Craig's 120g Build

DRC Archive Member Tanks
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OK - now that Christmas shopping is done, I get to start treating myself a little bit.

So this weekend’s plan is to start turning this:

In to this:

OK - maybe not exactly - nor do I expect to get it done this weekend, but I’m going to start.

I’ve been fortunate to be able to pick up a 120g reef-ready tank dual corner overflows and a nice stand for a good price. A little birdy let me know that my 40g breeder is in, this will be tomorrow morning’s project, turn it in to a sump. I haven’t decided if I’m going to add a refugium yet or not, really have to see how much room I have and if I can make the refugium large enough to be functional and still leave enough “sump” room as to not have to worry about going away for a long weekend and my pump running dry,

For now I’m going to use a mag 9.5 return pump. An ASM G3 skimmer, and a few media reactors for filtration.

I’m going to custom build a hood to house 2 AI SOL LEDs and 2 48" VHOs. I THINK this should provide the ability to custom color the lighting, provide hot spots, and still have even over-all coverage. All hung over the tank using Aquatic Life arms attached to the back of the stand - which will add the ability to raise and lower as necessary for light acclimation and working in the tank.

My goal for for this weekend is to get the light arms installed, and the plumbing hooked up (and leak free), so I can start adding water and cycling using existing rock from my current sump. I’ll add some fresh sand and start siphoning out and cleaning sand from my 75 to use as well.

I’m hoping by next weekend to be able to start moving rock, and filtration, in to the new tank, and have everything moved over by the new year.

More details and pics to follow as the build moves along.

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AND so it begins ::thinking::

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lotsa good wishes, craig!

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Day 1:

Picked up the Aquatic Life “Universal” arms for hanging a light over the tank. These bars are designed to mount on to the back of the stand and come up and over the tank. I publicly call BS here. The only possible way to mount these to my stand would have out the arms flush with the outer edge of the tank. I had to mount 2 pieces of 2x4 to the back of my stand to give me some “possible” mounting options. As it stands, they’re still much closer to the end of the tank than I’d like them to be. But I’m resilient so I’ll find a way to make them work.

Also picked up the 40g breeder that is to become the sump. Aside from having to work at DPA for 20 minutes because someone saw me come out of the backroom with my tank and assumed I worked there - and after a quick realization that I DID look like I worked there, thought it would be rude to say “sorry I can’t help you”.

A quick stop at John’s (saltcreep) to cut the baffle (thank you) and a little time with the silicone and the sump has been made.

Now the fun begins - go to put the sump in the stand - ever try to fit an 18" wide tank through a 15" wide door?

Thanks to Bill (Billrob71) for coming over to help me lift the 120 off the stand to put the sump in through the top - AFTER of course having to knock out the center brace to get it in there #@$^

Now I’m looking at the sump, fits nearly perfectly, except that it’s taller than I thought it was. It dawns on me, I’m never going to be able to get the skimmer in to the sump after the 120 is put back in place. Wait - I have a spare skimmer in the garage - same size as what’s in my sump downstairs. It’s a perfect fit, crisis avoided… so I disassemble my skimmer from the 75g (ASM G3) bring it up, clean 3 years worth of funk out of it, put it in the sump… it’s too tall #@$^ WTF #@$^ apparently the skimmer in the garage was a G2 not a G3 after all. No problem, swap out the pump since my Sedra is darn near brand new … different size inputs in to the skimmer body … guess I have to use the pump from the G2 instead … can’t … damn thing is frozen #@$^ #@$^ #@$^

And to top it off - one of the kids knocked down my frag rack in the 75, dumping about $100 worth of frags, including a 1/2 dollar size strawberry chalice directly, face down, in to a mini-maxi anemone #@$^ #@$^ #@$^ #@$^

Why can’t anything EVER just go smoothly for me?? Sometimes I hate this hobby … a lot!!!

Oh well more to come - let’s see what day 2 brings BoNg

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Holly crap, what a day you had Craig. I don’t think anyone ever had anything go smoothly when ever they set up their tank. Don’t go to the dark side…woo sa…woo sa…woo sa.

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The setup looks nice Craig, good luck with the build.

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Hey craig if that aqua style bracket doesnt work take a look at aquastyleonline.com they have a nice bracket for leds

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Sounds like you had a fun day of “head scratching” and cussin after you left my house verdict_in

I have a similar problem with my 125, cant get the skimmer out unless the sump comes out… a royal PIA…

would a diff stand now make your life a lot easier in the future?

[quote=“andrewk529, post:6, topic:6070”]
The setup looks nice Craig, good luck with the build.[/quote]

and wow! Andrew! how the hell ya been ::thumbsup::

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A taller stand would make life easier as far as getting the skimmer and stuff in/out of the sump, but I already BARELY touch the bottom of the tank when reaching in as it sits now. Any taller and I’ll need a chair and a snorkel.

I think I’ve found a solution - albeit not perfect but a solution none-the-less. I’m going to knock out the floor of the stand and sit the sump directly on the floor. This will give me an extra 2 1/4" of head room inside the stand. Just enough to be able to use my G3 skimmer. I’ll need to be careful taking the skimmer cup off, but I’ll have the clearance I need.

