Restarting my 200 Build Thread

[fillibar]

So a few years ago I picked up an ~200 Gallon aquarium. It was used for freshwater then became a reef tank. I put a lot of time and effort into it. Unfortunately it crashed shortly before Christmas in 2010...

Here it is in 2012 and we have moved into a new house. Part of the deal was we find a spot to put it and I get it running again. This thread is to detail that process. I have already put a bunch of work into it but need to consolidate pictures and get that worked out.

To get things started I ordered a custom stand, canopy, and side cabinet from Joe (JOESWOODWORKS). I must admit that the build quality is amazing. Joe listened to my rambling about what I wanted, made a couple calls to confirm what I said in email, corrected me on a couple errors, and made these pieces that even my wife approves of. PM him if you are in the market.

Here are the completed three pictures of what Joe built, before I even picked them up (yes, he lets you know as he goes). I will add some of the "during" process on request.
Stand and canopy closed and together:

Stand with the front panel removed to show the inside:

Side cabinet to hide plumbing and access to the back:

 

[EllieSuz]

Keep 'em coming.

 

[LetsGetTanked]

How long did it take him to make that for you? They look really nice

 

[fillibar]

It took Joe about 2 weeks if I remember correctly but I bet he could have done it quicker if I was prepared. We were not even moved in yet when I first contacted him and got the plan started. He had it ready long before I could do anything more than just admire it.

 

[fillibar]

We picked a corner of our new family room as the location for the tank. As it has a concrete slab, the only weak point is the air handling running through it but that is ~6 inches down and only goes across one edge of the tank by the wall.

First thing to do was to cut out the carpet after I picked up the pieces from Joe so I could test fit the area and make sure it is all perfect.

Somehow the pictures of the next steps I took are missing, so I have to use a much later picture and describe what it took to get it there...
1) After the carpet was removed the entire area was scraped, sanded, and carefully cleaned.
2) An epoxy primer was put down.
3) The whole area was coated with grey epoxy. Twice. Including ~1 inch under the carpet.
4) The carpet was retacked. This involved a large amount of construction adhesive as well as the concrete nails it came with.
5) The tack strip edge and entire bottom edge of the wall were sealed with a substantial layer of waterproof caulk.
6) A trim was added to transition from the cement to the carpet and to protect the carpet edge. This was also repeatedly sealed with caulk. In all there are ~5 different "layers" of caulk to help with water spills.
7) The heat vent was caulked repeatedly around the original opening and metal flashing.
8) A section of trim was put around the opening to raise it up and caulked.
9) Heat vent was replaced.
10) A new set of electrical outlets was added (with GFCI of course) and the original one was sealed off.
11) A set of Cat6 ports were added for future proofing and tank monitoring. An IOBridge can be seen connected presently although it is not doing anything at this moment (the X10 module it was testing failed and I am waiting for replacements, no the tank will not have X10 this just happened to be some of the first Cat6 ports I got active).

 

[fillibar]

Sorry about these next two pictures. They were taken with a cellphone in low light... and are basically impossible to retake. They show the stand and cabinet in place without the aquarium or canopy. Since the aquarium weighs a few hundred lbs (couple hundred kg) I wanted to make sure everything was set. The first picture shows a corner view (also has the stand front cover off) and the second shows the side view.

 

[fillibar]

Last two pictures for today, with the cabinet out while I work behind the tank. First is the stand with aquarium and canopy on top and the front panel in place.

The second picture shows more of a corner view of the same.

The tank still needs a good cleaning after having been sitting for so long. I also need to do a lot of plumbing assembly. The 2 large holes (2") will be used for drains and the 4 (1") holes will be used for the returns. I plan on connecting the 1" returns so they are paired and I only have to put 4 holes for plumbing overall.

I also need to get some pictures of the basement portion of this project.

