Moe's sort of simple shallow reef

[Leviathan_XE]

Hi all! Not new at all since I've been a member here since 2008 and have been to a few meet ups. I just don't post much. I mainly spend my time here reading and learning from you all. I love the fact that in this hobby there a hundred different ways and just as many different viewpoints but they can all lead to success. One of the reasons why I can't stay away. Quick history about my time: Started out with a 46 bow back in 2003, kept that for a few years and then upgraded to a 72(had a thing for the bows, not sure why) anyway moved and that tank came with. After a few months noticed that the bracing was failing so a perfect time to upgrade right!? Picked up an 80 gallon deep blue from Quantum Reefs back in like 2015 or so and kept that and fell in love with the shallow tanks. Jump to 2018 and life happens and I had to move again. When I moved the tank came with but that move did not go well at all. Lost everything except my pair of percs and my randall's goby(fun fact my female perc came from Roozen's in its hey day so that should tell you how long she's been with me). Anyway, discouraged I kept the rock "cooking" in a tote and kept my fish in a nano as there wasn't space for the full set up to be properly maintained. Jump again to 2020 when me and the wife bought our house and I knew a tank was going in the basement(she started out as a gf back between the 72 and the 80). I became active on the forum again to refresh my rusty memory and came across a sweet tank that was for sale. It called out to me as it was custom and it was like the original owner read my mind! It was the exact dimensions I would have gotten had I had it built myself. So picked it up, told him I would post about it here so here I am.

 

Protip: Never underestimate the sheer weight of a large tank or the effects of the passage of time on one's body. Nor should you overestimate your ability to "power through" like you used to. This tank showed my why the gym and I should always remain close friends. Hindsight being what it is I would've shown up with more hands as this was not light work. I'm sure we made to much noise and racket hauling this thing out of the basement. It also slipped right before we got it on the truck. As it did I noticed just the sliver of a crack appear in the bottom corner. Ominous foreshadowing? Also never mind my helper, she's never far from my side when I'm working on something. I'm sure you'll see her again.

 

So I get her home and inspect it well. Its just a tiny sliver of a crack that you can't even feel on either side. The bottom of the tank sits flush so in theory if I shore it up and disperse the weight it should be good to go right? I'm sure you tank experts are laughing as you read that. But I wanted to give it a shot least I tell my wife that yes that new fancy tank I got became a terrarium before it even got home. So life picks up we hit a pandemic and me working this thing out gets put on the back burner. Jump a few months until I get back at it, following my theory I shore it up as I can. Water test time! All goes well and she holds water for a grand total of 2 days......until she doesn't. I hear a boom come from the garage. At first I see nothing, thinking maybe it came from outside. What I didn't realize until the next day was that my efforts, sort of worked. The bottom pane did fail but my "fix" kept it to a slow leak.

 

What to do what to do? I wanted to get back into reefing badly. I missed it. My old 80 had already become a paludarium, I'll toss a pic of that somewhere down below and l had already made plans for a tank this size plus its like my dream dimensions! Also not wanting the tell the wife that I'm about to buy another large tank because well I broke the one I just got. So I decide to fix it, really fix it. What do I have to lose? If it works awesome, if not I'd just have to go get another tank and I was already in that boat anyway. So I contact a glass company and place an order for a replacement bottom pane.

 

Getting that original bottom pane of glass of without breaking another was a learning experience to say the least. It took a week of slow and steady progress after work to get it done. By softening the silicone with vinegar and alcohol and using a thin putty knife as a wedge, I was able to cut away the old silicone. I cleaned all of the surfaces with scraping, sandpaper and more alcohol. Once it was as clean as can be I went to re-seal with the new pane after letting it fully cure for a week I tried again.

 

 

Success! Not the prettiest job all all but it worked. I filled her up and she sat in my garage full of water for a couple of weeks. Now that's done I decided to push ahead with the rest of the build and started on the stand.

 

Except this is so wide it won't fit through the doorway once reassembled. Welp, I guess I'm building it in the basement where the tank is going! So I do, put it back together, reinforce the corners, coat the inside with flex seal, and give it a paint job on the outside to give it the look I wanted. Next step scaping.

 

Not only do I love shallow tanks but I love shallow tanks with depth to them. So after gluing then using mortar I tried to achieve that while giving my fish plenty of cave and overhangs while being able to break line of sight quickly in case of any aggression. Placing scape in the tank.

 

While I was waiting for some parts to arrive, I had some spare wood laying around the garage so I decided to try my hand at adding a little bling to the tank. But to also keep me from having the mess of cords that I've always had before. Added a DJ power strip and tossed in some LEDs.

 

Parts showed up and I got to work on the DIY sump. Ordered one of the Fiji insert kits as it seemed like it would suit my needs.

 

Once all that dried up and cured I got around to installing it. Pay no attention to my other helper, she's much more critical than helper one and wanted to inspect my work.

 

When it came to the lighting I had an issue. Didn't want to poke holes in the drop ceiling tiles so I cut down some 2x4's and ordered some shelf brackets from amazon. Gave them a paint job and toggle bolted them to the wall. Mounted the lights from those.

 

Some shots of the scape....I'm horrible at taking pics.

At that point she was pretty much done, still a few things to add on like a mesh top, another powerhead for more flow, maybe some doors lol but she's cycled and ready for fish. I've learned a lot about DIY with this build. It's made me think about how to solve issues I've never encountered before with any other tank. From working with glass, studying how to properly construct and reseal an aquarium, working with wood, etc. Some of it was actually enjoyable lol. If you made it this far down, thanks for taking the time any any questions I'll be more than happy to answer. Just got to fill this thing up with corals! THAT'S the fun part. Oh yeah also threw up a frag and fish qt during work on this, and the paludaium pic is below.

 

 

[Pedro]

Tank is looking good, can't wait to see it with fish and corals!

[dfloydvt]

Wow love it. Can’t wait to see the progress


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[Leviathan_XE]

Thanks to you both! Yes, I'm currently working on that now. It's funny how the trends in the hobby change though. It's funny to see how the price of some basic corals like mushrooms and basic euphyllia have increased but chalices and gonis have dropped. When I was last in the game folks were giving away things like bubble corals the "new" orange hammers were all the rage but it seems to be the opposite now.

[YHSublime]

I don't know how I possibly missed this! It warms my heart to see this tank getting set up (and it looks AMAZING!)

I'm glad you got the pop out of the way in the garage, I would have been so disheartened and given up, kudos to you for seeing it through.

Definitely tagging along, please keep the updates coming! 

[howaboutme]

Wow! That's a lot of surface area for corals....

[brianisoutside]

Can’t wait to see this one color up it will be fun putting corals in there


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[VA Reefdog]

Really nice work.  Turned out looking great despite the leak.  Love the scape.