Basement Remodel... Ohh & a 320+ Gallon - 96x30x26 In-Wall SPS Tank

[leveldrummer]

Ive got one suggestion, since you have so much space, get that sump out from under the tank!

put it along the back wall, and build a small stand for it, that way your not bending over all the time fooling with stuff. Use that space under the stand as storage for your goods. Thats what i would do anyway. just my 2 cents.

 

[Sonicboom]

Sorry to hear about your fall, but everything happens for a reason, tagging along as i love to see these "from scratch" builds.

Art,

I'm planning a similar build, but with a 240ish (96x24x25). I have a few questions if you don't mind.

1) I haven't figured out my stand, how did you determine if that stand will hold the weight of the tank when full? Did you find other examples of this design or did you do some math? My build was going to be similar, but I'm never sure and tend to overbuild. I'd like to keep it open like yours this time for sump access.

2) How did you get that beast into the basement? How many guys, method (suction cups, movers belt?), any curves in the stairs?

Thanks!

Caragol, this is the thread i and MANY others used to build their stands, it's hella long so good luck
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1169964

 

[Reef Reactor]

Sweet! Tagging along.

 

[KniLLifer]

Art,

I'm planning a similar build, but with a 240ish (96x24x25). I have a few questions if you don't mind.

1) I haven't figured out my stand, how did you determine if that stand will hold the weight of the tank when full? Did you find other examples of this design or did you do some math? My build was going to be similar, but I'm never sure and tend to overbuild. I'd like to keep it open like yours this time for sump access.

2) How did you get that beast into the basement? How many guys, method (suction cups, movers belt?), any curves in the stairs?

It was a straight shot down in to the basement from my front door. It took 5 guys, to lift, carry and slide down the stairs. It really wasn't that bad. The tank is 404 lbs / heavy but manageable. No suction cups used mainly because I couldn't find anyone that had them or rented them out.

Thanks for following!
Thanks!

Hi Caragol, Sonicboom is right on the money with the link provided to the stand build. I followed the instructions to build the stand to a T. Once I have all the sump equipment in I will add some removable braces, you can see them unpainted in the picture below.

 

[KniLLifer]

Ive got one suggestion, since you have so much space, get that sump out from under the tank!

put it along the back wall, and build a small stand for it, that way your not bending over all the time fooling with stuff. Use that space under the stand as storage for your goods. Thats what i would do anyway. just my 2 cents.

Hi lebeldrummer,

I'm really not planning to have much in the sump aside from some rock and possibly sand. My pumps are external, skimmer is external, all the media reactors will be external as well. I'm in the process of building (2) 8 foot long stands/cabinets. (1) directly behind the tank (parallel) and (1) on the side (perpendicular to the display). Pictures to come!

 

[smiz]

im very jealous of this build!

 

[KniLLifer]

OK guys. I'm sort of back at it. There has been a delay in receiving my external DIABLO DC 10500 pumps and the SRO 5000EXT skimmer so I have been procrastinating a little. But, here are some update shots of the TILE FLOOR (the back breaker), 1 of 2 8foot benches I'm building and the Pukani Rock from BRS. The rock is amazing and very large. Its perfect for what I want to do with it.

Tile Floor:


Stand 1 of 2 with the Pukani


Closer pics of the Pukani. Used a 5 Gallon pail for size reference.









Full tank shot from the front room.



The second 8 foot bench being built.


More updates to come. By the way my back is great.

 

[leveldrummer]

Hi lebeldrummer,

I'm really not planning to have much in the sump aside from some rock and possibly sand. My pumps are external, skimmer is external, all the media reactors will be external as well. I'm in the process of building (2) 8 foot long stands/cabinets. (1) directly behind the tank (parallel) and (1) on the side (perpendicular to the display). Pictures to come!

:thumbsup:

Sounds great then!

 

[theReefKing]

Art!!
This looks great my man!
Love to see the DIY can do tank-itude.

I will be following the ride.

What other sources did u consider for LR?

I'm thinking I might do a mix of slab, Fiji, tonga, and pukani. But I'm not sure if I would end up with it looking cooler or just more thrown together.... Guess the plan is to have it all covered in corals eventually anyway.

 

[Newbie Aquarist]

Love the progress and tiling of the floor. Make sure you cure that rock. It has been known to leach out phosphates.

 

[KniLLifer]

Love the progress and tiling of the floor. Make sure you cure that rock. It has been known to leach out phosphates.

