Chris' 180+ Reef tank

[chrisfraser05]

Here is the 40mm angle steel bracket installed to make the tank braceless.

will do more soon.

[Cliff]

It sure is nice to be able to have a tank without the top center brace. That has always bugged me on my 90 gallon tanks

[chrisfraser05]

I'm really looking forward to having this one running (its gonna be a while).

I'm also going to only have supports at the corners at the front of the hood.
When the removable panels are off you will be able to move the full length of the tank to clean glass etc without anything getting in the way.


I've been trying to think of all the things I can engineer into this system to make life easier. May aswell do it right while I've got a blank canvas.

Just worked it out and the whole system, RO, Sump and tank will be a metric ton of water!!!

[hockeyhead019]

A ton!?! That's insane man!

I've been chewing on ideas for things to make life easier on the tank and the only thing I can think of is having the topping off (which you've already planned)

I think the biggest thing for me is always what happens after you lose power... I'd plan on having some type of contingency plan for when the power goes up. I don't think there's too much to that though since you won't need to really prime anything like I do with my drain line

[chrisfraser05]

only thing I can do really is use a UPS for my sicce pumps and return pump to keep the tank oxygenated and flow going round for dilution of waste.

I'll also work an alarm into this so we know power has gone (txt message to myself and the wife) so if it is prolonged we can plug the generator in.

The house will help maintain the tank temperature so it's only after about 3-4 hours the temp will drop any really.

The benefits of the Algae scrubbed low energy system (as you know), is that apart from the heater and pumps, the only other thing in the system that is powered is the lighting. Nothing essential.

[chrisfraser05]

right, finished my model for now....

Going to add my lights, algae scrubber and plumbing too for a laugh soon.

Here's the hood frame.



Removable panels on,



Rail around bottom to locate bottom panels and take the weight,

[chrisfraser05]

Ta da!!!!




And a little cheeky rear shot




Gotta love Sketch up!

[Old Marine]

Looks Good to me

[chrisfraser05]

Thanks buddy!

It's no "Tanked" but I'm hoping that the contents will be the focal point :)

[Cliff]

I like how you can draft your plans like that.

I would suggest a cross brace on the back (prehaps at the bottom corners). That's a little bit of over-kill, but it would certainly make it a little stronger