The Fish Room 500

[pch90265]

Well folks, I've made it to the half-way point of the Fish Room 500... (ie, the race to renevate my office for my 525G tank so I can order it from the fabricator before my wife spends my commission on something else around the house!!!)

Over the last four weeks my 18 x 12 office has been gutted, reinforced, and the drywall is now nearly complete. Since it is no longer just joists and studs I thought I'd show a couple of quick pics. Click on them for the bigger version.

Here's the circa 1940's building exterior, complete with unfinished scratch coat:

<A HREF="http://www.inverttanks.com/newtank/images/office_inprogress1_02132004.jpg"><IMG SRC="http://www.inverttanks.com/newtank/images/office_inprogress1_02132004_low.jpg" border="0"></A>

And, here's the stand for my 525G. It's still in progress -- some joints to level and flesh out -- but will be done in the next week or so. It's 4x6 top and bottom, 2-2x6 per post (eight posts,) and eight 2x6 joists spanning the width under 3/4" ply:

<A HREF="http://www.inverttanks.com/newtank/images/stand_inprogress2_02132004.jpg"><IMG SRC="http://www.inverttanks.com/newtank/images/stand_inprogress2_02132004_low.jpg" border="0"></A>

Look forward to any suggestions/critique!

--Sean--

 

[Twize]

Pch90265
That is looking really good, excited to see this unfold:thumbsup:

 

[mobius9oo]

Sounds like an interesting project. Do you know what kind of equipment you will be using. What about stocking the tank? Any ideas yet? Looks nice, do you happen to be doing any of the work yourself?

 

[pch90265]

Mobius -- Yes, I have a great idea about the equipment... you can look at my "plumbing thread" here:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=311753

As far as the work goes... YES!!! My wife and I have been doing most of the work together. She's into it, which is WAY cool. The only thing I haven't tackled myself is the drywall. I figured it would be cool to do, but the wife insisted we have a contractor do it.

I plan to "ghetto 'fuge" the stock tanks -- ie, install four 150 G Rubbermaid tubs and plumb them into the acrylic sump I'm having built by the same guy who is doing my tank... I found a place that will ship up to ten tubs by motor freight for $65 shippinghttp://www.rubbermaidproducts.com/M...ducts&Category_Code=Farm+Tough%99+Stock+Tanks)

--Sean--

 

[lakersfan0014]

Looks awesome just wondering who is building your tank for you? I think if I had a office like that nothing would ever get done, I'd be staring at the tank all the time.

 

[pch90265]

L8KRSfan...

I'm using Envision Acrylics --

http://www.envisionacrylics.com

-- they built Steve Weasts amazing tank, and do a tremendous amount of work for Public Aquariums. If they're good enough to build all of the Jellyfish tanks for the Monterey Bay Aquarium, I figure they can build my 525!

I won't mention the price, because every quote is custom, but they were WAAAAY better than any of the other quotes I got. I was also really impressed by the way they ship -- they shrink wrap the tank, spray foam over it, and then build a custom crate around the tank/foam. I don't know any other manufacturer that comes close to that kind of care for a shipment...

--Sean--

 

[pch90265]

The Fish Room 500 Continues...

The Fish Room 500 Continues...

Well, I'm a little behind in posting progress, but that's because I've been busy on the room (oh, and with work, paying for the tank... )

Here's the latest. Last weekend I had my brother-in-law's help laying the foundation for the pump shed. He's a Cal Trans Civil Engineer, and has a MS in Structural Engineering, so this puppy came out DEAD-LEVEL. I couldn't believe it. Note the nice 6" drain built into the center of it. I wasn't about to build a fish room with no floor drain...

<IMG SRC="http://www.inverttanks.com/newtank/images/shed_foundation_02172004_low.jpg">

Here's a decent shot of the foundation relative the office that the tank is going in. As I've mentioned elsewhere, this is a detached building that receives no shade above the roof line, so it will have a nice phat 5' x 8' gabled skylight in the next month or so that will shine directly into the tank.

<IMG SRC="http://www.inverttanks.com/newtank/images/shed_and_office_02172004_low.jpg">

You can see a vent left in the side of the office's foundation if you squint hard and look in the shade under the wider window... That's how I'm going to run all of the piping from the shed to the tank. There's a nice 2' x 3' access hole in the foundation right around the corner, so no worries getting under there to hang/plumb all of the fittings.

With the drains coming out at a 1:12 slope I will have roughly five vertical feet from floor to drain where the pipes enter the shed. I'm going to split the 3" return and feed two 150 G Rubbermaid "ghetto fuges," one on either side of the room.

I can't wait to post pics when the stucco is on the building and the shed is in place, it should look awesome!

