Hey all,
Greetings from the UK!
I've been a "browser" more than anything on here for some time now but I do love a good build thread so this could be mine ...
I have a perfect 8 foot space in my living room in which I am thinking needs a 180 gal (about 6 foot of that) tank.
I have my existing 55 gal with a 30 gal sump which I will likely steal the sump from as it was custom built for me but everything else is pretty much on the table as "open to suggestions".
My existing 55 gal isn't drilled, this is a bad "mistake" I do not intend to repeat on a new build. (i say mistake, i didn't buy a drilled tank and later decided I would keep corals in it so had to retrofit it for corals by hooking up overflows and a sump)
I also want to be sure I don't repeat some of the problems I have had on the existing tank by making sure I set things up right from the get go.
I've battled algae problems a serious ick outbreak that killed some of my fish because I didn't react fast enough, lighting problems (no one at my LFS told me marine lighting was far superior to standard tropical lights initially so i learnt that one the hard way).
This time round i'm asking all the questions up front and going at this with some exerience!
Ok then ...
I made some enquires locally and found I can get a tank easy enough its the cabinet / stand to put it on I have my issues with at the moment.
I'm half tempted to build that myself rather than buy it but have issue with putting near a metric ton of anything on something I built (maybe i judge myself a little harshly at times but I worry a lot and it ensures I get the right result mostly).
I'm a programmer by trade and don't normally do a lot of DIY so i'll have to buy/borrow tools for this build but also I don't have a lot more space than the space I intend to put the tank in so might have to build it all in my living room (that impresses the other half no end).
The other half's brother however builds custom kitchens / furniture for a living so I do have a good channel for woodworking advice but I think getting him to help might be a bit costly (he's a bit like that, I doubt he would do it just because it's a cool project).
So still in 2 minds on weather to build or buy a stand.
here's some rough details of the type of setup I have in mind ...
-- on stand
6x2x2 display tank
-- inside stand
3x2x2 sump
3x2x2 ato / WC tank (hoping to automate WC with some programming wizardry as I have some decent computer kit near by I can hook up to all this)
shelf to fix row of sockets for all the electrical stuff and misc storage.
I've got my eye on these lights at the moment ...
http://ift.tt/1jDjGBH
or possibly these
http://ift.tt/1ibRvNH
The lights I have are ok but barely enough to handle the 4ft tank I have let alone a brand spanking new 6ft tank so I figured I would do this bit right this time too!
The second lot are very pricey though (double the price of the first lot).
However, I think I can only get the first lot if I can find a seller willing to ship them from the states, and then I have to consider that they run on 110 volts not 240 as is used over here.
Apart from the sump i'm thinking the tanks are pretty basic, most likely glass rather than acrillic but I will need to get the display tank drilled which I will ask my seller to do for me prior to delivery.
My LFS seems to think that a display tank of that size will set me back about £300 ish (about $500).
Which is reasonable and affordable.
Stands...
Building a stand myself will likely set me back about £100 for materials, I can likely borrow all the tools I need then it's just my time to build.
As stated above though it does worry me a bit but in theory if I take my time and do it right I shouldn't hit any problems.
I could still get the other half's brother to build a facia round a basic stand to give me some half way option.
Buying one could prove pricey no concrete pricing yet but for what I want it's most likely going to have to be custom built as that type of thing just isn't stock built round here, the figure I have in my head from what little I have found out (but not yet got a concrete price on) is around £500 (about $850).
That's for a simple design too.
So ...
Initial budget (just to get me started on this project) can stretch to around £1,000 ($1,700 ish) if needed but I would need to be sure i'm not just throwing money at this for no real gain before I spend more than I really need to.
Thoughts, suggestions, ideas?
Greetings from the UK!
I've been a "browser" more than anything on here for some time now but I do love a good build thread so this could be mine ...
I have a perfect 8 foot space in my living room in which I am thinking needs a 180 gal (about 6 foot of that) tank.
I have my existing 55 gal with a 30 gal sump which I will likely steal the sump from as it was custom built for me but everything else is pretty much on the table as "open to suggestions".
My existing 55 gal isn't drilled, this is a bad "mistake" I do not intend to repeat on a new build. (i say mistake, i didn't buy a drilled tank and later decided I would keep corals in it so had to retrofit it for corals by hooking up overflows and a sump)
I also want to be sure I don't repeat some of the problems I have had on the existing tank by making sure I set things up right from the get go.
I've battled algae problems a serious ick outbreak that killed some of my fish because I didn't react fast enough, lighting problems (no one at my LFS told me marine lighting was far superior to standard tropical lights initially so i learnt that one the hard way).
This time round i'm asking all the questions up front and going at this with some exerience!
Ok then ...
I made some enquires locally and found I can get a tank easy enough its the cabinet / stand to put it on I have my issues with at the moment.
I'm half tempted to build that myself rather than buy it but have issue with putting near a metric ton of anything on something I built (maybe i judge myself a little harshly at times but I worry a lot and it ensures I get the right result mostly).
I'm a programmer by trade and don't normally do a lot of DIY so i'll have to buy/borrow tools for this build but also I don't have a lot more space than the space I intend to put the tank in so might have to build it all in my living room (that impresses the other half no end).
The other half's brother however builds custom kitchens / furniture for a living so I do have a good channel for woodworking advice but I think getting him to help might be a bit costly (he's a bit like that, I doubt he would do it just because it's a cool project).
So still in 2 minds on weather to build or buy a stand.
here's some rough details of the type of setup I have in mind ...
-- on stand
6x2x2 display tank
-- inside stand
3x2x2 sump
3x2x2 ato / WC tank (hoping to automate WC with some programming wizardry as I have some decent computer kit near by I can hook up to all this)
shelf to fix row of sockets for all the electrical stuff and misc storage.
I've got my eye on these lights at the moment ...
http://ift.tt/1jDjGBH
or possibly these
http://ift.tt/1ibRvNH
The lights I have are ok but barely enough to handle the 4ft tank I have let alone a brand spanking new 6ft tank so I figured I would do this bit right this time too!
The second lot are very pricey though (double the price of the first lot).
However, I think I can only get the first lot if I can find a seller willing to ship them from the states, and then I have to consider that they run on 110 volts not 240 as is used over here.
Apart from the sump i'm thinking the tanks are pretty basic, most likely glass rather than acrillic but I will need to get the display tank drilled which I will ask my seller to do for me prior to delivery.
My LFS seems to think that a display tank of that size will set me back about £300 ish (about $500).
Which is reasonable and affordable.
Stands...
Building a stand myself will likely set me back about £100 for materials, I can likely borrow all the tools I need then it's just my time to build.
As stated above though it does worry me a bit but in theory if I take my time and do it right I shouldn't hit any problems.
I could still get the other half's brother to build a facia round a basic stand to give me some half way option.
Buying one could prove pricey no concrete pricing yet but for what I want it's most likely going to have to be custom built as that type of thing just isn't stock built round here, the figure I have in my head from what little I have found out (but not yet got a concrete price on) is around £500 (about $850).
That's for a simple design too.
So ...
Initial budget (just to get me started on this project) can stretch to around £1,000 ($1,700 ish) if needed but I would need to be sure i'm not just throwing money at this for no real gain before I spend more than I really need to.
Thoughts, suggestions, ideas?
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