As many of you know already I recently moved to Saskatoon from Kelowna, BC. My 33g tank is still in BC (link in sig). I was building a 40 gallon breeder in BC, but I decided that it would be easier to buy a new tank here, set it all up, cycle it, and let it age for a month or two before I bring all the livestock from my 33 out here. I'm hoping to reduce any livestock death. Livestock from 33 should be here early June I think, but who knows.
So... I figured, since I am buying a new tank, why not upgrade while I'm at it??
Ok, I actually had NO desire for a larger tank. Seriously. BUT, I have a really exquisitely colored Kole tang that I really want to keep, so I decided to upgrade to a tank size that would be suitable for him. 90 gallon it is...happened to find one right away.
I bought a 90 gallon Concept Aquarium tank, black silicone, with left corner overflow. Bottom drilled for one 1 1/2" bulkhead and one 1" bulkhead. The overflow is drilled for a 1" return. I'm going to cover up the hole in the overflow because I'm going to run my return over the edge of the tank, and use to the two bottom holes for drains for a Herbie. The stand is an AGA black pine.
For anyone interested, I'm not impressed with the build quality of the Concept Aquarium tank. The edges aren't even, the overflow may as well have been homemade since it is glass with 1/8" black acrylic siliconed onto the outside so you can't see into the overflow. Since silicone doesn't bond well with acrylic the two pieces have separated. The black silicone that is used on the inside of the corners on the tank is poor quality, and peeling off. For reference, the tank is only a year old. So, I will be resiliconing the inside corners in black, and resealing the acrylic to the glass overflow. Should look pretty good when I'm done.
Now...the stand. BLEH. I like the looks of the AGA pine stands, but I think the stability is iffy for the larger tanks. I wouldn't want anything bigger than a 65 on those stands! So I decided to beef up the stand. I think I took enough pictures to tell the story without going into detail about how I built it. I basically used all the pieces of the AGA stand, and built a 2x4 frame to go on the inside of it. I doubled up the framing so I could eliminate the center posts that were on the AGA.
Before I go into photos, I will list the equipment I have for the tank, and stuff I plan to add in the near future:
90g tank
Homemade stand
Sump (next project)
Refugium
EuroReef RS-180
2x250w DE MH electronic ballasts
2x54w T5s
Two Jager heaters total 250w
2x PhosBan Reactors (one for carbon, one GFO)
The MH lights are still in BC, and won't be here until the livestock comes, but I have a little 2x39w T5 fixture to put on the tank temporarily. Currently it is lighting my live rock which is in rubbermaids in hopes to preserve as much coralline as possible.
I also have 150lbs of mature, cured rock to choose from; mix of shelf and branching mostly, probably mostly Tonga, maybe some Vanuatu. About 50-70 lbs of sand. Will add enough sand for a 1-2" sandbed.
In future:
VorTech MP40 and/or Wavebox
Tunze Osmolator ATO
Dosing pumps for calcium and alkalinity
Hang on fuge...to see if I get better pod reproduction than an in-sump fuge
Stand pics:
