150 Wide Reef Build

[bullitr]

Originally Posted by rlablan
http:///forum/post/3259954
LOL just had a guy on CL contact me and said that he and his 5 friends are ready to help when I need them. They have a truck that is very large and are willing to accept my 20 bucks an hour.
That works for me, as long as they show up.
Thanks bullitr!!!
hopefully it everything work out.
good luck again

 

[rlablan]

So I talked with the people at GC.com today. They have started work on the tank and it will be here on may 16th.
I am really stoked.
I am debating building on of those turf algae set ups for the new tank. I have some issues with hair algae sometimes... not huge but it's annoying. I am curious to know if this would help at all. I think I have everything I need to build one of these in a bucket. I dunno. We will see... I am gonna wait til I get the tank all in and plumbed. Barring any problems, That should be pretty painless.

 

[i<3reefs]

Glad to hear you came up with some people who could help, with ASU that close I'm confident you wouldn't be short of volunteers at that wage. My aquarium was also a gc aquarium, and they did have the glass handles I was speaking about. Make sure you have the appropriate tie-downs, foam, blankets, whatever you deem necessary to avoid scratches, or your aquarium coming out of the back of their vehicle.
I know a person who's setup a turf filter, but he really doesn't have a bio-load to push the filter. I personally like the refugium for the production of various refuge algae, which carries a trade-in value at my LFS.

 

[i<3reefs]

I was also assuming your aquarium was made of glass, and wasn't acrylic. I wouldn't anticipate an acrylic 180g being that heavy, but a glass 180g is going to be around 340 pounds. I was a little surprised that my gc delivery truck was a semi-truck, plus the trailer did have a hydraulic lift which was a big help. I loved your sump photos, and look forward to seeing more posts.
gl

 

[rlablan]

It is glass. I do not ever want an acrylic tank again. I was always soooo worried about scratching it and I was always so careful and paranoid. I want to enjoy my reef... not feel scared and freak out every time someone approaches it, including myself.
I calculated the tank online and empty the tank will weight a little over 400 lbs. But that is no factoring in the all glass over flow. I am prepared. I will just need to bring some duct tape, and blankets and then some rope. I am going to completely cover all sides of the tank and then duct tape the blankets/sheets to it. This way I don't have to worry about some thing happening. I am also going to "blanket" The stand.

 

[rlablan]

So I know in my original sketches that i made the stand a dark brown color.
I am actually thinking that I want to have a gloss white stand. Later there will be a "floating" gloss white canopy to match. But that will be sometime in the very far future.
I am curious if anyone things that this tank would look awesome in white (like I do) or if they think it would be a better idea to stain and then do all weather varnish.
If we go the white route, I have a buddy who has a very nice air brush gun that is actually used for cars. He said that he will air brush the whole thing gloss white, and then seal it. Of course he will do this for free, I just have to buy the paint.
What do you think? Plain ol' brown woods or crisp, clean, pristine, candy white?

 

[rlablan]

So I bought a new camera tonight. It does Full HD video and I think I also got a lense that will take pretty good close up pics. If not, I will have to buy a macro lense.

 

[rlablan]

Well, I have been doing a horrible job of updating. I know this. But also, no one is posting besides me, so I don't care. The tank is here, it's in it's room. I love it. It's not complete... It's a slow process. But it's coming along. I have moved one of the tanks into the new big guy, now I have another that I will move in, in about a week. The few fish that are in the new guy, are very very happy. Will try to post pics soon,
Love,
Me.

 

[meowzer]

I'm always here....lol
I'll be waiting for those pics too

 

[i<3reefs]

I've seen some white aquariums that look awesome, so I am a fan of white stands and canopies. If you are making your own stand and canopy remember to use hardwoods if possible. They are far less like to warp due to heat and moisture. There is an additional benefit of painting and that is you don't have to use an expensive variety of wood, since the grain and look wont matter near as much. I went with mahogany, because I wanted to stain my aquarium, but if I was going to paint I would have gone white.
GL

 

[rlablan]

I did go with a white stand. I am very happy with it. It looks awesome. I also just mounted the light today, from the ceiling and I am very happy with that as well.I will upload some photos right now.
Thanks for checking guys.

 

[rlablan]

So I haven't updated this thread in a mighty long time. I got so caught up in playing with the tank that I never put anything up about it.
I will have some shots of what it currently looks like ~5 months or so after the set up and transfer. It's having a cyano problem. Makes me sad.
I did go with the white stand and it does look awesome.
Original equipment list:
tunze wavebox (1)
asm-g 4 skimmer
mag 19 (main drive/return)
Current USA 60'' 2x150 watt MH, 2x54 watt PC supplemental lighting
1/3 HP JBJ arctica chiller
Equipment now:
1 Koralia 4
1 koralia 3
Asm-g 4
Mag 19 (return)
Current USA 48'' 2x250 watt MH, 4x54 watt T-5 supplemental lighting
New ballasts from Lumatek (option of running 150,175,250, HQI settings

)
Stock:
2 female lyretail anthias
1 male lyretail anthias
1 6in foxface
1 orange firefish
2 Amphiron ocellaris clownfish (XX,XY)
1 Randall's Goby
1 bluespotted watchman goby
1 coral beauty angelfish
1 3in sailfin tang
I will post some picture on here of FTS Then and now, and then some coral pics... might take me a while though. busy busy busy

 

[acrylic51]

Pics!!!! Pics!!!!!

 

[acropora12]

We need pics!