180 Gallon Renovation (A photojournal) PICS!!!

Hi all, although I've had aquaria on and off all of my life, I just

recently (April '07) began my journey down the road to "planted

tank" heaven with a 29 gallon tank. That effort blossomed into a 29

AND a 55. Learning the basics of light, co2 & ferts carried me

through the agony of my first bigtime algae bloom as well as

ongoing hair/thread/GDA/GSA etc. and led me to the point where

the bug RE-bit me with a vengence. :help:

Obviously, there's still LOTS to learn but, even so, I went looking for

something bigger.

Checking classified ads and craigslist and eBay within 200 miles, etc, etc,

and I discovered what $100 and a 140 mile trip to Orlando will

buy... a really nasty looking 180 gallon acrylic.







To say it was in "rough shape" would be an understatement but I

thought "the bones" were there to bring this tank back.roud:

Removing the salt encrustation and the corals? or whatever

growing on the acrylic was interesting to say the least as well as

replacing the rusted/corroded door hinges and other metal bits

and pieces.



The use of some steel wool to remove the growing things on the

acrylic and multiple rinses brought me to a clean inside (clean but

foggy/scratched).



I used a sanding block with 350, then 600, then 1500grit wet&dry

sandpaper to handsand the entire interior of the tank (except for

the bottom and back). This was followed by an automotive polisher

with a terry bonnet using Novus#3 Heavy Scratch Remover. Then a

couple of sessions with a cloth buffing wheel and Novus#2 Light

Scratch Remover. Final interior polishing was done with Novus#1

Acrylic Polish and a soft cotton cloth. The exterior of the tank was

in much better shape than the interior and I did spot

sanding/buffing/polishing in a number of spots and then Novus#1 on

the entire exterior. I've no experience with acrylic scratch

removal/buffing/polishing products so I can't compare the Novus

stuff to any other products out there but I found the Novus

products to do a good job of buffing out the scratches and

polishing the acrylic.

A good scrubbing, followed by two coats of semi-gloss latex took

care of the exterior of the stand, while the interior of the stand is

white laminate that was acceptable after a good scrub.

I then moved on to the interior of the canopy which was just a shell

when purchased. I retrofitted AH Supply CF brite kits into the

canopy ... 2 x 55 and 2 x 96, wired in such a way that I can bring

them on as "~100W" or "~200W" or "~300W".

This is the canopy up against the wall atop the tank:


while this is the canopy in position but open atop the tank:


Moving right along ... under the tank/inside the stand.
The tank was pre-drilled/bulkheaded with 7 holes in the bottom.

Two (one 1" & one 3/4") bulkheads within the overflow box
&
One 3/4" and Four 1/2" bulkheads in the body of the tank
as illustrated below:



I'm using the 3/4" bulkhead within the overflow box as a drain for

the autowaterchanger system, while the 1" bulkhead in the box is

tied into the four 1/2" bulkheads in the body of the aquarium

through the use of a common manifold (the 1" pvc across the

inside top of the stand) . This manifold acts as the filter intake and

feeds the two Rena xp3 canister filters that you can see on either

side of the stand. The last bulkhead in the body of the aquarium

connects to the ball valve/hose connector that you see in the

upper right inside of the stand and drains to waste with the

addition of a garden hose.



Also in the right side of the stand you can see the co2 reactor &

Fabco 55 needle valve which connects to my 10lb co2

tank/regulator which is located elsewhere in the room.



I know I said I'd be brief when I started this entry and while this

hasn't been brief, I hope I haven't bored too many of you with my

journey.

Here's a picture of the first fill ... no leaks ... hooray! :bounce: Once I got the

substrate in, I decided to lose the sponges over the plastic

strainers at the bulkheads. They're black and as you will see, they

pretty much disappear into the black background/hardscape.



I drained the tank and added about 80lbs of SoilMaster Select

(charcoal) into the tank (unwashed). I added driftwood/rocks and

did an initial planting by raiding both the 29 and 55 which I've been

using as farm tanks in anticipation of planting this 180. I then did a

VERY slow fill of the tank by inserting my python into the overflow

box. The common manifold connection allowed the tank to fill mega

slowly by dividing the already slow python flow among the four 1/2"

bulkheads in the body of the aquarium and as a result, the water

was surprising clean and dust free when the fill was complete.






At the moment there are a handful of ramshorn snails (came in on

the plants from the 29/55), one oto and two baby guppies (about

1/2" long) swimming around in this tank. I'm not planning on raiding

any other fish from the 29 or the 55 except for a King Tiger Pleco

now residing in the 55. I'm making a buy from the LFS (as part of

his weekly order) for my initial stocking which will consist of :

12 otos
12 pygmy corys
12 julii corys

with their arrival expected at the end of next week.

Other schooling fish, centerpiece fish, other livestock are up in the

air right now, but there's no rush. I've been down the discus road

in the past (altho not in a planted tank) and I don't think that's the

way I want to go this time so at this point I'm still anticipating the

thrill of selecting and adding more livestock and plants as things

progress.


So, that's where things stand as of today. I'm working out the kinks

of my autowaterchanger design and awaiting the inevitable

challenges of cycle and photoperiod selection and all the other

bumps that will arise as this tank matures ... ain't we got fun?

Thanks for looking and I'll be updating as things progress.

Keep Smilin'
John :icon_smil