180G Custom Acrylic, I was out of the hobby 5yrs

[OBuckNutzO]

Long story short, I used to have a 265G reef that had a catastrophic ending when a seal failed on the front. I left the hobby heart broken. As my son aged (6yrs old) I began to tell my wife that I might be interested in getting back into the hobby if the right situation presented itself. She didn't put up much of a fight except she didn't want a "noisy tank in the house". Well one day I was perusing a local thrift store and...it was like the universe was like...Here it is... give this aquarium life. There sat in the back of the store, was a 180G custom aquarium made by Tenecor...never had water in it, and was a shape I'd never seen before. After some measurement taking and negotiating...I took it home. This is where I will start. January 2022

 

[OBuckNutzO]

Now it fit perfectly where I'd imagined, but the black was not going to work for me...this is more like it.

 

[OBuckNutzO]

I had kept some of my old rock from the old tank and started curing it and then tried my hand at rock gluing (the superglue/crushed coral method, boy that works like witch craft!) Ordered the sump and the new skimmer and got everything plumbed up (had to drill some holes since it only had 1 from the fact

 

[OBuckNutzO]

Time for water Was really nervous at this part because a leak is what had me leave the hobby and I was just winging it and trusting the construction of the tank...and thank goodness everything worked like it was supposed to!

 

[OBuckNutzO]

Then went in the sand...and for the first 24hrs my thoughts were..."Oh boy what did I do?" But it cleared up over the next 2 days. And we were officially off and cycling. (Dr Tim's)

 

[OBuckNutzO]

This is where I really had to trust the process...lol GHA and Diatoms was immense. First inhabitants went in (Royal Gramma). Had to sit back and have a green beer on St Paddy's Day chomping at the bit to get the GHA gone and my reef going...3 months is a long time to me at this point..lol

 

[OBuckNutzO]

Corals starting to go in...just easier ones to make sure they would be happy before moving on...first Tang went in, went with a flame fin first, to help with algae and they are more docile tang knowing I was going to be adding more later.

 

[OBuckNutzO]

Everyone(thing) loves watching the reef. My son (now 7) has learned so much about saltwater life. He can perform water tests and knows the parameters and what they mean. This catches us up to right at Easter. A lot more corals going in now that everything is stable and doing great.

 

[OBuckNutzO]

This gets everyone caught up to yesterday when I added the space invader.

As of today 5/13/2022 inhabitants are
Royal Gramma
Flame Fin Tang
Sailfin Tang
Regal Tang
Powder Brown Tang
4 Chromis
3 PJ Cardinals
2 Banggai Cardinals
Pair of Clowns
Flasher Wrasse
Yellow Wrasse
2 Cleaner Shrimp
Large Cleanup Crew

 

[blaxsun]

You have a very unique one-of-a-kind tank there!

 

[SmCaudata]

Very nice. I like the non-box shape.

 

[OBuckNutzO]

Very nice. I like the non-box shape.

Me too I think its what it took to get me back into the hobby...I love it. We sit a papasan chair right in the middle and it's like aquarium VR lol

 

[OBuckNutzO]

My loot from the @WWC live sale Man that was a lot of fun I can wait to get everything in the reef.

 

[San Diego Reef Fan]

Wow

 

[Tenecor Aquariums]

Nice work! This is one of the most complicated tanks we build.

 

[OBuckNutzO]

Nice work! This is one of the most complicated tanks we build.

It has been challenging finding things that will work in the shape (especially underneath) but once I got it...Its really an awesome shape. I love it.

 

[OBuckNutzO]

@Tenecor Aquariums is there any way you might be able to tell me what this particular aquarium would have been retail? I just think it's story has got to be fascinating.

 

[Tenecor Aquariums]

@Tenecor Aquariums is there any way you might be able to tell me what this particular aquarium would have been retail? I just think it's story has got to be fascinating.

