FishTankProjects - 6' Shallow Reef Project

[shiftline]

I'm in the midst of planning my next tank which will be 6' shallow reef. I probally wont start on the tank until spring which gives me lots of time to plan the perfect tank and stock up on supplies!



My current tank is an IM Fusion 30L.














One of the side goals of my new tank will be versatilty. For now the tank will be in the media room down stairs against the wall.. down the road I plan on removing the banister at the top of the staris and have the tank a a peninsula.

Future home




The new tank will aprox 5.5-6' x 18-20" x 18-20" in startfire glass. I'm still debating to do 1/2 or 5/8". I'm going to go with a bean animal full siphon overflow. One of my goals is to keep the tank as silent as possible.










Lighting will be 3x Radion XR15 Pro's. The return pump will be a vectra if funds allow .. otherwise a DC Jabeo return.



The overflow wall will also have 2x MP40WQDs for the tank flow.







For the Sump It will go Sox > Frag Rack > Skimmer > return pump. Each drop will be less than an inch to keep things silent.


Skimmer will be either a bubble magus curve 7 or a coral box d7000

[Slyguy00]

I love the long shallow look. Good choice.

[shiftline]

Thank you. It's one of my favourite looks aswell

Do you think there will be any issues with sag in my light bar? The xr15 s only way 3-4lbs each so its not much weight. I'm hoping a 1" square steel (or aluminum) bar will work with out any sag

[Myka]

Steel I think you would be fine, but aluminum maybe not. You could hang the bar from the ceiling rather than mounting it. Or hang each light from the ceiling and skip the bar. Why don't you remove the banister now and install the tank in its permanent home? I would not want to put "move tank up a flight of stairs" on my tank plan list.

[RMC]

The build is going to look nice. I like the look of the swallow reef as well.

Cantilevering the lights over a 5.5ft span is going to be a challenge, Mykas ceiling mounting suggestion will turn out as well. I ended up suspending my from a overhead shelf.

Check the structure below the banister, if there is a wall directly below it you should be fine. If not you'll need to shore it up with a beam and posts (build a wall).

[shiftline]

I'm currently living in the bottom half of the hose so I want it in my area . It will be prob 2-3 years before we officially buy it and take it over. So you gotta do what you gotta do!

The only thing in don't like about hanging is you still have the wires to deal with the wires. If I do the square tube then I can run the wires in the centre of the tube and everything is hidden

I did find and old pic of the floor below. Directly to the side of the stairs is a double header beam running with the stairs then then the other joists run the opposite way so I think I should be safe hitting multiple joists

I'll post the old pic in a bit when I dig it up


Do you suspect there will be any weight issues?

[shiftline]

Pic from way back when showing joists. Do you think I need to worry about any weight issues?

[RMC]

You should be good there, lots of joists to spread the load. (disclaimer - I'm not a engineer)

I totally understand with the cables, however it's a long span for a 1"X1" tube. You'll likely need to increase the tube size and add a gusset.

[shiftline]

A little 2-3" triangle at re corner would likely do the trick f required.

I wonder if the stock radion arm with the long bar would hold if it was welded to a vertical steel bar.

(This with only one end price and the other bolted /welded to the stand?)


Prob easier and cheaper to just weld some 1" steel tube

[spit.fire]

why not just hang a bar from the ceiling?