How it all started
by
, 08-04-2010 at 02:41 PM (1153 Views)
Back in October of 2008 I bought a house, and then in January 2009 after months of taping outlines on walls I started destroying the basement of a 1950s home to put in my dream tank. Due to the economic situation that hit in 2008 I've had some big ups and downs and absolutely missed my original water in date of October/November 2009. Things have been relatively slow moving and I've had to take large breaks due to my job, school, and life, but its happening. I just want to make sure its done right the first time, and I have committed to myself not to take on any debt while this comes together.
This tank is intended to be a reef tank with an emphasis on clams, SPS, and tangs. I've budgeted about $10-$15K for the build, which will be 90% DIY. I've also budgetted additional cash for the expected increase in our utility bills. One of the biggest delays I continually face is that the rest of my house requires massive renovations and often large projects must preceed tank projects. My house hasn't been updated since the late 90s, and even then it was only little updates here and there. Essentially Tibet as I call my tank, is one small project amongst many. In the mean time I am currently running a 180g grow-out tank where I'm sorting SPS, clams, fish, and some rock while I work on this beast.
The final dimensions for Tibet's display tank are; 10.5ft long x 3ft deep x 24" tall. There will be two panes visible, both done in low-iron glass. We had a custom built stand made which arrived in August 2009. We've been gathering equipment on and off again for the last year while we complete other projects around our house. We've framed out our fishroom, and are in the process of wiring, and re-plumbing the space, which was formally a bathroom.