Alaska_Phil

That's awesome news Phil! Congratulations!! You know ya want that big tank, heh. It will be a nice build, following along. ;-)

Congrats Phil, can't wait to see what you do with it, I'm in .

I was wondering about what floor is the tank going to be on? If it's a second or third you will have to brace the floor from underneath. A 150g is going to produce alot of weight. Just some food for thought. I'm pumped to see what it comes out like. I love big tank builds.

Ain't Craigslist great? My brain says its a playground, my wallet says its the DMZ.
I'm looking forward to seeing your ocean evolve! Following...

Thanks all. I'm honestly not sure what direction I'm going to go with it. I wasn't looking for a big tank, was actually hoping to score a 75. So I really don't have much idea what to do as far as landscaping and livestock yet. A few things I do know, it'll have fairly large sump with skimmer, algae scrubber and possibly a refugium with live rock rubble. I plan to use 2 part dosing and will most likely go with T5 lighting.

Lilrodyreefer: It's going on a second floor, and I was worried about the weight too. But my floor structure is accessible, so I gave the details to one of the structural engineers I work with and he said it would be fine, as long as I locate the tank across the trusses so the weight is carried by several. And he gave me some ideas for reinforcements for my own peace of mind. If you think about it, it's the same cross section as my 65, just longer, so it's the same weight per floor truss, just spread over more trusses. Fun part will be getting it up the 2 flights of stairs in the first place.

nice thats good to hear man. good luck with everything and keep us posted on pics cant wait to see the tank when its in.

So can anyone recommend a good book on reef safe fish? I have a couple good references on corals, but none on fish.

Hey Phil, check out: http://www.reefaddicts.com/bookstore.php ;-)

Update: The tank is home and set up in the hangar for a leak check. Funny, it doesn't seem that large in there. It's -23F out today, so by the time we got it home in the back of the truck it was pretty icy. As I started to fill it, ice formed on the sides everywhere the water touched. At one point I though it had a pretty major leak, turned out to be the ice melting off the sides where I'd splashed some. LOL

Originally Posted by Alaska_Phil

Thanks all. I'm honestly not sure what direction I'm going to go with it. I wasn't looking for a big tank, was actually hoping to score a 75. So I really don't have much idea what to do as far as landscaping and livestock yet. A few things I do know, it'll have fairly large sump with skimmer, algae scrubber and possibly a refugium with live rock rubble. I plan to use 2 part dosing and will most likely go with T5 lighting.

Lilrodyreefer: It's going on a second floor, and I was worried about the weight too. But my floor structure is accessible, so I gave the details to one of the structural engineers I work with and he said it would be fine, as long as I locate the tank across the trusses so the weight is carried by several. And he gave me some ideas for reinforcements for my own peace of mind. If you think about it, it's the same cross section as my 65, just longer, so it's the same weight per floor truss, just spread over more trusses. Fun part will be getting it up the 2 flights of stairs in the first place.

Hello Phil,

I'm new at this hobby. I'm currently building a 180g reef tank. Melev made my sump and I plan to have the tank delivered to me in March or April.

Since I'm putting the tank in my dining room, and since there is a basement under the dining room, had a structural engineer inspect my home. All is well with the joists that will be under the tank. The engineer did make one recommendation that sounds good to me - he said that since the wooden stand will be placed on carpet, I should put a sheet of 3/4" exterior grade plywood (stained + exterior-grade oil-based polyurethane) between carpet and stand. His reasoning is: the plywood will more evenly distribute the weight, and if I have to tap-in a shim (or shims) to level the tank, it will put less stress on the stand if I tap the shim between carpet and plywood. I gave this a good bit of thought and I'm going to do it. I cut the plywood so that 1" of it shows all the way around the stand (that is, the cut plywood is 2" wider and 2" longer than the stand).

I've received so much great info and guidance from Melev and this site, I'm trying to "contribute" where I can. Maybe this will help you.

Michael, good suggestion. I'm actually planning to cut out the carpet under the tank and lay down an 8' peice of 3/4" ply. My floor trusses are on 24" centers so I want to try and distribute the weight across 5 of them. My Structural Engineer also suggested, that for my own peace of mind I could put doublers on the top cord of the 5 trusses supporting the weight. That won't be too hard so I'm going to go ahead and do it.

Sounds great, Phil. Enjoy your new project!!!!!

Thanks. You too. Be sure and contribute with your own build blog with LOTS OF PICTURES!