125 gallon mixed reef build

[Colin B]

More you buy on this site the better. 100$ for the tank. Easily 2000$ to get it lit and running with sand and rock. No fish or corals yet. RODI system. Sump. Triton testing.... Good luck recently graduated college student.
However better than cable and bigger tanks more forgiving of screw ups once they’re running right.
Sometimes it takes a weekend to walk by my tank.

Yeah, I'm not in any hurry to get this thing set up by any means, I was figuring right around 1500 to get the bare minimum set up for this tank, I've got nothing but time at this point, I'll look for deals and pick things up as I go, I can't have anything over 40 gallons in my current rental anyway, so no rush

 

[Colin B]

Ok so, I was able to hunt down a 125 gallon aquarium that has already been turned into a sump, for a 125 gallon display, how big of a pain would it be to design a stand to house a sump that is the same size as the display ?

 

[Tigweldpro]

Ok so, I was able to hunt down a 125 gallon aquarium that has already been turned into a sump, for a 125 gallon display, how big of a pain would it be to design a stand to house a sump that is the same size as the display ?

You can build a stand to pretty much any dimensions the main thing is how tall is your sump and after you leave enough room above to get skimmers/reactors and whatever else in and out without much hassle how high will your display be and are you ok with that.....

 

[Colin B]

You can build a stand to pretty much any dimensions the main thing is how tall is your sump and after you leave enough room above to get skimmers/reactors and whatever else in and out without much hassle how high will your display be and are you ok with that.....

Yeah I want a very tall stand, but how would I support the tank above ?

 

[Colin B]

Only reason I bring up supporting it is because it is a lot of weight that will need to be held up, and it was somewhat difficult to design a stand to house a 75 gallon as a sump that didn't look funny

 

[Tigweldpro]

Yeah I want a very tall stand, but how would I support the tank above ?

My celling is 85" high. stand base is 4" sump is 12", 10" space to get stuff in and out. display is 24". from floor to top of tank is 55" if you go higher than your armpit you will always need a stool when messing around in tank. if my lights are 18" above water I don't have a lot of extra room above lights to go higher.

As for supporting the tank you have to look at what certain materials will handle spans and what not. or you can copy an existing design and hope whoever built it already did this homework. Anyone can build a solid concrete bridge that will never fall down for a cost of 10 billion dollars. The skill is building a bridge that will be close to falling but never actually fall for 1 100th of the price. enginerding is a huge business

 

[Tigweldpro]

Ok so, I was able to hunt down a 125 gallon aquarium that has already been turned into a sump, for a 125 gallon display, how big of a pain would it be to design a stand to house a sump that is the same size as the display ?

Only reason I bring up supporting it is because it is a lot of weight that will need to be held up, and it was somewhat difficult to design a stand to house a 75 gallon as a sump that didn't look funny

So is your display and sump 125g or is your sump 75...... I'm confused

 

[Colin B]

My celling is 85" high. stand base is 4" sump is 12", 10" space to get stuff in and out. display is 24". from floor to top of tank is 55" if you go higher than your armpit you will always need a stool when messing around in tank. if my lights are 18" above water I don't have a lot of extra room above lights to go higher.

As for supporting the tank you have to look at what certain materials will handle spans and what not. or you can copy an existing design and hope whoever built it already did this homework. Anyone can build a solid concrete bridge that will never fall down for a cost of 10 billion dollars. The skill is building a bridge that will be close to falling but never actually fall for 1 100th of the price. enginerding is a huge business

I found some heavy duty s
Metal stands at home depot the run around 200 dollars and it can hold 2000lbs on each shelf, having 4 shelves it is rated to hold 8000 lbs total weight, however it is 6 inches deeper than the tank I have. Is there any reason that this idea would not work ?

 

[Colin B]

So is your display and sump 125g or is your sump 75...... I'm confused

I have a 75 gallon that I was planning on using, I found an additional 125 gallon, sump that is already set up today for around 100 dollars and I'd like to have that extra water volume

 

[Tigweldpro]

I found some heavy duty s
Metal stands at home depot the run around 200 dollars and it can hold 2000lbs on each shelf, having 4 shelves it is rated to hold 8000 lbs total weight, however it is 6 inches deeper than the tank I have. Is there any reason that this idea would not work ?

I had a bunch of freshwater shrimp tanks on a metal rack probably the exact one your describing from home depot it looked terrible and metal+saltwater=rust no matter what chinesium chrome is on them. they claim to hold 2000lbs but there is a huge sag in the middle when loaded this much meaning your tank will only have support from the ends. good things take a long time to create quick things take even longer cause you have to rebuild them properly.

 

[Colin B]

I had a bunch of freshwater shrimp tanks on a metal rack probably the exact one your describing from home depot it looked terrible and metal+saltwater=rust no matter what chinesium chrome is on them. they claim to hold 2000lbs but there is a huge sag in the middle when loaded this much meaning your tank will only have support from the ends. good things take a long time to create quick things take even longer cause you have to rebuild them properly.

True, I've got a good design made in sketch up for the 125 gallon display that would hold the 75 gallon sump easily and fit the decor of the house nicely

 

[Colin B]

So, this is the design that I have came up with to support my tank.

The top is 1x6s the posts are 4x4s and the bottom in 1x2s, I think this should be enough support for the tank.

Next I added the additional 6" to the front to accomdate the depth of a standard 75 gallon aquarium, along with having the support for the bar top

That final image shows what the stand would look like finished

Just wanted some feedback on the idea before I put it into motion

 

[Deep Reef]

It is my understanding that 4x4’s are not recommended as they tend to split. You should use 2x4’s. If you search diy stands the detail should come up. 2x6 for the horizontal are good

 

[Colin B]

It is my understanding that 4x4’s are not recommended as they tend to split. You should use 2x4’s. If you search diy stands the detail should come up. 2x6 for the horizontal are good

Yeah so 2 2x4s for the corners, maybe 2x6s?

 

[Deep Reef]

See how I framed mine

 

[Deep Reef]

See how I framed mine

Mine is for a 150. 2x4’s in the corner with a 2x4 under each horizontal for support

 

[Colin B]

So I did some digging while I was in the storage room and figured out what worked well and what needed replacing, this is what I figured I needed for going forward with this build, the place I am putting this in my new house, will have a great extra bedroom, so I figured I could add more water volume to the system in the future as frag tanks, which I think would be awesome to have. I would really like some feed back on the equipment that I have chosen, when all said and done roughly a 300 gallon system eventually:

Show tank needed right away:
Kessil a360 wide tuna blue: $1050 for 3
VarioS-6 Controllable DC Pump (1720 GPH) - Reef Octopus: $300
Regal 250INT 10" Internal Protein Skimmer: $700
300W Eheim JAGER: $64 for 2
Osmolator Universal 3155-Tunze: $200
Total: $2304

Show tank added later
T5 HO Miro-4 Retrofit Kit - LET Lighting: $300 for 2 sets of the 48 inch kits, 4 bulbs in total
Maxspect gyre xf250 pumps w/controller: $500
Neptune apex system: $800
Total: $1600

Frag tanks
Grow Co. T5 4 ft 8 Lamp Fluorescent Fixture: $280 for 2
Zoomed lowboy frag tank: $200 for 2
Total 480