90 Gallon Tank (Re)Build

corey.nolta · May 9, 2017

Everyone has one, right!? Here is my (re)build thread for all my 90 gallon salty shenanigans.

90 Gallon Backstory: When I upgraded to my 90 about a year and a half ago (had a 55 gallon for 2 years), it was not under ideal circumstances. It started off with a somewhat local reefer getting out of the hobby and selling his entire set w/livestock. I decided to make the purchase. I got up early and made the 45 minute drive to pick everything up, assuming everything would be torn down and ready to go, my first rookie mistake. First thing I noticed when I got to his place, the stand was MONSTROUS. Much larger than the dimensions he initially gave me. Not a deal breaker though. I tread on, and we start draining and dismantling everything. The day turns into night, and long story short, it's midnight and I am just getting home and unloaded. I have an small anxiety attack thinking "what the heck did I just do"? Spent the next several hours getting everything set up and filled and mostly switched over. Exhaustion had set in and I pretty much said "screw it, it is what it is". Spent the next day finishing and just fine tuning everything and finally was pretty pleased with how everything was situated.

My "Oh ****" midnight moment

Couple days later once everything was switched over and set up. All that was left was to wrap the tank, which I had no idea how I was going to do it. To be honest, it went probably 6 months just like this.

Somewhat figured out how to make the stand a little more attractive. Emphasis on "a little".

From that moment on, it was a great and glorious time. Started filling in with corals, added a few awesome fish. Everything was growing well and looking good. I was happy with everything (of course I still had my frustrating moments). The niece and nephew LOVED coming over and it was such an awesome conversation piece.

Fast forward to about 2 months ago: Everything went south, and fast! I lost fish, the majority of my coral died off, algae overtook everything. It was a terrible time in my salt water life as I could not figure out what was going on. Finally I made the call to shut her down completely. As I was pulling out the last piece of equipment (return pump) I discovered it was all rusty. I don't know why I didn't check my return pump when I checked everything else, but for whatever reason, I didn't. At least I had a little bit of closure as to what was wreaking havoc on the tank. Once everything was tore down I decided to take a month "off" to see if it was still something I wanted to do. As nice as it was not having the stress or the maintenance, I missed it terribly. I made the call to bring her back, and better than before! To really take the time to do it right.

To be continued....

Cory · May 10, 2017

Sorry about that pump! Was it a danner mag drive?

corey.nolta · May 10, 2017

It sure was!

corey.nolta · May 10, 2017

The Past Few Weeks: So after taking a month off, I decided to rebuild and start from scratch. Redo the stand, acid wash the rock, take my time on the aquascape, really plan out the tank for what I want to add to it. Coincidentally my local hardware store was having a major sale and I couldn't resist the urge to buy some new toys. I mean it was perfect timing, how could I not?! The last time I did any sort of major wood working project was back in high school shop class. But hey, with all these new toys, it should be a piece of cake! And truth be told, it actually was much easier than I thought it was going to be. So I got the stand built, stained, and sealed. Turned out pretty darn sexy! There were a few things that I wasn't happy with (I'm a perfectionist), but all in all, I was pretty impressed with myself.

Next came the rock work. I taped out the tank dimensions on my work table and started playing with all my newly cleaned rock. In my previous tanks, the rock work was more of a "pile" just stacked together. This time I wanted unique pieces. And tall! So I busted out some fiberglass rods and started drilling and stacking. I came up with two perfect pieces / layouts that I absolutely loved! Moved the first piece up to the tank and got it situated. Moved the second piece up (which was three separate pieces), and for whatever reason I could not get it to look like I had mocked it up. I was so bummed. I tried over and over. I ended up doing something completely different with that piece. I liked the end result but didn't love it. So I slept on it for a few days. And I have to say, it grew on me and now I love it. With this rock work there is a ton of swimming space (which I haven't had an abundance of in my past tanks), shelving for corals, nooks and crannies, and even a pretty legit cave like space. My only somewhat concern is the tallest piece sways a little bit when there is a lot of movement around the tank (aka when the dogs run through the house or decide to wrestle near the tank). It's a solid piece in that there isn't any shifting or risk of falling, it's just so tall and narrow that it likes to sway. I might try to add another rod to it, but I don't think it'll make a difference.

I will have to say that the hardest thing so far in this process has been redoing my sump layout / baffles. I finished that up yesterday and I must say, it's a good think it's hidden in the stand because it's a hot mess! But hey, as long as it's functional.

And that's where I'm currently at! Next plan of attack is to fill the tank and get the rock and sand bed cycling. I'm waiting on a few new bulk heads, which should be arriving today! I currently have a 55 gallon holding tank with my fish in it with some rock that has been cycled so I can give the new tank somewhat of a jump start. Once the tank is filled and cycling I'll start working on a canopy. And then it will be time to hook the apex back up. Now that's going to be a *****!

Tearing the beast down. Sad day. Between tank melt down and transferring to holding tank, I lost 80% of my corals and 5 fish.

New toys! Made the rebuilding process 100x easier! They really allowed me to make a nicer looking stand.

Boom! Stand is wrapped.

The center brace is a false brace and can be removed in order to either make working in the sump easer, or to install / remove the sump completely.

Side door view. Other side looks identical, just without a function door.

A divider was placed in order to create a 6" deep cabinet for all my apex gear.

Tank is finished! The stain took to the wood filler much differently than the wood, so there are dark spots wherever I used the filler. Which I wasn't thrilled with at first, but it gives it somewhat of a rustic look to it. I'm okay with it now. The blue lights of my holding tank give the stain color a somewhat reddish tint to it in the photos, but that doesn't come through in person.

And finally the rock work! It was hard to capture the true look of the rock work in photo or video. But this is the best I could come up with.

