144G Half Circle Mixed Reef
 

And so the upgrade begins.....

Well I truly thought that I'd be happy with the 72 G Bowfront - big enough for me I thought!:wink: But...A recent house move allowed me the perfect opportunity to "upgrade"!

I figure since I've never really done a tank journal, I will try to for this tank.

I purchased a "used" 144G Half Circle Tank. The tank came fully stocked with approx 150lbs+ of Live Rock, MH Light fixture, Calcium Reactor, Skimmer, ATO, etc etc etc...

Dimensions of the tank are 57.5" X 29" X 29"

I was really looking for a bowfront but this one was a deal that was truly way too good to pass up. And I still get the "curved" look so I went for it. This tank is MUCH larger than I was looking for. And has already proved to be abit more challenging than I thought it would be.

I picked it up today and it was originally owned by someone who did NO tank maintenance on his own (hired someone to maintain it) and knew VERY little about the tank at all. The tank tear down was purely my own responsibility with NO help from owner. Thanks to family we got the job done but not without a whole lot of effort! The sump was not removeable and could not move the stand with it inside so we had to completely take the stand apart to move it. Way more work for everyone. PLUS this tank is HEAVY!!!

But we got it home.
Liverock is temporarily in rubbermaid bins and fish have been sold except 1! I kept the coral though most are in bad shape and nothing to get excited about.

Here's a couple pictures of the tank empty. I need to have a sump built since the existing sump is not adequate. I hope to have this done within a week or 2 and move on to adding water! Need a little help from a friend (Fishytime) on getting this thing plumbed properly and we shall be ready to roll! I will need to re-cycle the tank before I can transfer the contents of my 72G into it. Anxious to have my tank back since my Mom has had the tank at her house while we moved houses.
http://i355.photobucket.com/albums/r...009144G010.jpg
Definately tough to take pictures of the curved tank!
http://i355.photobucket.com/albums/r...009144G013.jpg

Very nice.
Much better... now you more room for more things.

Looking Great Carmen :biggrin:

Glad you finally found a tank.. I know you have been looking for a while.

Good luck with the journal :biggrin: I will be following it..

Simon..

The stand has curved glass too? Nice touch. Based on how much I like your other tank I'm sure you're going to put the original owner's efforts to shame =)

Well done Carmen can't wait to see it full of stuff :mrgreen:

Wow!!! That's way nicer than I was expecting... :mrgreen:

Good Luck with the build thread!

thats going to be a sweet tank
now that you have a bigger tank you can have more fish and corals etc
what is in it for lighting ?

Thanks everyone!
Yes, curved glass doors on the stand too.
I have an Aquaspace Fixture 2 X 250W MH with PC's that came with the tank. I am not really sure I will be excited about the lighting since I think I will miss the color of the
T5's alot but we will see. I am thinking the 6 bulb Tek won't be quite enough light since it's 30" wide and deep.

And for the skimmer...It came with a ETSS Downdraft skimmer which I know very little about. Has some great reviews on RC but sounds abit "touchy" to set up initially. My 72G skimmer is a Turboflotor so I don't think it will be enough for this. Don't have $ to buy a new skimmer for quite awhile so one of these will have to work for the time being.

I am sooo excited now that it's sitting in my family room! Dreams of aquascaping all night! ha Ha!:biggrin: And already can't wait to add to my collection!!! Eyeing up a HUGE Elegance coral at work! But I guess I should really get it plumbed first!!!

It is huge! Very exciting!!! CONGRATULATIONS, can't wait to see this come together. How big will the new sump be?

Congrats, looks like a really nice tank, I can see why you wouldn't pass it up :biggrin:

Looks great! Can't wait to see it all filled up and aquascaped. Did it come with a step ladder so you can reach the bottom :lol:.

I knew you would upgrade and it sure looks like you've made a nice choice.

Thanks!

Leah I am just trying to figure out the largest sump that will work for the space in the stand. Kinda tough to deal with the curved stand and the curved doors so I am VERY limited for width of the sump. Looks like about 12.5-13" and not sure on length yet??? Going to make a cardboard replica today to see what I can get away with.
I am using an external pump and possibly an external skimmer so that does help. Want to be sure to incorporate a proper fuge this time as I was unable to do so with the 72G. Made a makeshift with eggcrate.

And Mike - It didn't come with a step ladder but I have one that I am sure will be a permanent fixture beside the tank!

Even us tall guys use them don't feel bad! I found a nice advantage to offset the fact that I lost an extra 7" of my livingroom to an external overflow was the ability to store my ladder behind my tank. My wife didn't exactly see the tradeoff as equal however.

Carmen that baby is going to look sweet! Your 72g is outstanding and I can't wait to see what you can do with this big guy.

Thanks Lance!

Brett that is a fantastic idea! Great storage space for the ladder!

Not too much to update yet but things are in the works...

Ordered my new custom sump from Kevin at RedCoral yesterday along with my brand new Vertex Insump 180! Whohooo! Didn't plan on ordering a new skimmer but things just worked out this way. Easier to plan the sump around the skimmer now. Kinda excited! Special thanks to Doug for helping me figure out the best way to work this set-up, plumbing and sump! Much Appreciated!

