New Upgrade/Build - 180g Reef

IHaveCrabs

IHaveCrabs

Premium member
So I have been tooling around with upgrading the size of my tank from a 93cube to something larger with more length for the fish to swim around in. I made a compromise with the girlfriend to carpet the basement for her dog (I have all wood floors in the house) and in return I could build a bar and fish tank. Good deal since I carpeted the basement myself for $300! (fish tanks and carpet don't really go well together but hey, it was a deal worth making!)

I have been working on this for about a month now in whatever free time I can spare, so bare with the less than frequent updates that may follow but the carpet is in. stand built, and the tank on top. Working on the plumbing and finishing the stand off (wrapping in finished ply and trimming out the doors and edges).

No post is worth anything without pictures, so here we go!

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Starting the build in the garage.. 2x6 to carry the front with 1 center vertical. 2x4 for the rest.

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Built and in place.. still have to clear out the spare to make it a workout room to get rid of the treadmill

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Another view..

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Got the tank downstairs..

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...This is going to be fun...

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..And we made it!

Now to wrap the ply and begin filling with RODI and get the salt mixing.

Equipment, Fish, Coral lists to come..
 
Equipment List (so far)

- 3x Evergrow IT2060's customized.. Bought one off a fellow reefer on CR and need to figure out how to replace some LED's to make the colors match.
- 2x VorTech MP40w
- Eshopps S-120 skimmer (obviously undersized for the new tank but thinking about doing a ATS to substitute instead of buying a different skimmer.. Thoughts??
- Reactor/pump, not sure the brand but I run carbon and phosphate remover GFO
- Unknown return pump, just also bought a new in-line/submersible pump and contemplating using it for an auto WC setup. TBD
- Eheim Jager 300w heater

Did I forget anything?

Livestock List (to-date)
- Blue Hippo Tang (small)
- 2 Percula Clowns who both host a Waving Hand Xenia
- Multicolor Lubbock's Fairy Wrasse
- Bicolor Blenny
- Reef Lobster (killer of small new fish)
- Coral Banded Shrimp (RIP, just lost)
- Harlequin Shrimp (to take care of a small nuisance starfish that I don't know the name of)
- Thousands of copepods and amphipods that I wish I could transfer all over to the new tank!
- CUC, Hermits (zebra striped and red/blue tip), trochus snails, Super Tongan Nassarius Snail, bumblebee snails

Coral List (current)
- Green slimmer colony (6" x7")
- Birdsnest colony (softball size)
- 2 small colonies of Montipora Digitata
- 2 ponape birdsnest frags
- medium red setosa frag
- multiple large blue/purple/pink mushrooms (8-10)
- multiple ricordias
- multiple red shrooms
- many varieties of Zoa's that I can't remember the names of (not really one for names, just how they look!)
- Waving Hand Xenia
- Galaxy coral
- Kenya tree
- Frogspawn
- Hammer frogspawn

and I'm sure I missed a few.


New tank will be mixed SPS with a few LPS and even fewer softies around the edges where the light may be lower. I'd prefer a stony dominant tank.
 
So my girlfriend knows how much I love my tanks and wanted me to be able to watch it on vacation so that I know there is nothing going wrong... Or while I am at work!

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Looks great. I like the three piles and the negative space.

One suggestion is to build one pile a little higher so they aren't all the same height. The pile on the left looks pretty vertical so the front of it looks shaded. It might be better to make more slanted so you can grow coral on more than just the top. I made this mistake on my old scape and it really limited coral growing real estate.

Looks good though.
 
Sawdonkey said:
The pile on the left looks pretty vertical so the front of it looks shaded. It might be better to make more slanted so you can grow coral on more than just the top.
Click to expand...

I completely agree and I thought the same thing when I was building it. I may have to find a couple smaller pieces and build up against it.

Thanks for the advice!
 
Some new inhabitants were added to the 180 gallon!

-Magnificent FoxFace
-Blonde Naso Tang
-2 Spot Goby (this was an incorrect item shipped as I ordered a half tail goby)
-Mandarin
-Anthias Dispar

Also ordered a HOG1 so I can feed a little more generously without having to worry about the additional nutrients. I'll update with pictures once that is installed.

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