205G Tank Build

[Fish4Me2]

Hi SuperDave - I haven't seen any steel stand build threads, but my skills would not have allowed me to construct one of those myself, so I've never looked!

The stand is essentially a metal rectangle with one center brace, and with 6 short feet that sit on the floor. I put hardwood blocks underneath to distribute the weight and keep them from destroying the wood floor the tank went onto.

The wood is a skin that literally slides over the steel. Picture a shoebox on it's side, with the bottom-most side removed: there's a top, a front, and a left and right side, but no bottom or back. It doesn't provide any structural stability, it just makes things look nice enough that I'm still married! The wood screws into a few tabs that were welded onto the frame. It's actually powder coated steel.

A steel/wood combo is not what I'd consider the budget option, but it gives lots of space, is structurally sound, and looks great. If you start a build thread, let me know. The planning is half the fun!

 

[SuperDaveA]

Thanks for the response. I'm just starting out with a little 12 gallon nano and have pretty much become hooked. I'm still looking at a year out before I get moving on the bigger guy since my wife would murder me if I started this project before finishing the rest around the house I'll let you know when I get a build thread started though.

 

[Fish4Me2]

Thanks for the response. I'm just starting out with a little 12 gallon nano and have pretty much become hooked. I'm still looking at a year out before I get moving on the bigger guy since my wife would murder me if I started this project before finishing the rest around the house I'll let you know when I get a build thread started though.

Heh. I started with a 24 gallon nano. I'm really glad I went from the nano to a larger used tank before designing this one, though. It gave me real, hands on experience as to what I personally like and don't like for a large tank. If nothing else, I learned that for me, simpler is better! Who knows what I'd have wound up with if I went from the 24 to this tank? :eek1:

 

[SuperDaveA]

I've got a 35 gallon tank that I used to use for fresh water. It's been dried up in the garage for a few years now. Wonder if that would work as a good interim tank. It sure would be cheaper

 

[Fish4Me2]

Things are humming along slowly. During Petco's dollar per gallon sale, I picked up a 40 breeder, and that's now become the QT for my remaining 3 fish. They're undergoing hypo now, and all three are eating like pigs.

If you look carefully in the photo, you can just barely see the anthia's nose peeking out of the filter cartridge in the front left corner of the tank. That filter was seeded from the established tank, but it's turned out to be the anthia's favorite hiding spot. I remain amused by his nose peeking out whenever he gets frightened!

These last fish will go into the DT in October, after 12 weeks of hypo. I'm taking no chances with getting ich in the 205.

 

[Fish4Me2]

While QT continues, I'm trying the levamisole treatment in my 60 display. The corals there are struggling, with no fish, levamisole, and AEFW. There's still some growth, but the colors are definitely lacking. Here are a few photos:

The rose millie is really growing, but is super washed out. It was hit hard with AEFW, and had visible eggs on it, so I'm happy it's still alive.

Up for this weekend: building the light rack for the 205. Wish me luck!

 

[bagz727]

nice!

 

[Fish4Me2]

While my fish are waiting in quarantine, I decided it was time to work on the light rack. The parts had been in the garage for months, so I put an old plaid sheet on the driveway, pulled out the package, and got started. If you're a fan of happy endings, you should stop here. . .if not, keep reading.

First I laid out all the parts, and my computer with the drawings. Lots of packages!

Then I assembled all the pieces on the ground. At this point I thought through the order in which I'd have to assemble everything, and planned out my route. I pulled out a rubber mallet and started to assemble things.

After blistering my hands with the mallet and still being unable to pound the connectors onto the tubing, I switched to a hammer. That wrecked the tubing, so I went out and bought the heavier shot-weighted mallet. With the help of that, I got the first reflector in.

Sadly, in the process of wrecking one bit of tubing, and going out to get the mallet, I lost track of the order I was supposed to be following, and connected two parts earlier than I should have. Stupid mistake on my part. :angryfire: End result: I needed to diss-assemble those to pieces. Which I tried to do. Which led to this:

So, now I'll be ordering two new parts, and hoping to finish this up in a few weeks when they arrive. Add this to my ever growing stupid mistakes list.

 

[Bucket Boy]

I like your light rack design. I went back through the thread and couldn't find the answer -- sorry if I missed it -- where did you get the metal frame components and connectors?

