Tony 65g mixed reef build

Shirak · Jan 23, 2020

So here we go with some pictures of getting the ol 65g up and running after taking some time off. Way back when the best MH bulbs were at best 6500k and skimmers used limewood air 'stones'. The idea was to cram as much rock as possible in. So it's not surprising it was a wall that sloped from front to back bottom to top. This time I wanted space for corals and fish to swim lol. Below some pictures of using about half what I had back then.. long dried mostly Fiji some Tonga. The 65 is a bit of a challenge since it's only 12" front to back. Spent a bunch of time with my daughter playing with rocks on the deck to figure out a nice layout.

Shirak · Jan 23, 2020

Layed out some cardboard with the inside dimensions of the tank and stacked/unstacked/restacked rock for a few hours

After much stacking and restacking found something we liked. Then marked all the pieces of rock where they connected and took lots of pictures so we could disassemble and reassemble in the tank and glue it together..

Shirak · Jan 23, 2020

some more photos of rock. She's the artist so I deferred to her judgement on what looked nice (for the most part

)

Shirak · Jan 23, 2020

shot of tank dry with the AI hydra on low.

Daniel@R2R · Jan 23, 2020

Looking good! Following!

Shirak · May 14, 2020

Just an update... I got sick of losing fish to diseases so decided to do the quarantine/fallow period. To catch the fish I pulled all the rock.. SOO been running rockless for over 2 months. I then decided it was time to remove the deep sand bed which was an original part from way back when.. half inch water space with a couple inches of sand, fiberglass screen and a few more inches of sand. Haven't removed it yet but I will since I decided the best way to do that was pull the whole tank apart! Which led me to my desire to go with an external overflow with one of the removable internal weirs. Currently I have a single overflow in the corner with a durso? drain.. anyway. It's noisy , levels fluctuate and prone to overflowing.. sooo That lead me to decide maybe a whole new tank! This one is too shallow front to back. I want some depth!

Going with acrylic since it's easier to work with. 1/2" thick 24" tall x 60" wide and 28" deep with 3/4" x 3" eurobracing around the top perimeter. Hoping I don't need a center brace with the 3/4" thick perimeter. Will see. Back panel will be black too. I plan to do regular updates once I start the build.

Shirak · May 19, 2020

Had the company switch to 3/4" acrylic just in case and bump the base to 29" wide. That will give me inside dimensions of 58.5" wide x 27.5" deep and 24" high. Haven't decided on water level yet. 22 or 23". 22" would be 153 gallons and 23" 160 gallons. The black might still be 1/2" thick and if so I will brace the outside on the back. The website didn't list 3/4" but the fellow I talked with said he would switch them all to 3/4" so we will see.

Shirak · Jul 16, 2020

Well finally looks like they got the acrylic in. Just double checking that all the measurement and thickness changes are set. Doesn't look like I will be able to get 3/4" black but checking one last time with the person that contacted me about filling the order in the next few days.

dungdatinh · Jul 17, 2020

Nice tank

Shirak · Jul 17, 2020

dungdatinh said:
Nice tank

Thanks! Excited to build the new one.

Acrylic is ordered. Decided to go with front and back 3/4" clear acrylic since I couldn't get black in 3/4". Contemplating painting the back side black on the outside which could look nice but if the paint peels down the road it will look crummy and I would have no way of getting to it.

revhtree · Jul 17, 2020

Digging the aquascape!!

Shirak · Jul 17, 2020

Thanks! Anxious to see what I can do when I have way more depth front to back on the new build!

Shirak · Aug 9, 2020

Woot the acrylic has arrived! Need to start building a stand. Nothing super fancy. Probably mix of poplar, 5ply birch veneer plywood, some red oak trim. Thinking of a 1" square tubular steel frame for the top sandwiched between a couple pieces of ply so I can keep it thin and strong and avoid a front center brace in the middle.

PokeFish · Nov 16, 2020

Update pls? Following along

Shirak · Nov 16, 2020

PokeFish said:
Update pls? Following along

Thanks for following!! Well the acrylic is still in the box and have yet to start the stand

Too many other projects. Although I have been tinkering with the frag tanks. Built a couple small tanks from acrylic to 'hone my skills' which are pretty minimal. I think I am improving! Edges are better and gluing is better. Black tank on the left is for photographing. I made it tall so I could use the submerged lens protector and still have enough distance for the macro lens.

Now I just have to figure out the best way to deal with coralline on acrylic since it will be the biggest challenge on the new DT when it's up and running.

PokeFish · Nov 16, 2020

Shirak said:
Thanks for following!! Well the acrylic is still in the box and have yet to start the stand Too many other projects. Although I have been tinkering with the frag tanks. Built a couple small tanks from acrylic to 'hone my skills' which are pretty minimal. I think I am improving! Edges are better and gluing is better. Black tank on the left is for photographing. I made it tall so I could use the submerged lens protector and still have enough distance for the macro lens.

Now I just have to figure out the best way to deal with coralline on acrylic since it will be the biggest challenge on the new DT when it's up and running.

Will snails eat the corralline?

Shirak · Nov 16, 2020

PokeFish said:
Will snails eat the corralline?

I don't know of any of the usual CUC snails that eat coralline. Urchins will but suspect they would not do a very good job of keeping the viewing panels clear unless I had a small army. They will also eat down to the bare rock!

I have been using an old plastic card which is ok but don't think I want to do that on a big deep tank!