foxvalleypcgeek
New member
Thanks, and I thought about it but not sure if I will put anything down there yet in the bottom of the stand.
500 Gallon Build
- Thread starter foxvalleypcgeek
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Thanks, and I thought about it but not sure if I will put anything down there yet in the bottom of the stand.
foxvalleypcgeek
New member
Today was a productive day getting the basement fish room cleaned up and in a lot better shape. Previously I left it dirty and was a mess. The paint is so old that it would sometimes fall off of the boards above and land in the stock tank below. Should be no more of that this time around, as I scrubbed it all down, including the walls and painted it all with some leftover paint I found from when we did the dining room 4 years ago.
Also took a trip down to Milwaukee to get some salt on a weekend special. Kind of a long trip (3 hours total) for some salt but felt like going to see what has changed in the store as its been a couple of years. Best Fish is by far the best fish store I have ever been too.
This should be enough to get me started.
It was getting quite dusty with the shop vac on all the concrete. Also worked on removing everything from the room such as the RO unit, and my rigged up board haning from the celing which electronics were previously mounted to.
Here was the wall of the sistern room before:
And after some paint:
Working on doing the ceiling:
A little bit of the paint that fell off while srubbing it with a brush. Vacummed this up a few times.
Painted the other wall in between the orignal basement and, then on the other side of that wall is the newer basment from when the house was added on.
Jack posts and 6X4's all put up supporting the floor joists. Nice and level so they are perfectly vertical.
And an idea of what it should look like minus any equipment. Have to make a support stand to raise the blue barells off the ground. Figured it was a good time to get them off of the workbench where they were used before.
And the stand is completely done with stain, except for the skinning of it, which could be a challenge as I never do haha. Also leveled out damn near perfect after jacking up the floor.
Also took a trip down to Milwaukee to get some salt on a weekend special. Kind of a long trip (3 hours total) for some salt but felt like going to see what has changed in the store as its been a couple of years. Best Fish is by far the best fish store I have ever been too.
This should be enough to get me started.
It was getting quite dusty with the shop vac on all the concrete. Also worked on removing everything from the room such as the RO unit, and my rigged up board haning from the celing which electronics were previously mounted to.
Here was the wall of the sistern room before:
And after some paint:
Working on doing the ceiling:
A little bit of the paint that fell off while srubbing it with a brush. Vacummed this up a few times.
Painted the other wall in between the orignal basement and, then on the other side of that wall is the newer basment from when the house was added on.
Jack posts and 6X4's all put up supporting the floor joists. Nice and level so they are perfectly vertical.
And an idea of what it should look like minus any equipment. Have to make a support stand to raise the blue barells off the ground. Figured it was a good time to get them off of the workbench where they were used before.
And the stand is completely done with stain, except for the skinning of it, which could be a challenge as I never do haha. Also leveled out damn near perfect after jacking up the floor.
Newbie Aquarist
Reefing is my middle name
Your stand looks good. Love your progress.
foxvalleypcgeek
New member
Put together a stand for the blue barrels this morning to get them off the ground. Have to add some extra bits on the top to support them better as I made it a little bigger then intended. I dont see them moving at all but you never know, and I dont want one to fall through when its full. And then of course paint that as well so it matches.
I will tie them both together rather then seperate like they are now and put a float in there to keep them full, rather then me carying buckets to them to fill them like I did in the past.
The smaller brute can you see back in the corner is the top-off water, and the larger one to the right is the salt water. Its full to the brim with salt water from over 2 years ago when I had the system up and running. Has had a pump running in there the entire time.
I will do just like before and have auto water changes. Small amounts but every single day.
I will tie them both together rather then seperate like they are now and put a float in there to keep them full, rather then me carying buckets to them to fill them like I did in the past.
The smaller brute can you see back in the corner is the top-off water, and the larger one to the right is the salt water. Its full to the brim with salt water from over 2 years ago when I had the system up and running. Has had a pump running in there the entire time.
I will do just like before and have auto water changes. Small amounts but every single day.
scubadan206
Member
I like where this thread is going. That is a great tank size. I really like the full sump in the basement
FWIW Aquatics unlimited is a neat store. I've shopped their for a long time, but they are really overpriced. We can do better.
FWIW Aquatics unlimited is a neat store. I've shopped their for a long time, but they are really overpriced. We can do better.
Following along this looks like it could be an epic build!
Where in WI do you call home? I am from Manitowoc and am in the process of my own "big" for me build that can be seen here http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2464238
Where in WI do you call home? I am from Manitowoc and am in the process of my own "big" for me build that can be seen here http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2464238
foxvalleypcgeek
New member
Thanks and I am in Neenah. I had a 210 previously, good size tank!
hobbzz
How do I change this?
