DIY is always a great option. More for the learning and enjoyment that the price difference. Quite often you spend close to the same amount of money compared to new, but YOU built it.

Router is the word you are looking for I think.

And you need the wood for the doors. Skinning the naked frame is as expensive as you want, depends on the type of wood you want.

ReefGeek,

You're right. I forgot to mention the styrofoam under the tank. I like to get mine from Rona (blue as opposed to HomeDepot's pink).

OCDP,

If you did the stand in just 2 by 4s & stained it, that would save you money until you can buy all the trim & doors, etc. Those could be added later on to the front & sides with no problem, leaving the back open.

If you AC500, you can just take off the top & add a hanging shop light or clip on desk light (around here, the Phillips Daylight CFS bulbs from HomeDepot are popular).

Anthony

Alright, I'll be sure to grab the styrofoam.

Thanks for the fuge lighting tips too..

I think I have decided on dimensions.... I have someone who can build the tank for me. I am thinking of doing 24x24x18. It's better than the current 24x12x15. It will be open top with egg crate, and trimless (I always liked the look of trimless tanks..) So same length unfortunately, but it will work best this way with my light.

What do you guys think?

I think a tank like that would have some neat potential. :)

Cool . The only thing is I can't provide more length for the Flame Angel. But I was thinking if I create an island look... with caves and areas for him to pass through,, then this could work out not too too bad. I mean 45g is better than 20g for swimming room... not the best, but better.

Yup, that would be very nice. If you went with a deeper tank, just don't keep any high light corals on the bed. An 18" deep tank though is easier on the arm pits (speaking from experience).

Anthony

Alrighty.. I think I will stick with these dimensions. It helped knowing the dimensions of my current 20g.. made it easier for me to visualize what it would look like. I think the width will allow me to make a nifty Island aquascape (hopefully , my aquascape abilities suck)

As far as the light goes... SPS will all do well as long as they are on the rock work, correct? Just don't have any on the bed is what you're saying?

I planned on doing it something like.... SPS at the top and middle of the rock work, zoos and rics near the bottom of the rock work, and LPS on the sand bed or in cracks of the rock work. Just sketching it out in my head.. I think it would work nicely like that.

Scott,

I feel your anger and frustration. Two years ago, I had a lfs employee, where I no longer shop, that told me four various dwarf and non-dwarf angels as well as a butterfly would be fine in a 72g bowfront. So I bought them all, figuring they were all in the same tank at the lfs, and they would therefore all be buddies in my tank. Of course, I should have done my homework much, much better and not bought them at all :redface: And, as it turned out, they came down with velvet shortly after being in the tank and, one after the other, all freaking died :cry:

We are also limited by space in our condo for the number and size of tanks we can have. Presently, we cannot upgrade any of our tanks unless we take out the fireplace. A 230g could easily replace our 120g if that dang fireplace and some pesky furniture weren't in the way :razz:

Die off of what? The live rock? Why would this happen? Personally, I don't think it will, IMHO. I would put your Live Rock all back in the new tank at once. There is nothing better for cycling your tank than LR, IMHO. Heck, I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that you won't even get a cycle that way. I would also add more than just a few lbs, but you could wait on that. Try to match pound/gallon what you have in the 20, eventually, IMHO.

As for "cleaning the living hell out of it" (live rock)....why? IMHO, just swish each piece in some tank water from the 20 in a bucket and Bob's your uncle.

Speaking of tankwater from the 20....try to save as much of this as possible for the new tank so you are not going with 100% new mixed SW.

As for the tank plans and the lighting....it seems a common trend to me, with most reefers, that one upgrade leads to another. My point being that once you get the new tank going, are you sure you won't want to upgrade your lighting? IMHO, I would research lighting now also, with the idea that an upgrade here just might cross your mind later. No? This way, maybe you will avoid some grief on lighting decisions if you've planned and purchased the appropriate tank.

That's great that you are upgrading. Now you will have a QT tank with the 20g!:smile:

Good luck and cheers,:smile: