Frankenstein's 180g Stick Tank

[turkeyty]

I finally figured I'd get around to sharing my latest build.... I have a Frankenstein system centered around a couple of 95g waves, a 60g cube, a 75g long frag/grow, a 20g Xenia/refugium located in my garage/man cave. One of the waves is a dedicated sps and they were quickly outgrowing their space. I also have a few larger tangs that I rescued and deep down knew they deserved more room to cruise....
I had the the chance to acquire some larger tanks with only 18" depth but decided to hold off for something with a 24" depth as I really like the added depth for aquascape. My wife and I were expecting our first son soon and I knew that my fish room projects might be severely limited with the responsibilities of a newborn in the house [emoji4]
I had a friend offer a 180g for trade of a few sps frags so I jumped and started plotting and planning this past fall....
Our son decided to come eight weeks early and the project was slow to come to fruition!!! He has been a dream and blessing for us!!! Although It has been a challenge for me to keep this project on track as his schedule revolves around eating and pooping every few hours [emoji12]...
Anyways, I took a few pictures and got this tapatalk on the telly, so I'll post up a little journal for others to follow. I must also give a shout out to a couple of reefing brothers from another mother who have have helped me with projects, insight, and good ole razzing: Dendrobates and Randoreefer [emoji41]

Here's a picture of the frontside of the Frankenstein...

Ty

 

[gacolt]

cant wait to see the sps tank

 

[turkeyty]

The 6x2x2 oceanic tank was in decent shape and undrilled... I decided to redo the silicone for good measure... Lots of razor blades, elbow grease, and masking tape for clean lines and took an evening to perform... With the daily trips to the nicu to visit our son an hour away and the daily grind of work allowed the silicone to cure for a few weeks... I also contacted an area reefer in Kansas City to make me an INKY box for the overflow. I initially wanted to do a coast to coast but instead left a foot open on each side to drill and have the returns. Dave aka Inky, did a super job and made it it quickly for me! More pics to come! (it's feeding time [emoji1])

Ty

 

[turkeyty]

The 180 was to placed where I had my 75g long frag tank, so I constructed a 2x4 extension to allow for the bump out... My plan was to move the 75 down below...

Ty

 

[turkeyty]

Test fitting three of the Chinese black boxes for the frag tank...

And after frag tank moved and in place....

Ty

 

[turkeyty]

After salvaged top from old stand and primed and painted... Also just plain ole latex for the back of 180g and drilling five holes (3 drain & 2 return)..

Ty

 

[turkeyty]

Next step was getting tank in place and siliconed in the Inky box overflow withe the help of Randoreefer and Dendrobates ...

 

[turkeyty]

Some Inky Box ****....

And of course, the Stunning Randoreefer dressed to the nines getting down and dirty!

Ty

 

[turkeyty]

I ran a feed from my ro/di and hoped it would all hold [emoji12]

Side view of durso and returns...

Ty

 

[turkeyty]

Intermission shots [emoji41]

More to come...

Ty

 

[turkeyty]

Here are a few shots after salt was added and shows my dc powered external reef octopus skimmer. My Frankenstein system is now a little over 550g total volume. I do utilize a Neptune controller for helping run lighting programs and safeguards for a little ease of mind... I dose kalkwasser and also have a calcium reactor to maintain calcium and alk.... I also am very religious about weekly water changes (10%)...

Ty

 

[turkeyty]

After about a week of circulation, I began to place a few of my sps and chalices in the tank to give them some breathing room due to tank switch.

Ty

 

[turkeyty]

Rock work time [emoji1]. I acquired about 250 lbs of Marco semi live rock from a shop in KC. Randoreefer and I spent a few hours going through the tubs and tanks looking for the choice pieces to use.... I wish that I wouldn't have had to dry it out but I intended to create large single rock structures using fiberglass electric fence rods drilled through and foam to bond the the smaller rock solid. I have done this in the past and I know that the foam has been used successfully by some German aquarist 10-15 years a go... I just use the regular yellow great stuff foam and don't worry about uv exposure from lights breaking it down as I cover it with regular gorilla glue and sand to blend in with real rock. It's really an unnecessary step as the rock/foam is covered with coralline algae after a few months anyways. Two of the other tanks in the Frankenstein have this type of work and they are approaching 2 years... Feel free to ask any questions about the process and the next few posts will be pics of me trying to form up the shapes I was looking for and tying it all together... I had a general idea of what I wanted but sometimes the rocks will tell you what direction to go.... It's a fun and challenging process and you just have to remember that in the long run it'll be hidden underneath all the corals[emoji13]. Just make sure to wear some gloves when using foam [emoji1]

Ty

 

[turkeyty]

Ty

 

[turkeyty]

Ty

 

[turkeyty]

One other note, you must use a lot of rock for weight as the foam is buoyant, eventually it'll become waterlogged after a few weeks. I also used cable ties and 5 minute epoxy for a temporary hold and once the spray foam is applied and cures (12-24hrs) it will lock it all together.

 

[turkeyty]

Ty

 

[turkeyty]

Our son says its intermission time for tonight [emoji1]

Ty

 

[heathd.hd]

Aqua scape really looks great!

 

[Electrobes]

Welp.. I was impressed before with all those tanks and the sheer craziness of it all, then you go add another tank. On top of that, you have a new son!? You, my friend, are brave and must have energy that competes against that of a Honey Badger. Great job!