Brian's 520 gal. Plywood Build + Fish Room

I would suggest drilling holes in the rock pretty much anywhere you think you might want to stick a frag plug. Doing all of this (S-L-O-W-L-Y) while the rock is out of the water will give you all the coral mounting realestate you could ever want.

You can take a bare frag plug and size it to your masonry drill bits and get it slightly oversized easily. I went this route so that I could cut acro frags from their plugs, mount them to clean new plugs, (old plugs that I scraped everything off of and soaked in bleach then sun dried), and then if needed secure them to the rock via putty...


Just a thought.

I have no experience with Epo-Putty.
 
Brian Crook said:
Done (more-or-less)! The bar ledge is mounted, the trim is up, and the front access cabinets are installed. There's a tiny bit left to do... namely some quarter-round (in black) to butt up against the aquarium on top of the bar ledge, and a little touch-up paint here and there.

The cabinets open up very easily and the support arms keep them open (and prevent them from slamming closed). Light bleed is virtually non-existant, but in a couple spots I'll probably add some fabric/foam or other filler material.

Haven't yet heard back from the aquarium company I contacted regarding the sump, so I'm losing a bit of hope there. I did watch those "King of DIY" YT videos regarding how to make your own acrylic tank and it isn't as difficult as I assumed it was.

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Click to expand...


That's a really nice bar. Like the rockwork. I have the same on my outdoor fireplace. Whenever I see a beautiful bar like that, I expect a well poured drink.
 
One of my goals with this build was to make the equipment side of things bright, clean, organized, and as visually pleasing as a place like this could be. I never liked looking at 2x4's and construction material each time I went into the equipment room for my current tank, and I certainly didn't feel a lot of pride when showing this space to friends. So in an effort to improve the look and feel of the stand, I "skinned" it in 1/4" sanded plywood, (painstakingly) painted the entire stand with two coats of semi-gloss white, and added some trim here and there. I'll also be adding a white silicone bead around the tank/stand seam and the floor seams.

Prior to completing the stand however, I had to remove part of the center post in order to fit the sump underneath. The sump and refugium fit nicely on the floor under the stand, and I've positioned them such that the left-most overflow will have a completely vertical flow path to the sump, and the floor space between the sump and refugium will be where my return pump will sit. All sections are easy to access for monitoring or maintenance.

I also have a couple photos here which show the bulkheads installed in one of the overflows, and the steel vertical supports that I described in my previous post.

I'm currently working on determining my PVC fitting requirements and finalize the location of my returns... A head-ache inducing endeavour. :headwally:

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I've been a member here many years and one common theme I've seen in truly stunning aquariums is an almost obsessive attention to detail.

You are at that point with this build and you havent put water in it yet, except to leak test.

I'm sure the OCDD, (Obsessive Compulsive Detail Disorder) results in a stunning tank because it transfers over from the planning and build phase to the reefkeeping phase and that same level of OCDD keeps the afflicted tuned into every thing happening in the tank.

I compare this to someone who has a garage-majal in which every tool has it's place and the work bench is a thing of beauty. Be it wood working, metal work, automotive work, gunsmithing, etc.....You have transformed a sump room into what is essentially a shop....(wood shop, metal shop, auto shop etc), meaning a place where business is conducted and is not only presentable but part of the environment at large.

It's taking into account how the entire picture looks and the entire installation as a whole.

All of that to say...

Looks great. Super sleek and clean. I'm jealous.
 
Brian Crook said:
I've positioned them such that the left-most overflow will have a completely vertical flow path to the sump
Click to expand...
If it's not too late I would like to suggest you rethink this strategy. Having the water pour straight down into the sump can result in a pretty thunderously loud sound and the creation of lots of micro-bubbles if you aren't using socks. The insertion of a 90° bend and some horizontal pipe can go a long way to quieting the sump.

Dave.M
 
Sweet build. Iv been wanting to build a giant build out of wood. Deff gunna fallow u to see what happens. Iv always wondered about leaks and price wise for something like that.


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Thanks maxxII! Yeah I've been focused on the details which is why we're 7 pages in and there's still no water in the tank! haha

dave.m said:
If it's not too late I would like to suggest you rethink this strategy. Having the water pour straight down into the sump can result in a pretty thunderously loud sound and the creation of lots of micro-bubbles if you aren't using socks. The insertion of a 90° bend and some horizontal pipe can go a long way to quieting the sump.

Dave.M
Click to expand...

Thanks Dave, I wasn't sure about that. One of the drains will be full siphon, thus no air in the line, so I assumed it would be dead silent if submersed on the drain end. It's definitely not too late. I'll likely be using Flex-PVC for the drain lines since it'll make things a little easier (holes on sump do not exactly line up with holes in overflow, etc...), so there is definitely some wiggle room to try different configurations out.
 
Man that's is the nicest set up I've ever seen
Can't wait to see your power management

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maxxII said:
I've been a member here many years and one common theme I've seen in truly stunning aquariums is an almost obsessive attention to detail.

Looks great. Super sleek and clean. I'm jealous.
Click to expand...
+1
Inspiring.
I wish I could be so detail-oriented, on a sustained level.
 
Tigé21v said:
Is all that black the coats of epoxy on the surface of the wood?? It looks like it has to be close to 5/16" thick or better. I didn't realize the epoxy ended up/needed to be that thick.
Click to expand...

Yes it's all epoxy... Definitely much more than what would be required to water proof a tank. Granted the epoxy isn't this thick throughout the entire tank, but this was still quite a surprise.
 
Thanks everyone. There will be a bit of a delay on the next update as my wife and I just had our first child, so we are a little busy at the moment.
 
Congrats!
Now you get to discover how much free time you actually had!

Sleep when you can. Wash clothes every chance you get.
If someone got your child a special outfit or something adorable and cute to wear, hurry up and put the child in it and take a picture of it. Because the child will probably outgrow the outfit in a few weeks and you will be so busy with day to day stuff that may be the only time your child gets to wear the outfit. Serious.
Most importantly, take care of your wife.
We'll be here when you get back.
 
maxxII said:
Congrats!
Now you get to discover how much free time you actually had!

Sleep when you can. Wash clothes every chance you get.
If someone got your child a special outfit or something adorable and cute to wear, hurry up and put the child in it and take a picture of it. Because the child will probably outgrow the outfit in a few weeks and you will be so busy with day to day stuff that may be the only time your child gets to wear the outfit. Serious.
Most importantly, take care of your wife.
We'll be here when you get back.
Click to expand...

+1 on that
 
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