Night Howler Frag Tank Build

[N1tew0lf1212]

Well its finally happening i have waited and watched for a long time on marketplaces from here to craigslist to facebook. But the time has come for my newest adventure. I will be bringing home my new baby today a 65 gal with stand. I will be taking a page out of @NowGlazeIT and @Projects with Sam book and doing a full restoration of this new angel and am super excited to be able to go through this with r2r. Best 40$ i have ever spent. I will be posting up what i will be doing in this thread build from custom sump tempered and built by me as well as. Including all equipment that will be purchased as well on this thread. Super excited for this journey and cant wait to share the build with everyone.

 

[blaxsun]

Sounds exciting!

 

[N1tew0lf1212]

Sounds exciting!

I still can't believe it lol just glad i held out and was patient.

 

[blaxsun]

I still can't believe it lol just glad i held out and was patient.

You can't really go too wrong for $40!

 

[N1tew0lf1212]

You can't really go too wrong for $40!

Right gives me a lot of xtra room for equipment with a purchase price like that. I will reinforce the silicone seals on the tank and possibly doing a custom top with tempered glass drilled holes for feeding and o2 displacement should be a no screen needed glass lid so to speak

 

[Projects with Sam]

Wow awesome deal! Fun rebuild! cant wait! I'm honored you mentioned me!

 

[Jeffcb]

Going to be a great build. Following.

 

[N1tew0lf1212]

Well stand is junk going to have to build a new one and hey atleast i can set it up the way i want tank is soaking right now to try and do a clean on it and the hideous backing has been removed to do a blackout tomorrow baby steps is where i am at. Also got to check seals with it soaking for 24 so far no leaks. I will still probably reinforce the silicone just in case since the tank is 4 yrs old also eneded up being a 55 gal but still nice upgrade for me for 40 bucks

 

[polyppal]

Nice start!
Loveland?!? Check out:

Colorado Reefers ASSEMBLE!

Colorado People, where you at?!? I notice we have a number of hobbyists active on R2R in Colorado - while local clubs/orgs like MASC/SCMAS are pretty quiet when it comes to communication (other than classifieds) Lets get a solid active group going here on R2R for Colorado Hobbyists -...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Projects with Sam]

Not sure how involved you plan to get; I wish I did this with my tank before I splashed

an oldie but a goodie.

 

[N1tew0lf1212]

Not sure how involved you plan to get; I wish I did this with my tank before I splashed

an oldie but a goodie.

Thats literally what im going to do thickin the seals up and increase the silicone strength. Any suggestions for as far as silicone goes?

 

[Projects with Sam]

I'd cut-out the old silicone with razor, tape it, and squeeze-in the black silicone like Joey did. lol... so monotonic in his earlier videos.
Though, yours is only a 4-5 year old tank so your silicone should be good for another 5 at least.

 

[The Farmer]

Sounds like a fun project. Redoing the silicone is an animal all on its own, the only advice that I can give is you need a lot of razors and you have to make sure there is no left over silicone in the seams because when you apply the new silicone it won’t adhere to the old silicone. Good luck!

 

[NowGlazeIT]

When I tore baffles from my sump I left the silicone on the edges and glued them into the aio I built. Works like a champ so don’t worry too much about old silicone sticking to new. Just clean the surface really well after your done cutting back some of the old cone there. Silicone won’t stick to dust or dirt overall.
Wish you the best, make it look clean bubba.

 

[N1tew0lf1212]

Well after being knuckle deep soaking and cleaning the seals look fine and the tank looks brand new. I am so happy with it right now. Got my blackout backing installed and just going from before to after is a huge change. I think they let this one go not knowing what they had or could get thats for sure wish i took pictures when i got it home to show before and after but i couldnt stand to look at it the way it was. I dont think seal therapy is needed now thats it cleaned up and looked at and no leaks at all through the night. Super excited for this next is the stand. Anyone have ideas worried about it being 100% square and level watched a few videos and think i got it but will be adding 1/8 in steel plate to the top side to help with stability and weight as well as angle iron braces...

 

[Projects with Sam]

Well after being knuckle deep soaking and cleaning the seals look fine and the tank looks brand new. I am so happy with it right now. Got my blackout backing installed and just going from before to after is a huge change. I think they let this one go not knowing what they had or could get thats for sure wish i took pictures when i got it home to show before and after but i couldnt stand to look at it the way it was. I dont think seal therapy is needed now thats it cleaned up and looked at and no leaks at all through the night. Super excited for this next is the stand. Anyone have ideas worried about it being 100% square and level watched a few videos and think i got it but will be adding 1/8 in steel plate to the top side to help with stability and weight as well as angle iron braces...

wow that looks brad new! Just use 1/2 installation foam (the closed cell, dense stuff) on top of the stand and you'll be set. I used it for my 75gallon DIY stand without issue.

 

[N1tew0lf1212]

So looking at substrate now i want to do a mix of sand and crushed coral.....whats everyones opinions i do have a diamond watchmen goby so i want to make sure its siftable but was going to do sand 2/3 of the tank with crushed coral the other 1/3 i understand it might blow over with wave pumps but that might help create that natural transition.... also anyone that uses crushed coral have a particular brand they are using they like? I will be getting moani live rock 50 lbs and breaking up to create scape with also introducing my current rock from my 20 gal. into the tank and transitioning my current corals over as well. The 20gal column will turn into qt tank and i also got a free 20 gal to use as a frag tank. Yep thats right free 20 gal tank in perfect condition used for 2 weeks and then stored..... The deals just keep coming. The frag tank and dt will be right next to eachother using the same sump for filtration. Frag tank will be set up down the road but yea i got a beautiful vision for this build going to draw it all out. Plus going to be utilizing my father inlaws custom woodworking shop for the stand. We got final measurements today and created the features the stand will have from custom doors to steel bracing all the way to custom trim to accent the cabinet. Man this is literally all coming together and just going to be an amazing dt til the next upgrade lol. Wife said wait what next one lol but hey once this ones going i know she will fall in love with it.

 

[N1tew0lf1212]

@Projects with Sam do you think that 1/4 in would do for the mat found a neoprene black or is it best for 1/2 in

 

[N1tew0lf1212]

All this glass now just what to choose for my custom sump build for the new 55. Man its rough deciding lol. But hey i will be tempering all of the glass for it plus can make it fully customizable for the build

 

[N1tew0lf1212]

Well today was a good day picked up some rock to start crafting with and breaking up gonna try to create some floating shelves with it we will see how it goes. Got a flipper scraper and it is amazing absolutely a must have. Decided to drill the tank and go with an eclipse overflow. Going to do a double return to the tank so going to have to make sure the flow is right. Decided on tuxedo glass for the sump and most likely is going to be a 40 to 50 gal sump might be over kill but going to have an ato system atteched to the sump itself. And doing the stand a little different to allow space for everything. Getting all plans drawn out and working on the stand slowly. Going to keep working til its perfect. Decided to go with 2 noop 140w for it. Now time to decide on wave and wave control setup......trying to also figure out return pump/pumps gonna try and seperate both returns to keep good consistent flow from both returns. Any ideas anyone?