Tank Journal 180 bowfront upgrade

[truperc]

I bought the tank used in August and because I plan on having the tank for a long time I wanted to be extra cautious, so I ended up taking the stand apart and rebuilding and reinforcing some of it, as there was a bit of water damage on the one side. I also decided that I would reseal it as I didn't want to have to drain it in five years because it started leaking. This was a lot more work than I had bargained for but gives me peace of mind and didn't cost a lot of money. This is a picture of the tank before it was taken down.


Here are some pictures of the stand taken apart and the tank silicone stripped out etc.





What I love about the stand is that the wood structure is all covered by a plastic covering that hides up all the rough plywood and imperfections

I finally moved the tank and stand into the living room over the Christmas break and started working on my lighting

[truperc]

I was very fortunate to buy a used DIY lighting system off another member on this site. I took apart the whole thing including taking off all the led's from the heat sinks and starting from scratch. I wanted to add quite a few different colors to the system and redesign it so that I could change the intensity and color of the tank toward my liking without adding dimmers. I ended up with 8 channels over the tank. 3 white, 2 blue/royal blue, 2 royal blue/uv and one red green. I used Cree led's for everything other than the red green as this channel is more for aesthetics than anything else. (the led's included were Cree white and blue)


Also included with the lights was an apc controller that can be programmed to turn off or on any of the 8 channels when ever i want through my computer or even my phone. It took me a while to get it working but now is easy to use and program.



This is the tank with the lights on.



Now i need to get on to transferring everything over to the new tank and making the aquascape everything that I want it to be! Hopefully it will be done by the end of the month!

[Etaloche]

Originally Posted by truperc

I love your style! I recently resealed my tank too, albeit it wasn't half as complex as yours, putting on the masking tape was the most difficult part for me I think.
Kept redoing it until I was happy with the alignment. Just looking at this gave me flashbacks to that moment haha

[truperc]

Originally Posted by Etaloche

I love your style! I recently resealed my tank too, albeit it wasn't half as complex as yours, putting on the masking tape was the most difficult part for me I think.
Kept redoing it until I was happy with the alignment. Just looking at this gave me flashbacks to that moment haha

Yes it took a while to get it just so, but the bad part was when I realized that I had left a piece of tape under the overflow. At least it hadn't dried by the time if figured it out! Disaster averted!

I have added rock to half the tank and moved a few corals. At first I was unsure if I liked it but I think it looks better now that I have placed some coral.

[gobytron]

I'll always be a fan of bowfronts for reefs.

While you need to be a little more creative with your aquascape, due to the narrow ends and wider middle, the aesthetic bow fronts give is second to none.

A 180 gallon bow would get me excited to 'scape again.

Good on your for resealing it....that process is no joke.

You're like one step away from just building your own tank from scratch...

[truperc]

It seams like i did something wrong with the picture. Trying again.

[truperc]