~210 g inwall plywood/epoxy tank

[kureinha]

Having built a 140g plywood tank once before & recently moved, I've embarked on a remodel including a walkin closet with a small fish room and an inwall epoxy/plywood aquarium.

This is my old plywood/epoxy 140gal against the wall where the new tank will go. This will be an in wall design. Behind this wall is a porch which sits on a concrete slab. The bulk of the house has a basement.

Exterior of porch

Porch interior

Opening it up

Closing it in.

The porch is sealed off so I need a new entry point. Busting through closest to reach fish room/walkin closet remodel.

This picture shows the studs where the inwall tank will go and some of the floor being built up.

Exterior wall insulated, floor built up and insulated. Building up the floor was probably the biggest pain since the floor was uneven and sloped.

 

[kureinha]

Time to cut through the wall where the aquarium will eventually go.

Making the cut.

Adding some dry wall and rewiring.

 

[kureinha]

solar pipes

solar pipes

While the fish room/ closet is progressing, I added sunpipes for natural lighting. I've felt somewhat rushed to get the pipes in and the aquarium built and epoxied to beat the Montana winter. The sunpipes are great. Eastern Montana is arid so they haven't endured a good rainstorm yet. I think Sunpipes are probably the best brand of "solar tubes" available considering tube quality (i.e. high reflected light), dome, and other exterior materials are incredibly high quality. They aren't cheap though. I ordered two 13" and all the accessories and it cost ca. $800-900. The customer service is great (http://www.sunpipe.com/)!

I love how the light changes during the morning and evening with shades of blue, yellow, red, and full spectrum during the day. They also put out a good amount of light even during overcast. I hope to eventually have some data to add but am too busy building to quantify much.

Sunpipes are added (2* 13" tubes).

 

[kureinha]

epoxy/plywood tank

epoxy/plywood tank

I'm building a plywood/epoxy aquarium. The dimensions are 75" * 24"* 30" (L*W*H= ca. 210gal). I'm planning an exteneral overflow and sump. This will be a freshwater planted tank (sorry reefers). Water will enter the tank on the right and flow to the left where the overflow will be positioned.

I live in the middle of no where, so a build seemed like the best idea. I looked into getting a prebuilt glass tank. It could have been freighted to Billings, MT (2hr drive from me). It would likely weigh more than my wife and I can load. Not totally sure if it would fit into our minivan. Because of the weight, tank+ shipping cost, inability to easily resolve issues related to damage, incorrect design, etc., I went with a build. Plus I had already built a 140 gal using GARF.ORG plans. I'm not sure if this is going to be the most cost effective tank for many of you to build but is should work for me.

So far, I have built a plywood box which is slowly transforming into an aquarium. It has a Euro brace and I will likely add more bracing later in the design. I just picked up the glass. I bought Starphire low iron glass (1/2"), and it looks great! It cost ~$450 which is a pretty standard cost for this type of glass. This is probably the best glass on the market. Some will debate whether the cost is worth it for 1/2" but for me it is.

I've created a hybrid design based on GARF.org instructions and modifications by several reef tank builders. Here are some links to other threads showing plywood builds. The main thread describes the epoxy materials and technique in great detail.

Main thread
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1026436

Other threads
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...hreadid=716410

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1239312

I'm using the West system epoxies which are great but expensive. I think that I'll ultimately use ~3 gallons worth. Again, because I live in BFE, I had to order the epoxy. I got it from U.S. Composities Inc. in FL (http://www.shopmaninc.com/index.html). They also carry the supplies and fiberglass that I'm using. Following the instructions listed above in the "main thread", adding the epoxy is taking considerable time. Also, I'm having to fix an overflow issue which I'll talk about next.

 

[kureinha]

overflow problem

overflow problem

Overflow issue...

In the picture below, you'll see the hole that I routed/cut in upper left side of the tank. This was to function as the overflow from the tank into the external overflow (see pic- its sitting on two 2*4s on top of the tank). The hole is ca. 18" long & 1.5-2" in height. This seemed like a marginal amount of surface area based on the overflow size calculator (with <1,500 gph) [http://www.reefcentral.com/calc/drain.php]. I'm sure the hole can handle the flow but not with a nice thin amount of water overflowing.

I then remembered (after cutting the hole) that this is an inwall design and that the external overflow box (above tank in picture) will prevent the tank from fitting into the inwall hole design. I'm designing the overflow and plumbing on the fly. Since the tank is so tall relative to its width, I'm trying hard to avoid internal overflows. Several reefers are using long external overflows to the rear of the tank (coast-to-coast they call em)--essentially end to end.

Luckily, I haven't attached the overflow box yet. So I'm thinking of patching some of the hole and shortening it ca. 3-5" & shortening the overflow box. I'll follow the patch by EbN using epoxy. Then I'll shorten the overflow and attach. I'm thinking of adding a bulkhead to the left side of the tank to drain water up into the overflow box. This will enter the box on the bottom via a bulkhead. Then I'll add a stand pipe so that the height inside the box is just above the entry height of the overflow cut (hole on side of tank). This should allow the overflow into the tank to be the primary source of water entering the overflow box with some water from midtank via the bulkhead. Also, the height of the standpipe will prevent the water in the tank from draining below the overflow cut.

