A First Plywood Project...

[Sean : EbN]

Back after a looooooong time!!

Back after a looooooong time!!

Hello everyone!

I hate to resurrect such an old thread but I just wanted to say that this tank STILL HOLD WATER! It has been many years and the tank has been moved to another location but is still running strong! I recently lost its inhabitants to a chiller malfunction but now it has a new chiller and a new set of Aqua Illuminations' VEGA LED fixtures! We have just started restocking it Here is a recent pic..

 

[nemosworld]

that looks awesome! sorry for your loss

 

[CyclistMT]

Hello everyone!

I hate to resurrect such an old thread but I just wanted to say that this tank STILL HOLD WATER! It has been many years and the tank has been moved to another location but is still running strong! I recently lost its inhabitants to a chiller malfunction but now it has a new chiller and a new set of Aqua Illuminations' VEGA LED fixtures! We have just started restocking it Here is a recent pic..

Sean, thanks for posting an update. Occasionally we get some posts disparaging plywood tanks. Having done two of them myself now I think they are in many ways superior to all glass and acryilc tanks. Glad to see a nearly 8 year old "woody" still going strong.

 

[rickcasa]

That's wicked your tank is still going strong. I guess this dispels the concern most have, including myself, with plywood builds. It's just too bad most of the photos are missing. Thanks for checking back.

 

[Sean : EbN]

rickcasa : I wish there were still dead links here so I could re-post the pics but I lost that older server so it seems that the RC system has omitted the links!

As for the plywood tank thing... I learned the basics from a friend of mine who owns a LFS in New Orleans, LA I will be 34 years old this year and he built his store's 10'x4'x3' show reef tank when I was a senior in highschool. I was 17 when it saw it's first water test and has gone strong for nearly 17 years with no issues. I think it is all in how you prepare the tank especially wetting the fiberglass with epoxy NOT polyester resin and remembering to epoxy inside of any holes drilled in the wooden body. I long to build another very large plywood tank someday but in the summer of last year I was injured in an accident at home that has left me permanently paralyzed from the chest down and confined to a wheelchair. My major DIY projects have come to a halt unless I can have someone else help me with most of the construction. I'm proud to still have this tank and look back on the experience I had making it. Please if you have any questions about building a tank like this, e-mail me sean@exoticsbynature.com or PM on here

Good luck!

 

[Sean : EbN]

Checking in...

Checking in...

Here I am all these years later... chiming in that this tank is still holding water!!

It is part of an in wall installation leaving a wide open 11x22ft room for me to now finally call my FISHROOM!!! I'm slowly going to build more of my dreams

I've tried to keep most of these photos uploaded and hosted for you guys...

 

[Diana A]

WOW! Would love to see what it looks like now. Most of your photos are not showing up from your hosting site.

 

[Sean : EbN]

Diana... sadly its just holding water and running. A few years back, July 4th 2012 to be exact I slipped (no intoxication freak slip) and fell from the 2nd floor deck backwards and landed on a concrete chainwall breaking my back and completely severing my spinal cord. Having a large tank like that is very difficult for me to service.

I am however setting up this room as a fishroom that may be open to the select public. I hope to at least be able to market something like our own frags or even buy and sell other captive frags. Profits of which would fund my fantasies with the fish room and pay an employee to help me keep it immaculate! lol

 

[Sean : EbN]

Hello all...

After a really long day I finally got to this, sorry folks. Here they are...

Please let me know if you have any questions about it... I'm beat!

Thanks!

 

[Sean : EbN]

Hello everyone...

lpkirby : I am in Covington, Louisiana. My shop went without power for 16 days. It wasn't that bad because almost all my inventory is cold-blooded. We have over 3000 reptiles (almost all snakes) so I was able to keep everything going with 3 gasoline powered generators. We breed a lot of rodents for sale and food and lost nearly all of them (have to keep them really cool and it was REALLY hot after Katrina left.) As for my 90... I left it sit for about 7 hours. It had just started to turn cloudy and I couldn't bare to lose all my live rock. After having most of this rock in a tank for over 7 years, I couldn't see it all die. I knew my SPS and Fish were toast at that point so I ran an extension cord to the main sump pump (a Gen-x PCX 40) and just ran it non stop the whole 16 days. At first everything STUNK! All the other people staying at the shop (5 of us using the shop as shelter) voted to tear the tank down because of the smell. But after about 24 hours the tank started to clear and after it was all over I lost my fish (just 2) and a few really nice little SPS heads. I never re-stocked after the storm so here we go with this project!

Carl : Sorry no demolition pics. I was too busy moving stuff to take pics of the process. Sorry

So on with the updates...

Yesterday and this morning I worked on cleaning and painting the "ex-kitchen" You can see in these pics, the 90 gallon's Korralin CA Reactor, CL-650 1/4 hp Chiller and Gen-x PCX40 Closed Loop ...

Here is the new sump room (formerly known as kitchenette)...

Then I finally convinced myself to drill my sump. I broke out the ole (seldom used) Rotozip and all I can say is WOW!! If you want to drill a tank yourself and you don't mind the holes a little sloppy then the ROTOZIP with the Tile cutting bit is for YOU!! This was MEGA EASY! I took the tank (43x15x24) outside and ran the hose on it while I drilled. To lay out the holes with the right measurements, mark the holes and cut them took all of 10 minutes for ALL 3 holes!! Man I was floored about not buying those damn glass hole saws. Finally a use for the crappy Rotozip. Here are somp pics of the holes...

And some pics of the side of the sump with 1- 1.5" bulkhead and 2 - 1" bulkheads. the holes are kind of rough but who cares, the bulkhead flange covers them with plenty of sealing area...

Continued in next post...

 

[Sean : EbN]

...continued (too many pics for one post)


So I kind of conquered that worry so I moved on to the next project... the light rack. I have these cool 4 way connectors for 1" tubular metal stock that came with some commercial reptile racks that we use at the shop. I ordered a ton of these racks for the shop and I guess the guys that packed the order couldn't count because they sent me quite a few of these pieces extra. So I went to Lowe's and they have 1" x 96" aluminum square tube at $29.00 a piece! Perfect! So I'm at Home Depot last night and they have the same stock for $11.00 each!! I bought every stick they had both 48" and 96" lengths. I also got some 1.5" x #8 stainless bolts and nuts so that I can drill the pieces and use these bolts to secure everything (like a retaining pin) So I put together the upper frame that the MHs will mount on. Each 400w MH will mount to one of the 4 bars spanning the width of the tank from front to back. So far my result is a little wobbly and not quite straight, due to the material or my cuts not being very straight (I HATE JIGSAWS!) By the time all the rest of the structure leaves my head and is attached to this, I think it will be plenty strong. The canopy "door" will be mounted to the face of this 3-d rectangular box and the entire unit (box and canopy door) will raise and lower by way of the 18" actuator that will mount on the ceiling above the tank. I hope I don't have too many kinks in this idea... I think it will be cool! Here are some pics...

And finally... my electrician friend came by to pick up some stuff from my shop and to look at what I needed as far as the new sub-panel for the new tank. We are going to install a 60 amp breaker running to a 6 pole sub-panel. There will probably be about 5 individual circuits for this set-up. While he was there I borrowed one of his 3"hole saws to cut the holes for the 2" bulkheads in the overflow trough as well as the closed loop inside the tank. Here are some pics of those...

What a day... I feel like I got some stuff done, or started at least. I need to go back to HD tomorrow to get more bolts and some flat bar stock for the light rack as well as some 2x4's and 2x6's for the sump room rack. I also need some acrylic to make baffles in my sump. I just silicone them in. I've never had any trouble with silicone on acrylic for use as baffles. I also need to decide where in the tank to put the 1" closed loop return bulkheads.

Oh well... off to bed. I'll see what I get done tomorrow so I can maybe post some more pics.

G'night... LATER!

 

[Sean : EbN]

Hello everyone,

lpkirby: Thanks a lot! It feels good to make some headway on the project. I called to check on the glass and everything is as planned. Probably the week after next. I'll keep you posted!

baotchi: Yup... I was sure glad that I read about that trick here in the fantastic RC DIY forum! Thanks for your input too Simon, it will give people more confidence in doing it themselves!

JC Pollman: Thanks for the tip. I actually planned on doing that anyways but I really appreciate your input! A question for you though... Did you use silicone on your bulkheads as opposed to the rubber gasket?? I would never silicone a bulkhead on a glass tank but there is this sort of wavy texture to my plywood tank's epoxy finish. I was wondering if I should just abandon the rubber gasket and use silicone. I want to do this just ONCE! But I am going to epoxy the inside edges of the holes with some of the leftover West Systems stuff.

Rikko: HAHA I have been known to complicate things but WOW! I guess it wouldn't be a bad stand, especially if the tank above it sprang a leak! Take it easy!

ChinChek787: I used the Rotozip tool for my holes but Simon says (HAHA) it fits in a dremel! Cool info... give it a shot one day. I was amazed!

Now on with the update...

Saturday I went to the wonderful HD and picked up some lumber and other supplies. I threw the sump rack together and I am pretty happy with the way it came out. I spakled most of the holes to get it ready for some white paint. We took it easy yesterday (Christmas) and didn't do any work on the set-up. Tonight when we got back from another nice long day off I decided to slap some paint on the sump rack. I have to go to HD tomorrow to look at plywood and maybe some laminate for the counter area on the sump rack. Here are some pics...

I still have to add some base support beams around the perimeter where the sump tank will actually sit. Here is what will be on this rack... starting at the bottom and working upward...

Base shelf : 42x15x22" glass sump with 1- 1" Bulkhead feeding the frag tank and refugium, 1-1" Bulkhead feeding the skimmer (and chiller?) and 1-1.5" Bulkhead feeding the Sequence Dart return pump to the main display.

Middle Shelf (within the vertical support beams) : 36x18x18" glass tank with built in overflow that will serve as a frag tank. Its overflow will dump right back into the sump. (outside the vertical support beams) There will be a ledge about 10" wide to serve as a work ledge for the frag tank (i.e. frag glueing etc.) On the right side there is a ledge about 20 x 24 for the skimmer to sit on. The skimmer will be a Euro-Reef RC-500 recirc design. I have to call Jeff at ER tomorrow to order it. I think I will sit the calcium reactor and Kal reactor on the counter next to the sink.

Top Shelf : 36x18x24" glass tank with built in overflow that will serve as a refugium. Its overflow will also dump back into the sump.

Once this stand is operational I can move the rock and leftover corals from the 90 gallon so that I can prep the spot for the main tank. I hope to have water in this set-up by the end of the week. We'll see how that goes.

I called my pump supplier today and changed my order from 3 Sequence Darts to 1 Dart and 1 Hammerhead. I also ordered my Oceans Motions last night. I got a Version 3 8way and a Version 3 4way also got a dozen of those Omni nozzles (the 1" flexible loc-line-like nozzles) This set-up should be pretty similar but less expensive than my other plan. I was going to use 3 4way OMs and 3 darts (1 sump return & 2 Closed Loops) but now I am going to use the Dart as the sump return with the 4way OM and the Hammerhead for the closed loop with the 8way. Hopefully this will all work out as planned.

Oh well... off to watch some TV before bedtime. I'll call and order the skimmer tomorrow and that should be about it for the main equipment purchases (I hope!) Hopefully I will get my lights and the canopy actuator this week. I'll post more pics as I have them...

LATER!

 

[Sean : EbN]

On with the update...

THE LIGHT BOX IS DONE!!! YEAH! I'm stoked about it. I feel great that another major hurdle has been completed. I feel like the day I put the blue paint on "the box"... something is actually getting done. Man this tank is a TON of work but it should have all the bells and whistles.

As Im sure I stated earlier... I am building a light box to suspend my 4 - 400w XM 15k halides with moon lights over the tank. Attached to this box framework is the canopy "door". The entire light system and canopy door will lift straight up towards the ceiling with the aid of an 18" actuator that will be mounted in the ceiling above the tank. I was unsure about the actuator lifting the mass and the hood being rigid enough to bear the load. Well tonight I put that dog to rest... its done and it runs and has no hiccups!!

I used a 10' 2x10 strung between a wooden ladder and a steel pallet rack with a 4x4" hole cutout in the center to hang the actuator from. In its final application there will be a threaded rod strung between 2 ceiling joists, the actuator will mount to this rod. I was able to measure that the actuator actually travels a length of 17 3/4". The actuator that I purchased came from http://www.firgelliauto.com/ and is made to lift a max weight of 57 lbs" I cut it pretty close with this whole set-up, it weighs 54 lbs ( I lowered it onto a digital shipping scale to find out how close I was cutting it!)

Here are some pics...

The canopy "door" is just clamped onto the hood at the moment as it needs to be sanded, puttied and primed before it is ready for the permanent mounting. This face is made from No. 1 grade pine 1x4"s with the inside edge formed with a edge bit in the router. The "backbaord" is a piece of 1/4" Birch Plywood that I brad nailed & glued to the back of the 1x4" frame. Kind of a fake panel door but since the outer edges of the door won't be seen I didn't need a reall raised panel door.

Just a view of me around the back of the hood.

Here I am trying to tilt it a little so you could see the top.

Just a shot of the back. You can see the rear of the PFO optimal reflectors with their LED Moonlights that mount directly to the mogul socket. I really like PFO products.

Here is a shot from the rear with the actuator ram fully extended.

Same from the front, actuator fully extended.

A shot from under the canopy. You can see more detail of the top and side bracing as well as the PFO reflector, socket and moonlight.

A pic of the connectors I used to joint the 1" aluminum tube. I used 1.5" stainless bolts and nuts to hold it all together tightly.

And finally a shot of the actuator itself and how I mounted it to the canopy.

I am really happy with how it turned out. After all the work I put into it, it sure was nice to see it work as planned. Just an FYI, there will also be a track system on each side of the tank that will guide the canopy ends straight up and down. I haven't made them yet because I don't know exactly how high they are going to be. I have to wait until the tank's stand is completed to be sure of the height for the "track legs"

I think I might also order a wireless remote control for the actuator... just to give it that extra ego! :smokin:


So what do ya think??

 

[Sean : EbN]

Hello all,

After working pretty hard all night I finally got tired of the stench of PVC cement! I decided to call it a night and I wanted to post some photos of what's been going on.

First off, I had to take the sump off of my 90 gallon set-up (the one being replaced by this one) and replace it with a temporary one. That sump will be turned back into a display tank with an overflow and used as the "frag" tank for the new set-up. Once all the plumbing is finished and the overflow installed in the 40 gal frag tank, all the inhabitants of the 90 will be moved into it and the 60 gallon refugium tank above it.

In this picture you can see the sump rack from inside the sump room. The top tank is the 60 gallon (36x18x24) refugium, the middle tank is the 40 gallon frag tank.

This is a pic of the middle (frag) tank and the sump with the bubble and feeding baffle. You can also see the Oceans Motions (OM) 3/4" Squirt flow rotator mounted above the frag tank. Also... the PVC pipe laying across the length of the sump is just temporary. I put it there just to test the OM and the plumbing from the sump to frag tank, it has a much cleaner location that will be mostly out of view.

Here you can see the pump area under the right side of the countertop area of the stand. That pump is a Gen-X Mak-4 that will drive the frag tank via the OM 4way Squirt

This is a view of the sump with the baffles. I made the baffles from 1/4" acrylic that I siliconed in. I have always made my baffles this way and the silicone on the acrylic bonds quite well enough for this function.

These next 2 pics are of the frag tank showing particular details of the plumbing of the OM Squirt. It was fairly easy to plumb with the use of 90 & 45 degree tees and 3/4" right angle bends of electrical conduit (gray PVC type). There will be a 250w Halide mounted to that center board above the tank.

Here are some of my new toys... MANY THANKS to Paul and Cass at OceansMotions for these killer products! I can't wait to see what Paul comes up with next!

and that's all folks! I hope to get that overflow glued in that frag tank tomorrow and maybe get that 90 torn down this weekend?!? I know I said that last week. In the meantime... I hope I get my pumps soon... don't know what I'll do with them with no tank to put them on but isn't it cool to have new toys?

Thanks for looking and please keep the posts coming!

LATER

 

[Sean : EbN]

Hello everyone,

Leon : Awesome Man!! Please show pics!! I know you'll do great. Ok... the top support...

I haven't actually done this yet but I bought some 1.5" (I think) angle steel that has various different sized perforations for different bolting patterns. This steel is similar to the type used to hang garage doors and openers. It is a 4' piece of "L" shaped steel. I plan to cut (2) 6" lengths of it and use stainless lag screws and washers to actually attach it to the top of the tank in the center. Then, after the glass is installed, I will pass the rod through the holes and secure with nuts and washers. I want to tweak it just right then I want to brush some epoxy resin over it just to keep it protected from the saltwater. Here is a quick pic I threw together... Blue = Tank Black = "L" Angle bar Red = threaded rod...

Jman77 : Thanks for the compliments! From what I can tell with a straightedge, the interior front "flange" of the tank is quite flat. I will try my best to apply even beads of silicone as well as even pressure when setting it. As for the flange bending, I have no doubt that without a center support (which I mentioned before and with more detail above) the top center "beam" will bow a good bit. As for the rest of the flange, I don't think it will move much at all due to the coating of fillets, epoxy resin and fiberglass roving. We'll just have to see how it goes!

bkiba : I hope everything works that way! I sure would hate to have gotten this far to have a leak around this flange! I'll cross my fingers.

blfuller123 : Updates... nothing quite photo worthy yet! I am working on getting the sump room tanks filled and running right. I had all the flow from the Gen-x Mak-4 going to the 40 gallon frag tank... TOO MUCH! haha I guess I should have known. I honestly thought that the OM Squirt coupled with all the plumbing parts would have slowed it down a bit more. I think I am going to tee off of this line to run the refugium also! This is a good thing so maybe I won't have to drill another hole for my chiller loop.

My friend, the electrician, came by on Saturday and we hooked up the sub-panel for the new tank. I used a Square D 100 amp 8 pole inddor commercial load center and fed it from a 60 amp breaker in my main load center. That should give me plenty enough power to run the new system. Thank god for conduit and commercial buildings... fishing that wire was a cinch!

I just need to make YET ANOTHER plumbing run to get some parts to tee off the frag tank feed to give the fuge feed. After that is all tested and tweaked I think its time to FINALLY tear down that 90 gallon!

I'll keep ya posted...

THANKS AGAIN for the Replies!

 

[Sean : EbN]

Hello everyone,

mille239 : Thanks for the reply! That is exactly how I planned to do it. I may set some sand bags equally placed just to be sure that it is well bonded.

Just thought I'd give an update... I FINALLY took down the other tank! Woooo HOOO!

I finished up all the frag tank & fuge plumbing yesterday and decided to work late last night to move all the rock and leftover coral. Everything seems to be working well. I'm having micro bubbles but with new plumbing that is expected. I decided to dig out some old filter socks to help filter out some of the detritus from the moved water. The old system was a 90 gallon tank with a temporary 15 gallon sump. I had to mix up about 65 gallons of saltwater to add to the new set-up as well as all the water I could salvage from the old set-up. I threw out all the sand from the in-tank DSB, that was a shame! The sand was in great shape being just about 2 years old and was teaming with life. Just like me to tear a tank down just when it is perfectly aged. Oh well... gotta keep my sights on the future!

Speaking of the future... I got my Euro-Reef RC500 skimmer and I can't wait to set it up!! This thing is incredible. Like I said before... I never indulged in a complex fancy skimmer before so I think I made up for lost time with this one! The construction and size is VERY impressive. Can't wait to hook it up.

Now for some pics...

The fuge tank... I didn't use any sand in these tanks YET. I didn't want to foul the sandbed with a lot of detritus from the previous set-up. Here you can see it with some of the leftover live rock and a big, unhappy Colt coral. Also a 250w PFO halide ballast to run on the frag tank. I still have to build a shelf up near the ceiling to mount all of the ballast enclosures to.

The "frag" tank filled with most of the rock from the 90. It also has a few Katrina survivors. That OM Squirt is a GREAT product! Get one!

The sump! It seems to be running well except for the micro bubbles but those should fade with time. You can see the filter bag on the overflow pipe from the frag tank. It is really helping with the sediment.

Another sump area view. In this pic you can see where I used a tee and elbow just under the shelf, to split the return line to feed the frag tank and fuge.

A shelf shot... showing off that awesome skimmer! It fit very well on that ledge where I planned it to go. It will be nice and easy to work with and clean at that height.

Another view of the skimmer as well as a look at the load center panel with the start of the electrical conduit work.

Continued on the next post...

 

[Sean : EbN]

... the rest...

Yet another skimmer/panel view that also shows the Sequence Reeflo Dart and Hammerhead with the ball valves and OM's just suck on them to keep them out of the way.

Me next to my new baby... Hmmm what to name her?!? JK How could I love something that produces such a foul substances

A "cute" little light switch that I had to have for the sump room. They sure are milking that Nemo thing huh?!?

That's all for now. The 90 is completely torn down and cleaned out and SOLD! Now I can work on the BIG stand! We're getting closer...

Let me know what you think! LATER!

 

[Sean : EbN]

Hey everyone,

blfuller123 : C'mon man! Nemo ROCKS! Well maybe just a little. Keep in mind this tank is in a public place so people will get a kick out of the cute little details! Thanks!

donta42 : I already built the tank or did you mean a TANK? Building stuff is so much fun... you always get new ideas and learn new tricks. I love DIY!! Thanks!

John : I set it up a few days ago and I already love it. Not much of a load to pull out though with only those 2 tanks on it, no fish and not many corals... YET! The ER people have been great!

So I got THE call this morning... THE GLASS IS IN!! Whooo Hooo! I think I'm going to pick it up on Wednesday and silicone that sucker in!

Went to the Home Depot today and bought all the lumber to make the main stand and the side walls around it. Also bought some track lighting and some other decorating doo-dads to try to come up with some ideas on how we want to finish the whole thing out. I'm not very creative with trim work so it might take a while to get that "finished" look.

I was surprised that it only took me a couple of hours to build the stand, my layout in my brain seemed to work out right the first time. Hmmm... that's weird!

So here are some pics...

Also let me say... the green floor is GONE in a few more days!! The new color scheme should be clean and modern not green and DINGY!

I'll have more pics tomorrow as I finish the surrounding wall construction and maybe even hang the robotic light box!!

LATER!

 

[Sean : EbN]

Hey guys...

jthnhale : Thanks for the compliments! It has been a lot of fun thus far but I can't wait until its over! I drew this one up in SketchUp and it was my first time using a CAD program and it was easy as pie. Here are a couple of shots showing the main tank and my many holes for drains and CL returns...

As for the stand, I feel that it is quite strong although I did mean to put a "fire block" between the 2 front center vertical 2x4's. I built it exactly how you would frame a wall so "fire blocking" (putting horizontal pieces of 2x4 between verticals at middle height) would make sense. I think I'm just going to do it on the front section though. It will be skinned only on the front since that will be the only visible panel. The skin will probably be 1x? that will be fitted and biscuit jointed. That will be tacked on with glue and finish nails so I doubt it will lend much to the strength of the tank.

Thanks again,

 

[Sean : EbN]

Hello everyone,

I know you all think I'm full of empty promises because I haven't posted more photos as I said I would. I have a good excuse though... I've just been busy with it!

My friend and I pulled all the wiring through the conduit in the sump room and behind the main tank. I just have to go pick up a bunch of GFI and standard outlets and faceplates then I have JUICE!

While he was there another friend came by so we decided to flip the tank right side up so I could resume the work. Here are some pics...

Let's start with the notches that I had to cut to get the glass in...

Here it is after I taped it up from underneath and from the side with A/C ductboard tape and poured clear epoxy into it like a mould. Then I cut a 2"x5" piece of fiberglass cloth and poured more epoxy and wet it out with a putty knife.

And another shot...

While the tank was face down I plumbed the rear drains, both closed loop and overflow...

All that talk about the center support system... I hope it's strong enough to hold up. The piece of metal that I bought is a little flexible but I think it will do the trick. I laid it all out with some measurements then pre-drilled the holes for the stainless lags. Then I brushed some epoxy on the bottom of the metal angle and dripped some in my pre-drilled holes in the tank top. I tightened the lags down really good and then brushed a coat of epoxy over the whole thing. here is the front one...

And the back...

Continued in the next post... too many pics...