My 110 Gallon Build

[Anselth]

This build is going to take a little while...Picked up my 110 Gallon tank finally. It's currently filling with water. Sitting on my DIY stand, it's almost 6 feet tall. I'm building a canopy to hold two metal halides and two 54w t5 actinics, which will add another 13 inches of height.

The canopy is being build using 1x2 lumber for framing and 1/4" oak plywood to cover it up.

the 1x2 stock was cut to build out a frame exactly the dimensions of the top of the tank. We then used a guide to drill holes to diagonalaly screw the frame together.



The frames were then glued, squared, and screwed and left to dry overnight.



The next day we set the frames together to form a box. The frames were glued and screws were countersunk to add stability but allow us to layer the plywood over the frame.


In order to support the lights, we cut a single piece of 1x2 to fit across the length of the canopy. We measured the length of the t5 reflectors and cut two crosspieces, which were then datoed out along with the long piece in order to fit them together. the pieces were glued and screwed together, completing the frame.

 

[Dentoid]

Looks like a great project!

 

[sasquatch]

Nice clean start! will you seal the frame before skinning it?

 

[framerguy]

:chair: :lurk:

 

[Craig Manoukian]

Cool, thanks for keeping us posted!

 

[tbittner]

Great job! I can't wait for see this project progress. I'll be building a canopy too so please feel free to give as much detail as you can.

 

[Anselth]

Sasquatch, yes, we sealed the portion of the frame that was going to be skinned over before skinning it today. I forgot the camera, but I'll take a few pictures before we get started tomorrow. We beveled the edges of the plywood to give it a nice clean edge, forgetting that it wasn't necessary since there will be a 1/2 round edge going around the top to match with the stand.

This evening I switched my attention back to the tank itself. With the water in and at the correct temp, I added 200 pounds of live rock. You would think in a tank that big, you could do some fun stuff with the live rock, but I ended up with a wall. That's alright for now though, it's just going to cure for two to three months before I do anything more with the tank. Plus, about 40-50 pounds of that will be relocated to either the 70 or the sump once it's plumbed in.

Tank full of rock:


Tank stand with sump and various other junk:


The sump is similar to the one on my 70, except constructed using a 30 gallon tank instead of a 20. Baffles were made using 1/4 inch acryllic. I heated a 14 1/2x8 inch piece and bent it at a 90 degree angle to form the bubble trap, which will be filled with LR rubble. Now that most of the hard stuff is done, I get to let it sit and cure until May....

 

[zy112]

Looks great so far!

 

[Tru2nr]

lookn' real nice

 

[tbittner]

Do you have any updated pictures of the canopy? I'd love to follow along closely.

 

[Anselth]

Terry, unfortunately no. I'm no longer on vacation and have left the country for a couple more months. My father's going to sand and fill the gaps while I'm away, I'll stain and seal it when I get back.

 

[Anselth]

So I haven't updated this in a while. Nothing really has changed, the canopy is finished and needs the lights installed (and pictures!). The doors to the cabinet are also finished, but need to be installed (sensing a pattern? me too) Today I mixed up about 20 gallons of change water to start changing the water out and filling the tank and sump the rest of the way.

 

[Dentoid]

Is this a second tank or are you moving the 70?

 

[Anselth]

It's a second tank. the 70 is in the living room, this one's in the bedroom, where the 50 used to be.

 

[Woodstock]

Looking forward to updated pics
Have fun scaping it!

 

[Anselth]

Tank is full, plumbing is in. Just did a 35% water change, and am now mixing the water to fill the sump. My one fear is starting the overflow, and of course that the plumbing doesn't leak at all. If the system start goes well, I'll be able to move some live rock into the sump, re-scape, and add sand tonight.

 

[Craig Manoukian]

Good luck Adam!

 

[Anselth]

OK, so head loss calculators lie. A lot. Or my overflow isn't as good as it's rated. Nothing bad happened, but when I started my pump, it outpumped my overflow. Luckily, I have a Mag 9.5 which has a much lower rating than the Quiet one I was going to use for my sump return. Unfortunately, I have to wait til tomorrow morning to get the fittings I need from Home Depot.

 

[Craig Manoukian]

Bummer you have to make another trip to HD!

 

[Anselth]

Alright. So, after downgrading the pump, I have a system that runs as intended. Had a couple leaks in the plumbing, but those have been dealt with. The tank is fully cycled, Ammonia and Nitrite are 0, Nitrates are between 5-10 after the water change. I added a maxijet 600 with a high-flow mod to allow some current randomization, since the Koralia 2's struggled when placed on a wavetimer. They'll run full time, while the maxijet goes on a random schedule through My ACIII. The tank appears ready for my CUC, which will arrive from Liveaquaria on Saturday. Tomorrow I'm going to finish the canopy and get that installed. Until then, here's a picture of how everything currently looks: