Dream 180!

[kchristensen8064]

I'm not very good at these build threads, but I will do my best to keep this one up to date and moving.

With my recent move I have decided it's time to start putting together a 180 gallon display that I have had sitting in the garage for probably close to 2 years. It was used but in great shape. It will need a little cleaning but that's okay. It came with a steel stand that will need some refinishing. I also picked up a 125gal that I plan on turning into my under tank filtration, I have the glass for the baffles and I just need to start siliconing them in. I went with a large sump because I wanted the water volume for stability.
View attachment 17407

Stage one of this process is almost complete. I have moved and spent my morning moving all of my livestock and corals into the stock tank that @TheRealChrisBrown was willing to let me borrow for a while.
View attachment 17408
I will try to update this as things progress and will add more pictures once I get settled into my new place.

 

[Dr.DiSilicate]

Congratulations! By the way, I built that stand. 1st steel stand I ever did.


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[kchristensen8064]

Congratulations! By the way, I built that stand. 1st steel stand I ever did.


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Did you really! That thing is solid. I'm looking forward to finally getting this tank up and running.

 

[neil82]

Going big! Tank and stand look nice. Following for sure!

 

[SynDen]

Awesome! Cant wait to see it come together!

 

[MuralReef]

Congratulations! By the way, I built that stand. 1st steel stand I ever did.


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Thought that was your work!


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[TheRealChrisBrown]

What lightning are you thinking of going with?

 

[kchristensen8064]

What lightning are you thinking of going with?

I picked up some Giesemann VERVvE's a while back so I am going to give them a go.

 

[kchristensen8064]

Well it took 2 days, but I have just about wrapped up stripping the paint off the stand. I'm hoping to have this finished tomorrow and get a nice new fresh coat of paint on it. I have come across a killer deal on some old walnut flooring we had at work, so I will be redoing the floor on my main level as a part of this build. It will save me a huge headache down the road, of having to move the tank just to replace the floor. So goodbye linoleum, and carpet, hello hardwood! View attachment 17536 View attachment 17537 View attachment 17538 View attachment 17539

 

[kchristensen8064]

Stand completely stripped, primed and painted! View attachment 17544 View attachment 17545 View attachment 17546

 

[SynDen]

Nice work, came out looking great

 

[kchristensen8064]

Nice work, came out looking great

Thank you, stripping it was considerably more work than I had expected.

 

[kchristensen8064]

Well, this is the first big weekend. I'm ripping out all of the old flooring and starting to install my new hardwood! Once this is done, then the tank build can begin! I have the stand painted and ready to go. Next will be be cleaning up the 125 that I'm using for my sump and siliconing in the baffles.

 

[TheRealChrisBrown]

Where did you get the sump baffles? I've seen some on eBay before that are cut for a 40b...but I didn't know if they make them for larger tanks like yours or maybe you just had a glass shop make them?

 

[kchristensen8064]

Where did you get the sump baffles? I've seen some on eBay before that are cut for a 40b...but I didn't know if they make them for larger tanks like yours or maybe you just had a glass shop make them?

I had our glass vendor for where I work, custom cut them for me. 3/16 inch thick.

 

[kchristensen8064]

Old floors are coming out! View attachment 17653 View attachment 17654

 

[kchristensen8064]

Floors are in! The tank build can now begin. The stand is sitting where the tank will be setup. I'm going to reinforce the floor in the crawl space under it just for peice of mind. That will be step one. Then I'll get the sump baffles in, and the sump in place, then get the main display cleaned up. I'll hopefully have all of that done by the end of the month. View attachment 17730

 

[scmountain]

My .02, remove the trim behind the stand so the tank can be close to flush with the wall. That tiny trim gap drove my OCD through the roof on my 125 not just for looks also magnet for dust, salt creep, trash, etc.


"New" floor looks great, any plan to protect them from water/spill ?

 

[kchristensen8064]

My .02, remove the trim behind the stand so the tank can be close to flush with the wall. That tiny trim gap drove my OCD through the roof on my 125 not just for looks also magnet for dust, salt creep, trash, etc.


"New" floor looks great, any plan to protect them from water/spill ?

Yeah, I'm still working it out in my head on how I want to protect from spills. But there will be something in place for that.

 

[Dr.DiSilicate]

The floors really do look great! The stand looks better than it did new. How are you going to skin it? By the way. The stand is like 1/2” shy of fitting a 180. I had 3/4 ply on the back.


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