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View Full Version : 180 GALLON BUILD


spiffyfish
04-10-2013, 01:42 AM
Well im finally upgrading from my 75g tank. i found a 180 on craigslist and picked it up for $250. im hoping it holds water, it was an old saltwater tank and had holes drilled in the bottom for a closed loop so i havent had a chance to fill it up. i am about halfway done on the stand, it will be done enough to hold the weight of water by monday. im a little nervous as i didnt notice till i got it home that a 4'' section on a seam had silicone on it. i pulled all the silicone out and the seam doesnt look too bad, it is an acrylic tank. there is minor air pockets on the inside part of the seam that go about 1/4 of the way into the seam, im thinking it wont leak they just mayhave siliconed it in case it got worse, i guess i will find out. i am going to run a bead of weldon 3 across it in hopes that it will draw it into the seam and seal it up. for filtration i got a 40g tank for a sump, and purchased 10'' of poret foam from Stephan at swiss tropicals. i got 1 of 20ppi, 2 of 30ppi, and 2 of 45ppi. hopefully it isnt too fine and restricts water flow or clogs fast we shall see once its up and running. idk if a 40g sump will be enough filtration, but with 10'' of foam and about 15'' section of kaldness im thinking i will have plenty of filtration. this build will be a little slow as im waiting on the kaldness from the UK which was on backorder for a month. i ordered some plumbing supplies today from jehmco which will be here monday so i will hopefully fill up up monday and leave it outside for a few days to make sure it holds water. i got 2 clear blue bulkheads to fill the bottom holes and will run valves on both of them for doing water changes, i will be running the screens on them and just block them with driftwood. im hoping they will make good use of getting all the crud off the bottom while draining and save time on vacuuming. once the tank is up and running i will be building a diy led light setup for it. probably 28 leds.

the 75 gallon now

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s155/EATSLEEPJDM_album/20130304_191129_zps6b135a8e.jpg

and the new tank coming together
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s155/EATSLEEPJDM_album/20130323_084504_zpsb3c41e9e.jpg
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s155/EATSLEEPJDM_album/20130404_221250_zpsff0d804c.jpg
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s155/EATSLEEPJDM_album/20130408_204443_zpsd81f35a5.jpg
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s155/EATSLEEPJDM_album/20130408_221525_zps2133e88b.jpg
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s155/EATSLEEPJDM_album/20130409_202717_zpsac73ad5b.jpg
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s155/EATSLEEPJDM_album/20130409_204310_zpsc4a86b21.jpg
jsalas623
04-10-2013, 02:00 AM
Looks very nice!! Good find!!
marinum
04-10-2013, 05:46 AM
grate! very nice
rbarn
04-10-2013, 08:51 AM
looks nice.
DiscusLoverJeff
04-10-2013, 09:22 AM
Nice looking 180. What are the dims? It looks custom made. Not a bad deal at all if it holds water. Good luck on your project.
spiffyfish
04-10-2013, 10:37 AM
dimensions are 60''x30''x24'', it has a nice footprint. im really wanting this thing to hold water, keeping my fingers crossed.
DiscusLoverJeff
04-10-2013, 10:42 AM
Good luck Chris.
spiffyfish
04-10-2013, 11:14 AM
thankyou Jeff, i guess we will see next week how things go.
wannafish
04-10-2013, 11:46 AM
Hello,

From what I have seen and read on the forums, you might want to add
and reinforce your stand. Take a look at Monsterfishkeepers.com.
There are plenty stand builds for larger tanks.

Jeff
rbarn
04-10-2013, 01:18 PM
stand should be ok. you have everything sitting on something with nothing dependent on fasteners. Each 2X4 stud will hold 2,000 lbs. Just make sure you wrap it in plywood to tie it all together into a "box" to improve side to side collapse resistance if it ever got shoved hard from the side.
Trier20
04-10-2013, 01:47 PM
Hello,

From what I have seen and read on the forums, you might want to add
and reinforce your stand. Take a look at Monsterfishkeepers.com.
There are plenty stand builds for larger tanks.

Jeff

+1 I see you added a center support in the second picture that no in the first one. I would suggest putting some braces on to eliminate side to side movement.
perea1419
04-10-2013, 02:16 PM
I would add 2 more center braces and do the same on the bottom IMO. Great looking tank keep up the good work
a volar
04-10-2013, 02:56 PM
stand should be ok. you have everything sitting on something with nothing dependent on fasteners. Each 2X4 stud will hold 2,000 lbs. Just make sure you wrap it in plywood to tie it all together into a "box" to improve side to side collapse resistance if it ever got shoved hard from the side.

+1

you are good like that.
Kal-El
04-10-2013, 03:49 PM
Nice build.
spiffyfish
04-10-2013, 03:54 PM
This is ment to be kind of a build thread. The will have center braces front and rear, and bottom braces. It will also get wrapped with wood for aesthetics but that will be later on. The stand will hold up just fine as the weight is on the wood and not on the screws as rbarn stated. I am finished up the base part of the stand this week, and test filling it next week after i get plumbing supplies.