Once I got the upstairs tank nutrient problem under control, it was time to start thinking about SPS corals. I'd been drooling over many of the TOTM and FTS pics here on Canreef and RC for some time, and knew what I wanted. But first I had to rearrange some rocks and make room for new corals.
So I figured the easiest way to do that is set up another tank downstairs and move some of my old corals down there, as well as some of the fish. I also bought another 100 lbs of marco rock, which I let cycle for a couple months first. I spread these around in both tanks, mixing with the old live rock.
Home Depot had a clearance sale on a bunch of modular cabinets, and used those to build a stand as well as a little kitchenette with a sink right across from my sump room. Even used their laminate counters, so everything matched. And I have lots of storage space now for all my stuff.
The tank is an old 130 g Hagen that I picked up cheap. I got a couple holes drilled in the back, and built 2 overflows around them. The sump room is right behind the back, so it was easy to plumb it in.
Initially, the tank ran with its own sump and skimmer (my old beckett). I even used the old water from the upstairs tank with water changes, to save on salt costs. But I only had 1 chiller, so in the summer, I plumbed both tanks together using 1 sump, to cool them both. It also simplified maintenance. I did have to deal with higher phosphates for a while with the combined tanks, because previously only the upstairs tank was running with GFO. I still don't have my phosphates down to zero, and did have a bit of an algae outbreak in the upstairs tank. But things are getting under control again now, and corals are all good.