DougH
Active member
Thought I would share a few pics of a 172g Oceaninc bowfront w/ matching stand and canopy that I purchased used.
I've completed a few mods to the tank.
First mods are homemade 1-1/4" Durso tubes w/ 1" perforated tube insert, updated 1" AGA Bulkheads & 3/4 AGA return Bulkheads (more flow through then the 5yr old Oceanic bulkheads). All Durso and return tubes are thinwall pvc (not the schedule 40 or 80 stuff).
Second modification was the gutter guard mod as found on Richard Durso's website (credit to Richard for posting these great mods!) A dremel type cutting tool was used on a cordless drill to remove the upper and lower row of teeth, then black plastic gutter guard was glued w/ black aquarium silicone sealant.
Third was adding additional vertical support to the stand. The Oceanic acrylic sides were easily unscrewed and 2x4 cut to height were added. The picture showing 2 white looking columns are the added 2x4's. The left side shows the panel reattached.
I'm using the supplied Oceanic #2 glass 34g sump as a refugium. I'm converting the old bio ball compartment w/ 1-3" live rock rubble stack and a refugium w/ two compartments, first portion with Mud & cultivating macro algae/tang food and the second portion with Chaeto and bare bottom to maximize the copepod production. Hope to get the Chaeto tumbling! Return pump is a Rio 3100 that came with the package.
The second sump is a Euro-Fill 180 for the left return that will accomodate a large felt sock, ASM G3 Sedra 7000, UV Sterilizer, Phos reactors and a 2nd Phos reactor w/ AC. Return pump is a new Supreme Magdrive 9.5.
The sump and refugium are connected together by one 1" bulhead to help balance out the water level that remains from the seprate return pumps and incase if either pump fails.
Next mods will be 3 250w MH pendants while trying to keep the clean aesthetic look of the Oceanic canopy/cap, chiller, and maybe to add a Calcium reator.
This is my first tank after 20 yrs, back then the media war was on, bio balls, ceramic tubes etc. refugiums were not common practice and protein skimmers were, well kind of optional?. (guess they thought they would remove all the food nutrients that people would purchase). There was a tremendous amount of irresponsibility that the importers and LFS had, many elegance corals and giant clams were sold without proper lighting. Hamilton Technologies was a pioneer of the MH lights (they still make excellent fixtures), I think T5 or T8 (?) were just coming to market.
The internet has been a great source for research and sharing ideas, thus for me making this project possible with your knowlege.
Any comments or suggestions appreciated.
Best regards,
Doug
I've completed a few mods to the tank.
First mods are homemade 1-1/4" Durso tubes w/ 1" perforated tube insert, updated 1" AGA Bulkheads & 3/4 AGA return Bulkheads (more flow through then the 5yr old Oceanic bulkheads). All Durso and return tubes are thinwall pvc (not the schedule 40 or 80 stuff).
Second modification was the gutter guard mod as found on Richard Durso's website (credit to Richard for posting these great mods!) A dremel type cutting tool was used on a cordless drill to remove the upper and lower row of teeth, then black plastic gutter guard was glued w/ black aquarium silicone sealant.
Third was adding additional vertical support to the stand. The Oceanic acrylic sides were easily unscrewed and 2x4 cut to height were added. The picture showing 2 white looking columns are the added 2x4's. The left side shows the panel reattached.
I'm using the supplied Oceanic #2 glass 34g sump as a refugium. I'm converting the old bio ball compartment w/ 1-3" live rock rubble stack and a refugium w/ two compartments, first portion with Mud & cultivating macro algae/tang food and the second portion with Chaeto and bare bottom to maximize the copepod production. Hope to get the Chaeto tumbling! Return pump is a Rio 3100 that came with the package.
The second sump is a Euro-Fill 180 for the left return that will accomodate a large felt sock, ASM G3 Sedra 7000, UV Sterilizer, Phos reactors and a 2nd Phos reactor w/ AC. Return pump is a new Supreme Magdrive 9.5.
The sump and refugium are connected together by one 1" bulhead to help balance out the water level that remains from the seprate return pumps and incase if either pump fails.
Next mods will be 3 250w MH pendants while trying to keep the clean aesthetic look of the Oceanic canopy/cap, chiller, and maybe to add a Calcium reator.
This is my first tank after 20 yrs, back then the media war was on, bio balls, ceramic tubes etc. refugiums were not common practice and protein skimmers were, well kind of optional?. (guess they thought they would remove all the food nutrients that people would purchase). There was a tremendous amount of irresponsibility that the importers and LFS had, many elegance corals and giant clams were sold without proper lighting. Hamilton Technologies was a pioneer of the MH lights (they still make excellent fixtures), I think T5 or T8 (?) were just coming to market.
The internet has been a great source for research and sharing ideas, thus for me making this project possible with your knowlege.
Any comments or suggestions appreciated.
Best regards,
Doug
