GOSKN5's 180 gallon soft coral and gorgonian dominated!

GOSKN5 · Jan 2, 2019

Well, my previous 120 was supposed to be my last tank upgrade (I promised my wife).. but the dream of a 6 foot tank made me break that one! It was actually her idea to upgrade

(kinda)

So here we are..

To start here are a few pictures from previous tanks that I have had as I would like to have them here for reference

(I am going to photo dump some of these pics and clean up later as tapatalk isnt the friendliest option for organizing a thread with pics)

The last photo is my most recent tank.. a 120 gallon

GOSKN5 · Jan 2, 2019

So first step in the process was moving the 120 to another room. (My wife's idea again!)

I decided I would do a easy freshwater community in the 120 once I make the switch.

So, in order to make the move easier and help fund the new 180, I sold off a bunch of corals. I kept only my large gorgonians and a couple select pieces.

We emptied the tank and moved it into another room.

My wife and I built a riser of sorts for the tank to make it fit the room and look more appealing. We also installed the wood behind the tank and rocked in the base.

Currently it looks like this and you can see the few pieces that were kept for the new tank...

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GOSKN5 · Jan 2, 2019

Now the real fun begins! The 180 was purchased at and drilled by my LFS Tiki Corals... here is a photo dump of building the stand, sump, etc.

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GOSKN5 · Jan 2, 2019

Couple of plumbing shots...

Next up is more rock and a few other odds and ends... then fill it up and transfer over the existing livestock and rock along with my skimmer, powerheads, etc.

Also, will be finishing the stand in a unique way. More on that to come!

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GOSKN5 · Jan 5, 2019

Still have to add trim and doors along with a few other odds and ends... coming together tho...

GOSKN5 · Jan 7, 2019

Finished the canopy and trim work! Adding the doors this weekend and cleaning up the screw holes. Then adding my two additional lights, some rock and filling up! Will post a pic when doors are on!

Captain Quint · Jan 7, 2019

Looking good as always my friend of several great years.

Your builds have always amazed me!

Natedogg559 · Jan 8, 2019

GOSKN5 said:
Finished the canopy and trim work! Adding the doors this weekend and cleaning up the screw holes. Then adding my two additional lights, some rock and filling up! Will post a pic when doors are on!

Looking great!!

GOSKN5 · Jan 9, 2019

Thanks yall!

GOSKN5 · Jan 13, 2019

All finished up! Added the doors and hardware. Now it's time to add rock and water and get it going!

I will be transferring my existing rock and livestock and adding some new rock as well.

GOSKN5 · Jan 13, 2019

Room pic

Jaymz7783 · Jan 13, 2019

Dude this looks nice!
I’m worried about your plumbing though, the ball valves are going to be interesting to turn in no time and the lack of unions spook me too. All in all this is gonna be really awesome!!

GOSKN5 · Jan 14, 2019

Jaymz7783 said:
Dude this looks nice!
I’m worried about your plumbing though, the ball valves are going to be interesting to turn in no time and the lack of unions spook me too. All in all this is gonna be really awesome!!

Thanks! The ball valve on the down pipe might be a pain.. but I really dont need to turn it much... I can dial in with return pump rate and I really am not sensitive to noise from the overflow..

The unions are nice, but I can cut the pipe and put back together if needed.. I have only ever used a union above the return pump...

I always enjoy plumbing but always feel i could do things differently when I'm done haha... we will see

Jaymz7783 · Jan 14, 2019

GOSKN5 said:
Thanks! The ball valve on the down pipe might be a pain.. but I really dont need to turn it much... I can dial in with return pump rate and I really am not sensitive to noise from the overflow..

The unions are nice, but I can cut the pipe and put back together if needed.. I have only ever used a union above the return pump...

I always enjoy plumbing but always feel i could do things differently when I'm done haha... we will see

I thought I was the wierd one! I told my wife with my 125g build, I enjoyed the plumbing more than anything. I am currently in the planning of a 240g (72x35x25) or 180g (72x24x24) and still seem more excited about plumbing. At any rate, I didn't want to come across a ****** (after all I am the noob here at R2R), I just remember the days of doing return pump maintenance with the ball valves from THD and hated my life so much lol.

RJ Murphy · Jan 17, 2019

GOSKN5 said:
Room pic

I love the built in look. completes the room.
Nice to see someone form the RVA here.

GOSKN5 · Jan 17, 2019

Appreciate it... adding rock and water currently!

GOSKN5 · Jan 21, 2019

Well, took the whole last week making water and all weekend to switch the tank over... but moved my 120 contents (what was left) to the 180.. also added some new rock..

As you can tell I kept my large gorgonians, big green leather, red goni and a few small frags... all in all I am happy with the scape.. lots of room for new frags!!

This will be zoa dominated with some shrooms and a few more LPS.. also a clam once it settles for a few more weeks... might try a couple monti and maybe an acro or two up top...

Fish right now (from my 120) are:

Black snowflake clown
Small marine betta
Kamahora blenny
Clingfish

Also a cleaner shrimp and some snails and one lone remaining hermit...

Plenty of room for more fish as well!

I will share some sump pics and also post my planned fish list in the next few days...