LUNATIC FRINGE-Duel 500g tanks, 1600g total

[good_reefer]

I built a 1200 sq foot movie theater in my house so I should know the drill. Do all the research on the project you are about to build....multiply the time you truly believe it will take by 2. Then add another 20%.

Normally you would build the top rectangle, then the bottom and connect the two. However, some problems with that method on this build....first, because of the size it has to be built on site. Second, the floor is off about 1.5 inches over the 20 feet and last, I don't have an army to help me with this...

So I started by putting the primed and painted (for moisture control) LVL directly on the wall...balls dead level. I connected the bottom plate against the wall...then the legs and then built around it....finished the bottom...then started to connect the rest of the legs. On the left side the leg was close to 1.3 inches longer then the one on the other end...but it is level all the way around. I am going to finish tomorrow.....maybe.

Not to critique ... and you sure look like you know what your doing .... but... I would add support on the back wall ... with 2x4 every 2' or so

just fyi ... im sure your already adding support .. but I thought I would throw it out there

 

[FuzzyZipperbaum]

I have been trying to decide what to do with the waste water which will be substantial even with my 2 to 1 ratio. I thought about setting up an outdoor system with a float valve that would water my palms and plants....but I decided to drain it to my pool which I need to add water to weekly anyway..... You can see the repaired concrete in the middle and where the pipe is still visible...we are running it under the floor to the back yard and then under the pavers to the pool skimmers.

 

[FuzzyZipperbaum]

Not to critique ... and you sure look like you know what your doing .... but... I would add support on the back wall ... with 2x4 every 2' or so

just fyi ... im sure your already adding support .. but I thought I would throw it out there

Oh yea....should be done with that today...I lagged bolted the frame to the back wall which has 2x6 studs to transfer a little weight and then I have 2x4's every 16 to 24" on center.

 

[FuzzyZipperbaum]

Stand is done....well the skeleton at least.... I calculated the numbers and the stand can hold over 550,000 pounds of vertical strength. I used white pine in the calculations and not LVL or yellow pine which is what the stand which means my vertical numbers above are actually low.

Stand notes... I have done pocket screws many times but not on this build. My concern was not strength but stiffness. Thus I bulked up a bit in a few spots. I used Simpson ties in a few spots including the cross beams in the form of "buckets". I also used some straight ties and tees.

I am a HUGE fan of glue. No not sniffing it. But the nails or screws (no nails in this build) only hold stuff together till the glue dries. I used Gorilla glue in areas where things did not match up perfectly. This glue is very strong and expands....however it is very messy to work with and to clean up. I used wood glue on all clean cut wood connects. I used Locite PL 375 on all large areas or places where I needed some time to work.

 

[FuzzyZipperbaum]

This is close to 20' long. The TV is 55" for comparison.

 

[FuzzyZipperbaum]

I am going to finish with the black paint tomorrow night. I am also painting the back wall up to 84" with a gloss clear coat for protection against water or salt creep.

If I were to change anything on the stand it would be to put the bottom plywood on BEFORE I put the supporting legs in. I could have put 2 full pieces down instead of having to cut them up to get them in. Strength with either method is not a problem.

Lastly some good and bad news. The good news is that Coral Corral is delivering the tanks tomorrow morning.

Bad news 1...I am not nearly as far as I had hoped to take advantage of this.

Bad news 2. I thought I had an ace in the hole in terms of getting them to the second floor. I moved a 1000 pound safe to the 3rd floor of a house using 3 people, 20 baseballs and an elevator.

I was going to use the elevator and the baseballs to move the tanks to the second floor. However, I just realized that I completely forget that I had OUTSIDE filter boxes and thus will be 2" too tall to get them in. I now don't know what I am going to do to get them up to the second floor. Working on some ideas.

also about to start working on lighting. I am going with LED but I know they are going to drop strongly in price in the next 12 months...but I cant wait that long..... so off to finding some threads on the topic.

 

[Aquatron]

Looking really good! following Gonna be a show piece.

 

[FuzzyZipperbaum]

Tanks came and are down stairs...more on that later.