Sump will be 40" long by 12.5" wide by 18" High with a
10" Fuge incorporated! Yay since I never had a proper fuge in the 72G. Wish I could computer draw one of those schematics but that's beyond my technical abilities!

:biggrin::biggrin:

Your welcome Girly....hopefully we can get this thing running for you so you can get your tank back.....now that Ive seen the tank in person Im positive its gonna be "da bomb"....I think you made the right decision about the skimmer....no chance of flooding and opens up more room in the stand....

this is going to be sweet. ahh the custom sump makes everything so much easier. now hurry up and put some of that wet water in there so the fishies can swim around.

That is a very cool tank.....I'd love to do a 1/2 round like that. Any plans for the rock work?

Thanks guys!
I would LOVE to have it full of water!! Just waiting for the sump and then we can get moving. Hopefully this week sometime.
Aquascaping will be fun! Not sure exactly what I will end up with - that's what makes it so fun! Would like lots of caves, overhangs and try to not crowd it up too much. Would like to leave some sand showing since I lacked that in the 72G - just no space in there. Also would like to try not pile on the back wall and leave some swim around the back space. Haven't planned on using PVC or anything but we shall see. May be abit complicated since half of my rock is at my Mom's in the 72G. May need to raid that tank for a few key pieces and do some switching around in the end...

Carmen

WOW 19 replies and still no PICTURES what a crock. Come On Carmen let's not well you KNOW THE Word.:mrgreen:

It probably still looks like the first pics posted, since she doesn't have her sump tank yet... :wink:

Who ASKED YOU ANY WAY mister perfect picture taker.:biggrin:

:lol::lol::lol::lol:
Well I can post more pics for you but it's all kinda the same thing - BIG empty tank in my livingroom! Soon.....be patient! I promise I will post many pics of the set-up for you Asmodeus!

More rock. More pics. Don't you have a new skimmer to buy?

Now about those pics...

Well not too much going on yet since I am still waiting on the sump.
Got a little antsy and decided to put water in the display below the overflow just to get the ball rolling. ( Hopefully this doesn't come back to bite me!)
Added water and salt yesterday and it's still cloudy! GRR! Want to put the rock that I have in rubbermaids into the display and start playing around with it.
Empty cloudy tank pic - whoohoo (Ya I know kinda lame...!:redface:)
http://i355.photobucket.com/albums/r...m/setup002.jpg
24hrs later
http://i355.photobucket.com/albums/r...m/setup005.jpg

I like your approach to wiring. Very ghetto. I hear it is all the rage these days :biggrin:

And attractive too! :biggrin:
Don't be jealous......

Carmen,

How exciting, it has water and a lot at that. Can't wait :mrgreen:

Nice hey! Ya I'm really going all out with the electrical this time - right out in front so everyone can appreciate the power going into this system! Ha Ha Ha!!:lol:

Carmen is the tank flush against the wall, hard to tell from the picture?

Nice, now start tossing the rock in! :mrgreen:

You need to learn patience from uh, Lastlight comes to mind!:biggrin:

No Leah it's away from the wall about 6-8 inches. Leave room for me to get my arm back there for scraping the glass and such (and hide the ladder!).

Josh, you and Brett and everyone else have less patience than me!!!!!!!:lol: Just waiting for salinity to even out. Had it abit high. Hope to get some rock in tonight. Hang tough!:wink:

The temptation is always to rush.

Take your time, enjoy yourself and do it right.

It is exciting though.

Tom R

I am living vicariously through a few builds until my tank shows up... then you will all be telling me to hurry up!! :wink:

So rock is in(or some of it anyways)!!! And we have light!
Put on the MH fixture to try out. (And moved the cords out of the way for you Kien!

I have waaaayyyyy too much rock! I sifted through the 2 rubbermaid bins and pulled out some larger pieces to try some aquascaping. I still have a rubbermaid 3/4 full and 100lb of live rock in my 72 gallon!!

Attempted to shape it abit just to get some ideas and fought with it for 2 hours. Leaving it alone for now until I can pick up a few more key pieces from the 72Gallon. Really want to keep it a little more open which I have already determined may be challenging!

LIGHTS!
http://i355.photobucket.com/albums/r...setup002-1.jpg

ROCK IN!
http://i355.photobucket.com/albums/r...m/setup004.jpg

FIRST AQUASCAPE ATTEMPT - NOT FINAL!
Getting too cloudy too see anything...
http://i355.photobucket.com/albums/r...setup005-1.jpg

You could seriously do a ton with just the piles you have now. Unless a person is obsessed with making a million little caves and arches (that fish never seem to use when you're watching) then that layout would work great!

I'm very impatient. My build took a long time but EVERY step of the way when I either had money or finally took something into my possession...well I would work on integrating/finishing that part of the build without pause! I'm sure most of my build took place after midnight.

That stand looks nice. I think you need some blue leds recessed way in the back so the glass panels glow a bit!

tank is looking nice sofar from what we can see in pitures :biggrin:

Lookin good :mrgreen:

Dang, and I was just starting to get used to you going all ghetto.

Clean, Sexy and Classy works for me too ;-)

Oh and the tank is looking great btw!