Gary's 120 In Wall Tank Build (1 Viewer)

[Gary]

Well, about 10 years ago I sold my two 90 RR tanks, corals, rock, etc and got out of the hobby. Had my house up for sale, new fiancé, and it seemed like a good time to quit. I've had a nano for several years now and been finishing my basement in hopes of doing a 120 in wall tank. The time has come, I bought the fatboy a few weeks ago and started to build a stand. I'll post up progress as I go. The picture is a rendering of my vision when it's complete.

 

[Gary]

Here is the oak on the floor in front of the wall I'm going to put the tank into. Also some pics of my stand in progress.

 

[Gary]

I got the stand stained and just put the last coat of satin poly on the outside. Just need to finish up with doors and paint the inside white.

 

[Gary]

Here is my nano tank waiting to get replaced.

 

[Gary]

Video of stand design

http://youtu.be/HY9dg_QT_PY

The link is a video of the CAD design of my stand. If anyone wants the PDF file of the drawings please send me a PM and I'll email them over.

 

[BEAV9900]

From a 12 to a 120! Looking forward to progress. Any must have on the fish list?

 

[Reefreak]

Looks like this is going to be a nice build. What your plans are for the tank; FOWLR, reef?

 

[Pumbooris]

This is going to be really nice! What are you going to light it with? Is the sump going under the stand or behind the wall?

 

[Gary]

Looks like this is going to be a nice build. What your plans are for the tank; FOWLR, reef?

I've been on the fence for a while on what to do. I always thought I'd never do corals again due to the cost and maintenance. I've always wanted to keep a fish only with some larger fish. That being said, after talking with Scott and Li down at SWE I'm leaning back toward the reef tank with smaller fish. I definitely want a Purple Tang, I had one for years back in the day of my dual 90's and I loved that fish. I was thinking of ordering a 48" Max Razor LED light, an Apex controller, and some dosing pumps for 3 part. I would also need something to make some water movement for the reef tank.

I already have the following equipment:

Perfecto 120 RR Tank
46" x 18" x 17" sump (fits under stand)
Reef Octopus MP2000 cone skimmer
Smartwave 1320 DC pump

 

[Gary]

Over the weekend I got the finish on and painted the inside of the cabinet white.

 

[Gary]

Last night I cut open the wall and did a test fit of the cabinet. Looks like she will fit fine. I built the wall with a 49" wide opening and the cabinet face has an overlap on each side to cover it.

 

[BEAV9900]

Looking good. Smart move with the overlapping stand! Did you just get the speedwave pump or have you had it on a previous build? Definitely one of my best purchases (I have the dc790)

 

[Gary]

Looking good. Smart move with the overlapping stand! Did you just get the speedwave pump or have you had it on a previous build? Definitely one of my best purchases (I have the dc790)

Everything for this build is brand new so far. I'll of course use my live rock from the Red Sea 34gal but pretty much everything else will be new. I'm considering the following items.

Maxspect Razor 300w or Echotech Radion Gen 2
Apex Controller
Ecotech MP40 (thinking I need 2 of these)

Not sure what kind of dosing pumps to buy. Any advice?

 

[Gary]

I'm working on the upper doors now. I am old school so rather than a Kreg jig, or bisquet joiner I use a dowel jig to make face frames. One trick I can share with you on is to be sure you clean up as much of the extra glue you can while it is still wet. Use paper towel soaked with water. This will also swell the grain a bit around your joints for easier sanding later. After clamping everything up overnight, I just use the trusty belt sander to smooth it all out. Sanding across joints requires you to go back and sand with the grain at the end. Don't forget to do this or your joints will have some sanding marks that will be hard to remove by hand later. T

he last picture shows my face frames all glued and sanded in in the process of finishing. I will put it up on the wall this weekend and snap some shots of it all in place.

It seems like a long haul just to get to this point. I guess about 4 weeks.

 

[Gary]

Got the rest of the woodwork done today. I ended up trimming out the front and the back side since it shows from either side of the wall. I have a bit of staining and varnishing to do again now but it turned out pretty good. Last Thursday I ordered some plastic so I'll start on the sump next.

 

[Reefreak]

wow that stand turned out awesome! What is the plan for the back side of the tank? I assume you are going to be painting the back.

Enjoying the progress of the build can't wait for the sump.

also loving the castle.

 

[scffvariable]

Wow! Great woodworking. I hope mine comes out as well.

 

[ReeferNate]

Great looking build! Im looking to upgrade to a 120DD and this gives me some great ideas. Cant wait to see it completed!

 

[Fragtastic Reef]

Wow that is gorgeous looking I really like the woodwork. So is it going to be a bar there?

 

[mabagan]

Im curious to what is next to the tank/stand. Sump standing on end?