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Now if only I were friends with a neighbor I could ask to help me lift the 120 off the stand today so I could do some of what I need to get done.

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Just a suggestion…get a pond liner and place it on the inside of the stand on the floor and make it go up all the sides of the stand, just a few inches. This will hold any water spills from going all over your floor. attach the liner to the sides with staples or something else.

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[quote=“Cdangel0, post:9, topic:6070”]
A taller stand would make life easier as far as getting the skimmer and stuff in/out of the sump, but I already BARELY touch the bottom of the tank when reaching in as it sits now. Any taller and I’ll need a chair and a snorkel.

I think I’ve found a solution - albeit not perfect but a solution none-the-less. I’m going to knock out the floor of the stand and sit the sump directly on the floor. This will give me an extra 2 1/4" of head room inside the stand. Just enough to be able to use my G3 skimmer. I’ll need to be careful taking the skimmer cup off, but I’ll have the clearance I need.[/quote]

Thats an easy fix…

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So I was thinking about this some more today and wanted to get some opinions. Knocking the floor out of the stand is a definite - that will get me an extra 2 1/4" of inside clearance - (side note, I picked up the pond liner this afternoon - good idea John). What about making a taller stand by sitting the existing stand on top of frame made out of 4"x4"s?

This will raise the tank up about 3 3/4", which while ensuring I will NEVER be able to reach the back bottom corner of the tank, will give me plenty of clearance within the stand to work on the sump as need be.

Is there any significant structural, or engineering issues I’m not seeing?

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I was thinking along the same line last night, trying to figure out how to use that stand, and gain more height…
I would use a double layer of 2 x 4’s instead of the 4x’s though. doing that would make it much easier to make good secure corners that won’t spread apart over time from the weight. then again it may not matter, its all downward force… but 2x’s are easier to deal with imo hauling, cutting, fasteners etc…

I don’t see any problem with it, but don’t tell lynn it was my idea if it falls over in the living room ::rofl::

seriously though, if you have the footprint of the stand built like you say, and everything is level and flat with the stand then i’d say… great idea… it’s basically a sub-floor… you could even attach it right to the stand if you want ::thinking::
lmk if you need help… i’ll just have to get my miter saw returned to me 1st verdict_in

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the bottom plate in the stand probably gives some support to the sides, to keep them from spreading, and wobble. it stiffens the cube.

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My plan was to add some corner brackets to the stand to increase support already. I forget what size I picked up at the moment, but they’re not the small ones. I pciked up 8 - 4 for the bottom and 4 for the top of the stand. Could I feasibly reinforce the stand with the corner brackets and attach the whole stand to a wooden frame to lift is up a couple inches?

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When I built my stand, I made it 40" tall, so I have to use a step stool to reach to the back. I think 2x4,s would work fine.

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Day 2 -

So I got back to setting this up today since I had some help getting the tank off the stand.

Knocked out the bottom of the stand, reinforced all corners with angle brackets to add additional stability. Made the 4x4 base and added some pond liner to protect the floor from any splashed (because I can not have any spills or I’ll be divorced and living on John saltcreeps couch).

Put the stand up and it looks pretty good (will look better after I paint the base to match the stand).

Dropped the sump in, placed the skimmer to check for clearance, and now, not only do I have plenty of clearance to get the cup off, I can get the skimmer out if need be - and this is my original G3 - so I’m very pleased.

Plumbing has been completed

Got about 40g of water in to it and couldn’t be happier - then I noticed I neglected to put the top part of the light hanging arms back in before I put the tank on the stand. With the increase in height I don’t have the clearance under the ceiling to be able to take them fully out with the tank in place - which also means with the tank in place I don’t have the clearance under the ceiling to put them back IN either.

Time to drain the tank and start over. Thank god I camp and tailgate alot

Only other issue I ran in to was while refilling I tested the baffle strength. It held while the sump was full i.e.water on both sides, but when I turned the return pump on and drained the sump side I neglected to drain the skimmer side and blew the baffle out.

So aside from being sore from trying to move the tank, stand, base, and about 5g of water left in the tank out to be able to put the light bars back in, I’m pretty happy. Re-siliconed the baffle back in and am now waiting on the ro/di to make more water.

On a happier note, Lynn (Mrs. President), decided she liked the tank more centered on the wall and that she doesn’t need a table between the couch and the tank, and even went as far to say “That is going to look really nice there”

It’s been a pretty good day around here.

More to come after I fill the tank and begin cycling.

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productive day GolfC

Now it’s wet… it’s getting pretty exciting YahoO
It does look good, bet it looks to you like your 75 on steroids ::rofl::

and damn Craig… those hardwood floors have me, and my couch scared to death. Is the dishwasher close by? the “hot water heater” is pretty much out of blame distance now verdict_in
:-)lol

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Looks like the idea of raising the stand up will work out really well. Just one suggestion, if you had continued the pond liner up the insides of the 4x4’s, it would have acted as a basin to hold a good amount of water if the need ever occurred. Just a thought for the next time. ::rofl::