Time to go all in with a large upgrade.

[fowler279]

I have had a 20G cube for coming on close to a year now and of course have been itching for a larger tank since the day I started it. So over the weekend I placed a deposit on a new tank. I ended up ordering a 150G (60x24x25) Planet Aquariums Mega Matrix tank with internal overflow, stand and canopy from my LFS.

Stand and Canopy will be unfinished due to wife wanting it a specific color to match the rest of the furniture in the room. So once the stand and canopy come in will be painting it. Plan on using Killz as the base coat but am open to any recommendations on others as well as top coat and sealers.

Current equipment plans are as follows.

Acrylic Habitats Leviathan LR36 Sump
3x Radion XR15 Pro's (will likely add a 4th)
Dalua GreatWhite GW-7 Skimmer
2x Eheim Jager 300W heaters
Dry Rock - going to try my hand at NSA Scape for this
Ocean Direct Sand

Undecided on
Return pump - Neptune COR-15 or Ecotech Vectra S2 (also open to ideas here)
ATO - Currently have XP Aqua and its been working great. So either sticking with it or changing to the Neptune ATO
Also currently have a NERO5 that im not using so either adding another NERO5 along with it or MP40's.

Already have an Apex system on the cube so thats some of the reason thinking about the Neptune products.

Excited to get started on the new build in the coming months. 6-8 weeks for delivery of the tank and will be working on aquascape in the meantime. Ordered the rock yesterday so hopefully should be here next week. Open to any suggestions on the equipment list and will be posting pictures as things come in and start going.


**Update 1/11**

Final equipment list
Acrylic Habitats Leviathan LR36 Sump
Acrylic Habitats 10G ATO Reservoir
3x Radion XR15 Pro's (will likely add a 4th)
Dalua GreatWhite GW-12 DC Skimmer
Inkbird Temp Controller
2x 300W BRS Titanium Heaters
~120lbs of Ocean Direct Original Grade sand
Neptune Cor-20 Return pump
Neptune ATK
2x Nero 5
2x Maxspect Gyre FX330
Neptune Trident
Neptune DOS

**Update 2/18**
Fish List
Frostbite Clown
Ocellaris Clown
Red Firefish
2x Banggi Cardinals
4x Blue/Green Chromis
Lubbock's fairy wrasse
Carpenters Flasher Wrasse

 

[zukihara]

 

[fowler279]

Got some Dry Rock in on Friday. Then quickly finished my aquascape. What do you all think?

Now just waiting on glue to actually start the aquascape construction. My yougest is graduating from High School this week so aquascaping is going to take a backseat for a bit.

 

[fowler279]

Have been working on my scape for the last few weekends. For the most part I really like it but still think its missing something. Just not sure what. What do you all think about it ? I kinda think the right side is heavy and the rest is just kinda lacking in some way.

 

[DH78]

I'm a rock stacker with almost no glue, but a fiberglass rod or two for my aquascape. So, take this for what it's worth as I haven't done the NSA. I see two things that I think may help.
1. I see very little habitat for fish to hide/feel secure. I know corals will fill in some of the negative space, but adding a few more obstructions to the view from the front would create some places for the fish to dart to if they get frightened.
2. The middle is very linear. Maybe glue some other pieces to it at various angles to give it some depth.

 

[fowler279]

OK so take #2. Took out the right side completely and redid it. The broke off the right side of the middle and added more to it. Already like it way better. Still thinking about adding a little more to it. What do you all think so far?

 

[DH78]

That looks great. It has some depth, lots of space for coral placement, and room for those corals to grow.

 

[fowler279]

Just got the call from my LFS. Tank should be delivered tomorrow to the shop so ill pick up everything at some point this week. Sooner the better as im going out of town next week. Gotta get the stand painted this week and the other tank moved before moving this one in. Quickly running out of storage space in the garage so this is going to be fun.

 

[fowler279]

Got everything picked up from the LFS Tuesday. Everything looks good so far. Need to get to painting the stand and canopy but that will have to wait until after I get back from Vacation. Really impressed with the build quality of the Acrylic Habitats sump. Its solid, good welds, and looks pretty sharp. Will get better pics once I pull all the protective paper off of it.

 

[Pico bam]

Are you using a heater controller? I recommend buying an inkbird from brs. Looks great by the way . Love that sump!

 

[fowler279]

Are you using a heater controller? I recommend buying an inkbird from brs. Looks great by the way . Love that sump!

Yes I have an inkbird and will be using it for this build. Thanks. Will be a little while before I get everything going as the tank took a few more weeks to get than I expected. But will be a fun process.

 

[GoTakeANap]

Following along. Looking good buddy. Love the aquascape

 

[fowler279]

Got a little painting done to the stand before leaving for vacation. Hoping to have all primer and possibly some base coat done before the end of the weekend since ill be back home on Thursday. Found out that my plumbing order had 2 pieces I didnt order and missing 2 pieces I did. @Bulk Reef Supply took care of me in quick order.

 

[revhtree]

Congrats on the new tank! How exciting!

 

[fowler279]

@revhtree Thanks. Its super exciting. Now if i can just get my wife to test the color or paint she wants i can finish painting.

 

[fowler279]

Build has pretty much slowed to a halt. Primer is down on the stand. Still have doors and canopy to do but waiting on wife to test some paint she purchased on another piece of furniture so that i can finish or we can find a new color. Hopefully can get her to make some progress this weekend.

 

[GoTakeANap]

Build has pretty much slowed to a halt. Primer is down on the stand. Still have doors and canopy to do but waiting on wife to test some paint she purchased on another piece of furniture so that i can finish or we can find a new color. Hopefully can get her to make some progress this weekend.

If she is anything like my wife, good luck with that. She takes forever to make her mind up on something haha

 

[fowler279]

If she is anything like my wife, good luck with that. She takes forever to make her mind up on something haha

Ha! Yes she is. Also takes forever to do anything. When she wants something done it needs to be done right then. But since the tank isnt important to her itll prolly be a while.

 

[fowler279]

So we finally were able to get a swatch painted of the test color. That quickly turned into time to order a few more samples. Those should be in today so we can compare between 3 different colors. Hopefully that will make up her mind and i can start finishing the stand this weekend. Will see how this goes. Like everyone says "nothing ever happens fast in reefing".

 

[fowler279]

So got the stand painted and the tank in place. Still need to paint the canopy but its in the works. Started working on plumbing. Waiting on a few pieces to arrive from BRS to finish everything and of course no one in town has Transition Cement for PVC to ABS bulkheads so waiting on that as well. As long as I get the glue in this week, I should be able to get plumbing done and leak tested before the weekend and should be wet and starting to cycle by the weekend.