Shred5 90 gallon build.

[shred5]

Well since My Marineland 93 had bubbles in the seams, I scrapped that build. I decided not to do anything for a while and be happy with my 75. Well Now a little latter and I upgraded my 75 to a larger sump for more room. I put in a Elite Aquatics RS33 Reef Sump.

Basically tore my 75 gallon 100 percent apart to install the new sump because it only fit through the top of the stand. Well once in the stand I realized there was not much more room in the stand and I wanted to add a dosing system. I had just picked up a GHL doser 2 :

I also have 3 slim dosing containers from Elite Aquatics which I bought a while ago and had not used yet.

Well with the newly added Apex it was getting too tight under the stand.



So this is where the story starts.. I decide I am gong to build a stand that's bigger. Since I am upgrading stands I figured I would up grade tanks too...I decided to go 90 for now because it has the same foot prints as a 75. I had just purchased a Giesemann Matrixx II T-5 fixture which I love and do not want to have to buy another fixture. Basically a 120 would require more lamps or a 125 a longer fixture, so a 90 it is.

 

[shred5]

I will be moving most of my reef stuff over from my 75 for this build. I will be reusing my Giesemann Matrixx II T-5 fixture for lighting:

I will be moving over my Apex:

I will be setting up my GHL dosing pump pictured above with the EA slim dosing containers also shown above.
I will be reusing the EA sump shown above too .

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Cool! Following along!!

 

[shred5]

As for the stand I am building it myself... The room has a nautical theme to it. It has a small boat in it, pictures of light houses , a old compass from a boat etc. So the stand needed a cottage, Caribbean type feel to it.. I wanted shaker doors since they are easier to make. I wanted a table top on it, I wanted side doors for easier removal of the sump and a place for storage. I laso wanted it two different colors. After looking at many designs and drawing it on cad it came out pretty close to what RocketEngineer did with his stand. Matter of fact they are almost exact.

I wanted to make it able to hold a bigger tank in case I upgraded since I am spending allot to make the stand and also spending a insane amount of time on it. So it is designed to hold multiple size tanks.
Progress pictures to come...

 

[shred5]

Some pics of my 75 to hold you over. The pics are a little old now.

 

[shred5]

As far as skimmers go I am thinking of sticking with my RLSS R6-I

I have switched this skimmer out a few times for other skimmers but ends up being put back eventually, so I am hesitant of trying a new skimmer. It is such a stable skimmer produces nice black skimmate. It produce 900 l/h of air and has done a great job.
I have 5 ignitus anthias living in the 75 and they get fed between 6 to 8 times a day and it keeps up pretty well... My load is probably more typical of a much larger tank. I have been tossing around the idea of moving to Deltec or even a Bubble King.

 

[s2nhle]

wow, great. I love the Giesemann Matrixx II T-5 fixture. It looks sleek.

 

[tbdh20]

Awesome! Can't wait to see the progress on the new build.

 

[Sahin]

Subscribed!

 

[shred5]

Well here is where I am at on the stand. This is a oversized stand. The tank is 18 x48 and the frame is 72x24 and will be slightly larger since this will be a tabletop stand and hang over.

Last night we primed the frame for the first coat with kilz.
Hopefully we start on the skin this weekend. It is being skinned in oak 1x4's.
It will have a door on each end/side and two in the front.

 

[shred5]

Some advice on building stands. They wont be cheaper than the stands you can buy but may be cheaper than custom stand. Make sure you have stuff to make it square and large clamps will help allot. Use stainless screws where possible or some other type of screw that has some sort of rust protection. Pocket screws are awsume and make the job much easier.

 

[shred5]

This is the oak top plywood cut to size and getting ready to put the solid wood edge banding on.

 

[shred5]

Gluing edge banding.

 

[shred5]

Edge banding applied

 

[shred5]

Edge banding Sanded down.

 

[shred5]

Stained:

Next a good coat of poly. I will probably do 3 coats.

 

[shred5]

Ok the top is finished. It has 3 coats of poly. Still need to kilz/prime the bottom. The peice of wood you see on the left is the top of the front.

 

[shred5]

The front and one side, stained and one coat of poly.

 

[shred5]

As of now I am sticking with my synergy Top off container. I am eventually going to build a chest for it to sit in that matches the stand:

 

[LILBUDDHA]

As far as skimmers go I am thinking of sticking with my RLSS R6-I

I have switched this skimmer out a few times for other skimmers but ends up being put back eventually, so I am hesitant of trying a new skimmer. It is such a stable skimmer produces nice black skimmate. It produce 900 l/h of air and has done a great job.
I have 5 ignitus anthias living in the 75 and they get fed between 6 to 8 times a day and it keeps up pretty well... My load is probably more typical of a much larger tank. I have been tossing around the idea of moving to Deltec or even a Bubble King.

Nothing wrong with upgrading the skimmer . I read horror stories on the 2009/SC ? series Bk's r finicky but once broken n and fined tuned it's all cake and ice cream .
Shop around as I always say . Nice to see you post a build thread again .. I'm in ...