I'm from Green Bay, and the stores in the fox valley are not ones you'd want to generally support. The one store in Appleton, likely the closest to him, doesn't believe in Rodi systems or skimmers. The one shop in Green Bay isn't bad, but not much better.
Great start. I want to upgrade to those dimensions when we move to Tampa in a year or two. Love the basket star. Which store did you get it from? I remember one store n Milwaukee that used to get kinda rare stuff in occasion. I picked up a black striated angler from them about 10 yeas ago. I've never seen one since.
So did Wayne find that he needed braces for that span? I saw him mention his "idea", and I wasn't sure what that was.
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foxvalleypcgeek
New member
The basket star was from Best Fish in Milwaukee, which is where I get most of my livestock from. Coral this time around will be different as local buddy of mine no longer is in the coral business. The store in Appleton has gone down hill terribly from since they moved to a new location. There is another that has great fish but a high price tag as well. I have been to green bay a few times and its decent, and also one in oshkosh as well.
foxvalleypcgeek
New member
Added some leftover 2x10 to the top today for more support under the barrels and painted it. Now just have to get them tied together and RO hooked up to them. I need new filters and both membranes replaced.
Well we were talking about supporting the floor area under the tank. I do not think he can support all of Fox Valley, it might have to fall into a sink hole. If he can support them then I am going to send him a 20 and a 21 year old. As I think they can get support elsewhere instead of my wallet.
hobbzz
How do I change this?
Lol, I thought you were talking about the area stores for some reason. As it so happens I do already have an appointment scheduled to get new glasses haha.
stand
stand
ok I'm about to buy the same size tank, but @ 30" high, is the stand built this way strong enough to support? would it be better to run the stringers the other way for more support?
stand
Now after an entires day of work with the stand we have made good progress on it! This thing is huge and heavy. Added in two front legs and 2 back legs for some extra support. As well as needing the front legs anyways to put doors on the stand. There is no bottom inside of it at this point, and I don't plan on it as all equipment will be in the basement.
And here is the progress:
I see the stain looks blue in the phone pics, its a light gray and definitely needs a couple of coats. But we called in quits for the day.
At this point you can really start to see how big of a footrint this tank takes up. It is huge!
ok I'm about to buy the same size tank, but @ 30" high, is the stand built this way strong enough to support? would it be better to run the stringers the other way for more support?
foxvalleypcgeek
New member
Plenty strong. The middle legs are not even needed, I just put them there for the fun of it.
foxvalleypcgeek
New member
Got my 3/4" conduit last night and 1 1/2" PVC that I will need. I can't belive the chore it was to find a place that would put the 90 degree bend in it for me. I suppose I could have just grabbed a bender off the shelf and did it myself in the store but I didn't want to lol. The conduit will be hanging the lights. I will have to trim it down some as I don't want it to go all the way to the front of the tank, but didnt want to bend it short either. Better to have too much than not enough. Then with some pipe straps I can clamp it down on the back of the stand to the desired height.
Got a start this morning on painting it before heading to the shop.
I bought a new PVC cutter since my previous one cut sooo much and I remember was all bent up and not all the great anymore. Didnt realize when they say 1 5/8 capacity they meant outside diameter, so my 1 1/2 PVC is too damn big for it. Hacksaw I guess it will be.
And my small BRS order arrived with the stuff I need to get water operational again. As well as an additional float for in the blue barrel and a splitter to split the line off in 2 directions. Got some refractometer calibration fluid and a couple of heaters as well to meet the free shipping amount.
Got a start this morning on painting it before heading to the shop.
I bought a new PVC cutter since my previous one cut sooo much and I remember was all bent up and not all the great anymore. Didnt realize when they say 1 5/8 capacity they meant outside diameter, so my 1 1/2 PVC is too damn big for it. Hacksaw I guess it will be.
And my small BRS order arrived with the stuff I need to get water operational again. As well as an additional float for in the blue barrel and a splitter to split the line off in 2 directions. Got some refractometer calibration fluid and a couple of heaters as well to meet the free shipping amount.
foxvalleypcgeek
New member
Water is operational again! Now back to drinking it as its much better then tap water.
Modified the plumbing on them a bit so now there is just a single output.
Splitter and second float installed
Getting about 51 PSI, little below reccomended, but always been that way.
Modified the plumbing on them a bit so now there is just a single output.
Splitter and second float installed
Getting about 51 PSI, little below reccomended, but always been that way.
foxvalleypcgeek
New member
I have heard that recently, but we used to drink it all the time. I just realized I used to have stomach pain problems it was so bad I had to pull over on the side of the road driving sometimes and get out of the car. And I thought it was something to do with drinking soda, so stopped drinking that. Now that I think about it I think it was about the same time we stopped drinking RO DI water as well and that may have been the culprit. They problems have gone away and it probobly wasnt the soda lol.
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