 

[petere1989]

looks like its gonna be fun. subscribed

 

[fillibar]

Sorry, no new pictures yet but I did complete the following:
1) Finished electrical in the basement. There are now the 4 outlets behind the tank itself and 3 sets of 4 in the basement behind the wall for the tank. Every one of those 4 sets is on its own GFCI. 16 overall outlets might seem like an awful lot (it is) but it helps accommodate wall warts, watt meters, and other oddities. I may be breaking it into two separate circuits in the future. Let me know your opinions on that.
2) Bulkhead plugs and valves have filled all the openings in the sump. When I bought it originally it had a couple pre-drilled holes and I added more with my last setup. Now I do not need as many and need to block them. Annoying.
3) Returns inside tank with loc-line ends have been added. There are the 4 of them, each loc-line is 3/4". I really wish they made a 1" loc-line. My attempts at making loc-line with my 3D printer have not been satisfactory (for water) yet.
4) Initial piecing together of 2" parts for the drains. I did a bunch of solvent work to get some pieces made.

 

[Brian Reef]

Looking good ��

 

[Brian Reef]

New build

New build

Looking good

 

[Henry Colf]

Lookin good, keep the updates coming!!

 

[tent boy]

Its always so helpful to see the different ways to install tanks. Always seems like they are a little different. Thanks for taking the time to document it with the pictures.

 

[Conesus_Kid]

Looks great! I'm looking forward to watching this come together. Any specific stocking plans yet?

 

[fillibar]

Got some more time to take pictures and get work done this weekend. First off a picture of the basement electrical I mentioned:

 

[fillibar]

Next came a test positioning of the sump in the corner below the electrical.

This is pre-cleaning of the sump and before I filled all the bulkheads.

 

[fillibar]

Here is the majority of the last week's work... Plumbing. I am running 2 drain pipes that are 2". I am also running 2 return lines that are 1.5" through the wall, however they will have different sizes before and after.

First off is the four holes. There is surprisingly little space that is actually available:

Next came getting the main drain running down. I plan on putting a few Ts on it for future proofing.

 

[fillibar]

Behind the tank itself I have all the bulkheads "plugged" with their true union valves and bends. The main drain is visible running down as is the secondary. All 4 returns are visible. As I said before drains are 2". The returns are all 1" although that goes to a 1.5" Y before running to the basement.
There is also a visible (but readily corrected mistake) in my plumbing in this picture. The closest return actually has to bend 90 degrees away from the camera to make it narrow enough for the cabinet (there is only a 4" gap behind that particular bulkhead). Even that gap is purely there because Joe was smart enough to ask and be able to correct it. Thanks again Joe!

 

[fillibar]

Here is that same area but with both of the main return lines connected. As you can see the 1.5" pipe comes in and splits to the 2 smaller 1" pipes. Probably not the most efficient and some people will probably give me a hard time... but it seems like it should work well enough and is actually an improvement over my previous pipe work the last time this tank was set up. There is also an odd bend to the 2nd return 1" section... due to having to loop around the 2" drain.

Here is what it currently looks like from in front of the tank:

 

[fillibar]

Final shot for tonight and the final piece I am working on tonight is a test of the sump. I filled it up a bit higher than the regular use expected and have my Fluval FX5 running on it for a while to circulate the water in it. Trying to clean off any last dust as well as test all the bulkheads. Couple drips from one early on but that was easy to correct. The Fluval will likely stay there to become a general canister for various uses rather than filtration. Also visible is the return line. The main pump is a Mag12 at this time. Thus the pipe leading up to the 1.5" section is only 3/4" since that is what the Mag12 uses. However I put it into the true union and can readily swap it out for a larger pipe if needed.

Other notes... I bought a used Neptune Apex and it should be arriving tomorrow according to the tracking (it hit the Henrietta distribution center Saturday). With all of power ports that will give me (I will have 2 Energy Bars) my outlets are looking further redundant. Oh well. I also ordered new Ph and Temperature probes for it. I had been debating about making an Arduino-based control system but decided the time and energy of doing it (I have plenty of controllers and parts) was better spent working on the tank itself and the many other projects in the new house (let alone the holiday season).