Jordan's New 180!

Hey 3reefer's,
Theres a pretty funny story behind this new tank. I will try to keep it short because it is pretty detailed lol. Well as you all know i have posted in the past about wanting a sump for my 80, It not being drilled i went out and bought a overflow box, sump and return pump. (did allot of pricing and figured it would be faster just to buy everything) so I go home to install all of this good stuff, and the first problem i run into is my beauty rim on my jebo tank (I should say cheapo) is too tall and the overflow wont fit low enough in the water! So i take out my exacto knife and start to score the plastic to make a notch. after i scored it i go to pull the plastic off and CRACK!! Water starts pouring all over the floor (and good thing i had my power strip to catch all the falling water) and I get the worst shock of my life, more like an electrocution! So after i recover from that i go in my garage (soaking wet,shocked,and bleeding) to get some silicone to stop the bleeding from the tank. after it drained about 40 gallons i get it to stop with some good old silicone. the bad thing is that the crack went behind the plastic running down the seam, so i couldent glue it from the outside! By this time it is a slow drip. I put my cannister filter back on the tank and clean up to go to bed.(by that time it was about 3 am)

So the next morning i go to the LFS to tell them the story (trying to buy some sympathy) and to look at a new tank. Thats when i see the 180 with built in overflow and 4 1" holes for the returns! So i buy the tank and run home with the dimensions to build a stand, and to buy all the plumbing parts. The only bad thing for me was i had to come up with 150+ more gallons of water. So i buy the jugs and make several trips back to the LFS for the RO water.

After all this drama and hard work this is what i have created!







If anyone has any suggestions on where i could improve or just some good ol 2 cents i would appreciate it!

PS. Everything is temp until i can get some new lights, skimmer, sump/return pump, more LR, and more LS. I don't think it will be too long until i can get all these so i think the corals and yellow tang will be alright.

 

Overflow

I also had to make a durso standpipe because the water was falling to far and was making way to much noise. I figured I would post some pics of the process.







This really turned out good, instead of the water falling about 20" it now falls about 3". ALLOT quieter, now my wife wont complain :-X ;D
-Jordan

 

Very nice upgrade!! I just wish the cause for it would have been a lil bit less painful. Tank looks great! You planing to do more work on it, right? Karma to you for the pain!

 

Thanks Turbo,
Oh yeah i still have allot more work to do. I have to finish the stand and I am also going to build the hood for my 400 W MH I plan to get. I also have to get a sump and a return pump, and finish the plumbing to those. So my 4 holes in the back will be the returns That go to loclines in the tank. (2 from the sump, 2 from the fuge) I have a mag 18 on the fuge and i plan to get a mag 24 for the sump return.

Allot of work but worth the results!
-Jordan

 

What a story! It seems like if you don't mind getting shocked and salt water drenched then you can buy a 180 gallon upgrade. LOL
Nice Pics! Keep up the good work.

J

 

omg! Glad you are ok.

A 180 will be much nicer I bet.
What kind of lamp is that on the refugium though? Looks like my turtle heat lamp.

 

Thanks Matt,
It was one hell of a night! The fixture is one of those clamp on one's from home depot, the bulb is similiar to the one on melv's reef. 6500k 75w florecent. Going to see if it works good when i get some chaeto in there.

Oh man the 180 is soo much better! cant wait till its stocked.

I keep everyone updated as i make some progress.
-Jordan

 

Update

Was stacking the LR just to get some shape because it looked too crappy with all the rock just thrown in there. When i was finished I was looking at the progress and i noticed an aptasia! I thought this was wierd because i never notied any when the rock was in my 80g. So i know when there is one there must be other's right? Well I didnt see any that were identifyable but I did see some small groths that look like the start of some. Here are some pics sorry they are blurry.





Do you guys think that they might be a start of aptasia?
Also my leather frag is growing some polyps ;D
Thanks guys!
-Jordan

 

FUg. Yeah that is aiptasia. Search the invert board if you need solutions. Good luck. It will take dedication and patience to get them all. Start now while there are only a few.

 

Well that sux!
Looks like i am going to need some pepperment shrip and a copperbanded butterfly. Also some joe's juice. man what a pain in the butt first ich and now aiptasia! oh well thats what comes with reefin.
Thanks for the ID.
-Jordan