Our first reef tank

[HJ99]

I recently learned that my wife has always wanted a saltwater aquarium. I never would have guessed. So we thought we would save a bunch of money and get a used 125g tank off FB Market Place. Once we got it home and cleaned up, we were disappointed in the condition of the glass. But I forged ahead scrapping and sanding off the texture paint the PO sprayed on the rim and stand. I even ordered a kit to remove scratches. We also verified we could drill the tank sides. But still we weren't real happy with it and wife said why not get a new bigger one and use this for the sump. OK by me !!

That takes us up to today. I drove to the LFS where we saw the reef ready 180g on Sunday. Well today there is a sold sign on it !! I ended up ordering one from another LFS at a better price. But both places said they couldn't guarantee when it would arrive due to Covid and or glass shortages. Could be weeks or longer. I do have a lot of other work to do like rearranging the basement and the room where the DT will go but I hope it isn't spring before we get it.

Here's a photo of the 125 starting to remove the paint and the stand repainted.

 

[HJ99]

Also I'm going to reseal this tank and use it as the sump as my wife suggested. It will get resealed and the rim painted black again before I start figuring out the baffles. So like I said, I have things to keep me busy while I wait on the new tank. IMO it looks better already minus the tacky paint job.

 

[DC Reefer]

Nice upgrade

 

[HJ99]

So I got the 125 resealed and trying to figure out the sump. I know I want a refugium and a return section big enough that any water changes can be done with the basement sump. I'll also want enough room for a couple of filter socks and possibly a skimmer down the road. I found a few threads with great info.

 

[jsker]

Petco dollar tank sale, I would suggest a 50 gal tank. Look for partitions online or have your local glass person cut the partitions.

A skimmer is a must.

Looks like this is going to be a great build!!

 

[HJ99]

Petco dollar tank sale, I would suggest a 50 gal tank. Look for partitions online or have your local glass person cut the partitions.

A skimmer is a must.

Looks like this is going to be a great build!!

Thanks for the suggestion but the 125 pictured is going to be the sump. I've been working on preparing the basement where it will be along with a mixing station. I have been looking at skimmers and a LOT of other stuff. This has snowballed into quite a project! LOL

 

[jsker]

Thanks for the suggestion but the 125 pictured is going to be the sump. I've been working on preparing the basement where it will be along with a mixing station. I have been looking at skimmers and a LOT of other stuff. This has snowballed into quite a project! LOL

Ahhhhh LOL.

 

[ShepherdReefer]

Going to look great.

 

[HJ99]

I got a message that I need to update. This undertaking has prompted a much needed cleaning and makeover of the basement and that isn't very entertaining to document. LOL But I thought I'd post photos of what got all this started. I have kept a pond since the 80s. This year, as the weather turned cold, one of my Goldfish developed a swim bladder problem. He couldn't stay submerged and would float upside down with his tail out of the water. I told the wife that he would freeze with the weather coming up. So I netted him out and put him in a tub that I had for a beer keg in the basement. We treated him with salt and some antibiotics and he quickly recovered. I didn't want to put him back outside as by now the pond was getting ice occasionally. So off to the farm store and a plastic trough with a Harbor Freight pump running my pond pressure filter that was disconnected for the winter. He seemed fine but lonely so we went to the LFS and got him a friend....the solid gold one. They seem happy as can be.

So what does this have to do with our build ? Well, I told the wife that maybe it would be neat to have an aquarium. I was completely surprised when she said that she has always wanted a saltwater aquarium. I started looking on Marketplace and Craig's for tanks thinking maybe a 90. She surprised me again when she said she wanted at least a 150 !! So as is typical with me, things started to snowball. Anyway, here's the culprit that started it all.

 

[HJ99]

Update on the new tank that some may find interesting. We ordered a reef ready 180 Marineland from the LFS Christmas Eve. They said it would be 4 weeks or longer but no estimate. In the meantime I had inquired to Marineland about the bottom hole placement as I was thinking of using the 125 stand by modifying it.

The other day I got an email from their Consumer Relations person with a PDF diagram. I thanked her back and mentioned the wait for the one I ordered. She said it would be "Quite some time" as they were concentrating on the smaller/ more popular sizes only. When I pressed as to what "Quite some time" could mean, I got a surprising response. She said a very long time if ever and that the talk was they would no longer produce anything over 120 gal !! You can imagine my reaction to that news although I was glad she was honest with me.

So I got right on the phone with the LFS and relayed what I had been told. The fella was as surprised as me and we both agreed that why would they take orders for something they aren't going to produce ??? So as we were cancelling the order, he said " I'm supposed to get a Reef Ready Aqueon 180 in on Friday. I told him to keep my deposit and put it on the Aqueon. So we may be getting it tomorrow !!! WoooHooo!!! They also have a stand for it that we are going to check out. Hopefully I'll have some pics to post soon.

 

[HJ99]

Little over a month since I updated. I've made some progress on the support equipment. Mixing station and RODI are done just have to hook up the waste line. Sump is about done just have to put the the other two baffles in for the bubble trap.

 

[HJ99]

In the RODI photo, you can see some of the reinforcing and jack post to support the weight. I have another at the other end but removed it to work on the sump. I also built a base where the DT and stand will sit. The floor was uneven so I made up a framework of 2x4 with Advantec on top and trimmed with PVC corner molding. It's leveled with composite shims under the 2x4s that were placed before the top was put on. I should have taken more pics but it went pretty fast. I have been working on all this while awaiting the DT. We are hoping to get one soon but they are hard to come by in large sizes right now

.

 

[HJ99]

Got tired of waiting for a reef ready tank and they had a regular 180 in stock. Got it drilled and fitted a Modular Marine overflow. Also drilled for the 3/4 inch returns. A little more effort and was hesitant to drill a new tank but now I'm happy we went this way. Lot less intrusive in the tank plus able to do the bean animal overflow.