# 180 Gallon SA (CA) tank set up



## gimlid (Apr 23, 2010)

Picked up the 180 gallon tank/stand/glass top combo from King Ed a few months back.
Planned to set it up right away but got called out of town for work. Then suffered a "twisted pelvis" which was just as painful as it sounds and took a month to heal. Our Complete basement renovation also slowed me down alot.
Finally got a few good friends and some greasy burgers and onion rings and got the job done.

Special thanks to ADZ1 for "technical support"

Stage 1

Before calling my friends I decided that I should reinforce the pine stand a bit. I just didnt like the engineering. I'm not a carpenter but I have helped build a few houses and what not. the entire weight of the tank is held up by notched 1" by 4" pine planks









I added black painted 1" by 6" pine to the outside of each corner on opposing sides and screwed them from the inside









I didnt like the fact that the inside of the cabinet was a piece of paint grade 1/4" ply held by 1/4" ply brackets held by pin nails. I may want a sump down the road after all.
I milled down some 2by4's and added a base frame and screwed it in.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Nice job, but it seems you did almost enough work to build your own stand....


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

Haha, that's what I was gonna say. Nice work. Better safe than sorry. I know all about the engineering and such but nothing makes me feel better than large pieces of lumber supporting thousands of pounds of water.



2wheelsx2 said:


> Nice job, but it seems you did almost enough work to build your own stand....


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## target (Apr 21, 2010)

Nice work, I have never trusted store bought stands. Not enough support IMO.


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## gimlid (Apr 23, 2010)

2wheelsx2 said:


> Nice job, but it seems you did almost enough work to build your own stand....


Nah, we have a pretty newly renovated house so the rough carpentry look is not ok with my wife. I have all my tools set up since we are doing an addition on the house so it only took an hour or two total.
Otherwise I would have just framed one out of 2by6. It would have taken so long to install finish and trim to it I think this way was easier.
I still dont completely trust it but Adrian reminded me that there must be alot in circulation and I never heard of one collapsing.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

gimlid said:


> I still dont completely trust it but Adrian reminded me that there must be alot in circulation and I never heard of one collapsing.


I have one identical to it under my 125 (except not as wide I guess and it's been 5 years. Not knowing woodworking, it looked rock solid to me. I did see the staples and was worried about it in the beginning.


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## gimlid (Apr 23, 2010)

2wheelsx2 said:


> I have one identical to it under my 125 (except not as wide I guess and it's been 5 years. Not knowing woodworking, it looked rock solid to me. I did see the staples and was worried about it in the beginning.


Nice to know and I am sure that they are better than the ones from presswood and particle board. They disintegrate as soon as they get wet.


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## gimlid (Apr 23, 2010)

Stage 2
Was Trying to take some photos of the big lift up the back stairs but just got too involved.
Since the tank weighs around 300 lbs we opted to use a standard dolly to take it up the stairs. We could lift it without too much trouble but there was some serious complications in getting it over the railing and through the door.
My friends figured the tank would break on the dolly. I decided that it was the only way in and if it broke I was done with tanks over 120 gallons until I had a main floor living space. Hail Mary full of grace.......
Special thanks to my friend Tom and my cousin Jay. Sure wish I got some Photos of this part of the job, very dramatic but went pretty smooth. (Special thanks to God)
We got the tank set up and went out for lunch at A&W.
Put a few gallons in to check the level (near perfect since I leveled the whole living room before laying down the bamboo floor)


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Wow, a 180 is that much heavier huh? I got the 125 in without too much drama, but I didn't have too many stairs. I figured it weighed < 200 lbs as my brother and I did it relatively easily (we both have bad backs).


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## gimlid (Apr 23, 2010)

Internet said 318 lbs I believe. I got the link off another thread here awhile back. I estimate it a little heavier even. I used to do alot of powerlifting and have a physical job and it was a demanding lift for me.
I had to do something to try and catch up to your sweet pleco tank though LOL.


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

WOW!!!! That looks massive and heavy!!
Those are some reasons why i wanted acrylic instead of glass! But then again... i dun like scratched up tanks! =)

BEAUTIFUL!!!
And amazing how you level the whole floor =) i guess you were preparing for this tank one day!


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

yeah, I imagine the glass is lot thicker as the tank is taller and wider.

That's why I'm doing the cube, so you can't catch up.


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## Adz1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Sweet job on the reinforceing Russ.
that tank sure brings out my little green monster...lol


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## simonfish (May 29, 2010)

Nice job and thank for sharing, can't wait to see the completed set up w/ fishes.


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## monkE (Aug 4, 2010)

looks good so far, keep the pictures comming


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## gimlid (Apr 23, 2010)

Adz1 said:


> Sweet job on the reinforceing Russ.
> that tank sure brings out my little green monster...lol


now you know how I feel anytime I look at your basement LOL. Your big tank was a definate inspiration as well as 2wheels pleco tank.

Thanks for looking everyone, I finally picked a brand new AC 110 and luckily (thanks God) I left just enough space (4 1/4") to fit it between tank and the the wall. I was guessing at the size and really should have left more space.
Finished set up pics go up tomorrow.
The fish sure are happy to be able to stretch out.


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## gimlid (Apr 23, 2010)

eternity302 said:


> WOW!!!! That looks massive and heavy!!
> Those are some reasons why i wanted acrylic instead of glass! But then again... i dun like scratched up tanks! =)
> 
> BEAUTIFUL!!!
> And amazing how you level the whole floor =) i guess you were preparing for this tank one day!


I wanted acrylic originally but some of the plecos I like apparrently can really scratch up the plastic with their teeth.
The floor I leveled just because we have a very open living room and wanted to lay bamboo flooring. When we peeled up the carpet there were some serious valleys in the floor so I pulled out alot of the plywood and carefully cleaned up the floor joists and found alot of imperfections which I removed.
Luckily we had 2 months before we moved in to work on renovations after we took posession of the house.
I am stoked that it is even more level than I had hoped. I was a little nervous after reading a few threads and horror stories about tank breakage due to uneven floors.


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