Finally! 90g build up.

[WallyV]

I have to start by saying thank you to everyone that has responded to any of my posts, and/or given any insight into this awesome hobby. Especially Scott and Phil. I have been working toward this point since January. I really did not have the extra time to do a day by day build-up, so I decided to wait until I was almost done and give it to you over a few days, rather than 8 months. By no means is this professional, but I am the type of person who would rather try and try to get somthing right then, just go out and buy it. (sometimes this isn't the cheapest way) please give me all your comments, ideas and questions, because that is why I am here.

Thanks.
-Wally

The stand is located in a corner of my living room so that everyone can enjoy the tank. This was actually my wife's idea. I overbuilt the stand out of 2x4's and used 4" coated deck screws to fasten everything so there would be limited rusting issues. I skinned the stand in 1/4" oak. The doors were my first ever attempt at making doors. I used 1x2 oak for the frame and used 1/4" oak for the panel.

[WallyV]

I had an old 55g glass aquarium laying around, so I decided to add dividers and make it into a refugium/sump with a center return, so the water could move slower through the fuge, than the skimmer area. I bought the light and made a quick bracket out of some extra wood to mount the light directly above the refugium without having to rest the light on the tank.





I decided to hard pipe all the plumbing. I can't stand a mess of wires, so I hid as much of the wiring as possible using zip ties and harness mounts. I also added an American DJ switch panel to make everything a little bit easier to service.

[WallyV]

I decided to run four t-5 bulb and two 250w radiums. I once again was too cheap. So I made my own lumenarcs and ran all the wiring for the t-5's myself. I used a 4 bulb H.O. ballastwise ballast to run the t-5's. I only stuff I have left to finish with the lighting is to buy a dual 250w Galaxy Ballast and two Radium bulbs.

[Dave & Monica]

Looks really good, I'm sure you'll enoy it in your living area. I wonder if there will be issues having your T5 bulb cross so close to your MH?

[WallyV]

D&M -
Thanks. I guess you can't think of everything....I did not even think about the t5's getting heated up by the MH until you posted that. The t5's get pretty hot to the touch, but not as hot as MH. Time will tell. Thanks again.
-Wally

[Hoosier daddy]

Looking good Walter! Is that an Azoo fan on your canopy? I like the way you did your sump area. Yeah if it were me I would move the T5's over. You only really need them to simulate your dawn/dusk effect. I think you will have plenty of light with the 250w radiums. Keep the pics coming. I want to see the tank with corals in it .

[Sisterlimonpot]

Walter,
Very nice, How did you attach the 1/4" skin? Is that MDF on the top?

[WallyV]

Sister-
I know you have the crazy good wood working skills, thanks for taking it easy on me. I attached the 1/4" using small finishing nails, put in with an air nailer, with panel adhesive behind to bond it to the frame. The top is 3/4" mdf that I had laying around. You can't see in the picture, but I later coated it in outdoor latex paint to seal it. I also used laminate peel and stick tiles on the top for the finishing touch.
-Wally

[WallyV]

Scott-
Thanks for the all the help along the way. I wish I had the width of the 120g so the lights could sit right next to the MH reflectors. I will move the lights this weekend. There are plenty more pics to come. The fan is the quad Azoo fan. I ended up changing my plans for the canopy after I bought the fans. I screwed it into the inside of the canopy, because it did not fit on the rim of the tank. I should work just fine where it is at now. That fan is very quiet and moves quite a bit of air for 4 cheap computer fans.

-Wally

[zombiereef]

looking good.

[Sisterlimonpot]

Originally posted by WallyV
Sister-
I know you have the crazy good wood working skills, thanks for taking it easy on me. I attached the 1/4" using small finishing nails, put in with an air nailer, with panel adhesive behind to bond it to the frame. The top is 3/4" mdf that I had laying around. You can't see in the picture, but I later coated it in outdoor latex paint to seal it. I also used laminate peel and stick tiles on the top for the finishing touch.
-Wally

No worries, I like it. I was concerned with racking but you got that covered with glueing the skin on. I really like how clean your sump section is. I also like the DIY reflectors, they turned out great. Did Scott help you with those?

[WallyV]

Sister-
Thanks for the compliments. I built the reflectors on my own from solatube. I found a pattern in an old thread and took it to kinkos, and made it the same size as a 14" lumenarc. I made templates out of posterboard and went from there. The two in my canopy are made out of 5 pieces, but the one that I made for Scott was 9 pieces.

-Wally

[Sisterlimonpot]

Can you post that template? I would like to try my hand at that as well.

[WallyV]

Sister-
Here is the template. It was originally black with white lines. I inverted it to make it easier to deal with. Let me know if the picture is too compressed to blow up, and I will email the original file to you.
-Wally

[WallyV]

I toyed around with the idea of putting plastic rods in the rock to hold it in place, but I decided against it. I made that decision simply because I don't know what I like yet. This is what I ended up with. This picture was 4 weeks after I added water and live sand (thanks Scott!). I have 7 green chromis, 25 red legged hermits, 25 nassarius snail, 2 cleaner shrimp, a coral banded shrimp and a emerald mithrax crab. This was the first day the frags were in the tank (obviously).

[jonthefb]

Ah yes, many of those frags look familiar! Glad to see that you got the tank up and running. If you ever need any help, let me know! I am in Evans, but am over in Loveland at maintenance accounts all the time!
Cheers~!
Jon

[WallyV]

Thanks Jon. I ended up with 58 frags/mini colonies that I have collected over the last few months. It was really exciting to finally put them in my tank.
-Wally

[WallyV]

This is the last of it for a while for me. I thought I would post a few of my favorite pics of corals. Thanks for looking and thanks for the feedback.
-Wally

[phillipj2]

Looks sweet!

[Hoosier daddy]

Finally all coming together . Post some pics when you get the radiums going.