Tank Overhaul.... thought i would share

[tim the toolman]

So the story starts a couple years ago with me being fairly inexperienced around saltwater and getting a 180 gallon tank. I drilled the tank myself and built an internal overflow box. now both of those things i ended up doing wrong, I drilled a single downpipe and built a massive overflow box.

Fast forward to last week. I was tired of my tank being loud and was also tired of worrying about a flood. All of that plus the fact that my oversized overflow restricted my ability to get flow around the back side of the rock structure, resulting in a large amount of detritus accumulating in the dead spots.

Soooo. i decided i would set up a holding tank and remove EVERYTHING from the tank and sump so i could do things right. or at least better.

[tim the toolman]

Here is the tank before the tear down. Notice the oversized overflow.



Here is a sideview. Almost impossible to get proper flow around the rock structure.

[tim the toolman]

Brought in a holding tank for the fish and coral during the overhaul.





Here is everybody happy in their new home




And all ready to drain the beast.

[tim the toolman]

The tank all emptied and filthy as hell



Here is the carnage that ensued in my living room







And the tank all cleaned re-drilled and the new much smaller overflow installed.

[tim the toolman]

Tank back on the stand.





The new overflow.





And the tank put back together and re-aquascaped







Can finally get flow behind the rockwork

[tim the toolman]

All said and done it was alot of work but definitely worth it in the end.
The tank now runs silent and i have an emergency drain as well so i can sleep at night without fear of a flood. Didnt lose any livestock during the transfers either so all in all must consider it a sucess.

[typezero]

What a makeover! From the pics everything looked like it went out as planned. Love the new overflow box over the old one!!

[tim the toolman]

Originally Posted by typezero

What a makeover! From the pics everything looked like it went out as planned. Love the new overflow box over the old one!!

Im monitoring to make sure i dont get any ammonia spikes, but yeah so far so good. The overflow definitely made everything much more functional and opened up the tank nicely.

[The Guy]

Originally Posted by tim the toolman

Im monitoring to make sure i dont get any ammonia spikes, but yeah so far so good. The overflow definitely made everything much more functional and opened up the tank nicely.

Great looking makeover job, with the addition of the emergency drain for peace of mind and the smaller box. I used a small OF box at the top back of my 90 g too so the back is opened up more for aquascaping, sand bed and more swimming area for the fish. I think it looks better as well.