Well I'm back! After I sold my 75 gallon tank to propose I ended up getting a 30 cube. That tank was great, but after moving to a new house I knew it was time for something bigger. In order to fit with the room well I went with a 4 foot wide 150 gallon tank (though I am already wishing I went bigger and 6 foot).
For the sump I used my old 75 gallon deep blue that Matt from Sho Tank sectioned off for me.
After getting these things in my living room, I knew I had to get the stand built. The next day I was working on painting the back of the fish tank when I got a call from the wife telling me to meet her at the hospital for this.
And so the tank was put on pause. Our first daughter was born. Her name is Olivia!
OK back to the tank. I started to get the rough layout of the stand made.
I really wanted to make the bottom of the stand have a plumbed drain line in case I ever had spills and to allow me to do water changes a lot easier. I also wanted to plumb lines from a mixing station that would be built in the future. Sadly, my solid brick walls would not allow me to fit the drain pipe so in the essence of time I scratched the idea. I really hope I don't regret doing that. I may still plumb some lines to let me fill the tank with a pump from the basement so I don't have to carry buckets throughout the house when I do water changes.
The pond liner was put down on the plywood and a bulk head was installed.
This was the general idea.
Once that was scratched I started to work on the facade of the stand.
Sadly I forgot to take pictures of those steps but soon it was time to lift this bad boy in place with the help of a friend.
Here it is with some of the facade in place.
Trim work was next. So thankful my wife let me do this with a newborn in the house. I made our house a mess!
Then the moment of truth! Will it hold water. Before this I reinforced the beams on the house because I was skeptical.
Salt came next. I got to see an amazing effect where the salt concentration on the bottom was so much more than on the top that a lake was created under water. The current from the pumps would not penetrate the lower layer. The lower layer had waves as a normal lake would.
Sand....
And finally the live rock was put along with the inhabitants of my 30 cube. This shot is with t5 lighting but I hate how white everything looks.
So I ordered two 3watt led fixtures from amazon. They are the generic type but worked great on my 30 so why not? I am very happy with the look.
For circulation I bought two P-20 powerheads but they were just too strong. I noticed my corals having their skin ripped off. Sadly. It took a toll on my largest sps colony and it may not recovered. As of right now it's 75% dead.
Without the second pump I feel the bottom doesn't get enough current so IDK if I should try installing the second powerhead again or not. Ideas?
I have a frag tank in the sump. Need to get some kind of fish and emerald crabs in there because the algae bloom actually killed the smallest frags.
I will update it more as things progress. Current stock is a magnificent rabbitfish, clown tang (will be moved to a bigger tank when it grows), yellow tang, flame angel, and banggai cardinal.
Later I will post pics of the corals that I have and hopefully you can help me ID some. Until then, here is a photo of one jawbreaker baby I will sell once it gets some red.
Until next time, happy reefing!
Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk
For the sump I used my old 75 gallon deep blue that Matt from Sho Tank sectioned off for me.
After getting these things in my living room, I knew I had to get the stand built. The next day I was working on painting the back of the fish tank when I got a call from the wife telling me to meet her at the hospital for this.
And so the tank was put on pause. Our first daughter was born. Her name is Olivia!
OK back to the tank. I started to get the rough layout of the stand made.
I really wanted to make the bottom of the stand have a plumbed drain line in case I ever had spills and to allow me to do water changes a lot easier. I also wanted to plumb lines from a mixing station that would be built in the future. Sadly, my solid brick walls would not allow me to fit the drain pipe so in the essence of time I scratched the idea. I really hope I don't regret doing that. I may still plumb some lines to let me fill the tank with a pump from the basement so I don't have to carry buckets throughout the house when I do water changes.
The pond liner was put down on the plywood and a bulk head was installed.
This was the general idea.
Once that was scratched I started to work on the facade of the stand.
Sadly I forgot to take pictures of those steps but soon it was time to lift this bad boy in place with the help of a friend.
Here it is with some of the facade in place.
Trim work was next. So thankful my wife let me do this with a newborn in the house. I made our house a mess!
Then the moment of truth! Will it hold water. Before this I reinforced the beams on the house because I was skeptical.
Salt came next. I got to see an amazing effect where the salt concentration on the bottom was so much more than on the top that a lake was created under water. The current from the pumps would not penetrate the lower layer. The lower layer had waves as a normal lake would.
Sand....
And finally the live rock was put along with the inhabitants of my 30 cube. This shot is with t5 lighting but I hate how white everything looks.
So I ordered two 3watt led fixtures from amazon. They are the generic type but worked great on my 30 so why not? I am very happy with the look.
For circulation I bought two P-20 powerheads but they were just too strong. I noticed my corals having their skin ripped off. Sadly. It took a toll on my largest sps colony and it may not recovered. As of right now it's 75% dead.
Without the second pump I feel the bottom doesn't get enough current so IDK if I should try installing the second powerhead again or not. Ideas?
I have a frag tank in the sump. Need to get some kind of fish and emerald crabs in there because the algae bloom actually killed the smallest frags.
I will update it more as things progress. Current stock is a magnificent rabbitfish, clown tang (will be moved to a bigger tank when it grows), yellow tang, flame angel, and banggai cardinal.
Later I will post pics of the corals that I have and hopefully you can help me ID some. Until then, here is a photo of one jawbreaker baby I will sell once it gets some red.
Until next time, happy reefing!
Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk
