90 GAL. AIO from Scratch

[peppie]

A quick look under the hood.
I used the two CF retros from the two 20gal tanks. That will give me about 4 watts per gal. That should be enough to keep softies and leathers. The long led strip down the center is APOC. I have since removed it. The small one on the left side rocks. You can see a double azoo 3.5" fan to keep the temp down in the hood

The front access is just a piece of plywood that sits in a slot at the bottom and is held at the top with a couple of magnets.

Small mod to the BH-1000 Oct skimmer. I dont want the skimmer to overflow. Crap happens.

Left side of under hood

 

[TexasMike]

Wow nice diy skills!

Texasmike, what part of clear lake do you live in? I'm in cl too.

Oh yeah?! I live in Brook Forest across from UHCL next to the high school. How about you?

 

[Ston3]

Oh yeah?! I live in Brook Forest across from UHCL next to the high school. How about you?

Cool man, I live in Bay Knoll which is right off of hwy 3 and cl city. Sorry, don't want to hijack the thread. Want to send me a message about your tank and some pics?

 

[TexasMike]

Cool man, I live in Bay Knoll which is right off of hwy 3 and cl city. Sorry, don't want to hijack the thread. Want to send me a message about your tank and some pics?

PM'd u.

 

[M_55G]

Wow this is an awesome build. Your tank is very nice good job.

 

[peppie]

Thanks M 55G
I will have some pics of it wet soon.

 

[peppie]

So with just about any system you set up it needs alittle tweeking. After it was full of water and all the media in and the two small skimmers in place I noticed the flow thru the filter chambers was not as I expected. I got out the dremel and cut the teeth another 1/2'' deeper to help the flow. No big deal. I should have done a flow test with all the media and skimmers in place.
Since this system is barebottom I could see that water was seeping under the tank. Great! The tank now has livestock in it.
When I built the stand I didnt use P-lam ( counter top material) for the top of the stand. Great.. Out come the containers and the tank is broke down. I siliconed the inside corners of the tank and put P-lam on top of the stand. Filled it back up. Looked good for about a week, then I seen water under the tank again.Great!
The water line of the DT was touching the bracing around the top of the tank. That was causing the water to wick under the bracing and down the outside of the tank. Great!! I had to cut the teeth to the main overflow to lower the water level in the DT. I did this wile the tank was full of livestock. That took all afternoon. While the water level was down I ran some silicone around the top corner braces. I kept the water level down for 24 hrs so the silicone could cure. Since then I have had no seeping or leaks. GREAT.

 

[peppie]

I found time to post some wet pics.
This is the center piece for this tank. My clowns love it. Although some time they look to be really rough on it.

Gotta go, more later. enjoy

 

[gveng]

wow!! your DIY skills are amazing!!

congrats on the job well done!!

 

[peppie]

Thanks gveng.

 

[RotaryGeek]

Cool man, I live in Bay Knoll which is right off of hwy 3 and cl city. Sorry, don't want to hijack the thread. Want to send me a message about your tank and some pics?

I didn't even notice you guys were in texas. Im probably only a couple hours away from you guys.

Love the toadstool. I have one thats about 4" across when its fully open. Probably my favorite softie. I have a tyree green one, but its only like an inch wide, still waiting to grow out.

 

[peppie]

Thanks Rotery. Here is another of my favorites

 

[Michael B]

Just brilliant - great DIY & tank is looking good

 

[peppie]

Brilliant!!! I dont know about that. Thanks tho.

 

[nick4203]

could u give us a little more insight on the filtration?

 

[nick4203]

im thinking of doing this on a 55 gal long tank but on a end so the tank could be viewable from both sides

 

[05f150fx4]

excellent job! nice work!! more gratifying when you do the work yourself!

 

[peppie]

Thanks Guys.
This tanks has went thru some changes since I last posted on this thread. Take a look at what it turned into!!!!

This was due to a bad seam. I seen it on the front left. I marked its length and then measured it again 24 hrs later, it had grown 1/2".
Crap!!! within 3 hrs I had everything moved to a 40gal br. and the 90 was on the back deck ready for the skillsaw.
I belive the bad seam was due to improper prep work on the seam. Or it may have been due to lack of weldon#4 when I welded the seam. I would have attempted to fix it but there were other seams I could not get to. I wasnt going to chance it. The tank worked great for 4 mos. Before the seam went bad. It was an expensive mistake.
I have started a new tank from the ground up. It is an 85gal AIO.
Check it out. If you liked this one you will loe the new one. It is much more detailed.
On the DIY site. PEPPIES ODD-BALL BUILD. Sorry I dont know how to provide a link.
The filtration was very simple. Water dumped into the skimmer section in the middle. Then to the left it ran thru a media chamber then to the return chamber. To the right of the skimmer chamber water flowed into a chamber with macro algae, then to a return chamber were it was returned to the DT.

 

[vorm]

Man, sorry to hear that the seam failed.
It was such and awesome build. I have never seen a AIO that big before, and making one that cool from scratch was really sweat.
Good luck on the new one!

 

[peppie]

Thanks vorm.
We all learn by our mistakes. It just so happens this one cost me a little over $400. Plus the cost of the material for the new build.