Mitchell Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 After getting hit by a car on my motorcycle I've decided to go back to the safer hobby of mine. I had the great idea of selling off all my equipment and my 180 gallon, so now I have to start over from scratch. So I'm starting off by having Envision make me a 48"L,48"W,22"H tank and while James is making the tank I will make the stand for it. I need to figure out how to plumb it before the tank is built because James will be drilling all the holes and installing the overflow. I've never had to plumb a tank before, so I'll need some tips. Another thing I'm going to need to figure out it lighting. Four 250 watt halides would probably be perfect, but that's a lot of initial cost along with expensive bulb replacements and a big electric bill. I'm thinking about going with DIY leds or a 400 watt halide with t5s. If anyone has any ideas on the lighting or experience building there own led fixture let me know. Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gill Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 I would go for the LEDs. I know Brad (reefjunkie) has amazing lights that he DIY and I believe he made a nice thread on how he did it. Definitely worth searching the archives for. LEDs just produce so much less heat and consume so much less energy. Plus they can have Amazing color IMO Congrats On the Envision build and I'm glad you are ok? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derbird Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 Ouch, glad to hear you made it through that one. I think Franks tank is roughtly the same dimentions. He uses the reefstare LED's with T-5 I'm pretty sure. Has good things to say about them. This should be a sweet tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchell Posted July 2, 2012 Author Share Posted July 2, 2012 I no longer need to worry about lighting. Calvin (kilmca) hooked me up with four of his old HQI 250 watt halide setups, so the tank should have plenty of light. Now I just need to figure out the plumbing. BTW, it was nice meeting you at Upscales today Gill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kilmca Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 hope the lights work well for you. they did for me, it was just time for me to try some new lighting. i didn't talk to the other person at upscales today but i assume that Gill was the other guy with the kid? i always wonder if other people in there are on the forums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramy Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 We need a secrect hand shake so we can ID eachother when we are in the fish stores =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchell Posted July 29, 2012 Author Share Posted July 29, 2012 OK, the tank should be ready around September 10th! After talking to James I am going to have a 36" external bean animal style overflow with 1.5" drains. Along with the lights I've also picked up a skimmer for the tank (SWC xtreme 250 1A) and the 2x6s to make the frame for the stand. I'm still going to need the return pump, powerheads and an RO/DI unit. I haven't found a sump, but I think I might just attach two 40 gallon breeders together. Does anyone know of someone that can drill glass tanks for me? Also does anyone know of a place I can buy black PVC pipe? Protein skimmer: Lumber for frame: Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mohaynow Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Most lfs's will drill a glass tank. Or you could buy/borrow the bits from someone and do it yourself, its really simple once you have done it a few times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wanareef Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 go with the bean animal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchell Posted September 1, 2012 Author Share Posted September 1, 2012 So a little update: most of the gluing and cutting is done for the frame. Today we clamped the frame together to get an idea of what it will look like. There will be support beams going across the bottom and top of the frame that are not in the picture. Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gill Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 hope the lights work well for you. they did for me, it was just time for me to try some new lighting. i didn't talk to the other person at upscales today but i assume that Gill was the other guy with the kid? i always wonder if other people in there are on the forums. Yup that was me LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnkrcklives Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 If I may ask roughly how much in materials do you have to make that stand. Just curious because I could have made you a sweet custom steel. And I bet the cost would be about the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchell Posted September 1, 2012 Author Share Posted September 1, 2012 If I may ask roughly how much in materials do you have to make that stand. Just curious because I could have made you a sweet custom steel. And I bet the cost would be about the same. Oh man that would have been nice! Since the stand is 40" tall it won't fit through doors, so I don't know if a steel stand would have worked. Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnkrcklives Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 Oh man that would have been nice! Since the stand is 40" tall it won't fit through doors, so I don't know if a steel stand would have worked. Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2 That is true. Welding inside the house does not tend to fair so well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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