270 Gallon SPS tank for JBNY
- Thread starter JB NY
- Start date
90reefernyc
Member
GREAT looking tank and REALLY nice looking set up in the basement. Your hard work and patience really shows. Currently have a 90 gallon in wall and I am dying to go bigger like a 280 or something like that. My problem is its in the basement already and was wondering how heavy the tank is empty and how hard to move around like going down STAIRS... I would like to make it 84"L X 25"H X 30"W and if you can PM me a round about number for the cost of the tank and if you are happy with the construction of it any thing you would change about it if anything 2 years into the hobby and cant wait to get a bigger tank reading this thread all day today love it!! really inspiring...
JB NY
Active member
Thanks for the kind words. Everything has really worked out well. It just too much longer than I thought it would. I was telling my wife the other day that I think I really underestimated this project, as I thought I would be able to bang out the whole thing in 2-3 months, tops. But I promised myself that I would try and do everything the way I wanted it regardless of if it added time to the whole project> While that philosophy is nice, in that I get it the way that I want it, it took me a long time to get it done. Of course it doesn't help that I did almost all if it by myself. But now I'm six months into the build and I can finally see the end in sight! So I am quite excited to finally get the tank up and running with live stock.
The tank is heavy about 400lbs. moving it up and down stairs is a pain if you don't have room to maneuver. When we moved my tank up the stairs to the deck to get it into the living room, there was about 3 seconds when I thought the tank was going to tip over and fall back down the stairs. My heart stoped for a moment then, but everything worked out fine. Of course two months after I moved the tank into the house, my refrigerator died and a new one had to be brought to the house. One guy brought the new fridge into the kitchen, up two flights of stairs and a tight corner, all with some kind of dolly made for moving large appliances around. When I saw that I was like wow, my tank move would have been so much easier with something like that.
The tank is heavy about 400lbs. moving it up and down stairs is a pain if you don't have room to maneuver. When we moved my tank up the stairs to the deck to get it into the living room, there was about 3 seconds when I thought the tank was going to tip over and fall back down the stairs. My heart stoped for a moment then, but everything worked out fine. Of course two months after I moved the tank into the house, my refrigerator died and a new one had to be brought to the house. One guy brought the new fridge into the kitchen, up two flights of stairs and a tight corner, all with some kind of dolly made for moving large appliances around. When I saw that I was like wow, my tank move would have been so much easier with something like that.
JB NY
Active member
I've been working on the canopy the last two weeks.
First I made the frame for the canopy out of 1x2s using pocket holes again. After I made the frame I put it on top of the tank to make sure that everything fits the way I want it to.
The canopy will extend out a little bit from the sides like the stand does. 3/4" will rest on the two sides of the tank.
The side panels are birch stained the same as the stand. Here are the panels after they have been cut, veneered, stained and 3 coats of polyacrylic.
I wanted to make the support frame for the VHO and MH out of aluminum, so I bought all the pieces at the local Home Depot and started measuring and cutting. I used my router table with an attachment for my use my jigsaw. So I was able to cut all the pieces pretty easily.
Using the fence with a good stop allowed me to get nice uniform cuts.
First I made the frame for the canopy out of 1x2s using pocket holes again. After I made the frame I put it on top of the tank to make sure that everything fits the way I want it to.
The canopy will extend out a little bit from the sides like the stand does. 3/4" will rest on the two sides of the tank.
The side panels are birch stained the same as the stand. Here are the panels after they have been cut, veneered, stained and 3 coats of polyacrylic.
I wanted to make the support frame for the VHO and MH out of aluminum, so I bought all the pieces at the local Home Depot and started measuring and cutting. I used my router table with an attachment for my use my jigsaw. So I was able to cut all the pieces pretty easily.
Using the fence with a good stop allowed me to get nice uniform cuts.
JB NY
Active member
I decided to make two light racks. One for the MH, the other for the VHO. I also wanted to be able to remove the light racks from the canopy if needed. So I had come up with a way to have them slide in and out. I know a lot of people use door slides for the light racks. I thought that over time they might start to rust. So I wanted to use something that was simple and easy to use and easy replace if I needed to.
I decided to use T-Track. T-Track is used in woodworking to align tools and jigs so they and easily slide as well as lock them down to prevent movement.
So here is the t-track installed on the side panels for the VHO lighting.
Here is the VHO light rack in the t-track. Works pretty good. I can move the lights back and forth and lock them any place in between. There are stainless steel bolts that, using wingnuts, fit into the track. opening the wingnut loosen rack so it can move, tightening the wingnut keeps the light rack for moving at all.
Here everything placed in the canopy with the light rack for the MH, before the top track is installed.
Here is the MH light rack with the reflectors removed so I could attach the rack to the t-track. I also have small stop block that sits at the end of the track to prevent the light racks from going too far back in the track. The MH will be set up so the the MH bulb is about 8" form the top of the tank, about 10" from the water.
