Well, figured I might as well start a build thread and start documenting the things that are going on with the build. This was going to be a really slow build, but amazingly the wife requested that it be sped up. Was pretty happy about that. Anyway, tank is a 4'x2'x2' dual overflow all glass. Got the tank and a bunch of equipment for an amazing price from a member here who had to move. Here's some pics as of now.
While building the stand figured I should use the tank for something, lol.
Got the stand fully built and put it where the wife thought it should go. I told her it would be too big but she wanted to try.
As you can see the standis tall, 40", and my 2.5 yr old decided it was a great place for a fort. This lasted about a week before the wife agreed that it was to big and needed to move.
So I took it outside, but the tank on and filled with vinegar water to clean the tank up.
Soaked it for a couple days and scrubbed it down. Got 99% of the coraline off to give me a nice clean slate.
I then started messing with a rock scape. At first I thought about doing 2 pillars in front of the overflows, but couldn't come up with anything. I did get this though:
Lots of room for corals, but not many hiding places for fish. Since I want a lot of fish I had to rethink the design.
With the wifes help we were able to come up with this:
I really like this design as it still feels open, isn't touching any glass, has lots of hiding spots and lots of space for corals. I'm sure it might get tweaked a bit, but this is what I'm going with. I picked up some mortar from Erika and will be making this permanent soon.
While building the stand figured I should use the tank for something, lol.
![](http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z260/cdrewferd/120/FFBFE5C1-1B6F-4B35-81BF-9880C6945165-30152-00001DCE517E20A0.jpg)
Got the stand fully built and put it where the wife thought it should go. I told her it would be too big but she wanted to try.
![](http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z260/cdrewferd/120/CFE0258C-F75D-4B8B-B4B6-855F92832DA4-30152-00001DCE1C786DDC.jpg)
![](http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z260/cdrewferd/120/A305E817-A3C7-4D24-A5FA-1569BD9CB5F2-30152-00001DCE26559E02.jpg)
As you can see the standis tall, 40", and my 2.5 yr old decided it was a great place for a fort. This lasted about a week before the wife agreed that it was to big and needed to move.
So I took it outside, but the tank on and filled with vinegar water to clean the tank up.
![](http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z260/cdrewferd/120/2FC6A8BB-6D02-4982-B2E6-47233A61DB3D-30152-00001DCDE80EE340.jpg)
![](http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z260/cdrewferd/120/E656EB28-9217-450B-A07A-7422323F57F5-30152-00001DCDF42FD631.jpg)
Soaked it for a couple days and scrubbed it down. Got 99% of the coraline off to give me a nice clean slate.
I then started messing with a rock scape. At first I thought about doing 2 pillars in front of the overflows, but couldn't come up with anything. I did get this though:
![](http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z260/cdrewferd/120/1DEA7E15-5A2C-43F8-B171-5EA12B44C6BE-30152-00001DCE5A9C8AF0.jpg)
Lots of room for corals, but not many hiding places for fish. Since I want a lot of fish I had to rethink the design.
With the wifes help we were able to come up with this:
![](http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z260/cdrewferd/120/8E713AB5-95C9-4C24-B168-A44768CE4163-30152-00001DCD8785BEF8-1.jpg)
![](http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z260/cdrewferd/120/FA3CD47C-3237-41CC-813E-B5F6665605C6-30152-00001DCD945741F7.jpg)
![](http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z260/cdrewferd/120/6760D10C-BC46-4B04-8E41-FC5B6DFAF6B2-30152-00001DCD9EFF0198.jpg)
![](http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z260/cdrewferd/120/42C1523C-EBA0-4311-8B9C-22D2A896A234-30152-00001DCDAD6D8EAA.jpg)
I really like this design as it still feels open, isn't touching any glass, has lots of hiding spots and lots of space for corals. I'm sure it might get tweaked a bit, but this is what I'm going with. I picked up some mortar from Erika and will be making this permanent soon.