MY 170 upgrade..

[MIKE NY]

Well after twenty years running I finally took down my 90 in favor for a 170. I would like to thank Alfie (Albano) for selling me this tank/stand and hood. I used the same filtration system and return lines which is plumbed down into my basement. I had to drill larger holes in the floor for the larger overflows and also reinforced the floor joists for the extra weight.

final pic of the 90...

being emptied...

and empty...

all fish/coral and rock being stored in a few 33 gallon rubbermaids and a 65 gallon pond with modded maxijets...

the 170 at Alfie's house...

being cleaned in my yard..

the hood wired up...I'm using two 250 MH and T5s...

I used the same sand(rinsed in saltwater) and most of the water. i had to make up about 80 gallons whcih i stored in 5 gallon water bottles.
here is is set up and almost full...

checked all the plumbing..

and here it is...

thanks for looking...

 

[NYreefNoob]

hey i know that tank, looking good, love the dimensions on it also

 

[ming]

It looks so much easier when there's a few pics like that, but I'm sure it was a ton of work! Its looking good Mike!
Your corals can finally extend their arms once again

btw, is the Eurobrace as annoying as it looks to do maintenance? I'm concerned my eurobrace will annoy me. lol

 

[JARRETT SHARK]

Mike it looks great, now time to buy frags again,lol
i have the same color background and wanted to know do you think you have to clean it to stay nice and bright or just let it go brown algea

also did you lose and coral in the swap?

 

[MIKE NY]

NYreefNoob..thanks the deminsions were perfect for the wall it's against because it's open on both sides

Ming..pics do make it look easier than the work that was involved and it's not as easy as my open top 90 for placing large rocks/coral and cleaning with only the two openings on either side

Jarret..thanks..I'm going with more fish first and it's going to be tough to clean that blue backround with limited top openings and corals in the way..it will probably just get covered in coraline like my old tank....

 

[DrHarryLopez]

Hi Mike the larger tank is great for more fish. Congrats. Now u have to change ur signature! See u at Jarrett.

 

[ming]

Yeah, that's what I figured. I just purchased myself a mag scraper that lets me attach a standard razor blade to a mag float so I can scrape the coraline off the glass easier. Since I want to avoid scratching the glass, I'll just have to be careful around the bottom to not get sand between the magnets, and replace the razor blade after 1 days use because rusted razors scratch the glass easily.

 

[PolandSpring]

it looks really nice.. I like the aquascape with the two islands.. looks great!

 

[anthony27]

im comming over soon to see that amazing tank

 

[albano]

FINALLY!!!!, looks great Mike, I like the islands.

...replace the razor blade after 1 days use because rusted razors scratch the glass easily.

No razor blades, this tank is acrylic...FWIW...it seems that most scratches come from the ends/edges of the razor blades...so I used to round them off with my dremel, and rarely scratched the glass. Also, if left IN salt water, they won't rust for awhile!

 

[anthony27]

Mike,

I keep on looking at that tank and it looks amazing like a work of art. Amazing job Mike. I can not wait to see it. As always there are the islands.

 

[Lenny718]

Tank looks great! I also love how you did the rock work, gives room for the fish to swim and the coral to grow.

 

[E.intheC]

Excellent looking tank! I really like the rockscape and the coral placement.

 

[ming]

FINALLY!!!!, looks great Mike, I like the islands.




No razor blades, this tank is acrylic...FWIW...it seems that most scratches come from the ends/edges of the razor blades...so I used to round them off with my dremel, and rarely scratched the glass. Also, if left IN salt water, they won't rust for awhile!

Forgot his tank is acrylic.
I still rather not chance scratching my tank.
box of 100 razors = $10
my new custom tank = $2000
no brainer to me

 

[NL146]

Your tank looks great! I like the rock and coral placement. The work you put into cleaning up the tank really paid off. How do you cool the canopy?

 

[James983]

Hey Mike, that looks awesome. I'm building a 180 which is also acrylic. How was it dealing with the small openings? Also, are you concerned at all running MH with the bracing on top?

 

[MIKE NY]

thanks everyone...all the coral made it except a few faded out, but should recover..along with a few broken branches etc..and I only lost one little damsel that got sucked into a maxijet...even the PBT came through OK.. day two and no ich! The islands worked out great for two reasons... one is they are below the two main openings where the MHs are directly above them and two thats all the rock I had....LOL... with the MHs above the openings I'm not worried about the bracings and I'm using a 4" fan in the hood, but if heat becomes a problem I'll probably switch to all T5s or LEDs in the future...

 

[Mattl22]

Looks great mike how long did it take to dislodge all those corals
How long did the upgrade take from start to finish

 

[MIKE NY]

thanks Matt..I started at 8am and finished after midnight..I took a few breaks during the day for lunch/dinner etc...the time consuming part was removing the coral and rock without breaking too much...anyway here are few more shots I took today....
left side

right side

middle

 

[JARRETT SHARK]

Mike is that the blue tort in the middle