Our first SW tank - 180 gal build

[The Grizz]

Looks cool where you have it set up but the only real concern I have is with the way you have the tank sitting on 2 pieces of plywood instead of 1 solid piece & the fact that you do not have any styrofoam under the tank. If by any chance there is a spill & the water soaks into one of the edges under the tank it could crack the bottom.

[fishoholic]

Looks good so far!

[fishytime]

^agreed^.......have you worked with acrylic before?.....if not I wouldnt make something that needs to hold water your first attempt......working with acrylic is not easy and if you dont get it right she will eventually blow....

[reefgirl189]

Originally Posted by fishytime

^agreed^.......have you worked with acrylic before?.....if not I wouldnt make something that needs to hold water your first attempt......working with acrylic is not easy and if you dont get it right she will eventually blow....

I actually have worked with acrylic before. I've also built a glass tank from the ground up. That one was my 125 gal FW. I had it running for 5 years before I took it down and sold it. Never had a single leak and neither did the buyer to the best of my knowledge. I was pretty proud of that one as I was only 15 when I built it. It was a basic box with no overflows though so it was pretty easy.

I'd honestly rather buy a nice used tank to convert but I can't find anything that will work in my space so we'll see. If Santa doesn't bring a HO Refugium for us then we will see about making one.

[reefgirl189]

Originally Posted by The Grizz

Looks cool where you have it set up but the only real concern I have is with the way you have the tank sitting on 2 pieces of plywood instead of 1 solid piece & the fact that you do not have any styrofoam under the tank. If by any chance there is a spill & the water soaks into one of the edges under the tank it could crack the bottom.

The guy who built the platform is a Master Carpenter. He knew what it would be supporting. I'm confident in his abilites. This thing is solid. Yes we will be looking into sealing the stand but the reason we had to set it up so quick is because we only had the weekend to get it up and running or risk waiting another two or three weeks until the husband and his friends were off to help put it up on the stand for us. I don't have any regrets and I'm not concerned but I appreciate everyone else looking out for our best interests.

[Hustler]

Looks like a great build and awesome rock work.... Love the hitch hikers....I got lucky there too
Salt is a fun hobby...... Cant wait for the stress to stop and the beauty to begin LOL

[The Grizz]

I was not referring to the platform I was referring to the plywood between the tank and the stand. Should have been one piece of good plywood at least 3/4" thick with atleast 1/2" of styrofoam between the plywood and tank. I hope don't have a panel break or crack, I have seen it many time.

Originally Posted by Hustler

Cant wait for the stress to stop

You will grow very old waiting for that day.

[ensquire]

This is the plywood the Grizz is referring to. This should all be one solid piece of Plywood not osb of mdf. If this gets any moisture at all it will expand and possibly crack your tank. Also there should be a half inch piece of rigid styrofoam between the plywood and tank.
I agree that the platform it sits on looks well built and solid and with a little silicone and sealer will be very moisture resistant.

[reefgirl189]

Originally Posted by ensquire

This is the plywood the Grizz is referring to. This should all be one solid piece of Plywood not osb of mdf. If this gets any moisture at all it will expand and possibly crack your tank. Also there should be a half inch piece of rigid styrofoam between the plywood and tank.
I agree that the platform it sits on looks well built and solid and with a little silicone and sealer will be very moisture resistant.

Oh, now I see what you are referring to. That came with the tank. Perhaps we should have put something else between the tank and stand. It was bone dry and had no swelling so it looked good to us, but I can see what Grizz meant about one piece being safer. If you are reffering to the base of the tank (platform), that is one piece of 3/4".

Anyway!

New update:

Got the sump dropped down, working well without the skimmer while the tank cycles and the apex controller installed. The apex wasn't easy to put together but it was much easier than I thought it would be. Working off of a Mac to configure it ended up being very simple, although the web interface is the same regardless of your operating system. Now in the morning I will tackle how to get iphone access to it.

[Hawkaholic]

Looks good so far guys...loving the rock work!! I will be following along but it seems so weird lol.