Haffs09 370gal Tank Build...Finally!

[Haffs09]

Making sure my tanks are clean

Making sure my tanks are clean

Prior to the drilling, I wanted to make sure my tanks were clean for use in a reef system. The 125 gal I got from a local RC member whose daughter had used it to house bearded dragons. A couple of areas looked pretty nasty. I filled it up with water and dumped in a couple gallons of bleach in it and let it sit for couple months. During that time, I performed multiple hot water changes to make sure everything was okay. When I worked at a LFS, we would soak our micron filters in bleach overnight and then rinse them out in hot water. That seemed to work pretty well, so I was confident in my cleaning procedure.

The 55 gal I picked up on craigslist from a guy who used it to house turtles. It was nice because it was one of the older, thick glass tanks, so I was pretty confident it wasn't tempered. It's pretty tough finding a 55 gal that isn't tempered, and that's why I went with the 60 gal for the other tank. Anyhow, I wasn't happy with the way the seams of the tank looked, so I decided to give it a good cleaning and then reseal it.

Silicone removed and ready for some TLC

Trying to improve on past silicone jobs, I decided to tape off the corners to get clean lines. It worked pretty well!

 

[Haffs09]

Basement tanks complete

Basement tanks complete

 

[Haffs09]

House project

House project

One of the house projects that kept me busy over the summer was replacing 7 windows in my house. This one was a big one at 9.5' wide and needed to be completed before the tank could be put in final position.

 

[nuccadoc]

Wow! Amazing build! I love the idea of using the floor vents to cover up the holes. I was going to ask why you just didn't build a wall and make the setup a built-in, but then I saw that the tank was too deep. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Rouselb]

I take a 1/4" hardboard and use the hole saw to cut a hole in it. I then tape that to the glass tank and use it as a guide to hold the saw in place. You can still add water if you tape it up well. Nice build.

 

[Haffs09]

Moving the stand in position

Moving the stand in position

With the window complete, I was able to move the stand in position. You can see what I mentioned earlier about the 2x6's in front and moving the extra 2x4s to the back.

The finished cherry pieces were complete by this time. Getting a taste of the finished product:

A close up of the tower door:

 

[Haffs09]

Thanks for the comments nuccadoc!

Rouselb - nice tip. Unfortunately I didn't think of using a guide at the time. I keep that in mind if I have to drill again!

 

[Haffs09]

Fast forward to October '09...tank lift!

Fast forward to October '09...tank lift!

The actual act of getting the tank off the cart onto the stand concerned me quite a bit. The act of lifting a 730lb glass box and setting it on a stand presented a whole bunch of issues, especially since I had to have the tower on the stand and then slide the tank into the overflow cutout. My main concern was over everyone's safety and then that of damaging the tank.

Here I am prepping for the move. The black straps are 2" wide and hopefully, would give my help something to hold on to.

We decided to lift up the tank one side at a time and block it. When high enough, we would slip long 2x4s under the tank and rest it on the stand. Then we would push the tank on the stand, and then slide it back into the overflow cutout. This worked out extremely well.

Prepping the blocks

Block #1. The external overflow made it tough to get good leverage.

Next side

Installing the second block on my side

At the right height

Sliding in the 2x4s to slide the tank over

Sliding the tank over

Almost in place

In place on the stand

 

[solRNY]

wow your basement setup is very prestine, i am enjoying watching your fast forward build very much, learning at the same time its great that you keep taking photos of every step, i see now why it took so long to upload

 

[Haffs09]

I put furniture mover pads under the four corners of the stand. This allowed me to move the tank into place.

I ordered the tank with black vinyl cladding to put along the back of the tank. For some reason, I thought if the cladding was installed at the factory, it may hinder moving the tank. In hindsight, I should have had the cladding installed by Miracles, for two reasons: 1) It would not have hindered the move, it would have actually protected the back glass. The tank incurred a scratch about 1-1.5" inches long in the back corner during the lift. I forgot to have everyone remove their watches, belt buckles, etc... In its current position, it won't ever be noticed. 2) I screwed up installing it and it was damage beyond repair. Spending 5 minutes searching online would have taught me the essentials of installing the stuff. So...I ended up ordering some blackout window tint and installed it. For a first timer, it came out okay. We'll see how it looks when the halides are on.

 

[Haffs09]

solRNY - I ended up uploading files that are too large to display so you can see the full pic without scrolling. I loaded everything to a flickr account, and am inserting them from there. There may be better servers for this but it's working well for me!

More to come tomorrow...

 

[HASBRO]

Great build! love it when a tank build is heavy with pics.

 

[backdraft79]

Very sweet!

 

[Haffs09]

Thanks guys!

