My forever tank 180 build

[Reefer8873]

Ok so I have been without an aquarium for about a year now and I can't take it anymore so Here it goes.
I had a 14 gal bio cube for about a year which I know is not that long, but I started looking at sps so I upgraded to a biocube hqi. Everything was going awesome in my little ecosystem until the day came to move and it all went done from there. Long story short a lot of things died, so I broke it down and sold everything. Fast forward a year and I'm itching, but a miracle happened and my wife said GET WHATEVER YOU WANT, I couldn't believe it.
I started thinking about a 120 because I really like the 2' depth and height, but I kinda wanted a 6 footer well that's when I fell in love with the 180.
My plans for the build are probably order the 180 rr my lfs can get me a perfecto rr for $800 which I think is pretty good. What do y'all think? I will be building my own stand and canopy.
If anyone has any "guidance" for me on this I would very much appreciate it. It is a big build that I can't wait to get moving on. I was also thinking about using another 180 for my sump, I have one I am scoping out on craigslist

[Brian DeGolier]

Ha! I read your first sentence to my wife and started laughing, she thought that I had posted it. I'm in the same boat as you, 13 months now and I basically have everything planned out. I've decided though to wait until I have a lot of $ saved up and once I do I will then start to do the stand build. It may even be another year, but I plan to get an awesome skimmer, a stand that's 18" wider than the aquarium and 42" high, not 36" a sump that will allow a lot of flexibility when I decide to change things up. I'll see if I can send you a thread that I started titled "If you were to do it all over again, what would you do?" Or search for it. I got a lot of valuable info from a lot of people. Going from a nano to a 180 is ambitious of you, I'm going from a 55 gal to a 105, the 105 is 24" deep with lots of scaping room whic
H is important. Anyway, have fun with the build.

[Reefer8873]

Yes It is quite a big jump, I hope that it is not too much for me but I knew I wanted to have a tang or two and I was afraid of not getting one big enough, also my lfs can get me the 180 for about the same price as a 120 because they have their large tanks on sale.
I think I am going to order the tank today because I just can't help myself, once I get the tank I will really be hitting the ground running. Over the past 6 months I have been searching and searching about info on large tanks and slowly putting a list together.
Here are some of the major things on my list:
Lights- rapid LEDs
Skimmer- super reef octopus
Return pump - not sure was thinking an eheim or mag drive
Power heads- tunze or mp 40
Controller- apex
I am not set on anything except for the LEDs but if anyone has opinions let me know. I also wanted the large 180 sump so I can do a huge refugium, and grow macro to feed my tangs. Does anyone know of good nutritious macro that is easily available?

[Brian DeGolier]

Yes It is quite a big jump, I hope that it is not too much for me but I knew I wanted to have a tang or two and I was afraid of not getting one big enough, also my lfs can get me the 180 for about the same price as a 120 because they have their large tanks on sale.
I think I am going to order the tank today because I just can't help myself, once I get the tank I will really be hitting the ground running. Over the past 6 months I have been searching and searching about info on large tanks and slowly putting a list together.
Here are some of the major things on my list:
Lights- rapid LEDs
Skimmer- super reef octopus
Return pump - not sure was thinking an eheim or mag drive
Power heads- tunze or mp 40
Controller- apex
I am not set on anything except for the LEDs but if anyone has opinions let me know. I also wanted the large 180 sump so I can do a huge refugium, and grow macro to feed my tangs. Does anyone know of good nutritious macro that is easily available?

Looks like it's pretty well thought out, what are your plans for CA/ALK supplementation?

[leveldrummer]

Before you order, look at the deep sea aquatics 225, Its just like a 180, but just a little taller and wider. It can give you just a bit more space.

But congrats on getting the ok from the wife. Im waiting till the end of this year so we can upgrade from a 58. big tanks are NICE!

[Reefer8873]

I think I will just have a simple dosing setup for supplements, (I say simple HAHA is anything simple) but that may change. I am thinking of putting the sump in the room behind the tank that way I have a lot of room to mess around with.

[Brian DeGolier]

Before you order, look at the deep sea aquatics 225, Its just like a 180, but just a little taller and wider. It can give you just a bit more space.

