ITT we discuss my new setup

[tony]

tomorrow i am meeting lee to pickup my new 45g (looooong) setup (http://www.maast.org/forums/showthread.php?t=39009) and am giddy like a school girl. tank is gonna house quite a few clams (ace's clam tank is my biggest inspiration for this setup) lots of frags and hopefully a pair of picasso clowns.

still havent decided if i want to drill it or not. i know if i dont i will likely regret it and id imagine a 20L would fit nicely in the stand. i also have a spare cpr bakpak that i plan on using if i dont drill. the bakpack works great on the 30 cube so i may take the KISS approach and use the spare bakpack on the 45.

i plan on having ace build me an open canopy to house the giessman fixture and will paint it to match the stand and also plan on painting the back of the tank black as well. what kind of paint will i need to buy for the glass?

for substrate im thinking of using the tahitian moon sand to keep the black theme going. thoughts? experiences?

will likely pick up a couple of hydor #2s and put one on each end for flow also. and i plan on picking up about 70-80 lbs of live rock to fill it (maybe a little less)

thoughts or recommendations on the setup?

[loans_n_fishes]

I bet the black sand would look awesome, but may be a real pain to keep clean. Congrats on the new tank

[MissT]

the tahitian moon sand is awesome stuff, I had a tank set up with it for a while and I think it actually looked cleaner than my tank with white sand.
You can use any old spray paint for the back of the tank, but I like the finish of basic Krylon flat black.
Sounds like you're going to have a lot of fun with this project, but if you are already doubting not drilling the tank, you may not be happy with it if you don't. Have fun with it and keep us posted with your progress!

[lhoy]

Tony,

I had a mix of the black and white sand, look great, but I would go all black if I had to do it over again with that tank.

I will see if I have some extra Black Krylon to bring with me for you. The Tunze Nanostreams worked great on it (those are on my live rock holding tank right now).

DRILL IT: I was wishing I had right off the bat!! Ace can probably even cut the acrylic overflow I am bringing as well. It is three-sided so you can do center overflow. If you can get some nice rock, you might only want 45 to 55 lbs to give those corals rooms to grow.

I have an used almost new 20L if you want it for a sump. What do you say to $20? I can bring it in the morning.

As soon as I finished painting the stand, I didn't want to sell it and my wife said, "I knew that would happen." Well, a deal is a deal. It had to go. Sad to sell all that and only get one wavebox!!! ; )

The paint I used on the stand has a cool texture, kind of rough feeling.

See you in the morning.

Lee

[erikharrison]

There is that stuff from HD that's like window tint. RayAllen was telling me about it... use an overflow box and make a good fuge! :)

[hobogato]

i can drill it tony.

[Headless_donkey]

That is a great tank! Congrats.

I would drill. Gravity is simpler then siphoning.

[TinyTanker]

Your Siphoning Many Times Will Build Up Air And Unless You Constantly Monitor The Siphon On An Overflow You Do Run The Risk Of Blockage And Overflow On To The Floor. No Bueno

[tony]

my pretty new tank now has a hole in it, not 2 hours after picking it up *sniffle*


:D

sump is in the works

[erikharrison]

Pics???? :bigsmile:

[lhoy]

Wow, didn't waste any time I see!!!! Dang, once you get that all done, I am going to want to buy it back!!

It was a pleasure meeting you. I can't wait to see what all Ace does for you. Now, if I didn't spend that money on the wavebox I would be having Ace build my sump!!

[tony]

update: ace drilled the tank a while back. i also picked up a euroreef rs-80 and one of the sealed wand looking moonlights from aquarium designs. these things are pimptastic and sealed so you can actually submerge them.

still need to paint the canopy and the back of the tank and then after that i just need to plumb it (and decide where to put it)

[RayAllen]

Sounds good. Cant wait to see some progression pics.