Ghellin's 180 build.

[ghellin]

So it begins. I have lived in a second floor apartment for the 5 years that I have been in the hobby and I finally moved to a house! I have kept a 58 gallon clam and sps dominated tank, as well as a 40 breeder mixed reef. About a month before I moved, my tank succumbed to a bacterial infection and wiped out my sps and lps corals, I was left with only my clams and zoas. Here is a picture of my 58 before the crash.



I decided now that I have moved I want to build a bigger tank. Since I love clams and I plan to grow my small herd I wanted a 24" front to back rather than the 18" I had. I decided a 180 wide 72"x24"x25" would be the perfect tank. Once decided I was able to order the Marineland 180 with corner overflows and the build officially began!

[ghellin]

The tank is in!


I have always wanted to have a steel stand and maximize space under my tank so I decided to build my own. With the help of a few friends off to the steel yards we went.


I decided to go with .125 wall 1.5" square tubing. This stuff is heavy and should support a tank lol. The stand was built to the footprint of the tank 72.5"x24.5" and 39" tall. The stand was also built with 6 adjustable feet to level the stand.



After much debate I decided against powder coating the stand due to cost and went with primer and a garage door 2 part epoxy.


I was able to get the garage floor epoxy tinted to a nice blue color to be different.

[laredo300c]

What was the price for the steel stand . Powercoating vs epoxy materials? Thanks

[ghellin]

I paid about $200 for steel I had 20' extra for other projects, $10 for primer, and $75 for the epoxy. Of course welding supplies, grinding wheels etc were incidental costs. Power coating was going to be $250+ from what I was able to find so not worth it to me.

[ghellin]

Sump time. I want a bigger refugium at least 10% of tank volume so I decided to go with a 75 gallon sump. Since I want to be different and do a Refugium>Skimmer>Return style sump I decided a typical 75 with center brace would get in my way. So I had a custom braceless 75 gallon tank built by Planet Aquariums as it was only $40 more tha than a typical 75 with brace that I would have to cut out. The 75 is heavy thick glass I love it!
Going through the required cat scan.

Refugium section is 19.25"x17.125"x16" (23 gallons.) The skimmer section is 15.75"x17.125"x12" (14 gallons.) Return is 8.5"x17.125"x12" (7.5 gallons)

[ghellin]

Got the 3/4" oak plywood sanded stained and 3 coats of polyurethane.

[pmrossetti]

I would humbly like to suggest that the cut outs in the wood for the bulkheads should be larger.
In case you need to work on them from underneath.

[ghellin]

Thanks for the advice, before I finished the oak I put it up to the bottom of the tank to check for clearance. I was able to adjust and tighten bulkheads comfortably. I think they just appear smaller in the picture.

[ghellin]

Finished painting the sump, white walls for the fuge and black on the back and far left side. Also picked up an 18 gallon tank for my ATO.

[ghellin]

Tank is finally on the stand!

[ghellin]

Plumbing is done!

[lluv24]

Nice build!!! Where did u get the 18gallon tank?

[ghellin]

Thanks! A store called aquariums in Edmond, ok. She ordered them from a company called Ocean View. I was told they are no longer making them, but I wouldn't think it would be too expensive for a custom tank.

[ghellin]

The time has come.

[ghellin]

Finally full!

[joejoe1055]

its looking good, how much sand are u using?

[ghellin]

Thanks! About 250 pounds, gives me a 3" sandbed. I plan to have several wrasses and clams that should enjoy the sand.

[ghellin]

Got a few things done today, Finished the screen tops and built the ATO line that will supply the tank with fresh water.

[tigger2577]

looks nice keep up the good work and keep the pictures comming

[TruRacr314x]

Awesome tank build....assembling pieces for my 180g as well! Plumbing looks well done too!

[ghellin]

Thank you both very much!

As this is a slower build and the wood facade will not be on my short list, I needed a temporary canopy to hold lights and also let me start planning how I want to build the canopy when that time comes. $35 in pvc and it is solid as a rock.

Second pic is with a little DIY sump light with a few NW and RB Cree LEDs.

[ghellin]

Rock has been going for a 2 weeks now. Good mix of flat shelf Marco, Tonga branch, and miscellaneous. All rock was purchased dry or dried by me to ensure no pests. I plan to have 2 large rock structures with am open valley in the center. So all this rock may not get used in the display.

[ghellin]

So the stock Marineland returns have a anti siphon hole in them to reduce the amount of water that flows back in the sump in a power outage. Well they squirt water everywhere, so I found a free solution. I used a mag pump prefilter and cut two 1/2" rings to still allow air flow but keep splashing to a minimum. Will be easy to slide down into the water to keep clean as well.

[ghellin]

Time for rock, I used hydro stop cement to construct the two pieces. There will be two main structures in the tank. Here is the left side.

[win98ena]

Looking great .. how about the equipment there is any change