MarkoD 180 Gallon Build (New Light Fixture)
 

so finally getting this thing started

couple weeks ago my dad and I built this stand. Wild cherry with black doors.

http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/s...8at94629AM.png

after waiting 3 weeks the tank was finally done and we brought it into the house (4 large men carried it and it was still crazy heavy)

http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/s...8at94620AM.png

also mailman paid me a visit yesterday and brought me a koralia wavemaker 4 and 4 koralia 4 pumps

http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/s...8at94612AM.png

for the past month and a half i've been seeding about 100 pounds of baserock in my 55 gallon tank that had already 60 pounds of liverock

http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/s...1at31528PM.png

up next will be the plumbing.....

180 Gallon Build (Video Added June 4)
 

Canopy is on.

http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/s...9at64346PM.png

door is going to be black and will be coming on monday
the opening is like this because if i ever want to add metal halides that need to be raised of the water surface, i can take the door off and create another box that sits on top of the canopy and holds the MH lights

http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/s...9at64402PM.png

to avoid lifting the whole heavy canopy everytime i need to do something in the tank.... only the front half comes off. back half and door will stay on the tank.

http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/s...9at64353PM.png

this is how the 2 halves are joined

http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/s...9at64417PM.png

Nice steup on the canopy

real professional woodworking skills there.
Like it

Looks really good, thats what I need for my new tank build, a nice stand.

feel like building another one?

yeah my dad can build one... he says for something like this... about 1200 bucks

the slow filling process has begun

lookin good man , cant wait to see the aquascape

stand looks great man(Im a finishing carpenter by trade):biggrin:......people suffer a little sticker shock when they hear numbers like that for a stand.....material alone was probably $400- $500 bucks

exactly... took about 12 hours of work to build both the stand and canopy

Looks great, cant wait to see it wet.

thanks, it got wet last night.... being filled as we speak.... about 50 gallons in it so far.

my ro/di only does 50 GPD

Slow waiting period :biggrin:
It will eventually payoff.Take it slow.

Very nice stand, will be tagging along for sure.

plumbing is all done. tank is still filling up

http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/s...2at93008PM.png

water comes in on the far right of the sump. have a euro reef skimmer in there and will probably have rock rubble in there.

have a Rio hyperflow 32 return pump (1920GPH) which is split(both sides have ball valves). one side goes back to the tank and the other side feeds into the 30 gallon refugium (on the far left of the stand)..... refugium is drilled and will overflow back into the sump.

Very nice clean set up.

Very nice

Super clean, amazing stand.

thanks guys...

tank is half full, so i added half aragonite and half crushed coral. (dont want sand blowing all over the place from the wavemaker)

http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/s...3at93019PM.png

http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/s...3at92931PM.png

tank is finally full and running.
http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/s...at112857AM.png

still adding a little more water to increase the level in the last chamber. but all is working great
http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/s...at112905AM.png

have a 200 micron sock in there to help polish the water from the sand. so should be a couple days

the refugium isnt filled yet.... once i add the rock the water will start to rise..... so ill open the valve to the refugium and start filling it with the water that gets displaced by the rock

started some of the aquascape.... used some of the dry rock that i had.

http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/s...at123430PM.png


live rock will probably be added when the tank is cleared up

this is the lighting combination im probably gonna use

http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/s...6at43418PM.png

I really lle your aquascape. Much nicer than what I came up with. My only concern would be shadows?

- Brad

yeah theres shadows underneath the over hang.... but thats not a big deal. i can still see in there

the cool part about the shadows is its a good spot to put some deep water zoas

or rics, or dendros,or sun corals, or duncans,.............let there be shade:wink::lol:

Looks good, I like the aquascape and the the stand and canopy are beautifully done.

tank is complete for now

http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/s...9at65029PM.png

aquascape

http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/s...9at65228PM.png

Nice looking stand and setup there but you might regret that sweet lips purchase! :lol:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...180&pcatid=180

i've had it for over a month.... i know the size gets big but it wont outgrow my tank for at least 5 years... when that happens, ill donate it to a fish store

OH you might regret them words lol those clowns better start looking at where they can hide quick. I had one and not for long a few years back and I think it goes down as one of the worst buys!! Hope I'm wrong :biggrin:

I dunno. Mine doesn't even eat live food anymore. Just nls and formula 2

Very nice stand! Instantly reminded me of JBNY's original design which was an old favorite of mine on RC.

http://www.cnidarianreef.com/G270/im...n/DSCN2386.jpg

bought a copperband butterfly (eating frozen from the store) and a coral beauty today

http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/s...0at61850PM.png

Job well done.. I just wanna say that it is amazing how crazy we all get about coral... and it truly controls the reasons we do things... but a sexy stand just screams attention to detail. And that alone makes the tank that much more beautiful. So nice job and cant wait to see the final product.

This is a nice clean looking setup here. It'll just get nicer as your selection of livestock goes into the tank. Thanks for sharing.

thanks.... neil built the tank..... im pretty sure i saw your frag tank in his shop a couple weeks ago

Yup, I just installed that tank yesterday. What are you planning for corals? Mixed? Softies, LPS? I heard your set up looks incredible in person. Mike from Yellowknife saw it. Looking forward to seeing your tank grow out long term.

not sure what i wanna do for corals yet.... i'd really like to do sps if im able to sustain them with just the t5 lights i've got

How many t5 bulbs are you running?