Chris's 60 Gallon Build

[ChrisOaty]

Woo! Got my new tank and built the stand for it today. I have to give credit to this forum for supplying me with the plans for it. I made it very tall because I'm sick of having to bend down to look at all my beautiful wet pets. This gives me tons of room for a huge sump, equipment, and supplies but more work for my return pump. For now, my 20 long fits snugly, but I plan on fitting something much larger at some point.

I still need to skin and paint the stand obviously. I was thinking all black with dark wood stained moulding for accent trim. Thoughts? I'm also planning on making a rock wall for the back out of egg crate, great stuff foam, play sand, portland cement, and live rock rubble. It will look similar to this overflow I found, but extended all the way across the back

I just finished curing my diy rocks that I'm going to use as base for my 44 lbs of live rock from my 14 and 20 gallon tanks. Other plans include an LED array (when funds allow), drilling the bottom of the tank, plumbing the stand, and getting an RO/DI system. A while back, I bought a really good but really cheap 4 part RO/DI setup from a website for only 80 bucks, but for the life of me I cannot remember what website it was. Anyone have suggestions?

This will be a long process but I'll try my best to update this thread with plenty of pictures.

 

[Eric]

That rock wall will be awesome

 

[rgfast]

looking good!

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

diy rocks - are fantastic

 

[ChrisOaty]

rgfast & eric: thanks guys. like i mentioned, this build will take time and effort. i wont be cutting any corners. i learned (like most of us) the hard way that it never pays off.

glenn: i went through your RSM thread and your tank looks amazing. what's the name of the flat coral in the middle of the tank with the yellow border? looks awesome! me want! i also read a couple articles about live rock harvesting and reef destruction in response to our beloved hobby, so i decided to do my part and fill my tank up with as much diy rock. i figured it's going to be mostly hidden by my old live rock anyway.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Thanks much - he is a Turbinaria Scroll Ridge Coral

 

[ChrisOaty]

Glenn, do you remember where you got him? When I google search for that, I get very different search results than what you have.

 

[ReeferMan420]

that rockwall is badass brother

 

[ChrisOaty]

I wish I could take credit for that, but I cannot. It's not mine. I found this picture on the forums somewhere, but I'd like to mimic this on my center overflow and rear glass.