Spitfires 6' 120 reef build

[spit.fire]

So after putting some though into it I decided to shut down my 8' salty as I wanted to move to a higher end reef tank without breaking the bank by outfitting my 8' with higher end equipment

So I sold my tank, most of my larger fish and now I just need to sell the skimmer


Today (technically yesterday) I picked up a scratched up 6' 120ish gallon tank stand and canopy with the intention of re finishing the stand and canopy and replacing the front pane of glass, the reason I bought a scratched tank is because I wanted to keep the hight closer to 18" and couldn't justify passing up the deal I found

So the fun begins, started stripping the tank down the second I got it in my garage and looking at the tank without trim I've decided to go rimless and ditch the canopy

The tank is 72x19x20 which puts it at 118g which I'm alot happier with than I would be a standard 125 and has 12mm glass all around

I'm still unsure if I'm going to remodel the stand (bit of belt sander work and some new stain) or build one out of steel tube (doesn't cost me anything)

If I build a new one I get a nice work bench for in my garage from the old stand which I desperately need

but then I need to go find my keys for my friends fab shop and go build one

As much as I love eurobraced tanks this one is going to have either 1 center brace or 2 braces spaced out

Sump will be custom size (probably built out of the piece I'm removing from the tank but size will depend on which stand option I go with

As far as equipment goes I'm not set on anything yet but I'm thinking:

Diy led
Swc cone skimmer
Vertex reactor for biopellets
Vertex reactor with hydroton
Hc powerheads (eventually will upgrade to tunze)
Return pump will be either mag12 or Laguna 1500gph not sure which one to go with yet


Livestock will be all the leftovers from my 8':
Lieutenant tang
Purple tang
Tomini tang
Hippo tang
Cleaner wrasse
Blue throat trigger
Hawk fish
3 damsels (wife likes them cuz they're pink)

Corals:

Random sps
Acans
Blastos
Zoas
Favia



So tomorrow I get to order some glass and start cutting seams

Tank is getting cut apart 100% so I can get rid of the clear silicone and go to black

[Skimmerking]

Spit sounds great man

[spit.fire]

Here's my starting point

[viperfish]

You're going to be busy!

[spit.fire]

Yup

Ran out of carbide grit for drilling so I should have 10lbs of it by the weekend, that stuff is hard to get....

ordered the new panel and some new drill bits which should be here by Thursday


Now that the tank is at a standstill I need to figure out what to do about the stand

Ill probably start tearing it down tomorrow morning before work to see how much work it's really going to be

And just to keep my a.d.d in check ill start building my sump at the same time. I'm going to try and maximize the size of the sump so ill be going 32x18x16 which will leave me just enough room to get the skimmer in and out

I won't need to run any baffles as ill be running a jbj ATo and herbie overflow

After getting a price on dc pumps I might be going that way for my return pump

[spit.fire]

Hard part is done

[Skimmerking]

Cool

[lastlight]

don't envy you there that's a lot of work!

i see you're looking into the laguna pumps. i'd recommend looking into the new speedwave dc pumps. they use less power and have adjustable speed. they also allow you to connect to rigid pvc fittings much more easily than with the lagunas.

[spit.fire]

Originally Posted by lastlight

don't envy you there that's a lot of work!

i see you're looking into the laguna pumps. i'd recommend looking into the new speedwave dc pumps. they use less power and have adjustable speed. they also allow you to connect to rigid pvc fittings much more easily than with the lagunas.

I enjoy the work, just not looking forward to cleaning all the old silicone off but my wife always helps with that so it's not bad

I was thinking the Laguna pumps mainly because I have them laying around and I know they're reliable and quiet

I've got a 1500gph and a 2900gph(way to big for this tank)

I think I'm gonna run the Laguna to start
They're going to be setting some speed waves up at oceanic corals so ill see how they are there before I buy one

Might just buy one for my skimmer tho

Now to find a few tubes of ge scs1200 as I thought I had more laying around but I only have 1 tube of black left

[lastlight]

didn't realize you had the pumps already otherwise i'd have kept my trap shut =)

i had the 4200. a lot of pump to trust without a threaded connection. it never really sat well with me! you're right about the noise they're good for that.