Build Thread: TKERacer619's 600gal SPS Tank

[truffle22]

Dam u got my dream tank right there. Beautiful beautiful beautiful. I bet that was a pretty penny and some change. But well wear the it. I'm jealous what did the tank cost. Let alone all ur equipment and hard work. Once I get a permanent place I'm so geting 600 gal + giant tank. U inspire me.


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[tkeracer619]

Dam u got my dream tank right there. Beautiful beautiful beautiful. I bet that was a pretty penny and some change. But well wear the it. I'm jealous what did the tank cost. Let alone all ur equipment and hard work. Once I get a permanent place I'm so geting 600 gal + giant tank. U inspire me.


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Thanks, yeah you definitely want a permanent home with a solid foundation before attempting something like this. Don't want to move it twice. The equipment to transport it cost roughly $1600. I'm not sure I want to divulge what I paid for the system, gadgets, and livestock but let's just say you could buy a decent used car instead. Dream big, work hard, and it will happen.

 

[whyamisofly]

Never made it over to see your other tanks.....now I HAVE to!

 

[EagleI]

Inspirational. The tank move could have been a thread of its own.

 

[tkeracer619]

Never made it over to see your other tanks.....now I HAVE to!

Come have a :beer:

Inspirational. The tank move could have been a thread of its own.

Thanks! I'm feeling recovered from the move, that was some serious work! Acrylic would have been lighter but I feel like it's worth it if you can go glass!

Hoping for a good update this weekend! I've been working out of state and was unable to convince my roommates to finish the build for me while I was gone :lol:

 

[whyamisofly]

Come have a :beer:

PM me your address/phone number again and I will see what I can do!

 

[tkeracer619]

PM me your address/phone number again and I will see what I can do!

Will do.

 

[tkeracer619]

Painting the Back

Painting the Back

I haven't actually ever painted the back of one of my tanks. I have no problem growing layers of Coralline algae and I won't be scraping the back of this tank so I don't expect this to remain blue for too long.

I had some time yesterday after being out of town for a while so I decided to paint this one. I used a paint and primer latex from Behr. It is color coded "Deep River". It took 3 coats. I started with a roller for the first two coats then used a brush once the paint had a surface to stick to and did a heavy last coat. I allowed about an hour between each coat. If you do it too soon you will ruin the layer underneath it, it doesn't stick to glass really well but should last many years, and if I ever do choose to take it off it will come off easily.

Cleaned with rubbing alcohol.

Start of coat 2 (on the left) and coat 1 (on the right)

After coat 3 and dry.

A dirty view from the front side. I don't plan on doing much cleaning of the tank until it has water in it, this should reduce the risk of unnecessary scratches.

Next up... moving the thing into place, a little stand modification, and placing a pond liner under the stand.

 

[sirreal63]

Awesome tank Brother! I am tagging along.

 

[tkeracer619]

Awesome tank Brother! I am tagging along.

Thanks Jack!

 

[tkeracer619]

Moving the Tank into Position and Modifying Stand

Moving the Tank into Position and Modifying Stand

When we moved the tank into the house we got it into the door but no further. We were tired and it would take another set of jigs to get it in place. Nothing about this tank is easy to move around! Putting it into place would have to wait for another day, that day was yesterday. It took 3 trips to the hardware store and ended about 30 minutes after midnight.

The stand has these stupid skids on them made from 1/4" steel plate. They stick out 6 inches from the side of the stand...

While I'm sure they would work great for skiing they would surely make skinning this tank a real pain! I didn't want a 6"+ ledge around the tank so they had to go. I got out the sawzall and a Diable Extreme metal cutting blade. Before cutting them off I needed to get the tank into the air and move it lengthwise across the room. I used two 8 foot 4x6s spanning depth wise under the main I-beams and the 4 hydraulic carts to get it in the air.

...and blocked it up to give the bit room to work.

I then cut off all 4 of the tabs sticking out the ends. :deadhorse: :uzi:

 

[tkeracer619]

Continued...

Continued...

Once the tabs were cut off and the area cleaned up I needed to setup another jig to move the tank against the wall. Since I wanted to slide a sheet of ply (something to shim against) and a pond liner (moisture barrier) under the stand I couldn't actually put the carts under the stand. Since I wanted to put the tank all the way against the wall this also made that not an option.

I made a frame out of two 12 foot 2x8s that sat inside the main 8 foot I-beams. To keep them from slipping out of the I-beams two boards were cut to size and large deck screws were used to secure it all together. I clamped the middle of the 12 footers to keep them from possibly popping out but I think that was probably not necessary. It worked great!

Once the tank was back into the air a buddy helped me move it into it's final resting place. It's really easy to move once on the carts. I ended up giving a foot of extra room on the right side by the door. It looked better than centered because of the door.

Getting ready to cook dinner but afterwards I am hoping to do a little tank cleanup and install the glass plates over the holes that were previously used for a large closed loop.

 

[sirreal63]

Nice job on the cutting! I am jealous of the tank size and possibilities.

 

[BigBlueTang]

Looks great Mark! Can't wait to see it wet


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[tkeracer619]

Thanks guys! Jack, the more I gaze into the tank the more options I see. It has great dimensions! I ran across it by chance... Threw my 6x4x2 acrylic up on craigslist and found out about the 600 from the buyer the next day.

The washer broke, my step stool is too short, and my ladder is too tall :lol:. No point pushing against the grain... Postponing glass work until tomorrow evening.

 

[sirreal63]

Is there going to be enough room for the lighting?

 

[tkeracer619]

Is there going to be enough room for the lighting?

Sure is! There is 17" from tank to ceiling. I need about 12" for the lighting. Not a whole lot of wiggle room but enough to manage .

Cleaning up the tank now. Almost ready to plug the closed loop holes! Should be done by dinner :beer:

 

[tkeracer619]

I finally got around to getting the glass plates to cover up the closed loop holes in. Installing them was the easiest part, prepping the areas took the most time. The previous owner installed sch40 bulkheads in sh80 holes and used silicone to fill the gaps. It made it a real challenge to get the bulkheads out.

First step was to clean up the tank and get rid of loose sand.

There are a total of 6 holes. One large one for a 3" bulkhead and five for 2" bulkheads.

I used razor blades, steel wool, acetone, and dust free towels to make sure the glass was absolutely clean. Any debris is on the other side of the glass...

I have to give Glass Cages credit where credit is due. After getting a $500 quote from one local supplier and another local supplier getting angry with me that I couldn't use half inch glass I turned to glass cages. They were very polite, had a quote to me in an hour, and shipped the glass within 2 hours. I ordered it Friday at 2pm their time and had it on Tuesday! It cost around $160 shipped. The glass has good edges and was packaged really well.

I used a single bead of Momentive RTV108 about 1" from the edge of the plate and pressed them in place. I'll go back in a couple weeks and put a bead around the edges. I don't think it's necessary but will probably still do it.

 

[McPuff]

That's pretty crazy that you weren't able to get a few simple pieces of glass cut locally. Glad that you ended up getting what you needed though. Some companies need to realize that customer service still goes a long way!!

 

[tkeracer619]

Yea, it was crazy. I've used them both before and they were reasonable. This time I was a bit put off. I doubt I'll ever contact the 2nd supplier again. The lady actually yelled at me :lol:.