Since I cant get them upstairs yet...I decided to work on the rock. I have about 2000# of super premium Zipperbaum rock.

I had a ton of time to kill in the planning stages so I made my own. I studied all of the "recipes" Garf, RC....everywhere. In the end I settled on different combinations of crushed oyster (bought 3 yards), Portland cement and then some rock salt and crushed coral. I was somewhere around 3.5 material to 1.5 cement... I eventually could look at the oatmeal mix and figure out what I needed more of. If someone has an interest I will post more on that....but I used my kids sand box for the forms.

Once the rock was made I then relied on the services of mother nature and placed it all in the Tampa Bay behind my house. Some was there for over a year.... They have tons of oyster, barnacle...and other goodies that have added to them.... Very happy with the results.... They were then bleached for a week...left to dry for a month and then placed in Rubbermaid tubs the last 6 months.

 

[FuzzyZipperbaum]

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[FuzzyZipperbaum]

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[FuzzyZipperbaum]

 

[erics3000]

Nice rock

 

[KafudaFish]

I think that shoe is photo bombing the rock.

 

[muttley000]

Love the rock! I personally would really like to hear more abut how you did it! How awesome is getting to cook your rock in the ocean! The barnacles and stuff that grew on it just make it that much better!

 

[FuzzyZipperbaum]

Love the rock! I personally would really like to hear more abut how you did it! How awesome is getting to cook your rock in the ocean! The barnacles and stuff that grew on it just make it that much better!

Thanks....I will try and update this weekend. My 10 year old is playing in a State chess tournament and there is NOTHING more boring than sitting in small rooms with other parents for 20 hours this weekend during the matches so I will have plenty of time...

 

[FuzzyZipperbaum]

everything looks great
ROCK is amazing

Thanks

Since I cant move the tanks right now...I played with some designs...this is the Garnet side (FOWLR). Glove is a large for scale....

close up of the right side...

Middle

This is the "turtle" as the kids call it...it is close to 24" long.....

This will be the view from the long side...back....the turtle is on the right and the hole or cave you see goes all the way through to the other side

 

[FuzzyZipperbaum]

Tank is in place...pics and story later...but while it is fresh in my head....DRILLING a tank thoughts:

"¢ If you have more than 3-4 holes to drill get the best hole saw bit you can afford....A new bit you will go through wood and acrylic in 40 seconds....towards the end of its life....5-10 minutes per hole and lots of smoke....

"¢ I love cordless drills but if you have a corded drill...use it...You will eat batteries and recharge them more than a few times....and I have a very good cordless drill.

"¢ Remember that you will need 2 hole saws for each hole. You will have one that fits the actually hole in the tank for the bulkhead...and one that has to be bigger that will be used to drill the hole in the top of the stand. The wood hole has to be big enough to get your fingers into the hole to screw the bulkhead in...you can build a tool to screw it in...use a large piece of PVC and cut holes in the top that fit the flange...but you do risk over tightening and you still have to drill a bigger hole in the wood anyway.

"¢ If you want an idea of how hot the sun is....touch the hole saw after you have drilled a hole in acrylic!

"¢ It is obviously easier to have a company drill the holes in the overflow and CL for you. I had them do the overflow but I was unsure where I wanted the holes for the closed loop. When the stand was done I glued white Styrofoam on the top of the stand and then used a marker to draw where I wanted the rock and subsequently the holes. From there I drilled a hole with a small wood bit in the center of where I wanted each hole and then used the larger hole saw to drill out the top holes. Once the tank was in place I drilled up through the bottom of the stand in the middle of the cut out hole into and through the tank....this was my guide to drill the tank from above. Important note here...do NOT guess where the hole should be in the acrylic by looking through it from above into the wood hole below....because of the thickness of the glass, you will have some deflection of view and not put the hole in the center...

 

[SPotter]

Amazing build! would love to see pictures of the tanks!

 

[Commandoe]

I'm hooked, nice details and instructions!

 

[180gFO]

fish stores

fish stores

I have heard of coral corral but what are the other 4, me and the wife don't mind the drive from Ocala if we can make a day of it thanks Eric