Mountains of sawdust (360g plywood, LED, Arduino build)

[Flanders]

That's my wife! my elbow is on the edge of the reflection in that glass panel.

Excited? Yes, to the point of losing sleep. Sadly I have to pace myself as summer is a busy time around here.

I did manage to get the stand and hood finished and painted (the portions that will remain exposed, at least.) And the sump is in place. Started cutting pipe for the plumbing. I'm going to be at around 50' of pipe once this tank is plumbed. You know you're off your rocker when you start thinking of 1.5" PVC as "small" for a fish tank. :lol:

holy crap, that looks amazing. I love the white interior.

 

[TheFishMan65]

I was thinking of doing vinyl also. So are the edges turned up? Or there a caulk bead? Or none of the above? Thanks. I have piece now, but it just sits there.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

holy crap, that looks amazing.

Thanks! When are we going to see your build? You probably remember what the 125 looked like there. This already feels much more "permanent" which is exactly what I wanted.

I love the white interior.[/QUOTE]

I feel like the white was one of my biggest "risks" but I'm glad I did it. It's different, and makes the tank feel brighter and more open, for sure. I dunno if you've seen it, but Kent did his 1000g plywood tank with a white interior and even though he feels it turned out kinda yellowish, I still think it looks really good.

I was thinking of doing vinyl also. So are the edges turned up? Or there a caulk bead? Or none of the above? Thanks. I have piece now, but it just sits there.

Edge is flush, I will be doing a silicone bead to seal it to the bottom plates in the stand "walls." The vinyl is directly over the OSB subfloor so it's not pretty at all and might not adhere well longterm but I don't really care. It'll be sealed around the edge and I'm not terribly concerned about bubbles or other "defects" if it starts to lift. $8 worth of vinyl and 20 minutes to install is much more reasonable than $20 - $30 in epoxy and a messy paint/pour process, for sure.

 

[TheFishMan65]

No you weren't supposed to do anything! Then when the tank falls through you can turn the whole basement into a tank. Thanks for the info

 

[Flanders]

Thanks! When are we going to see your build?

it's going to be a fall project. there's just no way I'll get it done this summer. the rock is still soaking in the yard and is about to get bleached, and the stand will likely go together this weekend.

but on some level I still worry that I like the idea of having a tank again more than actually having a tank again. if that makes any sense.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

but on some level I still worry that I like the idea of having a tank again more than actually having a tank again. if that makes any sense.

It makes total sense! That was part of the reason why I decided that if I WAS going to actually have a tank, it had better be a special one to make it worthwhile. No more compromises based on off the shelf components or what vendors think I need/want. Based on the plans you were telling me about your tank, it sounds like you have a similar approach.

 

[kcress]

So you are doing something to keep any spill inside the box made by the stand base and the floor?

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

The floor will be sealed to the 2x4 bottom frame with silicone. Otherwise, nope. If more than 10 - 20 gallons gets in there, it'll spill out the door and onto the carpet. I'll have leak detector alarms, connected to the controller which will be networked, so in theory I'll know within minutes if a leak happens.

 

[nanonubey]

Very cool.

 

[kcress]

Oh, that was all I meant. That would contain the typical drip that starts or the bonehead spill you initiate while working on the system.

You just don't want a gallon spill ending up under your flooring or soaking into your carpet.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Definitely!

There are going to be at least a few "penetrations" through the floor for electrical and plumbing from the basement. I will probably cut them to fit tight around whatever conduit I use, then seal them with silicone, too.

 

[Rybren]

How about adding a drain to the under cabinet area? If you're already making a bunch of holes, what's one more? :lmao:

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

How about adding a drain to the under cabinet area? If you're already making a bunch of holes, what's one more? :lmao:

That's not a terrible idea. I'd rather have water draining into the damp unfinished basement than spilling onto the finished floor upstairs.

 

[stugray]

"That's not a terrible idea. I'd rather have water draining into the damp unfinished basement than spilling onto the finished floor upstairs."

Install a floor drain in the bottom to the basement, then run it over to the basement drain.

Then you have a place to dump water change water.

Stu

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

My basement floor IS a floor drain. The whole thing. :lol: It's mostly dirt - water just seeps out through it. This house is 200 years old, the foundation is mostly dry-fit stone.

That said, I DO need to plumb some sort of gray-water drain for RO waste and water change waste. I see no reason to put all that water in my aging septic system. So I may implement a sump to run all those drain lines to, then use a sump pump to pump the water somewhere[i/] - out in to the yard or something. . .

 

[amcarrig]

Sorry if you mentioned this already and I just missed it but since your basement floor is mostly dirt and I assume that you'll be putting the sump/refugium down there, will you have to build some sort of structure/stand to keep the sump, etc., level. Or, did you and your OCD-ish tendencies find a way to get that dirt floor perfectly level :lol:

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Halfway down this page I posted some shots of the various things I'll have in the basement. The sump will NOT be in the basement - it's going right under the stand as pictured recently.

However, in the basement I have:

1) RO/DI unit mounted to a piece of plywood screwed to the stone wall with concrete anchors
2) An old stand from a 60g tank, sitting on concrete blocks. I poured little pads of concrete under each block to give them a level footing. On top of this stand are the two Brute containers that will serve as RO/DI storage and saltwater storage
3) Two 4x4 posts supporting the two large beams directly under the tank. For these, I dug out a few inches of dirt, set a 60 lb concrete pier block in the hole, and poured concrete around the block to lock it in place.

So yeah, in the few spots where I have stuff touching the floor down there, I've poured concrete to level those areas. I poured a 6" tall concrete pad down there for the washer and dryer when we moved in. There were existing pads for the furnace, water heater, existing posts, and a small floor area near the stairs. Soon, I will have little concrete pads covering the whole floor and no dirt left!

 

[amcarrig]

Well, that answers that question Is there any particular reason why you can't/don't want to put the sump/refugium in the basement or did you answer that on another page of this thread as well? I suppose I could go look but this dang thread is sooooo long :lol:

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

I'm just wondering, since you live in a cold winter climate and the basement flooring is dirt, do you get any heaving from the ground in there or does the residual warmth from the house keep the basement floor from reaching freezing temperatures?

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Well, that answers that question Is there any particular reason why you can't/don't want to put the sump/refugium in the basement or did you answer that on another page of this thread as well? I suppose I could go look but this dang thread is sooooo long :lol:

Early on I was assuming I would put the sump in the basement. I decided not to based on two criteria: energy savings, and convenience.

Regarding energy costs, if I want "X" flow through the sump, the wattage of pump that's required when the sump is 3' below the tank vs 7' goes up by a factor of about two. I'd need a 200 - 300w pump, instead of a 100 - 150w pump. Also, the basement is pretty cold. Considering the large water volume and low equipment/wattage on this build, I'm already worried my heaters will be running non-stop. Putting the sump in the basement would mean even more heating demand.

Plus, there's a convenience factor based on the frequency of use for various components in the system. The sump is something I'll need to access on a regular basis. The stuff in the basement is all equipment related to less frequent activities. This means fewer trips up and down the stairs on a regular basis, since the sump is upstairs.

I'm just wondering, since you live in a cold winter climate and the basement flooring is dirt, do you get any heaving from the ground in there or does the residual warmth from the house keep the basement floor from reaching freezing temperatures?

Nope, the floor is well below the frost line. It's pretty much dead stable both dimensionally and temperature-wise. Purely on account of being deep enough, not from the home's influence. Despite being really old, this basement is pretty deep. I can stand up and have a good 6" above my head.