Carey's 90g FOWLR Build!

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Yeah, I didn't want the overflows to stand out, kinda wanted everything to blend in. :)

All my other stands are black or very very dark so this bright oak one would probably clash with my decor. BUT I'm not sure I can paint this stand well. I'm a very very crappy painter. LOL If it's stained already I was thinking on staining it black, kinda depends on the wood texture. Or if it's paintable I was thinking spray paint. lol

Anyone ever spray painted their stand? And the big question does it look good?
 
kk my two copper... use the stand. you already have the latter right? using the 90 could give you more options for stocking. and i think in the end you would like that more. spray paint is a wonderful thing, both for the stand and your tank. do them both.

the sump should be good for the 90. berlin style filtration only... nothing wrong with that carey. depending on the skimmer, no upgrades would be necessary so thats a plus.

so my vote is still use the 90 and paint the stand and tank. use the 20g sump. be happy and enjoy it...


i spray painted my 125 stand with krylon fusion paint. you can only tell i did when you open the doors and look inside and see where i thought it wasnt necessary.
 
After looking at this 75g setup today I've made some decisions! I am buying the setup first off, too good of a deal not to. lol

I will use his custom 20g berlin sump for the 90g. :) It has a reef octopus skimmer, couldnt find the model number though but it looks to be ok. I think i will try to paint the stand, it's such a nice cherry though, he stained it himself and he did an awesome job! If I paint I'm gonna go with the spray paint this time around.

I'm gonna sell off the lights and tank and keep the rest. It'll mean I still have to buy lights for this build but the halides are gonna be way too much for a fowlr. This is the light

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I'm also getting a 15watt UV sterilizer, not sure where I'm gonna put that, it is HUGE. I mean huge, like 2 feet almost and very heavy. The two reactors he threw in I'm gonna use in my 125g, he even is giving me the pump. :)

The JBJ ATO I will most likely add to the 125g as well, he has a 5g tank he uses for the reservoir that I can fit in my stand.

So , I will be picking this up as soon as I find a ride. I'm thinking Friday. Well, hoping by Friday anyways. Then i can set it up next week adn be on my way! YAY! Finally! Still not sure if I'm gonna go all base rock or maybe steal 50lbs out of the 125g adn put 50lbs of base back in it's place. It should pretty much be cycled if I do that I'm thinking.
 
scrap the uv. from everything i read its 50/50 if they actually do anything productive enough to make them worth keeping.

the rock sounds like a good plan, using the rock from the 125 i mean.

every thing sounds great carey. i guess i just have to wait till friday too.
 
Yep, I will. The UV is a current gamma, they are not selling them anymore but they still have the bulbs for sale. I'm not e4ven sure how I would mount it, the guy said he was gonna set it all back up so i could take pictures so i can put it all back together the right way. LOL

He has hard line plumbing for it so that should be fun to work with. Also comes with a mag 7 pump for the return. He had the UV directly inline with the return pump I think. Not sure how much good that did since the flow would have been so fast. Both the UV bulb and the halide bulbs were replaced 6 months ago so there is still some life left in em'.

I wish the weekend would just go by already! LOL I want my new setup!
 
I'm so exited Buffy! Tomorrow I go pick up the 75g setup. I will post pictures when I get home with it. :)

I plan on setting the 90g on the stand and painting the back finally. lol When you guys see the pictures you all can help me decide if I should paint the stand. I'm also gonna have fun playing with all the toys! Reactors, sumps and pumps OH MY! LOL
 
I'm so exited Buffy! Tomorrow I go pick up the 75g setup. I will post pictures when I get home with it. :)

I plan on setting the 90g on the stand and painting the back finally. lol When you guys see the pictures you all can help me decide if I should paint the stand. I'm also gonna have fun playing with all the toys! Reactors, sumps and pumps OH MY! LOL

So awesome! I really want to see this tank up and running! :)
 
Getting so close now, I can't wait for morning. lol We borrowed van and are leaving at 8 am, it's an hour away. I also got my qt tank setup tonight, turned out it is about 25g so it should work fine for my needs. :)

The only thing that I'm still uncertain about are the halides that are coming with this 75g setup. I may not be able to use them as I will be using glass lids on the 90g as I want a bunch of wrasses. So the heat may be a factor. Plus the halides are probably way overkill for just a fowlr tank. LOL
 
Glad you got your QT setup! As far as the halides go, I would sell them and then buy a fixture you want and maybe have money left over. Either way have fun tomorrow! :)
 
Got my tank and stand! woot! Following are some pictures of the goodies I got.

I've been thinking that i don't want to paint the stand though, I have light wood colored pergo throughout my house so the oak color should go alright with the house, just all my other tanks have black stands. lol painting this stand would be a nightmare I think so I'm leaning towards just leaving it. :)

Also picked up some hose, drill bits for drilling out the overflow holes into the stand and some painters tape so I can start painting the tank's background.

Lots to do today! Plan on using the jbj ATO on the 125g along with the 5g tank the guy gave me for the resevoir. He also gave me some powerstrips that are killer so I might re do all the wiring under the 125g as well.

here is what I got today, witht he 90g already on the stand.

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Here is a shot of the halides on, the blue and white led's are totally useless. :-(

Also, see the glass canopy on the 75g tank? Thats what the guy was using under neath the halide fixture so that the glass wouldnt break from the heat. Do you think it will be good enough to prevent my glass lids from cracking? If it's not gonna work I can always sell this fixture for a couple hundred and get a less powerful light. The light does look good though, I must admit. LOL

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Sell it and get the new LED Reef Oddysea fixture from aquatraders. It looks sleek and gives you a nice shimmer effect.
 
I would sell the light too, :). I am glad everything went well today, it is great that you have the stand for the 90g now!
 
Well I guess the vote is to sell the light. lol It's too bad too cause I would have killed for this light on my 55g. But I figure I'll try to get $250 for it and get this instead:

eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices

It's a quad t5 but it's got a timer so it should be fine for my needs.

I'm still messing with the 125g now but I'm hoping to get the 90g taped off on the back so I can paint it tonight or tomorrow morning.

What do you guys think of the stand? Think it will look ok with the black tank? You can't even see the bottom black rim as it's hidden by the wood. It's just you can see the effort and work this guy put into the stand, it was all sanded oak and stained by hand. It's got so many coats of clear on it too not even sure paint would adhere unless I sanded it first.
 
carey said:
Well I guess the vote is to sell the light. lol It's too bad too cause I would have killed for this light on my 55g. But I figure I'll try to get $250 for it and get this instead:

eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices

It's a quad t5 but it's got a timer so it should be fine for my needs.

I'm still messing with the 125g now but I'm hoping to get the 90g taped off on the back so I can paint it tonight or tomorrow morning.

What do you guys think of the stand? Think it will look ok with the black tank? You can't even see the bottom black rim as it's hidden by the wood. It's just you can see the effort and work this guy put into the stand, it was all sanded oak and stained by hand. It's got so many coats of clear on it too not even sure paint would adhere unless I sanded it first.

I say you don't paint the tank, save yourself the work since it looks nice and you already like it. :)
 
Just put the second coat of paint on the back of the tank. :) Not sure how it will look when dry cause the paint started to buckle when I put the second coat on. :-(

I've been thinking of what pump I want to use with this setup, I have a mag 7 that came with the 75g stuff but I also have a mag 9.5 brand new. Which one would be better to use?

I'm gonna list the mh lighting fixture, I decided I don't want to take a chance of the heat breaking the glass lids. Also gonna keep the stand the oak color, the more I look at it the more I like it. lol

Gonna have a bunch more questions as I work on this so bear with me!

Here's the tank all painted up

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