Newbie, Yes... this rock has lots of junk trapped in it from dead workms, sponges and just plane old dirt. I plan on following "tkeracer619" instruction to clean the rock and free it of all phostphate before startring up. Link below:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2145395

Thanks for kepping up on the build!

 

[KniLLifer]

Art!!
This looks great my man!
Love to see the DIY can do tank-itude.

I will be following the ride.

What other sources did u consider for LR?

I'm thinking I might do a mix of slab, Fiji, tonga, and pukani. But I'm not sure if I would end up with it looking cooler or just more thrown together.... Guess the plan is to have it all covered in corals eventually anyway.

Hey "œtheReefKing",

It took me while to decide on the rock. I know I wanted to start with dry rock because of cost for such quantity and the benefits like no pests and I can take my time with it.

I considered a few others like Macro Rocks, and even other types from BRS, reef save and Fiji. I went with Pukani just because the shape, sizes available and reviews. I wish would have bought a little less and purchased about 30-50 lbs of shelf rock. I find that all the Pukani pieces that I received are very similar to each other (no all but most of the large ones). Having some shelf would break up the symmetry and add a different shape to the mix. Never the less, the rock is amazing but it needs to cleaned and purged of PO4. I hope to post step by step instructions on here when I perform the Muriatic Acid bath and Lanthanum Chloride treatment for PO4.

I think having to much of a mix of rocks can become difficult to aqua-scape and looks un-natural. But I also have seen great tanks with a complete mix of stuff.
Like you said it will all eventually be covered by corals (we hope) anyway.

Thanks for following along.


I consi

 

[LovenBama]

Looking good. Even better to hear your back is ok. Having seen what your old tank looked like and the remarkable explosion of color and growth you had......excited to see the this monster (in size to the old one ) complete.

Are you gonna make the rock structures tall or keep them low to mid height?

Muriatic acid? That's some bad a$$ stuff. gonna have to check that link out to see the results of using it but my first thoughts were "that's insane" cause we have used it to clean concrete and everywhere it splashed on the metal door frame...it etched the metal.

 

[KniLLifer]

Looking good. Even better to hear your back is ok. Having seen what your old tank looked like and the remarkable explosion of color and growth you had......excited to see the this monster (in size to the old one ) complete.

Are you gonna make the rock structures tall or keep them low to mid height?

Muriatic acid? That's some bad a$$ stuff. gonna have to check that link out to see the results of using it but my first thoughts were "that's insane" cause we have used it to clean concrete and everywhere it splashed on the metal door frame...it etched the metal.

Hey,

Muriatic Acid will be diluted to 9 gallons of water / 1 gallon of acid. Shouldn't be too bad but still dangerous. Read the thread I linked, it has some great info.

I will leave the aqua-scape-ing to my wife. She has never done me wrong and she loves doing it. She cant wait!

 

[RJT]

Your wife sounds like mine. She has aquascaped my last three designs.

 

[theReefKing]

Love the progress and tiling of the floor. Make sure you cure that rock. It has been known to leach out phosphates.

SPotter and I were talking about this the other night.
He is certain that he had a slight PO4 problem because of the large pukani rock he had in his system up in NJ.

I like the look of the large Pukani, but nothing is worth sacrificing water quality.
Any sure fire ways to get all those PO4s out of the deep heart of that big pukani?

 

[LovenBama]

How do you guys do it??? Can't get hubby to even put his hands in my tanks...LOL.. All he does is look and ask questions even after all this time he knows nothing about reefing and guessing he never will.

Wishing you much continued success with the build.

 

[KniLLifer]

Finally Some Progress

Finally Some Progress

Sorry guys, it's been a long several weeks filled with surgeries and family events. But, finally some progress on the basement.
I managed to complete the construction of the stands in the fish room. I should be able to finish painting them this week and shift my focus on the basement remodel since it won't make much sense to have a complete fish room/tank and then start dry walling.

Anyways... The stand directly behind the tank on the long wall will house the future frag tank(s) with storage underneath and the stand on the short wall (90 degrees) to the display will hold all the equipment. I cut the (2) holes out for my 50 Gallon water storage containers. It's actually kind of funny but my old dart board was a perfect template.

Enjoy, Let me know what you think.





Test fitting the tanks, they fit perfect.





More to come...

 

[Sagz70]

Most of those pictures dont work for me.. Seems like a great build though!

 

[KniLLifer]

Most of those pictures dont work for me.. Seems like a great build though!

I wonder why? Anyone else having issues viewing the pictures?