DigitalWeight's 120 Gallon Mixed Reef Build

[DigitalWeight]

It happened. Sooner than I expected but it happened. The saltwater fish gods got the better of me and after 11 months I am officially upgrading to a larger tank. What is it about this hobby - never satisfied with the size, the equipment, the inhabitants - always looking for more?

Anyway, Denny over at Concept is in the process of building me a standard 120 gallon 48x24x24 with a 40x18x20 sump with algae scrubber, fuge, ATO, and return. Good guys over at Concept - easy to deal with and worked with me as i hummed and hawed about what to get.

Can't wait to get it all in place.....

[DigitalWeight]

I had great intentions of building my own stand using the templates we probably all have seen on the forums. I even got about 60% done when reality hit and my skills started to get the better of me. I am no cabinet finisher!

Anyone with a spouse who likes the fish tanks we have, but insist that it be a neat and tidy affair that does not look like a fish warehouse will relate. My stand for the 120 had to look good and fit in with the rest of the house.

So, I went looking on canreef for a used stand that I could perhaps fix up for minimal cost. The Grizz helped out and had a 48x24 Marineland stand that I bought for minimal cost. I bought it and it definitely needed some TLC, but it had been sitting in his shop for a long time.

The pics below show the progression of what it looked like when I got it to how it looks now - I will see if one more coat of paint is needed once this last coat dries. There were about three coats of primer to get it ready to take a real top coat. Going from black to white takes some serious sanding and priming to get it ready.

Pic #1 - Black stand with some pretty ready for some TLC



Pic#2 - Two coats of high-gloss



Pic#3 - Reinforcement built to help handle the load



In addition to the above, I am actually going to be adding some additional height to the stand via three rows of 2x6's as well as a top sheet of plywood (no pics on that yet). This will bring the tank height up about 5.5 inches which in my opinion will be a better viewing angle. The stand was a bit low for what I had in my mind. I will have pictures of that down the line.

[Mike-fish]

Looks like your having issues with getting the pics to work.

[DigitalWeight]

I had great intentions of building my own stand using the templates we probably all have seen on the forums. I even got about 60% done when reality hit and my skills started to get the better of me. I am no cabinet finisher!

Anyone with a spouse who likes the fish tanks we have, but insist that it be a neat and tidy affair that does not look like a fish warehouse will relate. My stand for the 120 had to look good and fit in with the rest of the house.

So, I went looking on canreef for a used stand that I could perhaps fix up for minimal cost. The Grizz helped out and had a 48x24 Marineland stand that I bought for minimal cost. I bought it and it definitely needed some TLC, but it had been sitting in his shop for a long time.

The pics below show the progression of what it looked like when I got it to how it looks now - I will see if one more coat of paint is needed once this last coat dries. There were about three coats of primer to get it ready to take a real top coat. Going from black to white takes some serious sanding and priming to get it ready.

Pic #1 - Black stand with some pretty ready for some TLC



Pic#2 - Two coats of high-gloss



Pic#3 - Reinforcement built to help handle the load



In addition to the above, I am actually going to be adding some additional height to the stand via three rows of 2x6's as well as a top sheet of plywood (no pics on that yet). This will bring the tank height up about 5.5 inches which in my opinion will be a better viewing angle. The stand was a bit low for what I had in my mind. I will have pictures of that down the line.

[DigitalWeight]

Been awhile since I updated this as I was waiting for the tank to be finished and alas it is done. Yesterday my brother and I slogged this thing downstairs to the basement.

Right now it is sitting on the floor as I need to have him come back to help carry the sump downstairs which is still sitting in the back of my SUV. My wife tried to carry it bless her heart but it was still too heavy for her.



Coming up...the old tank move and temporary Ecotech Radion hanger.

[DigitalWeight]

To complicate things more, my parents have sold their house and bought a new one, however the move out / move in dates did not line up so they are moving into our basement for the next two months! As such, I needed to keep things pretty clean and decided to execrate moving my nano into the furnace room where it will become a frag tank once all livestock is transferred over.

First step, as my Radions are currently hung from the ceiling and will only be on the frag tank until I get the new tank finished, I needed to build something to hold it in the meantime. With some leftover wood I managed to build this. Just some ripped 2x4s with some brackets in place just in case. The lights simply sit on top unrestricted.



With that ready I emptied 3/4 of the tank and managed to slide it over to the furnace room to its new home. Bad shot but you get the idea.



It is now full again and all the corals and fish have made an appearance again. That is a scary thing when you take so much water out.

[DigitalWeight]

I got the stand all set up with the sump in there and after some playing around realized that the stand is NOT going to work. Basically, it is not tall enough to work with the Vertex Alpha skimmer I have as well as giving me any semblance of being able to work in the sump.

So, I need to go back to plan A which is to finish the stand I started working on. Sucks because now I need to finish that stand which is not my forte. Oh well, sh$t happens as they say. I am going to go basic with fully removable panels on the front and two sides for full access to the sump. If anyone has any ideas please let me know!

Here is what the bones of the stand looks like. Next step will be to get the tank up on the stand and the plumbing all installed.

[monkE]

looking good so far!!! keep the updates coming

[DigitalWeight]

Placed the tank on top of the stand and now at the plumbing stages. Here are some shots of the progress to date:



The tank is high up which will make viewing standing up accessible. However, as a short guy, my new step ladder is going to come in very handy!



A Dremel is the best tool ever. Made easy work out of cutting the holes in the back panel for the plumbing to come through/





Got the Apex controller all mounted and ready to go. This was a big decision in terms of where to put it. It is hard to see but I put in an acrylic piece on the bottom to hopefully stop splash-up from the sump. I have two EB8's, a WMX controller for my Vortechs, and a spill detector. The control panel sits on the front of the stand.









These shots show the plumbing - took the requisite multiple stops to Home Depot to get everything. Right now it is dry fitted, waiting for me to commit with "the glue"!



Finally you can see the Ecotech Radion holders I got from Martin at Modularled.ca. I had to adjust them a bit - easy cut with a hacksaw. They are slightly off-centre due to my overflow, but it is not that noticeable. I will need to touch up the paint as it comes off pretty easy.

Next step is the gluing of the pipe, painting the stand, and GETTING WET!

[DigitalWeight]

This weekend has been busy - I finished painting the stand. I used Kilz primer inside and out and then finished the outside with a high gloss interior/exterior white. The stand is not perfect - finishing is hard!

Regardless, I am happy how it turned out given that I did it all. Maybe one day I will hire someone to finish it all professional-like but this thing is costing me enough as it is so it will work for now.

Anyway, here is a finished shot: