16 foot 350 gallon reef build

[Elder1945]

Ok, So working on the lights and how I will end up hanging them.. I only thought I would have 4 razors but ended up with 5 (Thanks Colin ).. So drywall is on its way in this week and tank starts this week I hope.

For an overall look I am going for super clean so I will be using Mustang "C1101 TOP FIXING WITH CABLE GRIP" for mounting to my ceiling

http://www.mustang-systems.ca/images...Components.pdf

As for the ballasts for the lights I am playing with the idea of mounting them into the ceiling... We will see though..

So next step is finish skeleton of stand, paint it white or black.. The whole stand is getting finished in maple or oak but I might as well paint it, cant hurt...

Start the tank, The funny thing is that this is the easiest part of this build for me at least.

I am still waiting on a few peaces of equipment but have most of what I think I need for this tank.


On a side not I just went through all my Aquarium stuff from my old 210 and man I had a lot of random stuff

[Elder1945]

The who, what and why...

So i have not really explained the who,what and why of this tank. So here it goes.

This tank was an idea I had for a while now about 11 months or so.. I wanted to start off in large reef keeping but did not really have the experience of keeping a larger then normal reef tank.

This is where the 210 8 foot long tank came in. I have never sustained a reef that big before. After doing that for 10 months I had a better idea on what was expected in keeping a large reef tank.

So here we are I am about to finish the leg part of the stand will have pics soon. Also decided to paint it white..

So that is kinda a small back story.....

The who..

So doing the initial budget for this tank was scary and fun at the same time.
I did not want to skimp on anything so I just budgeted for what I deemed the best. I planed on stealing a lot from my 210 but this ended up not working out . At this point to be honest I have thrown out the budget and just going with the flow :P..

As for my basement reno this is going well and is on budget go figure..

With the purchasing of everything that is needed for this build I am trying to stay local or at least stay in Canada when ordering everything. This has worked out great thanks to reefsupplies.ca and Reef Boutique. There is still a lot to get but I have a good start.

This in the end has cost me more since I deal in USD a lot and could have bought it all in the states considering I am there at least once a month. In the end tho I am a strong believer in supporting local business. So it will cost me more but I will have stores to go to and buy stuff at that are local. This is worth a lot more to me then saving a bit of money up front.

As for the why...

I honestly do not know why... The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is one day I was looking at my 7-8" Naso in my 8 foot reef and he just did not look that happy. I always wanted to see my tangs act more natural and swim. So why not 16 feet sound good right ..

In the end this build will only take another 4-6 weeks so that is the good part but will take almost 6 months to get it where I like it. This is always the way with me. The funny thing is my 210 was at that point right when i ripped it down.

My end goal in this hobby is to have a 4000+ gallon reef but this is a ways off as I think I will have to be retired to maintain it. Also ill be moving quite a bit form now to then. So when I am in my 50s and in the house I want to stay in and if I am still in this hobby that build would be fun.

I have always wanted a black tip reef shark but there is just no good way in keeping them(In my opinion). I do not want to pull one from the ocean and to be honest I think I would need a 40,000 gallon tank to make me feel alright about keeping one.

[Elder1945]

So the last week I have accomplished a lot more then I thought would get done. This is where I stand now Acrylic is in glue is in and the stand is done. So next is the tank build. This will take a week or so with dry times.

All the 1/2" Acrylic 12 sheets :P




Stand Pics





And a pic of my new computer at work :P

[Myka]

I can smell that acrylic solvent from here. *barf*

[Elder1945]

More pics of stand.... Still needs a few more coats of paint...

[Elder1945]

Ok, Here is the tank build going full steam..

The stuff needed to make the tank..






And some of the sides going on...

Glue joint done..

[Reef Supplies]

nice work man!

[shiftline]

Looking awesome. Can't wait to see this built!

[mseepman]

Wow...nice build!

[Elder1945]

Large update.... ITS IN!!

The last week was crazy with the basement and the tank all getting done. In the end though it was all worth it.. I still have a long list of stuff that needs to be done but the hard part is done.

Here are some pics... More to come just need to get them all uploaded.

Polishing.

Tank trim in.



You can tell by the shop and how much junk is around how busy we are there to.

Some of the smaller stuff I was making more to come on this..


Background in...


The standard wife shot in tank... :P