OKC Newb's 120 Gal. Build

[Adam Houston]

Hello R2R Fam!! After a pretty crappy introduction to reef keeping I can finally say I ended up getting a great deal on a new-to-me 120 gallon setup with eshopps sump & plumbing included. As a former African Cichlid breeder of 8+ years ago, I have to let yall know I am completely new when it comes to reef keeping so expect a lot of questions!! I will attach a series of photos to document the entire refurbishing process as I am rather OCD and my goal is to make this setup look as new as possible. It literally took a month of week nights and weekends (working around some heavy OT at work) to polish the aquarium up to perfection (coralline algae removal & cerium oxide for scratches) as well as refinishing & painting the stand and canopy. The $100+ paint job was well worth it- loving the aesthetics of this 2 tone paint job!

 

[Bj’s Reef]

You are off to a good start. Keep the pictures coming.

 

[Adam Houston]

1st step was soaking the entire aquarium in a bath of citric acid and circulating it with a few powerheads and wave makers to get rid of that gnarly coralline algae buildup. After a 3-4 day bubble bath I was finally able to scrub and scrape all of the algae buildup off.

 

[Adam Houston]

You are off to a good start. Keep the pictures coming.

Thanks man! Will do for sure.

 

[Adam Houston]

2nd step was sanding the stand and canopy to get rid of previous water damage and provide a nice surface to apply paint. I also spackled several areas with wood filler to make sure all surfaces were even and smooth. I then used a foam paint roller to apply Rustoleum Marine Coatings Topside Paint (1+ quarts Battleship Gray) to the interior.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Very nice looking stand!!

 

[Adam Houston]

Very nice looking stand!!

Thank you!! I will be uploading more pictures asap of the finished stand.

 

[Adam Houston]

3rd step was to apply nearly 2 quarts of Behr Premium Chalk Paint (Classic Noir) to the exterior, as well as the spray paint version for touch ups and additional coverage on the cabinet doors. I tested the Rustoleum Painter's Touch 2X Ultra Cover clear spray paint on one of the cabinet doors for my clear coat and it actually started pulling paint from the surface and developing a film of light gray dust so I discontinued that real quick. Waiting on an order of Rustoleum Chalked Protective Topcoat clear spray paint from Amazon so I'm hoping that won't give me any problems to finish up the stand!!