My New 185g Build Thread

Definitely subscribing to this sweet build. Primo looking stand/canopy combo!

 

So it's been a marathon...

My friend from Maryland came in this weekend to help out with the move. Without him it would have royally sucked. We started working on things at about 3:00 on Friday and finally got 120 moved out and the new tank plumbed and running Saturday night at about midnight. There is currently limited live rock in the tank, the rest is in buckets and tubs with powerheads pushing water through them.

The biggest surprise was how f@#$#ing heavy the new stand/tank and canopy were. It was sitting on a moving blanket in the living room so I figured we'd move the 120 out of the way then my friend and I could slide it into place. Not easy. The only way we could move it was to pivot it a little at a time. It took us 30 min to move it about 8 feet.

My plan for getting the blanket out was to lift one side of the tank, pull the carpet out of the way, slide a 2x4 under then set it down. Repeat with the other side then pull the blanket out. Not so fast. I'm a big guy at 6'2" and 230. My friend is 6' and about the same. Together we couldn't lift one side. So I called a friend and his girl over and the three of us guys lifted one side and she slid out the blanket and in the 2x4. The three of us could barely lift it. I figure it must weigh 700 lb or more.

I can barely move my legs and my fingers feel like someone hit them with a hammer.

Everything looks great and the cement sand bed turned out wonderfully. Pics up soon when I can move.

Now I've just got to put in the rest of the rock, set up the controller, put in the circ pumps, add in the kalk reactor, replace the existing pump, move my entire sump set up.

 

A few more shots - I'm not going to post a full tank shot until I get more rock in.

Here is the final base plate shape. We cut more from the previous.




Here is the shot after we've put cement on the base plate and layed the sand on top.




Here is a shot of the bottom of the rock we cut on Friday. We put PVC into the bottom hole on the rock and filled it with cement.




This is a shot of the back of the tank before we put it in place against the wall. This shows the base plate with the large rock we drilled with the nylon rod.




Here is the base plate from the front.




Now it's time to fill the tank!




An earlier shot showing the 6 Stunner LEDs installed.

 

Love the update! I've been seriously thinking about the Stunners. I see you used the UV and the Actinic. I can't wait to see shots of just those in action with some life in there.

 

It's really looking good!

 

About those Stunners... Do you notice any iridescence on various objects? Like a black light?

 

Lots of work Rocket, coming along nice.

 

Honestly, when the tank was empty and the T5s were on I couldn't tell much difference. More to come when corals are in the tank.

 

Looking amazing. I cant wait to see more pictures.. thanks for sharing.

 

Here are some initial aquascaping shots. Still some additions to be made here, but this is the beginning. Not happy with the left side of the tank at the moment so no pics of that.

Right side of tank from front:




Right side of tank from end: