My 90 gallon adventure

[Edward]

I never thought I'd be starting what I consider to be a larger reef before I was out of college, but recently I've found my tank starting to look like a frag tank and me and my girlfriend both find this unattractive, regardless of how the corals as individuals look. I saw a 90 gallon tank for sale on these forums with a corner overflow already drilled and installed, with plumbing, with a sump and with a finished oak stand out in Athol for a good price, so I jumped on it. There are a lot of scratches on the front of the tank but they are all surface scratches that I will be buffing out with some removers I have found and that I have read to be flawlessly effective with the right amount of elbow grease.

I'm going to use this thread to catalog my journey with this tank from an empty, scratched tank, to my first large reef. I'm going all out, I'm investing in the very best of everything that I can afford and will not start this tank until I have everything perfect. I'm not one who likes to go back and have to ruin what I have because I forgot something when I started. I will be doing as much DIY as I can, I am going to go overboard on certain things and will wait as long as I have to to assure the longevity and overall success of this tank. I'll update this thread every day, including as much information about what I did as possible starting with a post later on tonight. I'll include pictures and step by step instructions on all my DIY projects for this tank when I have success and will be asking many questions along the way. Consider this write up an introduction for my plans and of my project.

 

[splunker]

Scratch removal?

I'd like to know what product you are going to use and how effective it is for future reference if you don't mind.

Thx.

 

[Edward]

I'm going to be posting all the links and pictures soon. unfortunately I learned I could not edit posts i have already made in this section...so if a mod reads this, could you maybe delete my second and third posts on this forum? Thank you =) pictures and research write-up incoming!

 

[JohnK]

Fixed that for you.

John K BRS Moderator

 

[Edward]

Thanks for fixing the thread!

Here are some long over due pictures of the tank before I start working on it. It is currently empty, upside down and in a loft for another two weeks before it moves to its new home. Once it's in place I'll be doing some serious scratch buffing with this product I found online that seems to get consistent and permanent positive results no matter the depth of the scratch, as long as they aren't gouges or cracks.

Here are some pictures of what I have ahead of me...

 

[Edward]

As you can see, the scratches are numerous but they're not that deep, only a few that aren't completely surface. This tank is completely repairable, holds water, has a built in overflow and is drilled for intakes and outputs already. Now I need to start building my perfect tank. I'm not about to skip out on quality because of price, I'm looking to build a stable dream tank here that I will be able to monitor constantly with one of those fancy controllers. I'm very excited for this all to start. A week from saturday this tank will be in its new home once I'm done moving!

 

[JasonandRay]

that looks like my tank :: i just checked to see if it was still there it looked so alike. it is

 

[Edward]

Drove out to Athol to get this bad boy =)

 

[stingythingy45]

^^
Another awesome thing about this club,recycling.
I'll be following this thread.Went through setting up a 90 gallon a few years ago.
Sounds like you have a plan and are very motivated.

 

[Edward]

New house, new tank, more space, what can I say?

Girlfriend is supporting me now because she is starting to love purple hornet zoo's and blueberry milli's. Personally I do not have anything against either of these so it's going to surely be an interesting tank. I'm trying to keep the fish I keep on the smaller size and I don't want to keep too many fish as I do love my inverts!

 

[Doherty]

Keep it up..... cant wait to see the progress!

 

[yukyuklee]

nice pick up Ed! damn... that's a hike and a half to go there to get that tank... lol

 

[Edward]

but it's so worth it lee, even you agree with me there.

 

[jtmac]

Do yourself a favor a beef up that stand. I have the same one but did a mod on it to make it taller and more attractive. Trust me when I tell you that its not very tall and this a simple mod. oh and look forward to seeing the progress!!

John

 

[Edward]

No need to show off now!

I'll be seeing what i'm going to do once i get it in the house.

 

[jtmac]

Im not showing off brother just showing you the simple mod to make the stand more attractive.

 

[jtmac]

Ed it's also nice to see your girl getting into the hobby. Too bad the zoas she likes cost an arm and leg! Are you getting rid of the recipts so she cant see what you spend? Remember when you spend 100 on a coral If the female asks it was 50.00 It's always half

 

[Edward]

I know I know. I'm just giving you a hard time. I have to see how much room i have and how I want it to look. It needs to match the house after all.

I haven't done any buying since the pasta dinner, i've been saving up for this new tank. these transactions will all be secret =)

 

[jtmac]

LOL!!! I wish I could say the same. I have bought so much since that dinner! Of course Everything I bought at the dinner was only 30.00 wink wink No matter what you do its going to look sweet! If your looking for more frags HTP4u2nv has some really sweet stuff at great prices!

 

[Edward]

Yea, i'm familiar with him. bought some LR from him in january. I want this to be SPS and LPS dominated though.