First Large Build, 230 Gallon!

Hugh Mann · Feb 26, 2021

Pictures didn't upload earlier for whatever reason.
From further reading, I should probably cut the standpipes down an inch or two. It would also make covering the top of the overflow easier too.

Hugh Mann · Mar 20, 2021

Holy Heck y'all! This is really coming together! Tomorrow I'm getting the last of my supplies. Glass and silicone to put baffles in the sump. 30 more pounds of marco rock, e marco 400, two 200 gallon boxes of instant ocean, and two aquatop titanium 500 watt heaters with built in temperature controllers.

I also managed to get every last scrap of that accursed coralline growth without scratching up the glass, so whoo-hoo! I could very well have this tank with water by the end of the month, if I can sink time into it. Actually ahead of schedule on this one, I wasn't expecting to be at this point until April.

Kind of apprehensive about the aquascape though. I'll have about 250lbs of rock, half of it live rock. I only have the vaguest idea of what I want it to look like. Because of the braces, building up the aquascape will be a little trickier. Harder to build large assemblies of rock to drop in. I'm sure I'll get it figured out though. I just know I have to do it right the first time.

Hugh Mann · Apr 10, 2021

This. This is the single most frustrating project I have ever taken on. Ever.
Waited weeks to have glass cut for sump baffles. Got them. You know what I did today?
Dropped one. Shattered. Glass everywhere. What's more, it landed on the stand that my skimmer would sit on, and that broke too, as well as a sheet of acrylic I needed too. So yeah. Awesome.

If I wasn't suffering from the sunk costs fallacy, I would sell everything and keep my little 55. This is getting very unfun, very quickly.