New House and Aquarium Build

Hey AquaNerd community, I wanted to share my newest adventure with you.

A couple of months ago my wife and I started house shopping. We have each lived in various apartments since going off to college and a couple more even after we got married. Tired of moving around and apartment life, we decided it was time to buy a house. Our rent is already pretty high, so we figured it was time.

We looked around quite a bit, but ended up picking a neighborhood just down the street from where we currently are living. The inventory homes didn’t match our tastes too well, so we decided to build. Since this will be our first home, we didn’t want to overdo it. We went with a 3 bed/2 bath which is more than enough for the two of us. And instead of going with a move expensive home, we customized this one with a lot of nice upgrades that we wouldn’t have been able to do if we had gone larger.

In the process of building this new house, I’m going to attempt to upgrade from my current setup (a 180 gallon SPS reef tank) to a slightly larger 225 gallon aquarium. The reason for the upgrade is a combination of accessibility and style. Right now, I have a fairly difficult time getting into the aquarium because it is 24″ tall, has a large eurobrace, and the canopy is very restrictive despite it being so large. So, the new tank will be 72″L x 36″W x 20″H and will be rimless. I plan to suspend a light over the tank, that way I can raise it or lower it to my liking. The canopy is killing me. As for style, this can be a simple fix, but I’m dying to start over. The stand and canopy don’t match the style of the new house. The cabinetry is the wrong color and the style is more old fashioned, whereas the house has a more modern feel to it.

But here’s the caveat…I cannot do all this unless I sell my the aquarium I am using now. So, the upgrade is depending on that. If I don’t sell my 180, I’ll just have to set it back up at the new place and start saving for the upgrade.