Hello everyone,
I've enjoyed reading about y'alls awesome tank builds so I thought that I would start a thread of my own on the topic considering that I'm currently in the process of building out my second reef tank and almost ready to introduce corals. I'm somewhat new to the reef keeping hobby so I welcome feedback on this build as it will not be my last. I see much larger reef builds in my future and using these experiences to help inform the next design - so any and all feedback will be helpful. Thanks!
I will begin with the stand: As I was considering purchasing a new stand to go with my new reef savvy tank, I started looking at this old (but nice) credenza in my living room an entirely different way. Unfortunately, it wasn't wide enough to take on the dimensions of the new tank (60x24x20') and the cabinet space was too small to house the sump. So I decided to do a little "credenza remodeling" to accommodate.
I cut out the back of the cabinet space and added constructed a small addition to the back of the credenza so that the tank would fit on top and the sump would fit in the cabinet space:
It worked out very well. After securing the addition to the back of the credenza, building out an extension to the base of the cabinet, and painting everything - the sump fit and everything looked pretty clean:
Then it was time to put everything to the test:
Everything worked!
Or so I thought... It turned out that I had two very small leaks from the threaded fittings to bulkheads in the back of the tank. Fortunately I was able to access and repair these without too much trouble. Outside of that small setback, everything is still working great. I have since added a 10 gallon auto top off system and two tangs in the tank to get things ready for corals soon. Everything has been running for about 4 months now. I'm very excited to add a cleanup crew, some more fish, and lots of coral sometime soon
I'm looking forward to adding to this thread very soon with some updated photos to share with you guys. Anyhow, let me know what y'all think.
Tim