rEd86's 700g office tank.

[melev]

Do you have access to a bunch of suction cups?

 

[rEd86]

I purchased four on eBay about a year ago but I was told they suck. The really good ones are the type that you "pump" in order to form a vacuum, verses the kind I got that are just flipping a lever to form a simple vacuum. (that's not that strong) The really good ones are also $50-$60 each used.

I am going to check and see if I can rent any cheaply - not likely but something I am going to look into.

--Ed

 

[melev]

If you can rent or borrow them (check with your LFSs too), it will make this task SO much easier. My LFS bought a few, and they are always being used by DFWMAS members.

And yes, you want the pump-ones.

 

[Wheel of Time]

Okay Ed -- its Sunday afternoon. Time to get those snap shots of the progress for the weenend uploaded into rc. Im looking forward to the seeign the tank's progress. Hopefully you got a real nice portion of the move done. Smart move making all the ro/di water well in advance! Any losses in transit?

fingers crossed it all went well.
-- Seth

 

[rEd86]

Strange. I've tried to post this a couple of times and it's failed. (thought I posted it yesterday) Here we go again.

--Ed

---------------------------
OK, I'm through with day one. The RO water is taking longer to produce than expected so I am probably going to turn this two day project into a three day project. (plus I had some things to do with the kids so I only worked for half the day today)

Most of the stand frame is built. I have a few more vertical support braces to bolt, and I have two layers of plywood to put on the top so there's still about two hours of work left.

First I framed in the top and bottom (left and right):

Those are 2x10 lumber, the dimensions are 120"x37.75". I recessed 3.5” 3/8” lag bolts to hold everything together.

Then I attached the first four legs to the top (I built it upside down) then I lifted the bottom and dropped it on the supports and bolted those to the legs. This is where I left it off before heading home to spend the evening with the kids:

I meant to take a close-up of the legs but I forgot to do so before I left. A shorter 2x10 is resting between the top & bottom. Then I liquid nailed & bolted a 2x8 behind that which extends to 1" from the top and bottom of the stand.

I plan on mounting similar 2x8 braces on the ends and lag-bolting the 2x10 to them (to have a strong corner) and add a 2x10 brace in the middle on the front and back.

I will skin the stand with 1/2" plywood once it's up and running. I haven't decided on color - something darker but not too dark. (cherry or walnut)

I took the hood off the 265g and did some other minor prep work but decided to wait to empty it until the morning since I am not going to fill the 700g until Monday.

I also organized all my plumbing today and confirmed I have all the pieces that I need when I plumb everything tomorrow. I've been doing this for a couple of days, changing my mind about things and buying other plumbing to reflect the modified design. I like taking my time on plumbing since I always tweak things as I see it all laid out. I was so busy with the stand that I forgot to take some pictures. I will do that first thing tomorrow when I get in.

Day one was a success - only two more to go! More pictures to come tomorrow.

--Ed

 

[summer6]

It's going to be amazing to watch this tank progress...looking forward to it!

 

[rEd86]

OK, day two is over. First, a big THANK YOU to all the people that helped with moving the new tank into place:

It was a crazy day. The next few posts will document the process.

--Ed

 

[rEd86]

So here is a close-up of the bracing from the inside:

I woke up at 5am so I could get a few hours in before having to head home and make "daddy breakfast" for the kids. I was able to get the framing finished and ripped the plywood top, but I wanted a couple of the professionals to sign off on my work. (they build houses for a living.) I'll show the completion of the stand frame and then jump back to breaking down the old tank.

So the next few photos show us putting down two layers of 3/4" plywood. Liquid nails and real nails hold it all together. There is a seam so we staggered it on each end.

Two sheets of plywood are secure, so Kevin's drilling in long screws to tie everything together:

And cutting out the holes for the overflows/returns:

And the Styrofoam top is on:

--Ed

 

[strayvoltage]

Everything is really looking good. That stand should hold up an army tank. I only see one thing that could be questionable, the use of OSB/wafer board rather than a good hard wood plywood, oak or maple.

I just think the edges of the oak or maple plywood would hold up better to any moisture than the OSB. I assume you are going to be sealing the edges of the top in some way, so maybe it will not be an issue. Again, looks great.

 

[melev]

Nice progress so far. :thumbsup:

Since OSB is used for second floor decking as well as for roofing, I don't see it being a problem.

 

[rEd86]

So when I got back from breakfast I was ready to start breaking down the tank. First I dump about 100g of fresh salt water into my sump and let that mix with the existing system for about an hour while I got everything organized. Then I started pumping water out of the tank, into a couple of tubs.

This 65g (I think) tub is where I put my clams and a few corals:

I cleared out a lot of live rock from my sump so that I had a place to put many of the smaller corals.

Once the corals were out it was time to net the fish. Having the water down to this level made it easy to catch them all.

I also filled up a 100g tub with a pump on it with clean water that would eventually hold my fish. I added some live rock to give them some places to hide:

And here is the tank almost empty. I moved it by the sump room and I am going to use the tank to rinse the sand.

So now the area is clear for the new tank.

More to come.

--Ed

 

[Bax]

Great progress!

It's awesome that you have so many helpers!

 

[rEd86]

OK, so now it's time to get the new tank in place. It turns out lifting this from the floor was a LOT harder than lifting it off the stand where we picked it up from.

So we got on all sides and LIFTED WITH OUR LEGS:

And moved it over to the stand:

and slid it on center:

That monster is in the stand - now we have to move it into it's final space.

More to come...

--Ed

 

[rEd86]

Now we slid the whole thing over to its final location:

All lined up.

And here we are:

I'm out of here for the night. Lots of work tomorrow to get this plumbed and stocked.

--Ed

 

[TandN]

wheres the equiptment going ?

 

[melev]

That looks great, Ed. A lot of those faces looked more pink then the first image portrayed.

The equipment is in the sump room, behind that wall the tank is pressed against.

 

[rEd86]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14670038#post14670038 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
That looks great, Ed. A lot of those faces looked more pink then the first image portrayed.

Thanks Marc. Yea, we were all a little pink after that. Getting it off the ground was the hardest part since grabbing it was difficult and you don't have a lot of leverage. Between building the stand, moving everything and getting that tank in place, my muscles can feel it today.

I'll post a few more pictures tonight once I plumb everything in.

Later!

--Ed

 

[Beaun]

Are the overflow holes on the "wall side"and the return holes on the "open side"? Or is it going to be a mix (some overflow some returns on each)?

 

[serenity]

wow this should be fun to watch, so far so good. is there going to be a sump room?

 

[rEd86]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14671829#post14671829 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Beaun
Are the overflow holes on the "wall side"and the return holes on the "open side"? Or is it going to be a mix (some overflow some returns on each)?

The overflow & return are on the wall side. Originally there was an overflow box on the other end as well, but I wanted this tank to be a penensula. I removed the glass for the overflow and will be turning the remaining three holes into a closed loop system instead.

--Ed