Eric's 90g AGA Build

Eric Noa

Reefing newb
Well Im back once again lol. In the past I've started a few builds and due to time and money I was unable to finish and ended up selling everything but here I am again and I think this time around I'll get this done. :)

My first tank was a 65g that I purchased from Ron and I had that for a year till the power went off and I was out of town and when I came back everything was dead so I was so disappointed that I decided to sell the tank and equipment because I didn't feel like starting all over again. After that I got a good deal on a 220g tank but I soon realized I was way out of my league so I sold it. So now I decided to with with a standard 90g which I think is perfect for me (at least for now lol) I got on craigslist and started my search and I went to see a few semi complete setups but all the tanks well scratched and the glass was foggy so I didn't get any of them. Then I came across an ad for a 90g AGA driller with stand, canopy, sump and 48" 4 bulb T5 light retrofitted in the canopy. In the pictures the tank look to be really nice and well taken care off. The funny thing is that there was no price on the ad but on the title it said "FREE" I though to myself this has to be scam so I call the number and a really nice elderly lady answer the phone and I asked her a few questions about the tank and stuff then I asked her much she was asking because I didn't see a price listed on the ad and on the title it said "FREE" but I didn't think she was giving it away for free and she said she just wanted it out of her house because she had another tank, two cats and a dog and it was too much for her so I said yea I'll take it and I drove to naples which is where she lives. When I got there and inspected the tank I didn't find anything wrong with it other than it needed some cleaning specially along the edges where the silicone is but heck it was free it can't be perfect lol.

Well I ended up bring the tank home and now I have it filled with water testing for leaks which so far it has none like the lady told me.

Now I have thought about anything yet as far as equipment since Im going to take my time with this and build it right but I do have a few questions.

1. This tank is 7 years old and it has no leaks, would it be a good idea to redo all the silicone (never done this before) or should I just leave it alone since it has no leaks?

2. The bulkhead holes are a bit odd, at least for the drain which is 1-3/4" and I can't find a bulkhead that size. Where could I get one. The hole is 1-3/4" does that mean I need a 1" bulkhead? not sure

Now I'll probably start off buy building a new stand and canopy since these are 7 years old and I want a bigger sump area for a bigger sump and just to have room and I'll probably build by own sump out of a 40g breeder. I wont be using the T-5 lighting either since I want to go with LED's but who knows maybe I'll use both the T-5's and LED's not sure yet.

Any ideas, comments or concerns are welcome.

Now some pictures which we all like lol

Here is everything in the back of the girlfriend's dad's pickup (I couldn't fit all of that in my Nissan Altima Coupe lol)

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Now in my garage waiting to be filled for leak testing. That stain in the back glass is just dry up saltwater from when I laid the tank on its back to put it in the pick up

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Megaflow Model 3 Sump

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Thank you guys and yea its in great shape. Doesn't look to be 7 years old. I haven't found one scratch on the glass and the glass its crystal clear no stains or anything.
 
I also bought a Syncra Silent 4.0 for my return an a Ehiem 1250 that I'll probably use for mixing saltwater and transferring water from one water tank to the other.
 
So I went ahead and purchased a few things from BRS.

1- BRS 4 Stage Value PLUS RO/DI System - 75GPD

1- Auto Shut Off Kit for Reverse Osmosis Systems

1- Reef Octopus NWB150 6” Pinwheel In Sump Protein Skimmer

And a few bulk heads to replace the old ones in the tank.
 
nice choice in equipment

Thank you. I still gotta figure what I'm going to use for water movement inside the tank other than my return pump. I would love a couple of mp40's buts right now that's out of my price range lol. Another thing I gotta plan is my lighting which I will probably go with a DIY LED's but I gotta do some research on that to see how many LED's I will need for this tank. This is just the beginning so I got a long road ahead of myself lol
 
Got one of these Snyder water tank for mixing saltwater or storing ro/di water. It's a 50g tank. I think I might get another one that's at least 35g so that I can put water from one tank to the other and it'll be easier.
 

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I came up with a design for the stand and Canopy. Let me know what you guys think.

A few things are missing like a few 2x4's for extra support, the bottom of the stand, and trim that will cover both trims of the tank to give it a nicer finish. As well as some trim on the stand and canopy.

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Looks good,the canopy from your sketch looks rather large which is fine but to be that size, i would just add doors to the front of it like the stand would have rather than having it split open like that. you can't go wrong either way but my 2 cents worth says doors on the front :)

I should have photos tomorrow up of my custom stand and canopy that I'm in the process of building. Some are already posted in my 180 build.
 
Looks good,the canopy from your sketch looks rather large which is fine but to be that size, i would just add doors to the front of it like the stand would have rather than having it split open like that. you can't go wrong either way but my 2 cents worth says doors on the front :)

I should have photos tomorrow up of my custom stand and canopy that I'm in the process of building. Some are already posted in my 180 build.

The canopy is 18" tall and I did it that way so that I could have more access whenever I had to go in the tank to place corals or move them. Why wouldn't you do it this way? Is 18 inches too tall?
 
no, my canopy is like 30 haha! With a canopy that tall, doors on the front would give it some character, a more furniture look to it.
 
no, my canopy is like 30 haha! With a canopy that tall, doors on the front would give it some character, a more furniture look to it.

Well it will have some trim around it to make it nicer and I could always incorporate doors but also have it swing up for easier access
 
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