--Sean--

 

[Strandedthinker]

taggin on this

 

[Sardaukar]

Ya I want to follow this one to completion

 

[shaw]

tagging along on this one, good luck
shawn

 

[SPC]

Looking good Sean!

I'm curious, did your brother in law design the stand?
Steve

 

[pch90265]

All -- thanks for the tags! More to come...

Steve -- Nope, I designed the stand... and he gave it two thumbs way up!!! Man, that was a relief. We've had several "Beer'o'clock" conversations about lateral sheer, vertical sheer, earthquake safety, etc before, during, and since the build.

To finish out the stand I just need to tie the headers to the posts, and secure the plywood deck. After that I still have to get under the office and pour four 12" diameter footers for the additional piers I am putting under the floor. I could get away with two, but I'm a fan of overkill when it comes to my structures holding...

--Sean--

 

[fishsoldseprtly]

looks good

 

[pch90265]

The FLOW of the system...

The FLOW of the system...

Well, rain has forced me to run the Fish Room 500 under a yellow flag the last few days, so I took the time to update my "flow chart" for the system. Here she is:

<IMG SRC="http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/578/17595flowchart.jpg">

I've decided on a number of things over the past few weeks...

1) I'm going to reduce the surge tanks from 2 @ 25G and 1 @ 50G to one tank that's 80 gallons. That will reduce the number of potential "slop overs" from the surge system that may have been caused by all three surges firing at once! It will also make one heck of a surge!!! -- sidenote: yes, I'm leaving room at the top of the tank for that kind of change in running depth, and the sump will be PLENTY big for it too...

2) Reducing the number of surge tanks lets me use my three electric ball-valves differently... I will use my 2" to control the open/close of the surge drain, and the other two to control the surge tank inlets. With that arrangement I can close one 1" port to decrease the frequency of the surge for morning/evening action, and can shut off the surge completely at night. This will let me use one big pump for the whole system...

3) I'm going to flip over to ONE Sequence Power Series 7400GPH pump for the system return (labled "Magnum" in the image, forgot to change that, oops.) I think that's plenty of flow, and reduces the number of parts that could potentially fail.

4) I'll plumb my MD100 off of "wye" connectors on the inlet/outlet pipes for the Sequence. If the Sequence ever fails all I'll need to do is open two ball valves and let the MD100 rip. That should be a decent backup...

5) I'm going to use one of the eight-way rotating devices from Paul, aka "Golf Nut". Man, they are cool. If you haven't seen them, search for a thread by H20ENG with the title "New wavemaker" -- it's a totally insane little unit that I can't wait to plumb in to my system.

6) Since ~6500 GPH will come out of the pump, I'm going to split the rather large drain line (2 x 3", or 1 x 4", haven't decided yet...) three ways. Two outlets will drain into Rubbermaid Ghetto Fuges (aka, 150G Rubbermaid "Farm Tough" Stock Tanks) and the other will spill straight back into the sump.

Hmmm... I'm sure I've thought of more changes, but I'll have to put fingers to keys again later when I remember them.

As always, feedback welcome and appreciated!!!

--Sean--

 

[MERCEDES]

Tagging along, we will be upgrading to about the same size later this summer. Thank you for all of the great pics and diagrams this really helps.

 

[gwrulzmylife]

Curious to what this type of set-up is running. I know my "small" 200 gallon set up has hit the 5k mark, but I paid too much for the tank... you have to shop around!

Looking super though!

 

[pch90265]

gw... are you into Warhammer? Fantasy or 40K??? i've been painting GW units for about 15 years!!!

as for cost... hmmm, good question...

Stucco/drywall/windows/doors to revamp the office -- $3000
Foundation for the shed -- $100
12' x 8' Shed from Lowes -- ???? (under $2000)
8' x 5' Skylight for over the tank -- ???? (not to exceed $2500)
525G tank + 180G sump -- approx $5000 (including delivery charges AND delivery insurance)
Sequence Power Series pump -- $475
3 x 150 G Ghetto Fuge -- $455 (including shipping)
8-way outlet from Paul -- $379
Misc -- under $2500... Most of the other stuff I own already, and am salvaging from existing systems, BUT need a heater, another chiller, gate valves, tee's, etc.

TOTAL... Priceless!!!!!!

--sean--

 

[Zephrant]

Don't forget another set of unions/ball valves around the "magnum" pump. When it fails, you want to be able to remove it from service while the other one is running.

Zeph

 

[DerekW]

Zeph, I take it you don't like the magnum?

 

[sunrider]

i think i'll tag along and keep an eye on progress here to, i want to eventually get a larger tank and like to get ideas....

and pch....your recent price post sounds like a mastercard commercial....cute (even if it might not have been intentional)