2020 tank builds/fishroom setup

[Backfromthedead]

Heres some pics of some of my new tanks and my progress on my fishroom.




The 36x30x27 120g is fill testing atm and im finishing up on the glass canopy for the 60x36x18 170g. The 170 will slide to the back wall where the 75 is now, and the last tank i will build for this room will be a 72x30x24 which will be on the immediate left in the last picture above.

Overall i think ive improved across the board over my previous builds, no doubt due to practice and the continuous support of the MFKers who help me out on here. Thanks for reading. More updates to come.

 

[Backfromthedead]

Both tanks fill tested 3 days, refilled, partially scaped. I won't be adding any substrate until im sure on the configuration and stocking of each tank. The 170s first use will be as a quarantine tank for some new arrivals due in this tuesday.


The sump on the 120 was my first rimless build. 55 gallon. Very simple setup to accommodate convenient access to the socks, heaters, pump, and spare sponge filters.

 

[robmcd]

Tanks built from scratch?? Very impressive!!

 

[Backfromthedead]

Tanks built from scratch?? Very impressive!!

Yes still amateur status but improving with every build. I keep finding things i need to improve on, really trying to perfect my seals on this next build. The seals on these two tanks are passable but theres definitely room for improvement. Im finding tank building is a discipline highly involved in perfecting the little details/not cutting corners.

Thanks for following along!

 

[AlphaTintu]

Impressive setup! Keep it up, please update as you go.. and update residents in those beautiful tanks

 

[robmcd]

Yes still amateur status but improving with every build. I keep finding things i need to improve on, really trying to perfect my seals on this next build. The seals on these two tanks are passable but theres definitely room for improvement. Im finding tank building is a discipline highly involved in perfecting the little details/not cutting corners.

Thanks for following along!

Yeah I bet. Silicone is tricky, but I have a 30 gal cube with black silicone and I really think it looks good. Keep posting pics

 

[Backfromthedead]

New arrivals to the 170, a healthy group of 10x albino tinfoils from aqua imports:




Built these two small rimless tanks from the scraps i cut from the other tanks:

 

[Backfromthedead]

Moving along slowly, rescaped 170. Unfortunately I lost four of the tinfoils in a negligent water change incident (overdrained AND overfilled), but the remaining six are doing very well. My way of weeding out the weaklings I suppose. Theres also another new resident in this tank who I'll keep a secret until he comes out for a picture--very shy.



My small reef startup is going well, got about 50 lbs of sand and rock in with a snail and some hermit crabs. Picked up another light today and added the smaller pieces of rock. Now just looking for a bunch of dragons tongue or gracilaria.


Changed up my build plans a bit, put the 220 on back burner and using the glass I intended for it on a 150g-ish 72x20x24. Finished cutting out the bottom piece today--if you've seen my previous builds then you might recognize a lot of these slabs of glass lol.


Thanks for reading!

 

[Backfromthedead]

Been busy lately but some glass is due to arrive in a couple days and I'm getting geared up to build. The stand is all done just need a foam piece for the top tank, which will be a 72x32x22 rimless, 19mm long sides, 15mm bottom and short sides.

The aforementioned 72x20x24 will go on the bottom and sectioned off on one end to serve as a sump, while the rest of the tank will be a growout/refugium.

Soon as these are done I'm gonna offload several of my older tanks that will be just taking up space. So if anyone in the northern/central Virginia area wants a standard 75, standard 150, or 95 hex I'll be letting them go on the cheap, lmk.

 

[Backfromthedead]

Drilled 10 holes today. I'm all set to build the bottom tank. Could assemble it as early as tomorrow if I'm feeling froggy.


Finally settled on my design for this tank/tanks. Switched from a peninsula style design to what I'm calling a "dual manifold" rimless set up for strong laminar flow. Here is a crude rendering to give some idea of what I'm doing.


My decision to switch designs was strongly influenced by a YouTube blogger "below water", specifically his monster river tanks. My tank will be a much smaller scale obviously.

One thing I'm not settled on is how I will mount the pumps. I'm currently set up to mount them externally on the bottom of the sump tank, but have the option to flip the side panel, plumb them in through the top of the tank and have them inside the tank. Any thoughts?