Tank Build! Been a long time but diving back in. 180 gal build

Well most of you don't remember me but a few probably do. I haven't had a tank setup in a long time. Mine was taken out by the ice storm in 09 or whatever year it was and I ended up breaking it down.

I bought a 180 gal a couple years ago with intentions of getting it going but as everyone knows time gets away from us as we have 3 kids that are all very active with sports etc... We're getting ready to start finishing off our basement and my wife said either we're setting it up or getting rid of it. So I guess I'm setting it up.

The tank will be going in our living room on our main floor of the house. Lots of things have changed since I was last in the hobby. I'm kind of looking at basically doing a FOWLR, the reason I got into saltwater back in the day was because I always wanted angels but of course they don't work well in a reef. So I'm looking at putting an Emperor Angel in the tank and we'll see what else I guess.

Equipment I have already:

180 gal tank and home made 2x4 stand, (need to finish it off still)
some random pumps (not really sure what they are)
40 gallon breeder I'm going to make into a sump
Apex controller (got a deal on it when I bought the tank, have never used a controller)
Just lined up some rock to buy and am going to pick it up in a week or so.

Things I'd love some input on:

Looking at the idea of an external skimmer this time around instead of an internal since I'll have room under the stand with only a 3' sump.

Sump layout

The 180 has 2 holes drilled in the back but no overflow boxes or anything like that. Not really sure how to plumb it up. Figured if I ran an external skimmer I'd run one to the skimmer and one to the sump.

Was looking at the cheap ebay (chinese) led light fixtures, anyone use them?

Jebao pumps? Kind of hit and miss from what the little i've read so far.

RO/DI unit, any preference on brand etc...

Looking forward into getting back into the hobby. It'll probably be kind of a slower build but should keep moving forward. Please feel free to enlighten me with all your knowledge. Thanks for all the help and info up front!

 

Seeing as I know how people like pictures I figured I'd throw a few of the initial ones up. Not much to look at yet, but we'll get there.

First off a picture of my old tank.


40 Breeder soon to be sump


Apex stuff (I have no idea what all this is)


The 180


And this is where the beast is going

 

Well I've been getting a little work done on some things. The stand that came with the tank when I bought it was just a cheaply made stand and painted black. My wife wasn't having that in the living room so I've been working on redoing it a little bit.

I've also been meeting some great people and getting some good deals on rock and some equipment for the build.

Start of the stand rebuild. The skimmer I am planning on using is about 37" tall so needed to make some more room. Knocked the bottom out of it and then added 3" to the top rim of the stand. This brings the bottom of the tank to 43" which is actually a better viewing height anyway. Unfortunately I'm 5' 9" tall on a good day so I'll be using a step ladder to do pretty much everything in the tank.



I hated the black so I painted everything white to make it a little brighter inside the stand when I'm working in there. Also added a sheet of plywood to the bottom of it and caulked around all the seams to keep as much water in the stand as possible if it would arise.



Then of course I had to pick up some "pretty wood" to make the stand look nice. 2 4x8 sheets of cabinet grade maple plywood.



And of course everything can't go good when I'm working on things. I was making sure I can actually get the sump in through the door openings (it fits) and just barely tapped the tank against a board on the stand and it cracked! Got to love it, brand new 40 breeder. Those $1 a gallon tanks are pretty weak!




Thinking the tank may be still able to be used. Was thinking I could use that end for the return side and the water level will never be that high anyway. Thoughts?

 

Hmm, kind of forgot about that. Considered placing another piece of glass over it. I'll have to stop in and see how much a 40 breeder is selling for now i guess.

 

Well unfortunately I wasn't able to attend the local get together at Craig's place today but on the flip side I was able to get quite a bit of work done on my tank stand this weekend.

Tank Stand all trimmed out:



Doors:



Tank stand stained:



Doors stained:



Our woodwork in our house is a deep cherry stain on maple wood. I'm having a hard time getting the stand any darker. I put 3 coats of stain on it and it just wont get darker than it is. It's about right before I wipe it all off after it's coated. I'm kind of a novice in the woodworking aspect. Any pointers?

 

double post

 

I sanded with 220 before applying. It's a gel stain which I've never used before. It was the only stain we could find that color. I think the color is red mahogany. I'm applying it with a brush, but don't think I can get it even enough without wiping it. Kinda thinking the builder might have sprayed all our woodwork to get the finish that's on it.

 

Thanks for the video. I actually went to put a coat of poly on after work. About 20 hours after I got done staining. It started taking the color off. Luckily I did it in an inconspicuous spot where you won't be able to see it. I took a clean rag and wiped everything down again and there was still some stain left on that hadn't been all wiped off before and it obviously wasn't dry. Going to let it sit a few days before I try again.

Good idea with trying to add some of the stain to the poly. Will that work with adding the gel stain to it?

 

Well my order from BRS came in today with my bulkheads in it. I'm waiting for the stain to dry so figure i'd start dry fitting my plumbing.

There are only 2 holes drilled on the back of the tank about 4 feet apart. After doing some researching I am going to make a pvc weir across the tank. The interior plumbing I probably won't ever actually glue. Don't really see a need for it, and that way I can get it level and the water level exactly the right height.

I don't have the slots cut in the pipe yet and I need to pick up a couple of street L's to go into the bulkheads but you can kind of get the idea. Standpipes on the outside with unions below to remove the plumbing.

 

Ok after taking my sweet time getting things going my 180 is finally up and running! Looks like photobucket killed all my old pictures but here's a recent full tank shot. I'll get some more pics after I get some wiring and stuff cleaned up.