Holy reefer!!!! Dd 250 custom

[teesquare]

I had ONE place in the house that the wife would allow for another tank So...I wound up getting a deal on one when someone backed out on a special order from Marineland thru the LFS.
Fortunately - they had not finalized the deal....and I was able to request some custom worlk. I was surprised to find that Marineland now will custom build tanks!

The object was to set this one up with as much of a sump - and pump room in the basement below it as possible.

So - I started with building in the pump room first:

 

[teesquare]

The room is 12' x 16'. I put a floor coating down first - in an attempt to keep the concrete from being punished by the effects of salt water. ( Who ME? Spill water???:spin3 Notice there is a drain in the floor.

And - I caulked the floor/wall intersections prior to coating the floor, to contain my "un-planned water changes"....

 

[teesquare]

So - after the paint died, I hung a clear vinyl curtain - to keep dust out and humidity in. I put in a de-humidifier, and ran the drain line to the floor drain - you can see it below the sump - which is on dollies in this picture.

 

[teesquare]

So here is the sump in it's final resting place. it is polypropylene, and has a total volume of 240 gal.

I trued up the pressure treated 6" x 6" via table saw, so they would be flat. Then placed 3/4" blue styrofoam board on them, then 3/4" plywood. Just gives it support, and evens out any stresses.

I have made some modifications to it, that I will show later.....

 

[teesquare]

Removing one of the "ribs" in the sump. I don't know the history of this sump or the original design intent, (- I got it used for a song - $250!) so -I broke out the Bosch flush cut saw......

And it does a great job !

 

[teesquare]

Just a sneak peak at teh tank design that I am doing all of this crazy stuff for:hmm5::hmm5:

 

[dosequis4]

Tee, I'd like to make humor but instead I have been told I am not appropriate in other threads. That being said I admire your configuration and build and wish to do something along those lines in the future.

Thanks for your time and I apologize in advance if this post is offensive to anyone.

 

[JRF]

Yo T , glad to see you now have a build thread for your awesome set up !! We will all learn a lot from your expertise....:bounce1:
Alan and I will visit soon!

 

[muttley000]

Wow, keep it coming, I love these large build threads

 

[EnglishRebel]

Look forward to seeing it in person next year T. Great build, keep the photos coming.

 

[OgreMkV]

Tagged, I want to see how this one comes out. Now, to convince the missus...

 

[sbleile]

Please excuse me if this sounds like a very stupid question, but what is the vertical cigar looking thing to the left of the sump? Looks to be about 6 ft tall.

 

[coraltastic]

looks like a start up of a soon to be awsome tank.

 

[teesquare]

Thanks guys 9 and girls where appropriate)!!
dosequi4: apprpriate humor? How funny can it be if it is appropriate??? But - hey tag along here, and maybe you can "fine tune" your humor to fit the "management" around here. If it is really funny - and you are concerned about posting - PM me, and I will try to offer what I have learned from getting slapped a few times!:hmm4:
Great to see that I have not bored anyone yet - but...it is early in this thread....so - here come some more pics:

As you can see - I have had to plug some of the pre-existing holes, and drill some new ones.

if you notice the PVC pipe "handle" on the the left front top of the sump, it connects down to the bulkhead that will be on the extreme lower left fron of the vertical face of the sump. There is a PVC ball valve inside, connected to the bulkhead.
This allows me to hook up a hose to the outside of the bulkhead, turn the handel, and drain as much water as I want from the sump.
So I made a short hose that fits into the floor drain. Works well!

 

[teesquare]

Jeff: Thanks! good to see you here! But you give me too much credit - it was all Roscoe's ideas - you can see his "thinking end" in one of the sump pics!:lolspin:
Muttley: thanks Muttley! Welcome here!:fish1:
English Reb: Alan!!!!! thanks for your help and support. You and Jeff have been great sounding boards in all of this, with great input:idea:
Ogre: Try lots of chocolate with the Missus - and the ones that are liquor filled help!:wildone:
sbeile: that NASA sized object is a skimmer...but it really was not intended for this project, I just had to get it out of the way. It is actually designed for Koi ponds in the 10-30,000 gal. range.
coraltastic: thanks for looking in on this! stay tuned!:wave:

And - please ...offer input. While much of what I have done is "fixed" and not easily changed - i welcome ideas about how to do things differently, or better.
There is no ONE WAY to do anything in this hobby.
I also believe because this is our HOBBY - there are no EXPERTS....we are all hobbyists, some with more experience, and some who mayin the process of learning newer ways to do things.
T

 

[cjtice]

Looking Good T2!! Although, it looks much better in person!

 

[teesquare]

WOW...CHRIS!!!!!!You out of jail??? How is the ankle bracelet working out????:lolspin:

Just kidding!
Thanks for stopping by - and thanks for the compliments - stay tuned will ya? And tell those crazies on the local forum to come by please?


Thanks Chris!

T

 

[cjtice]

Well, they didn't lock the door.....

 

[reefman66]

T, looks like its gonna be an awsom tank. Tagging along for the ride! can't wait to see it filled up.:lolspin:

 

[wireefman]

that tank is designed for 1 thing....... lots of flow!!!! cant wait to see the finished product!!!! looks great!!!!!