Brents 150 gallon build

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Bschowa

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Apr 21, 2011
Messages
419
Location
Wisconsin - River Falls
Well here it is, the build has officially started! I re did some electrical this weekend in order to put GFCI outlets on the other side of the wall where my equipment is going to end up, I still have a ways to go with buying things but it is coming along so I figured I could start a build thread where I can share pictures and get advice.

So far here is what I have planned, 150 gallon display reef tank, 40 gallon breeder as a frag tank off to the left side of my display plumbed into series with display and sump, and behind the wall I will have a 55 gallon sump and my mixing station.

I will be placing two 55 gallon barrels in the space where the ladder is for mixing and storing rodi water and then under the stairs is where the sump will go, I have to build up the sump off the floor to make it easier to work in but right now I am just water testing the tanks to make sure they hold before I go any further,

The girlfriend is home to make sure everything holds well and when I get back from work Thursday I will be draining the tanks, painting the walls and drilling the back of the tank for my bean animal style coast to coast overflows and piping.

My first question for you guys would be what color do you think looks best for a painted background ? I have heard of black and blue but has anyone went other colors like an aqua at all? We have some leftover paint from our bathroom that is kind of a blue green that might look good?

Enjoy and thank you for your input in advance!
 

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Well both hold water! So that is a great sign, this weekend I am going to clean them up and start plumbing I'm getting super excited I wish I didn't have to do this stupid thing called work all the time.

On my local reef site someone suggested using fabric that you can Velcro to the back of your tank that way if you get bored you can change it out? Any concerns with that? I feel like saltwater could damage that easily.

Also as a plumber I have scraps of pipe readily available that are free for me and I just happened to be working on a huge hotel in the cities and grabbed a 6' long scrap of 12 inch PVC , I was planning on cutting a quarter of this off to form a 90* angle and trying to use this as my coast to coast overflow since it's free, PVC is fish safe so the worst thing that can happen is it doesn't work out and I wasted a little time right? Or am I chasing a dream that isn't even worth my effort? If my math is correct that should give me a 4x4 overflow box (that's rounded of corse) which I'm thinking would definitely cut down on the noise of water falling into the overflow as it should just run down the side. Well either way if it's not a safety concern I will give it a go and take lots of pictures just in case it does happen to work, although 12inch PVC is probably more expensive than acrylic for anyone who can't just get it for free lol
 
I tinted the back of my 150. I got the darkest tint I could find. It looks pretty good for my first tint job. Just another option to consider
 
That looks great, but remember, once the tank is a bit older, the back wall should be covered in coralline algae and maybe coral. IMO that's what looks natural.
 
Thanks for the input! After much consideration I have decided to take some chances. I am going to paint my overflow black and the back of the tank with the paint we have left over from our bathroom I have attached a picture as i am draining the tank from testing now to start work on it. ( worst case is I just store the water and scape and re paint)
 

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That looks great, but remember, once the tank is a bit older, the back wall should be covered in coralline algae and maybe coral. IMO that's what looks natural.

Yea but you gotta admit. These guys that have a black background and a tankful of awesome corals looks pretty sick with no coraline on the back glass. Probably a pain in the arse though.
 
Well unfortunately my hopes of a cheep overflow have been destroyed :( for the height I needed It almost took up the entire top of the tank so ill just have to buy some acrylic to make one the right dimensions
 
Well today was not a good day for me, I was intending on getting a lot done but I started off with the PVC not working (which I wasn't sure it was going to anyways) but still disheartening in itself

So after I found that out I called up a local glass shop and ordered two pieces of glass, one at 3.75" by 71.75" and another at 6" by 71.75" and after they said it would be 60$ I decided that seems expensive but at least I would be able to get my holes drilled and overflow box installed so that I could work on plumbing tomorrow night. Well they called me about 2 hours ago and said that it was ready to pick up so I went and got it and paid for it (it looked good at the shop) but when I got home with it and tried to put it together you could tell that the cut was not straight, I had a large gap in the middle if it was flipped one way and if I flipped it the other way the gaps were on the sides (not sure how this could possibly happen when cutting glass) so I called the shop and they refused to give me my money back since they cut it to my dimensions and I approved them when I left the shop

So basicly I have gotten nothing done and have 60$ Of worthless glass sitting in my shed now
 
If their glass cut was bowed and not straight, it's their fault. If you gave them wrong dimensions, your just made a mistake and thankfully it wasn't like a cracked tank. $$$
 
They cut it bowed but since I approved the dimensions and took it home they said they couldn't refund my money. I guess ill just chalk it up to getting too excited and not thougholy checking things. Hopefully the piece I get next weekend will work out better and ill able to finnaly get water in
 
Too bad. Lay it on the counter next time to be sure it's straight. I've had glass cutters do this to me as well. Make sure they know it has to have a square edge on it for aquarium use. Our local glass company cuts a lot of aquarium glass.
 
I am tossing around the idea of making it only 30" long rather than the full 6 feet of my tank, I know for sure that I would need it to be on the left side of my tank due to where my sump is located behind the wall,

If I were to only go half of the tank rather than the full length would I still get my flow rates I need and would it look weird having it like that?
 
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