 

[bagz727]

may i know what ballasts you using, hqi or electronic? ty

 

[Fish4Me2]

I like your light rack design. I went back through the thread and couldn't find the answer -- sorry if I missed it -- where did you get the metal frame components and connectors?

Hi Bucket, They were actually purchased from EZ Tube. (www.eztube.com) I am very happy with the quality - the tubing is strong enough to hold up my weight, I'm pretty sure I could use it as a ladder if I had to.

 

[Fish4Me2]

may i know what ballasts you using, hqi or electronic? ty

I'm using the Galaxy Select-a-Watt ballasts on the HQI setting. For the T5s on the light rack, I'll be using an IceCap 660 ballast I had from a previous tank. I had problems with the first Galaxy ballast and had to return it. The second one I've used so far has worked well.

 

[Fish4Me2]

When I woke up this morning, I found I had an overwhelming desire to cut some holes through the wall, so I decided it would be a good day to plumb in my chiller! (What, you're telling me you don't ever wake up feeling like that?)

Starting out, I knew that while I wouldn't move the chiller often, since I plan to install it under a counter behind my washer, and I'm not exactly the strongest girl on the block, I wanted an easy way to move it. I decided to cut and prime some plywood, and add casters so it was easy to move.

For around $10, I'm really happy with how it turned out. Here it is on its wheels from the front and the back.

After that, it was time to put some holes in the wall. My super fancy Bosch stud detector told me I had a stud. I cut a hole on the left side of it, and discovered that next to the stud, set back from the sheet rock, was another 2 by 4. So, I moved over, and tried again. In the end, I was able to cut a holes on both sides of the wall, and install low voltage boxes. They aren't level with each other, because I found an old water line running on one side of the wall. Still left to do is to run the braided flex through the wall and add face plates to the boxes with holes for the flex.

 

[Fish4Me2]

And here's the finished product. Here's the dry side of the wall, with the chiller on its skateboard. The ducting you see behind it is the ducting for our dryer. Long term, my hope is to feed the chiller's hot air into a similar duct and run it outside the house.

Here's the wet side of the wall, where the chiller's input line runs into the plumbing manifold.

The power cord on the chiller is too short to reach the electrical panel above it, so I'll be making an extension cord for it later this week.

 

[Metal Man 1221]

Nice, plumbing to the chiller looks clean. Were you going to use grommets on the wall covers?

 

[Fish4Me2]

Nice, plumbing to the chiller looks clean. Were you going to use grommets on the wall covers?

I spent some time looking for something like grommets, but couldn't find anything that was quite right. Have you seen anything that would work for a 1" diameter?

In the long term, I'll probably run lines to and from the water change module of a Litermeter through the same holes, but that's probably a year off still.

 

[Fish4Me2]

I made more progress on the light rack assembly. After the new parts arrived this week, I've mostly got the light rack together. Here's a shot of it assembled on the ground.

"Mostly" you ask? "Why mostly?" Well, let's just say that I'm NOT going to be getting the part of Mrs. Thor in the next movie! :hammer: Despite my best efforts and the heavier mallet, I can't get the last connectors all the way on. I'm stuck here.

I'm hoping that my spouse can finish it whenever I see him next.

Overall observations on the ez-tube is that it's nice and sturdy, but either through my mistakes, or through it's design and cut, the section of it that has many joints is rather bowed. I'm not expecting issues when it's hanging, but more to come. . .

 

[sunilp]

that is a nice frame. Where do you buy those alum frame pieces?

 

[Fish4Me2]

that is a nice frame. Where do you buy those alum frame pieces?

Hi Sunilp, they're from eztube, sold online. Shipping was pricey, but the tubes and connectors are super sturdy.

 

[Fish4Me2]

Well, the final holes have been drilled through the wall. I cut a 2" hole out to run all the electrical for the light rack. It runs through to a junction box. The left box will have 4 outlets to power fans and moon lights. The right box will have the cables for the halides and T5's. Here's a close up of the junction boxes, and an overview shot of the tank.

And here is what I hope will be a "before" shot of the mess of wires that is the electrical board on the other side of the wall.

Next up: quick disconnects for the halides and re-wiring of the T5s.