New 120 build

SLUF681 · Aug 10, 2012

Well, I've officially started the build of my new 120! It's gonna take a while, but hey, only bad things happen fast right? So far all I've done is build the "base" of the stand/canopy. My tank is 60X18X26. It will be drilled for 3-1" drains (Beans setup from RC) and 5-1/2" returns, 3 of which will be behind the rocks. Lighting will be 2 250 watt halides. Sump will be a 40b. The stand and canopy will be either oak or mahogany. It will be 24" deep to hide all plumbing and wiring. The tank with be viewable from 3 sides. Everybody had better get ready for lots of questions and suggestions. I intend to do mostly lps and softies, but some sps also. I recently took a heavy duty liking to Monti caps.

revsgirl · Aug 11, 2012

Can't wait to see whatcha come up with! Good luck!

jikm2187 · Aug 12, 2012

bring on the questions.. im ready to see the build...

SLUF681 · Aug 16, 2012

I need a beckett injector for a diy skimmer project for this build. Anybody got one by chance?

Rob.D · Aug 17, 2012

How's the build going Rodney?

SLUF681 · Aug 18, 2012

Very slowly Rob. Money is very tight right now. I'm getting ready to buy my plumbing and drill the tank. I'm gonna put a 1" bulkhead down low behind the rock to do water changes and so on. I'll put a strainer basket on it to prevent stuff from going into it. I still have to buy halide reflectors, build a sump, finish the stand, build/buy a skimmer, and I still need a return pump. It's gonna be a while.... I want the stand and tank to be a real showpiece, so I'm taking my time and doing it right.

SLUF681 · Aug 18, 2012

Oh, I almost forgot all the electrical stuff. Can't forget that! I'm sure I'm gonna make that more complicated than necessary too! Lol.

SLUF681 · Aug 21, 2012

Well, I was going to post a few pics, but I can't get them to load from photobucket. Any ideas?

SLUF681 · Aug 24, 2012

Plumbing on the tank itself is finished. I'll finish the rest when I get my sump built.

Rob.D · Aug 24, 2012

Looks good Rodney.

revhtree · Aug 24, 2012

Plumbing is nice and clean!

SLUF681 · Aug 25, 2012

Thank you very much guys! I have to thank Dapple also. He was my 3rd and 4th hands. Makes it a lot easier when you have someone to hold things straight and bounce questions off of.

SLUF681 · Sep 13, 2012

This is my DIY bulkhead strainer. My drain for water changes and so on is a 1" bulkhead that I've necked down to 3/4". The DIY strainer is a 1" cap with about 1 1/2" of 1" PVC pipe glued into it, both painted with aquarium safe acrylic paint. I figured up on AutoCAD how many 1/8" holes in needed to flow the equivalent of a 3/4" pipe. That came out to roughly 38 holes. Since I drilled it on a manual mill as opposed to a CNC, it came out to 37 holes. Then, I got concerned with something covering the end, so I drilled an additional 5 rows of 24 holes around the circumference. Now I have 157 holes total. It costed me $.66 and 20 minutes. I forgot to order one when I ordered all my other stuff and didn't want to pay for shipping for one. I figure it was worth it.