CleanReef's refurb 180

[CleanReef]

I picked up a 180 acrylic tank with a oversized bean animal overflow the other week. I've been trying to document with pictures what I've been doing to get it all set up.

I plan on updating this thread with all pictures related to the different components, but what I have so far is the canopy.

The previous owner had a really shotty light support system, and I wanted to put some sort of a hood on the top of the tank to keep the light in and the lighting equipment hidden. I have had previous aquariums that had hoods but they always left something to be desired. On my current setup, I've mounted the lighting I have onto the top hinged lid of the hood, so when I feed the fish, I am temporarily blinded. I decided to fix that (although the system still needs a bit of work!)

I've been working on other cleaning related tasks in the mean time.







I almost didnt include this one since the lighting stand clearly sags.... but I should have that fixed tonight anyway!

[CrayolaViolence]

Looks good so far

[CleanReef]

Tank water hold test. I also put on the hood to make sure I had enough room to access the inside of the tank while the lights are on.

[CleanReef]

I was able to move the tank from the garage, through the window, and into the house. I had to move the stand in through the same window because the door isn't wide enough... (looks like I will have to sell the tank with the house, because I'm never making that move again)

In any case, I put everything into position, made sure it was level, painted the stand and hood, installed a GCFI outlet under the tank, cleaned up, and installed most of the equipment I currently have (besides the chiller)

This is what I have so far:









As you can see in the last 2 pictures, this tank is set up for the beananimal type of overflow. Unlike others I have found on the web, the overflow expands nearly the length of the entire tank... which is nice in theory at least

[CleanReef]

Well, this weekend I decided to fill up the tank. Filled up over two days. When I got down for last 10 gallons I had to put it in manually because my filling station pump didn't seem to pump out the last 5 gallons in each 55 gallon barrel.

I filled the main tank until water started to spill into that massive beananimal overflow. Then I hear water hitting the back of the stand. A lot. I lost about 2 gallons on the floor . I later found this to be a result of a faulty seam in the custom acrylic overflow cemented directly into the tank.

Looked at it online last night but all I could really find were sites talking about cracks in the tank not really issues with seams. I'm definitely no acrylic expert, so Icalled my friend and he told me that maybe I should do some acrylic cement "Weld-on #16ñ. I picked it up from him last night and used it this morning. Since I didn't do my due diligence on the matter, I'm sort of regretting the decision. I made a thin bead of cement along the seam. I later read that doing this to part on the seam that was still in good adhesive shape could actually weaken them. Is this true?

I'm waiting for 24 hours before I water test the beananimal overflow. Being that I'm in the current situation I have put myself into, could anyone give me some advice?

[CleanReef]

Hi all,

Well, I fixed my issue with the leaks and set up all equipment. The cycle was short with a brief diatom bloom, but that is in the past now. I'm timing of changing the aquascaping but I don't have any good plans yet.

One thing I've definitely learned is that you have to spend significantly more time on the setup of a larger tank than something like a 55.




Here we go!

[CleanReef]

Well not too much has changed except for the introduction of 2 fish. Initially I just had a single clown in there, but I had other fish I was putting through a TTM cycle I had always planned to put in there. I got a blue tang and a full grown engineer goby.

Initially I was really happy with both additions, but there are some problems I need to address. Mainly, the Tang has one white bump on him a few days after introduction into the tank. Since I waited the entire period for the TTM to be over, I was hoping this wasn't a cyst, but it might be.

Also, I knew the engineer goby would dig to make a burrow as he did in my QT, but he has been digging almost constantly since putting him in the 180. Since I have a significant amount of sand, its been cloudy most of the time.

I think I've considered taking all of the fish out of the tank at one point or another for whatever reason, and the only thing that bothers me is that I'm not sure I can do it. It is easy to catch a fish that is in a 20G QT, its much harder catching one in a tank I have a hard time reaching the bottom of, and that has a lot of LR in it. Besides bottle traps, what other methods can be used to catch a fish without taking apart the entire setup? What about long and wider fish (the engineer and tang)?

[dmarkham]

I like the look of the white stand and canopy.

[CleanReef]

Thanks dmark