Tank Build! King of Overkill

I've been wanting to share my latest project with you all for some time now but being a full time student and working part time really limits time right now.

This has been a complete DIY project from the tank to the stand to the canopy. Let me tell you, in the long run it would have been cheaper and faster to just buy new, but I like challenges and this has been a satisfying experience.

So the all in one tank has been set up since April in cedar rapids, I designed it to fit nicely on a bar in the kitchen. It's roughly 35-40 gallons and will be a mixed reef pretty soon. I moved to Iowa city for school so the stand and canopy was built to bring it with me..just took a little longer to finish than anticipated.

I haven' moved the tank yet due to finals but as soon as I finish Thursday I'm breaking down the tank and moving it here to Iowa city.

This will be my first time trying an led/t5 combo so I'm pretty stoked about it. I ordered a radion and the retrofit kit which will be over a predominantly soft coral tank for now (hence the overkill). but I'm really happy with the way the stand turned out. This thing probably weighs 200-300 pounds and is way way too overbuilt but it is good to learn for the next build!

Thanks for looking!

 

these are images of the tank back in april

 

this stand is not in my house so I couldn't justify drilling holes in the ceiling for a hanging kit. I do like the way they look!

 

I'll be posting pics as soon as I move the tank in this week!

 

finals are done, it's moving time!!

 

Everything went well. the only thing was by the time I started filling the tank back up the water was at 70 degrees.

Still have to find more epoxy to aquascape and order plastic clips to manage all the wires. Hopefully this will satisfy the addiction until I graduate college lol

 

I also might build doors because it doesn't look as clean as I thought it would without them