We figured we would start a build thread for the SPS dominated 45G display that we are building in our showroom. The tank is made by Marineland (terrible silicone job but whatever). The tank measures 24L x 24D x 18H.

The stand is made from the same Bosch aluminum extrusion that we use thru-out our store. It's a dream material to work with because its so modular.

Before we ordered anything, we used Google Sketch-up to design the tank stand so that it could be "skinned" with panels to hide the aluminum frame. We wanted the panels to mount flush with the glass so the stand was designed to compensate for the panel thickness.



Once the stand was cut to size, this is how it looked in the flesh.



Because the stand is precision cut, no foam is needed to compensate for imperfections. We used 1/4 HDPE plate so that the glass does not come in direct contact with metal.



Next step was to drill 2 holes into the Marineland 45G tank. A 30mm and 42mm glass drill bit was used to make room for the return and drain. Then black vinyl was applied to the glass for the background.



We decided to use the Xaqua X-Inout Overflow System. It actually creates a pulsating wave motion with no moving parts.



This is how it looks from the inside of the tank. The drain cover is removable for cleaning.





The light we decided to use is the Giesemann Spectra MH/T5 combo. It has a 400w single ended metal halide bulb (20K Radium). It also has 4 x 24w T5 with ATI True Actinic bulbs.





This is how everything looks so far.



We designed a custom sump in Google Sketch-up that should be ready in a week. That is when the real fun begins.



The footprint under a cube is very challenging because there is very little room to fit a sump, skimmer, dosing pump, dosing containers, ATO, powerbars, fans, etc... but were up for the challenge!

More pics of the build will soon follow!!!