That's my journey thus far! Can't wait to start stocking the tank again

corey.nolta · Jun 24, 2017

May and June: I had to put fish tank stuff on hold the past month and a half. We pulled the trigger on our complete Kitchen remodel sooner than planned. Cabinets were delivered and had to be stored in my entry way and living room until install day (2 weeks after delivery), which left little to no room to even think about continuing to work on the tank. Well now the cabinets are hung and countertop has been installed and this weekend I was able to finish the plumbing and filled her with water! She's up and running, and smoothly I might add. I currently have fresh ro/di water running through the tank just to make sure there are no slow leaks/drips and to just try and leech out any debris that may have gotten in the tank during the past month. Who would have thought a remodel would cause so much dust and gunk throughout the whole house

Two "bummer" moments I'm trying to figure out now...
1.) The new sump setup is MUCH louder than previous set up. The way I have the drain pipes and filter socks set up this time around, they are above the water line. Plus side, I'll never have to worry about the aeration of the tank! If anything, I think I can cut down the pipe and add a union with a hose so I can get it level with the water level of the sump. The baffles aren't perfect (the first one is a little short) but there are no micro bubbles in the display tank, so they serve their purpose. Still need to add my GFO reactor once I'm certain there doesn't need to any tweaks made.

2.) I forgot to put the center brace in before cabinets showed up, so it's been off to the side for a solid month. Well it's been pretty hot and humid here and the wood has swelled a little bit, and I can't get the brace back in at the moment. So I'm looking at the tank with a huge gap between the doors :-| Hopefully I can pop it back in this week with it being much cooler.

That's where the tank stands. She's finally up and running! Next on the agenda is to switch out the fresh water for salt water and let the cycle begin!

Wet_Fretboards · Jun 24, 2017

Following. Looks great so far.

corey.nolta · Jul 10, 2017

Kitchen remodel has calmed down a little bit and is on the downhill slope to being done, so I decided to start the canopy for the tank! Turned out pretty dang good if I must say so myself. The stain is currently drying and then a few coats of polyurethane and she'll be good to go! I was surprised just how easy it was to build.

I'm contemplating painting the inside of the canopy and the stand bright white. A nice stark contrast to the dark stain....what are your thoughts? Too much? Waste of time? Or AWESOME!?

Dennco2000 · Jul 10, 2017

Awsome

Cory · Jul 10, 2017

I painted my whole stand white and love it, go for it!

corey.nolta · Jul 10, 2017

It would be a huge pain in the butt to paint the inside of the stand now though that it's all put together and running. I think it would be ***** worth it though in the end!

corey.nolta · Jul 10, 2017

And she's DONE! Not perfect, but I friggin' love it! Turned out amazing!! The lighting is a little weird and makes the canopy look lighter and more yellow than the stand, but they match near perfect in person!

I'm not a fan of really tall canopies, but on the flipside, I don't have much room underneath. Might have some challenges, but it'll be worth it! I'm in love

JakeSpeed · Jul 14, 2017

Great looking stand and canopy, would love to build one for my 90G, got the plans for build? Cost?

corey.nolta · Jul 16, 2017

The video I went off of was:

Joey/King of DIY is pretty much my go to. If you aren't familiar youtube it!

It was actually pretty easy to do! As far as cost goes, I'm not 100% sure. I worked on it over the course of two months due to being in the middle of the kitchen remodel. I'd say $200-250 for everything (screws, hardware, polyurethane, etc etc).

On a update side note: The "ugly stage" has begun!

Also moved over the corals that I was able to save from the crash. They need a good amount of TLC, but here's hoping they make an epic bounce back!

My blasto lost a little bit of color, but oddly enough didn't suffer much

Hammer took a hard hit during the crash

Chalice (My favorite piece) has seen better days but is bouncing back

Flow in the holding tank had much less flow than main tank so my duncan is much stubbier now. Had some amazingly long heads. Lost some color too, but all in all it hung in there pretty well

Clowns found it within seconds of putting in the new tank

Have a few other random coral pieces/frags that took a huge hit when the tank went south They are most likely not going to make it, but we will see.

And finally the FTS

corey.nolta · Jul 17, 2017

Finally finished one half of the apex cabinet part of the stand! It's not the prettiest, but it works! Now I just have to organize all the cords and cables on the back half. It's a hot mess right now

Zipties will be my best friend!

corey.nolta · Jul 28, 2017

So I did a thing....

corey.nolta · Jul 29, 2017

I know some will say it's playing with fire, having two tangs in a 90, but I couldn't resist. I was out of town for a concert and ended up being in the right place at the right time. Got both tangs for $75 from a local guy that was moving. He had them both in a 55 holding tank and wanted to move them asap. I felt like I had ample swimming space and several caves/alcoves for each to find their spot.

Day 3 and they are eating like pigs already in my tank and swim / hang out together. Every now and then one will do their little "butt fight" to keep the other in check, but nothing major at this point that I've witnessed. As of right now they are sleeping in the same cave. We shall see!

*Don't mind the dirty rocks. I'm still in the ugly phase :-/

My hammer coral is making a pretty good come back from being half dead.

Time to make a game plan for adding new coral

corey.nolta · Jul 31, 2017

So I had to put the tangs in time out. They were getting along great during the day, but at night being in the same cave got a little iffy. The yellow tang has some of the biggest barbs I've seen on a tang. The purple tangs back end was a little beat up from the butt fighting. If ya can't get along you are banished to opposite sides!

Also started putting together a small frag tank setup to start filling as well as the tank. It's not the snaziest of set ups, but it's functional and should work for my purposes. I'll seed it with some rock from the display tank as well as the filter socks when I do my next wc. Set up right next to my water station so will be easy to take care of!