RDNanoguy's 165 gal Reef Upgrade

[RDNanoGuy]

Thought I would start a thread for my new tank build.

Well the time has come to move again and since I'm moving I may as well get a bigger tank! I'm currently running a 110 gal 72" x 18" x 18" Tank which has been rnning for approximately 12 months. It has been a good tank but it has a few flaws that I would like to remedy since I have to tear it down to move it.

Here is waht it currently looks like:



There are few problems I would like to address in this new build:

1. The Tank is not wide enough to accomodate a deep looking aquascape. No matter how I laid out the reef structure it always looked like towers of rock that the fish swim around like a race track.

2. Flow pattern. Again the flow tends to go around the reef in circles moving the substrate and detrius into the corners. (the wavebox helped alliviate this somewhat.)

3. Complex piping/too many pumps. I went with a bean animal style overflow setup which i now believe is overly complex. Plus this tank is currently running on 4 pumps which add alot of heat into the water: 2 Ehiem 1260 returns, 1 Tunze running the reactor mainfold, and 1 Tunze running the calcium reactor.

4. All the equipment doesn't fit in the stand.

5. Tank is a little loud.

6. Waterchanges are a pain in the a**!

Now to solve these faults I've devised a new plan for this new tank:

1. Tank is wider. The new tank will be 72"L x 24"W x 20"T and will be equipped with an external overflow box with 2 x 1.5" drains for a Herbie setup. Also the tank will eurobraced and will have Starfire glass on 3 sides. Returns will be 2 x 1" through the Eurobrace.

2. Flow will be provided by 4 Tunze 6055's on a 7095 controller and 2 Nano Waveboxes in a push/pull steup.

3. Sump will be moved to the basement of the new house. This will be accomplished with 1.5" Spaflex though the wall down through the studplate.
I will construct a large bench down there for the sump and all the equipment to sit on.

4. Reduce the pumps to 2. 1 pressure rated pump to handle the return duties and 1 to run a manifold to all the various reactors etc.

5. Build a dedicated integrated water change system which will be incorperated into a new sump design. (more on this later)

So after all that the tank has been ordered and will arrive on thursday so I spent the weekend fabbing a new wider stand:

Frame of the stand


Skinning the top and back with 1/2" Plywood


Sealing the wood with Killz Oil based sealer


The stand will be skirted with a Cherry ply and doors to match my dining set.

More to follow!

[Skimmerking]

i like it looks great simple and sexy love the lights too RD

[RDNanoGuy]

Originally Posted by asmodeus

i like it looks great simple and sexy love the lights too RD

Thanks Asmodeus! I quite like the lights too. They are the 120 watt led by blueline. 55 2watt bridgelux LEDs per fixture. They are really simple but man are they bright! The corals and clam like them alot. Probably gonna add one more and turn them the other way to cove the width of the tank better. These fixtures are a bargain @ $400.00.

[RDNanoGuy]

Well it's been really crazy the last two weeks with the move and everything else but now it's time for an update!

The new Tank arrived the day of the move so that was brought into the new house first:



Here's a closeup of the external overflow:



Then the rest of the move took place and all the fish went into a temp tank on the kitchen island:



The next day I got to looking at figuring the plumbing path and ran into a problem:



The builder used little leftover beam cutoffs to fill in the corner right under the tank. These were joined to the closest engineered beam with joist hangers with two nails in each hanger.
I really hate crappy work and there was no way these were going to hold up a 2000 lb. tank!

My solution was to erect a new sub-beam and posts to carry the load to the basement floor as seen here:





Then I built a bench to hold the sump and other fishy stuff:



More to come!

[fishytime]

your seriously gonna have to change your user name man......not in RD anymore and sure aint no nano-guy anymore

[bauder1986]

Subscirbed! Hi Doug! You miss me?

[RDNanoGuy]

Hey Josh! you still got that nice 165 or did you sell it?

[RDNanoGuy]

Time for more Pics!

Cutting an access hole for the Piping:



All the Pipe threaded through and glued up:



Tank with the light bar and LED's in place and the overflow cover siliconed in:



Now for the fun part.... Aquascaping! I decided to go wih two mini lagoon outcrops plus an island in the middle for my GSP:



And finally, the inhabitants are in!



Here's the 3 Amigos waiting for their lunch:



More about the sump build coming up!

[fishoholic]

Looks good, I like how you did the aquascape.

[riceboy]

ya dude sweet job on the aquascaping very clean looking, always a fan of the less rock look