But congrats on getting the ok from the wife. Im waiting till the end of this year so we can upgrade from a 58. big tanks are NICE!

+1 on the DSA aquarium, they're very well made and not overly priced. They do not have dual overflows on the sides like AGA or Aqueon, but 2 (maybe 3 for a 225 gal) drilled holes for dual drains which you can use a Herbie overflow. The main complaint I've heard about them is that they take a little longer than other companies to ship their product and are never on time. That doesn't bother me any, gives me more time to plan out and save $. They have a good website with dimensions of their aquariums.

[Brian DeGolier]

try out this link that I mentioned above. Hope it works, I haven't sent a link before.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2348761&goto=newpost

[Reefer8873]

Thanks for the link that was a good read and had a lot of good info. So I went ahead and ordered the 180 rr should be here around mid next week, I asked my lfs about the DSA tank and they said they didn't know much about them and my impulsiveness got the better of me so its on the way. I will start building the stand this weekend and some pictures will be on the way. I have some ideas for the stand but I know I am going to overbuild it just to be safe.

[JackandJill]

180 is next on my list. Look forward to seeing yours

[Brian DeGolier]

definitely do a search for preferred stand designs, with lots of 2X4 and 2X6's as the structure, with your preference of cladding. Have fun and looking forward to the build thread.

[Reefer8873]

Ok I have the plans and I went and got all lumber for the stand, I also bought a Kreg pocket hole jig seems to be pretty useful and me ares had a 14% off sale so what the heck. Pictures will come tomorrow
The dimension of the tank are:
73" long
24" wide
24" tall
I will build the stand at:
73 1/2 long
24 1/2 wide
40" tall
It makes for the perfect viewing height for me I'm not a huge guy but I'm not tiny either so it's good all around. Let me know what y'all think

[Reefer8873]

Ok so the stand has come a long way it is just a about finished, I built the whole thing out of 2x4s. I am pretty confident that it will be plenty strong, I did a double 2x4 header on the front and back. I will be building the three beadboard doors to match the ones I built for my entertainment center, I am also thinking about putting a couple shelves in the stand along with an electrical compartment. I took a few pictures along the way but I just can't figure out how to post them so if anyone could help me out I would appreciate it.

[Reefer8873]

http://http://i1315.photobucket.com/albums/t596/Reefing180/IMG_1403_zps813b6c55.jpg (http://s1315.photobucket.com/user/Reefing180/media/IMG_1403_zps813b6c55.jpg.html)

[Reefer8873]

I guess that didn't work but I have my pics uploaded to photobucket so if anyone can help let me know

[dave.m]

Photobucket (again!):

1). In Photobucket, find the URL address of your photo called "Direct:" Copy this.

2). In RC's Editor window, select the yellow mountain icon for Images. http://i1224.photobucket.com/albums/ee377/djm_1/Forum%20Images/forum_mountain_img_icon.jpg A pop-up box will come up.

http://i1224.photobucket.com/albums/ee377/djm_1/Forum%20Images/RCEditImage1.jpg

3). Paste the address you copied from Photobucket into the RC Image pop-up box over the top of anything already written there, i.e. ignore the "http://" in blue.

4). Click on Okay on the RC Image pop-up box.

5). Press Enter to leave a space between each image in RC.

Repeat as required.

Dave.M

[Reefer8873]

http://i1315.photobucket.com/albums/t596/Reefing180/IMG_1407_zpsfcdc26fd.jpg

[Reefer8873]

There we go thank you for the help I am in no way computer savvy, picture seems a little big but I will figure that one out, all comes in time I guess. So the picture above is pretty much just the frame all assembled, it also doubles as a jungle jim. Here are a few more with a little more done

Top of the stand I put a piece of 1/2 in plywood in between the 2x4 header to sturdy it up a little


Here it is with the supports in

[Pife]

Check this thread out. I don't think your stand has enough lateral support to keep it from shifting left to right. Diy Stands Calculator and template (http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1567110&highlight=stand)

[Brian DeGolier]

How's it coming?

[hcl2195]

Needs some diagonal bracing, definetly.