my 90g braceless build

tigerarmy40 · #1 12/07/2007, 03:08 AM

Well I ordered my new 90g that I have been talking about for a year or two. The tank is 36x24x24". I am doing a horrizontal style overflow with two 1" drains and planning on running the return through the overflow right out at the surface. I wanted to put some serious water movement through the tank so I drilled the back panel with a 2" drain in the lower center of the tank and four 1" returns. here is a cheesy drawing of the back panel

and here is a 3d setup of what i am planning on ordering! I got it from a user on here on rc and just made a few adjustments (thanks reefmonkey)!!! I bought a dart and will be running a oceansmotion 4way with a type 3 drum.

I also used a template from here on rc to build my stand, heres a few shots from the build!

and here is the tank completely made to specs and looking pretty damn good if I do say so myself. I need to buy up some bulkheads and paitn the back black but I thought I would add some pics

.

sorry about the smudged glass, I couldnt keep my hands off it..lol.

fras · #2 12/07/2007, 05:27 AM

dude that is a sweet tank! I love the braceless look with black silicone. I'm tagging along.

maroun.c · #3 12/07/2007, 07:12 AM

Looks nice for a start.
will be in the same boat in around a month from now, so tagging along for ideas.

Mark75 · #4 12/07/2007, 08:03 AM

Who built that tank? Looking very good!!! I am getting ready to start a build around the very same size and style tank. I am tagging along.

stevedola · #5 12/07/2007, 08:36 AM

wondering who built that tank. very nice. Im looking to do a 90g long with horizontal overflow.

tigerarmy40 · #6 12/07/2007, 11:28 AM

thanks guys! the tank was built by vizio, they do really nice work at a pretty affordable rate! I know around the central coast a ton of lfs do business with them. I really was going for having as little indside the tank as possible. I didnt want to see any powerheads or plumbing, didnt really want to see the overflow and so on.

Skimmer is a euroreef cs 6-2+rc (rc135). I love this thing but man does it have a huge footprint (18x8"). I probably should have built or bought my sump first so I could have planned around that. Im finding really fast that with a 36" tank there isnt much room under the stand for equipment

tigerarmy40 · #7 12/07/2007, 10:45 PM

heres more pics of the progression! I got the stand done, it took alot of work to get things to line up and for it to look the way I wanted but I have to admit for my first try it came out pretty nice!!!

I also built a hood to hang over the tank like a matching pendant! I built it with a lumenarc 3 reflector in mind. Now Im really torn between running a single 250mh in a l3 or 2x250 in 2xl3 mini's. I have tried both over the tank and just cant decide! I guess Im thinking about pg&e a little too, single 250 means 2vho and double 250 means 4 vhos...what to do!?!?

I added a mermaid to the front of the hood for some personal touch! I think I dig the way it came out...

tigerarmy40 · #8 12/23/2007, 02:50 AM

time for small update, I have the tank inside now and have lit it up for the first time with an old 20k and the l3!!! pretty good coverage for a single mh

once again fingerprints are my weakness, just cant keep my hands off stuff

dirty glass...didnt realise it until it waslit up!

my reactor is here and in the stand now so I am getting more of an idea of what to do about my sump and how much room I dont have

I went with a schuran pico and a 5lb tank with a milwauke

the measuring tape shows where a 24" sump would end

stevedola · #9 12/24/2007, 08:49 AM

is there a basement below? or a storage room behind the tank? if so, could always run the sump remotely and that way you could also increase the size for more volume. just a thought.

tank looks great btw, very nice setup.

tigerarmy40 · #10 12/26/2007, 01:07 PM

I wish there was, I would be all over it... I do have a closet not far from the tank at all but I would have to do some work to the walls to run the plumbing to it, dont know if the wife is quite ready for that though

DaveG99 · #11 12/28/2007, 05:49 PM

looks good. The only problem I see is why build a canopy if you got a rimless tank? I wouldnt cover up the rimless look with the canopy!

Flint&Eric · #12 12/28/2007, 06:30 PM

looking good. what thickness is that glass?

tigerarmy40 · #13 12/28/2007, 06:34 PM

thanks! I actually built it to hold my lighting and hang above the tank so the polished edges are still able to be seen!!! its kinda like a huge pendant

Silverfin · #14 12/28/2007, 06:53 PM

Love the tank and awesome stand! I'm going to tag along; Eager to see what you do....

KyleO · #15 12/28/2007, 07:06 PM

I have a somewhat dumb question...............what keeps the "braceless" tank from splitting apart when filled with water? Seems like there would be a LOT of pressure on the seems to separate.

The tank looks sweet though!

tigerarmy40 · #16 01/05/2008, 10:18 AM

good question, I believe its the way they silicone the seems. Black silicone tends to be stronger and at the bottom inside they do some extra siliconeing and glass work for bracing...