possible. We don't have to be out of the old house until the weekend of the 21st, so I'll have some time after we move to get the tank stuff figured out. The buyer wants my current tank, we just have to hammer out the details of price, what exactly he wants, and what exactly I won't sell.

I ordered an assortment of black PVC elbows and what not to go along with my Synergy Reef overflow, and black PVC from BRS. All of which should be arriving by Wednesday. Then it will be time to get this puppy drilled.

The stand is almost done. I will be picking it up today or tomorrow, priming it and getting it moved into place.

After a lot of talking, and not a lot of doing, this thread should start to progress here. The floors were a big task that had to be finished.

 

[drstratton]

"The stupid linen closet"! LOL I feel your pain, the final details always seem to be the ones that take the longest, with all of the extra measuring, cutting and fitting. I'm glad you almost have it finished. I'm really looking forward to the build!!!

 

[Terry4505]

Updates will be coming! I am looking at today for various plumbing stuff. I ordered 1" black PVC fittings from Glassholes. Wednesday for my overflow, 1" black PVC pipe and 3/4" bulkheads for the returns.

I ordered 80#s of BRS reefsaver and 20# of BRS Pukani rock. Hoping that is enough for a minimally-scaped 180

 

[Terry4505]

My stand builder (my cousin) dropped of the stand tonight to my new house.

I cleaned the unfinished steel with acetone and will get it primed up in the next few days. Now that the floors in the new house are done, I can start to focus some of that energy elsewhere.

On an exciting note, some of my parts started to arrive today. I ordered various 1" black PVC pieces from Glassholes, and they arrived today. I am expecting my Overflow tomorrow along with some stuff from BRS. I should have my rock (80#s of Reefsaver and 20#s of Pukani) by the end of the week.

I was hoping that the guy buying my house wanted my current tank, as he had expressed some interest, but I think I scared him off when we started talking numbers. I have some expensive equipment for a beginner (Apex, Radions, etc.)

 

[Terry4505]

Exciting update... some of the goodies I ordered are starting to show up. Today it was plumbing parts and my Synergy Reef Overflow! I can't wait to get this thing plumbed up.

I also was able to start to get the stand primed as well. This are starting to come together.