If You Could Do ONE Thing differently With Your System...

[thetedinator]

My guess is that most of us find things that we wish we had done differently with our systems. Sometimes these are things that are easy to change but other times not so much. They might be decisions made when designing, setting up or maintaining the system. They might be regrettable equipment purchases. They might be regrettable fish/coral additions.

If you could go back and change EXACTLY ONE thing you did with your system, what would it be and why?

I'll start....

What: I wish I had purchased a glass tank instead of acrylic. I had two previous systems, both with acrylic tanks and sumps so for my current system I went with acrylic.

Why: I guess when I had my other systems, I was more careful in not scratching the acrylic, even with a DSB. With my current tank, I have scratched it up and buffed out the scratches. I need to buff out scratches again and while it is defintely do-able, it is a lot of work.

Ted

 

[mtraylor]

Building your house around the aquarium would be my number one. That way I could have gotten a bigger aquarium and drains in the floor where I want them for ease of cleaning etc.

 

[GregOyeah]

My live rock aquascape

 

[thetedinator]

My live rock aquascape

Right...once the aquascape is in place it could be a major pain to change anything.

 

[LOVEROCK]

a stand with more space in the sump..........

 

[ShawnSaucier]

A bigger tank..

 

[Hiachi20]

I'm going to do it soon but mine right now would be silicon glueing a divider in my sump for a refugium BEFORE I couldn't get it out

 

[Robink]

Yes, a bigger tank.

 

[Matthew Frost]

What: Build a bigger stand for the tank.

Why: "Enough" space for maintenance isn't... Ever.

 

[thetedinator]

a stand with more space in the sump..........

I hear you. I have the same desire.

 

[scardall]

I would of bought a larger sump.(in order to have more bio-media , more particle filtration and better flow/placement of other filtration/cooling probe. ) Present sump is too small because it crammed full of equipment and media. Works, but could be better.

 

[Kyl]

I would have had the stand kick out another 1-1.5", and gotten some type of mount cleat welded onto the steel frame. Plumbing around the clearance issue and having to mount the panels with magnets proved to be a decent sized headache that I'd not want to repeat again.

 

[Steven91]

better sump and lighting (both gonna be fixed on the new tank) but i hate my current sump with a passion

 

[Daltrey]

I wish I would have put down ceramic tile instead of hardwood flooring under my tank. Really don't feel like tearing down a 160 gallon tank to do it now.

 

[Halal Hotdog]

I bought a used tank and the silicone had a few nicks from the previous owner cleaning it with a razor. I wish I had cleaned up/resilocined those area before adding water. If I could have a second then it would be to buff some of the small scratches out of the glass.

 

[jduong916]

stupid lawnmower blenny i didnt quarantine, thought blennies didnt get ich. Now i just got to live with it in my tank.

And.... Putting the back of the tank too close to the wall. Pain in the butt to clean the glass.

 

[thetedinator]

I would have had the stand kick out another 1-1.5", and gotten some type of mount cleat welded onto the steel frame. Plumbing around the clearance issue and having to mount the panels with magnets proved to be a decent sized headache that I'd not want to repeat again.

Nice build @Kyl. I wanted my stand farther from the wall so I could work there easier but I did not like the aesthetics so I compromised. I built my stand out of 8020 T-slot. I have two doors flush mounted on the front and two side panels flush mounted with magnets. The side panels were a PITA but I finally figured out how to make it work.

I wish I would have put down ceramic tile instead of hardwood flooring under my tank. Really don't feel like tearing down a 160 gallon tank to do it now.

@Daltrey, nice build. On my previous system I ripped out the carpet and put in tile. That worked out well but the tank was in an unused bed room. My current tank is in my living room. This is the second tank I have had on hardwood flooring. So far I have been lucky with only small spills that I wipe up quickly.

Ted

 

[Kyl]

Thanks. For those wondering, I had to have the tank out from the wall away with the external overflow, and didn't want my bengal to be getting behind there and mucking around so it made sense to extend the stand all the way to the wall. The problem was I didn't account for the plywood clearance, so had to double 90º right from the overflow to get it lined up..


rear_plumbing by Kyl, on Flickr

I over-designed this to death and missed some really obvious things..

 

[Bouncingsoul39]

Wish I would have:

• Gone with a Eurobraced tank instead of straight rimless. Maintenance is a PITA with water constantly splashing over the side.
• Hard plumbed instead of soft
• QT all my fish from the get go, instead of later.

 

[User1]

Larger sump.