I always said that I would never upgrade my tank unless I moved. I always said I would never move unless it was to buy a place, instead of rent. Well, pop open the bubbly, because SDguy is a home owner
I decided to take advantage of the move and upgrade the reef. I was very happy with the old 115g setup. But there were a couple things I wanted to change...
1. I no longer wanted to use a closed loop. Back when I first designed that system, internal powerheads left a lot to be desired. Basically, either you were willing to deal with a giant black hairdryer looking thing in your tank, or you weren't. I was not, especially in an 18" wide tank. I loved my CL with the perimeter return manifold. But I hated the electrical consumption (Sequence Hammerhead :eek2: ), and the heat produced by the pump, especially since my apartment had no A/C. It was a vicious cycle... pump heat, warming tank, chiller running, warming the room, warming the tank more, chiller running more... you get the idea. Now, with all sorts of nice "powerhead" options like nanostreams and vortechs, I was ready to convert.
2. I wanted a larger tank. Now believe me, I had plenty of people telling me to go huge... 6, no 8 feet long, etc etc. Look, my philosophy is that I want a living room that happens to have an aquarium in it, not an aquarium room that maybe can squeeze in a sofa. So I decided to keep the tank dimensions the same, except I went 6" wider, ending up with a 48L x 24W x 30H. I know there are tall-tank haters, but I LOVE it. It makes for a stunning display, so I kept the height. And one major plus to this choice in size... I could use all the same equipment, since, let's face it, I'm not exactly rolling in money after a home purchase :crazy1:
3. I wanted a "prettier" tank. My 115g tank, stand, and canopy all came from glasscages. Solid, solid construction. But not the prettiest. This time I wanted the stand/canopy to be more of a furniture piece, and I wanted all the bells and whistles on the tank.
The choice: I went with Leemar. The tank is a 150g with recessed polished eurobrace, horizontal overflow with two 1.5" drains, black silicone, diamond/beveled edges, black background. The stand and canopy are maple. 36" tall stand, and 12" tall canopy. The stand has a rediculous amount of access through the front, and I paid extra to get the small access doors on the canopy as well as the entire front lifting up on a piano hinge.
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