Another shot of the side and top tracks.
Finally took everything out, caulked the inside seems, and painted the inside of the canopy white.
More pics to come later.
I decided to use T-Track. T-Track is used in woodworking to align tools and jigs so they and easily slide as well as lock them down to prevent movement.
So here is the t-track installed on the side panels for the VHO lighting.
Here is the VHO light rack in the t-track. Works pretty good. I can move the lights back and forth and lock them any place in between. There are stainless steel bolts that, using wingnuts, fit into the track. opening the wingnut loosen rack so it can move, tightening the wingnut keeps the light rack for moving at all.
Here everything placed in the canopy with the light rack for the MH, before the top track is installed.
Here is the MH light rack with the reflectors removed so I could attach the rack to the t-track. I also have small stop block that sits at the end of the track to prevent the light racks from going too far back in the track. The MH will be set up so the the MH bulb is about 8" form the top of the tank, about 10" from the water.
Another shot of the side and top tracks.
Finally took everything out, caulked the inside seems, and painted the inside of the canopy white.
More pics to come later.
crab0000
New member
Wow, great job on the canopy! It's very well thought out. I had not thought of using t-track like that before. Just an FYI; you can use a crbide tipped blade in a chop saw to cut the aluminium parts. You might want to wear gloves and safety glasses though because the little pieces flying out hurt!
IRISSERVICE
Member
wow very nice 
90reefernyc
Member
hey JB did you make those reflectors or buy them and how about a chiller? Nice craftsmanship!!
JB NY
Active member
I will probably have about 50 colonies in after a few years. Some stuff I'll try to keep small so I have room.
I've got a blue tort sitting in a friends tank that is probably 8"-10" around already. I don't keep staghorns anymore. And I'm not going to put tables in this tank either (we'll that's the plan anyway). Most of the corals I am looking at are ones that grow into more compact forms. But I haven't really got any "name brands" that I am looking at.
I've never pegged corals in the main tank. I just use an epoxy and superglue combo. So far I've been able to stick anything I can find that way.
JB NY
Active member
Thanks, are luminarc 3 reflectors, I bought them. Notsure if I have the skills to make my own. Now if I can just get that damn protective coating off the aluminum (I spent about 20 minutes last night on just one reflector) I can fire them up tonight.
For the chiller I will be using a JBL 1/2HP chiller.
Lunchbucket
Premium Member
Wow didn't know that HD carried aluminum like that. Good to know. You just use self tappers to connect it? I'm needing to do my canopy and thought I could learn a thing or two
Lunchbucket
Lunchbucket
bleedingthought
New member
Joe, that looks nice!
2 questions: With the reflectors in place, and the wing nuts above them, will you still be able to remove the MH rack? And why did you decide to have the actinics only in the front instead of front and back?
2 questions: With the reflectors in place, and the wing nuts above them, will you still be able to remove the MH rack? And why did you decide to have the actinics only in the front instead of front and back?
melev
Well-known member
I've been planning to upgrade my lightrack and want to use Tee tracks as well, as that gives me a little more space under the reflectors to work in the tank. It is nice to see more people are using them.
I'd like to see more close ups of how you connected the MH rack to the Tee track. I can't quite make out what you did in the one picture.
http://www.cnidarianreef.com/G270/images/dscn/DSCN2364.JPG
I was thinking about using some type of teflon screw instead, as I thought it might slide more easily in the track and not be affected by saltwater creep. Did you lubricate the track with anything? Since it is anodized aluminum, is it impervious to decay or oxidation?
I'd like to see more close ups of how you connected the MH rack to the Tee track. I can't quite make out what you did in the one picture.
http://www.cnidarianreef.com/G270/images/dscn/DSCN2364.JPG
I was thinking about using some type of teflon screw instead, as I thought it might slide more easily in the track and not be affected by saltwater creep. Did you lubricate the track with anything? Since it is anodized aluminum, is it impervious to decay or oxidation?
JB NY
Active member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10939014#post10939014 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by i2ik
Good job on the canopy! i am also using the T track method and its working great for me too!
Any reason you choose VHO over T5?
That's good to hear, I wasn't sure if anyone was using t-tracks. I thought it sounded like a good idea, but wasn't sure.
I had everything for the VHO already and have generally liked the actinics with VHO more so than T5.
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10939341#post10939341 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bleedingthought
Joe, that looks nice!
2 questions: With the reflectors in place, and the wing nuts above them, will you still be able to remove the MH rack? And why did you decide to have the actinics only in the front instead of front and back?
I can still move the rack with the reflectors in place, Once I loosen the wing nuts the rack still slides.
With my old tank I had most of my vho (I only use them for actinics) up front and it seemed to work out fine. So I thought I would see if it worked with all of them in the front. Also with the luminarc reflectors being so large I thought it would e easier to manage.
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