I wanted to get something started here before I procrastinate too long and never posted.
About a year ago we had to break down my custom 30 gallon tank I built so we could add another story onto our home. I had intended on getting it set back up once the work on the house was complete but one project led to another and it’s been about 6 months since we moved back in and the tank is still empty.
Some conversations with friends and adventuring out to some reef shops (Aquatic art FTW!) really got me and my wife motivated to get back into the coral game. Thing is, I am not a person to leave well enough alone. While the 30 gallon setup was a really nice tank, and I had some good success with it, bigger is always better, right?! I work for a glass company so getting glass isn’t an issue and have all the tools and most of the skills to fab nearly anything I can dream up…
…so here we are.
The plan is plan is to start with the cabinet. An aluminum frame seemed like a great choice as my last steel frame began rusting about a year in despite my best painting efforts. It’s gonna get a glass panel exterior with white vinyl backing to give it a glossy lacquered look and easy to clean up.
That’s gonna get topped with a roughly 100 gallon tank. I’m thinking 48” long, 24” deep and 20” high. I believe I can get that done with 1/2” glass and silicone without much issue. It’ll be bottom drilled. It’s location will slow it to be viewed from all sides so I really need to figure out what to do for the overflow.
Originally, I was going to build a sump and refugium to live in the cabinet but I can run lines straight down from the tank into the unfinished basement for an aquarium work station. That will allow me to oversize my sump and run a separate refugium. Also I can keep all the electronics and controllers down there away from salt creep and splashes.
I’ll add details as I go but I’m looking for input from you guys and gals. This will be the biggest tank build I’ve done so please, chime in. My feelings won’t get hurt when you tell me that those fish choices aren’t a good idea or to plumb the return pump differently.
Sorry for the long post and can’t wait to start getting some pics up!
Sent from my iPhone using MASC - Marine Aquarium Society of Colorado
About a year ago we had to break down my custom 30 gallon tank I built so we could add another story onto our home. I had intended on getting it set back up once the work on the house was complete but one project led to another and it’s been about 6 months since we moved back in and the tank is still empty.
Some conversations with friends and adventuring out to some reef shops (Aquatic art FTW!) really got me and my wife motivated to get back into the coral game. Thing is, I am not a person to leave well enough alone. While the 30 gallon setup was a really nice tank, and I had some good success with it, bigger is always better, right?! I work for a glass company so getting glass isn’t an issue and have all the tools and most of the skills to fab nearly anything I can dream up…
…so here we are.
The plan is plan is to start with the cabinet. An aluminum frame seemed like a great choice as my last steel frame began rusting about a year in despite my best painting efforts. It’s gonna get a glass panel exterior with white vinyl backing to give it a glossy lacquered look and easy to clean up.
That’s gonna get topped with a roughly 100 gallon tank. I’m thinking 48” long, 24” deep and 20” high. I believe I can get that done with 1/2” glass and silicone without much issue. It’ll be bottom drilled. It’s location will slow it to be viewed from all sides so I really need to figure out what to do for the overflow.
Originally, I was going to build a sump and refugium to live in the cabinet but I can run lines straight down from the tank into the unfinished basement for an aquarium work station. That will allow me to oversize my sump and run a separate refugium. Also I can keep all the electronics and controllers down there away from salt creep and splashes.
I’ll add details as I go but I’m looking for input from you guys and gals. This will be the biggest tank build I’ve done so please, chime in. My feelings won’t get hurt when you tell me that those fish choices aren’t a good idea or to plumb the return pump differently.
Sorry for the long post and can’t wait to start getting some pics up!
Sent from my iPhone using MASC - Marine Aquarium Society of Colorado