This is our Vista series. The V135 48x48x24 would retail around $9,000 plus shipping. The V170 measures 48x48x30 and retails around $10,000. Plus shipping. These prices include EVERYTHING. Lighting, sump, stand, media. Everything. We have already added several dozen supplies / conditioners / pumps etc to our product line and more is coming. Our go to pump line is Sicce and everything else is brand name. The way we price our high end products are for the base tank /stand and then give the client allowances for their choice of components. We offer all of the good stuff so the hobbyist gets exactly what they want. You want Radion? No problem. Your friend wants Kessil? No problem. All of our aquariums are highly customizable therefore the numbers are "around". Freshwater versions are quite a bit less because of the less expensive lighting. I should point out that the stand/canopy are our "Unitex" line. We no longer offer these. All of our stands are now extruded aluminum profile with custom skins. Our Magnum stands are 100% wood free. You got a seriously great deal there. I might add that you may want to add copious amounts of water proof coating to inside the canopy and any potential wet areas. Ventilation fan is even better. Also, our new tanks now come with one piece CNC machined lexan lids and light blocking AIO covers. You may have heard about our open source nano tank design post. Below is the third generation of the nano design. It will give you an idea of the lid design. It is recesssd and literally unbreakable.

Another neat feature is the media cup /filter sock option.

 

[OBuckNutzO]

This is our Vista series. The V135 48x48x24 would retail around $9,000 plus shipping. The V170 measures 48x48x30 and retails around $10,000. Plus shipping. These prices include EVERYTHING. Lighting, sump, stand, media. Everything. We have already added several dozen supplies / conditioners / pumps etc to our product line and more is coming. Our go to pump line is Sicce and everything else is brand name. The way we price our high end products are for the base tank /stand and then give the client allowances for their choice of components. We offer all of the good stuff so the hobbyist gets exactly what they want. You want Radion? No problem. Your friend wants Kessil? No problem. All of our aquariums are highly customizable therefore the numbers are "around". Freshwater versions are quite a bit less because of the less expensive lighting. I should point out that the stand/canopy are our "Unitex" line. We no longer offer these. All of our stands are now extruded aluminum profile with custom skins. Our Magnum stands are 100% wood free. You got a seriously great deal there. I might add that you may want to add copious amounts of water proof coating to inside the canopy and any potential wet areas. Ventilation fan is even better. Also, our new tanks now come with one piece CNC machined lexan lids and light blocking AIO covers. You may have heard about our open source nano tank design post. Below is the third generation of the nano design. It will give you an idea of the lid design. It is recesssd and literally unbreakable.

Another neat feature is the media cup /filter sock option.

@Tenecor Aquariums The only thing I would change and have thought about doing is the hood, I would like it to be a little taller and to open up on the front too somehow vs. just the top. May do that down the road. Mine is the 30" version so I really did get a good deal is it a true 180g? I only was able to guesstimate from the dimensions

 

[Tenecor Aquariums]

@Tenecor Aquariums The only thing I would change and have thought about doing is the hood, I would like it to be a little taller and to open up on the front too somehow vs. just the top. May do that down the road. Mine is the 30" version so I really did get a good deal is it a true 180g? I only was able to guesstimate from the dimensions

Capacity is pretty close to the model number.

I think by "hood" you mean "canopy"? We have several options for this. The first is no canopy at all with suspended lighting. Lots of clients go with this since their lighting choice usually makes an enclosed canopy rather substanstial and somewhat out of proportion. Then there is the issue of how to access the tank. We can make the entire canopy capable of swinging back on hinges or with front access. Either way the entire setup becomes pretty tall and you need to be aware of the height clearance (36 inch stand, 30 inch tank, 48 inch swing clearance on the canopy, total height when open is almost ten feet.) Below are pics of a smaller 24 inch corner pentagon canopy we recently built as a freshwater tank. notice the large acrylic hinges. When open, the canopy still needs a bit of wall clearance as well.

Another option is the "bikini" canopy. This is a perimeter canopy with an open top vented and accessible without removing the cosmetic fascia. This is a version you may like. We sometimes use this version with our extruded aluminum overhead light mounts. Pretty cool and my personal favorite.

This is our new frag tank lighting design. (A complte frag line is also being open sourced and will be introduced next month) All aluminum. Stand is blue. Light mount is red. Lighting is green. Tank is not shown. You can do something like this too. The light mount can easily attach to the back of your stand.