Sorry no design pics (yet?). The box may have trouble fitting two durso pipes and the one stand pipe once the box is shortened. This link has some ideas on making durso pipes smaller (http://www.randystacye.com/dursostandpipe.htm).

What do you think? I would like all the overflow related stuff to be to the left so water is flowing from right (input) to left (output to sump). The flow will probably be too low for a river effect but hope that taller plants will show the effect of the current.

 

[Kentanner11]

looks good, I am looking forward to seeing an inwall FW planted tank! Esp. with all the DIY. !

 

[kureinha]

I fixed the overflow hole and added the external overflow.

I epoxied some of the slot, shortened the overflow box, & attached it.

Here is a picture showing the internal joints (have 2"*2" cut at 45 degree angles). The whitish wall has not received epoxy yet. The trianglish areas mostly in the epoxied corners are where I screwed up and had air bubbles. I cut them out with a utility knife... BTW, all of these ideas were borrowed from others on this forum.

Tip of the day- Take your time and watch for bubbles. Squeeze them out while the epoxy is wet.

Here is a picture of the fiberglass being laid out before adding epoxy. I'm new to working with fiberglass and am amazed at how clear it becomes (hence the name I guess).

Where my daughter is standing is the area where the fiberglass was laid out. The tank is sitting on end. It is propped up so that no weight is on the overflow.

I'm about half way done with epoxy... I have a couple of gallons enroute.

 

[kureinha]

Here is my current plumbing plan. Remember its for a FW planted tank--so I will not need as much flow as reef tank. I will probably add some sort of internal closed loop for circulation but this is the basic design. The sump will hold the heaters.

Let me know how it can be improved.

 

[Kentanner11]

Good Design! I like the water lol! For the bioball section I would use one of those plastic drawer boxes thing (lol) you might want to check out monster fish keepers they have some really cool DIY's for FW tanks!

 

[tattooreef]

very cool cant wait to see how the solar tubes look with the tank full

 

[kureinha]

Here are a couple of new pictures showing the tank progress. I've basically finished with the West System epoxy and need to install the glass and then apply some black paint epoxy to the inside. In the mean time, I've been working on a pedestal and stand.

The tank stand is to be positioned in a unique place. The front is located over the wall that used to separate the living room (ca. 5” depressed floor) and porch. The wall is nonstructural but the arch was reinforced like it was structural. This edge/surface represents about 1/8 of the surface that the pedestal spans. 2/8 span over what used to be the closest floor (see 2nd surface label) with particle board with basement below (left side of photo). The remaining 5/8 span the new floor that I build up over the porch. The three surfaces were not all level. I probably could have solved the leveling issue with leveling cement. Instead I built the pedestal to support the stand/tank and help disperse the weight more over the floor. Also, I’m plumbing the pedestal with a floor drain and additional drain for tank changes and an emergency overflow of the sump. I’m trying to avoid every having to tear up the floor that I build over the patio. I plan to add trim around the pedestal to hold any water so the drain can do its job. Everything will eventually be coated with polyurethane. I’ll route some grooves in the surface to lead water under the stand and to the drain.

This is the front of the pedestal and stand. Notice how high the top of the pedestal is over the living room floor (ca. 10”)

This is the rear of the pedestal and stand. The level shows the location of the inset drain. "Primary surface"= 5/8 surface; "2nd surface" is the 2/5 surface.

My primary concern is how the stand will be tied into the wall… Originally, I was planning to build out the stand so that it has a surface even with the wall and tie it into the wall with drywall. I’m somewhat concerned that some settling may occur and the drywall will crack… A couple of other options are as follows: First, proceed as planned but do add some sort of decorative trim that connects the ultimate tank trim to the floor like decorative legs to hide the drywall seem. I’m also considering adding particleboard and plastering over it (after its coated with poly) to have a more rigid surface (is this a bad idea). Another option is to position the stand back enough to build a wall section across the pedestal (sort of like the pictures at the top of this build thread http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1046155). This last option might still have cracks but at least will be tied directly into the wall with screws and 2*4 instead of just drywall. It might also help make the stand more stable.

Because the living room floor is ca. 5 inches below where the pedestal sits, the stand feels a bit tippy from the front since it is propped up on a stand sitting on the edge of the pedestal which is sitting on the edge of the wall with a recessed floor (see pic its tough to explain… The last option would tie the front of the tank and stand into the wall and make it feel more stable. Honestly, once water is in the tank, I suspect it will feel plenty stable. I’m thinking of taking some liquidnails and gluing the stand down to the pedestal.

 

[RayAllen]

Im impressed, that is a lot of work. Everything is coming together nicely.

 

[thor32766]

wow great work. wish I had as much skills as you!! good luck with the rest of it.