 

[Haffs09]

Shimming the stand

Shimming the stand

With the tank on the stand, the next project was to shim the stand. I debated how to do it for a while and in the end I went with regular wood shims. I've read large tank threads where people have used both plastic and wood successfully. So, another weekend spent shimming the tank....

I trimmed the front edges ~5/8"

The back side

 

[Haffs09]

Fill 'er up!

Fill 'er up!

With the tank level, it was time to fill it up for a leak test. This happened this past February.

I kept water in the tank for 4-5 weeks and everything went pretty well. Derek and I are exchanging emails about some marks that appeared along the vertical seams as it filled. After a week or so, they faded away. Once we figure out what was happening, I'll clue you in.

Overall, I was able to get the tank level within 1-1.5mm both left to right and front to back. Almost over 8ft in the one direction, I was quite pleased!

With water in the tank, I also did my "rock" test. From my learings with the basement stand, I figured, I wouldn't be happy with the results, since the tank wasn't skinned. Sure enough, I could get a little rock in it, so I secured several of the back vertical members to studs in the wall. In order for any damage to occur without the reinforcement, someone would really have to push/pull to get the thing moving. Is it likely to occur? Over my dead body, but you never know, and again, wood and screws are cheap.

 

[Capt_Cully]

That thing's NO JOKE. Nice. How are you going to combat humidity in basement? You gonna vent it? Dehumidifier? make that corner into a "fish room"?

 

[Haffs09]

Capt - The first line of defense is to keep the tanks covered up with glass tops. Secondly, there's a dehumidifier down there. If those don't work, or if the humidifier is on all the time, I'll vent the basement. It's only 25'x25', so it shouldn't take much.

If I have any issues with O2 / pH, I'll rethink the way I have it setup. Maybe, have the skimmers air intake come from the great outdoors!

 

[Haffs09]

Canopy stuff

Canopy stuff

The last canopy I built, was stained and polyurethaned. After several years, it was obvious the wood was breaking down in the humid environment. This time around, I wanted to make sure any wood exposed to open water would be protected from the humid environment that's typical over our tanks. The supply and exhaust air would probably handle my concerns, but I wanted to make sure this would last a long time. So, I picked up a gallon of the West System with the fast hardener and went to town! I coated the inside of my canopy, inside the side tower, the backside of the front panel and the backside of two cabinet doors with several coats. I am very pleased with the end result. You'll see the shiny reflection in from the epoxy in my canopy pics. Unfortunately, I can't find any pics of this part of the project.

The main structure of the canopy was made out of 3/4" birch plywood. To attach the front panel to the box, I initially purchased a 6' stainless piano hinge from Grainger. I never ended up using it because my father-in-law went dumpster diving at work and found a brand new Roton aluminum continuous geared hinge. It's a very heavy duty hinge and the model I have can hold up to 250lbs! It put the piano hinge to shame! To accommodate the hinge, I took a router to the face of the canopy. I reinforced the backside of the canopy where the hinge will be attached with a strip of 3/4" pine that was screwed and epoxied too.

It fit like a glove!

Getting the canopy was a little tricky, but we succeeded. Here I am screwing the side tower into the canopy.

Here's the hinge in action.

Right now, I use a 2x4 to support it. I'll look into getting some sort of lid opener to keep it open. Maybe a gas spring or something like that.

 

[Haffs09]

Plumbing, plumbing and more plumbing!

Plumbing, plumbing and more plumbing!

I completed all the major plumbing this past March. I finally had several consecutive weekends I could dedicate to the project.

We'll start with the return plumbing from the overflow.

The top of the tower (I still need to connect my exhaust duct.)

The overflow itself.

The main overflow is via a 2" drain. A 1.5" serves as an emergency overflow, and I plan to throttle the 2" line with a gate valve in the basement to help with the noise. The extra 1.5" line is extra for now. If the emergency drain can't handle full flow, then it may be commissioned as another e-drain. Or, I may use it to feed a future skimmer directly. There are many options!

Coming through the bottom of the tower.

Making the turn towards the basement.

For pipe supports, I decided to use split ring hangers, all thread and the associated hardware. I sprayed the pieces that will be over splash areas with rustoleum in hopes it will help prevent rust. I'm very happy with the end result. These pipes aren't going anywhere!

Through the floor into the basement.

Along the floor joist.

The diverter valve is what excites me most about my plumbing design. If it works as planned, in-line water changes will be a snap!

Water then will overflow into the 125 gal sump.

Here's another shot where you can see the overflow from the upper tanks. Along the wall is the 1.5" e-overflow that will also drain the refugium. Hmm...I'll need to make sure I don't back flow into the fuge in the event of an emergency. I'll get that on the checklist when it comes to water test time.