Third Time's A Charm!
- Thread starter dascharisma
- Start date
dascharisma
New member
Well, it has been a busy week, and I have a bit of progress to show for it. I ripped off all the MDF and replaced it with treated 3/4" plywood. I also found out why Home Depot encouraged me to use MDF for an application it wasn't suited for. Home Depot currently doesn't have 3/4" ply. So I ended up getting all the wood at Lowes. All of the large sheets I had cut to size, and I cut all the smaller pieces myself.
Here is the stand with plywood instead of MDF. My mock tank is sitting on top of it to get a feel for the proportions.
Here is the new walkway.
Here are the two new stands. The one on the left will hold the skimmers. Above it will sit all the aquacontroller stuff. The stand on the right is 4ft tall, 6 ft long, and will sit 2 feet above the sump. The left 2 feet of the sump will have filter socks . The skimmers and 300 gallon tank will drain into this area as well. I didn't extend the stand over this area so that I would have better access. My 4ft T5 light will hang under the left most 4ft of the stand, to light the prop tank portion of the sump. This stand was constructed from non treated wood since there is a chance of the calcium reactors etc leaking water that would then contaminate the sump.
Here is the view to the left when walking into the fishroom. I installed the door (its an outside door so it seals well) to isolate the furnace area on the other side. I was afraid of humidity issues with the furnace, so I decided to separate the fishroom from that area. Some of the plumbing will go through the furnace room, so I am waiting to put the rest of the black plastic (my moisture lock) around the door.
Here is a view from the other side. The left corner will be the future home of the 310 gallon conical bottom tank that is currently sitting in my garage. In the right hand corner near the entry door (where you see the trash can) is where the 100 gallon RODI tank and the 100 gallon salt water mixing tank will sit.
And last but not least, here is a quick pic of a portion of my "prop" tank. The corals are anxiously awaiting their new home.
The next step is to paint the floor and the stands. The floor will be painted gray with that stuff you paint and then toss decorative sprinkels on. I am mainly painting it for cosmetic reasons. The stands will all be painted blue like the door. I will start with an oil based primer, and then I will paint with enamel paint. If anyone thinks this isn't the correct type of paint, let me know.
Brad
Here is the stand with plywood instead of MDF. My mock tank is sitting on top of it to get a feel for the proportions.
Here is the new walkway.
Here are the two new stands. The one on the left will hold the skimmers. Above it will sit all the aquacontroller stuff. The stand on the right is 4ft tall, 6 ft long, and will sit 2 feet above the sump. The left 2 feet of the sump will have filter socks . The skimmers and 300 gallon tank will drain into this area as well. I didn't extend the stand over this area so that I would have better access. My 4ft T5 light will hang under the left most 4ft of the stand, to light the prop tank portion of the sump. This stand was constructed from non treated wood since there is a chance of the calcium reactors etc leaking water that would then contaminate the sump.
Here is the view to the left when walking into the fishroom. I installed the door (its an outside door so it seals well) to isolate the furnace area on the other side. I was afraid of humidity issues with the furnace, so I decided to separate the fishroom from that area. Some of the plumbing will go through the furnace room, so I am waiting to put the rest of the black plastic (my moisture lock) around the door.
Here is a view from the other side. The left corner will be the future home of the 310 gallon conical bottom tank that is currently sitting in my garage. In the right hand corner near the entry door (where you see the trash can) is where the 100 gallon RODI tank and the 100 gallon salt water mixing tank will sit.
And last but not least, here is a quick pic of a portion of my "prop" tank. The corals are anxiously awaiting their new home.
The next step is to paint the floor and the stands. The floor will be painted gray with that stuff you paint and then toss decorative sprinkels on. I am mainly painting it for cosmetic reasons. The stands will all be painted blue like the door. I will start with an oil based primer, and then I will paint with enamel paint. If anyone thinks this isn't the correct type of paint, let me know.
Brad
glaspie69
Premium Member
looks great, can't wait for it to be done. The only thing I can see I would add would be some kind of side support on the ca reactor stand, mainly so the legs have absolutly no way of kicking out. Other than that I think it looks like a crap load of fun. This is always my favorite time of getting a new tank, get to play with a ton of new goodies and after the tank is up you spend two months "finding" new things you didn't know you had.
overanalyzer
New member
I like the moisture lock black plastic but I don't see an exhaust fan are you putting one in that room to the outside or did I miss it?
dascharisma
New member
Don't worry, I plan to keep up with this thread until the tank is fully stocked and thriving.
I have heard a bit about your plans, and I can't wait to see what you come up with.
Brad
dascharisma
New member
Well Jason, that stand design was JJ's. I was very skeptical at first, but I am impressed how well it turned out. As for the legs kicking out, the bottom 2X4 is actually secured to the cement floor, so I don't think the legs can go anywhere. When you are talking about side support, do you mean from the 2 legs to the wall or from the bottom to the wall?
I love the design phase too. I only wish I was a bit handier. I would love to have had the skill (and time) to build professional quality cabinets and stands, reactors and skimmers. Now that I have accomplished a little of the work on my own, it makes me wish I could build everything.
One thing that is funny about this whole design process, is that it is actually a pretty stressful time. I keep worrying about all the unknowns. I just try to envision the system functioning from every angle and identify any problem I can. Since the system is so large, I know that I will likely have to live with any but the most major oversites. Most design problems will simply not warrant the crazy amount of work to fix, once the system is up and running.
Brad
dascharisma
New member
Thanks. It actually turned out better than I expected.
Humidity concerns are one of those things you never worry about until you have an ungodly amount of water volume. I would estimate that the costs incured trying to deal with the humidity would shock a lot of people (it surprised the hell out of me.) Here is an incomplete list of some issues that humidity has forced on me: 3 exhaust fans, replacing a window, a chiller, special circuit for a chiller, a humidistat, tons of venting, all the electrical consumption, the room moisture barrier, building a wall to separate the fishroom, buying reflectors with vents.
Keeping the humidity from getting to other parts of the house was a big concern. I didn't want to pay what it would cost to get some fancy solution to seal the fishroom, so I decided to go with plastic instead. The plasitic is thick and fairly strong. It is advertised as being good as a moisture barrier, but time will tell if it is. Each 8ft wide sheet of plastic is stapled to the rafters or wall frame. I overlayed all the edges by a couple of feet so that the seams would not be a major source for leakage. I know that there are a ton of small areas for moisture to escape the room, but I don't think they will be a problem. The reason for this is that I will have a number of exhaust fans running. All those fans will be expelling air from the room. I hope that the make-up air will be supplied through all those little holes, and the a/c vent in the ceiling. A perfectly tight room would be problematic, and so would a very open room. I think I may have struck the right balance. This is an issue I will make sure to report on thoroughly as the thread continues. Moisture problems were one of my top concerns when deciding whether or not to build this system. If I planned to stay in this house forever, I would definitely have simply built a room onto the house, with a separate ventilation system from the house.
As of now, I am planning on 3 exhaust fans. I may end up needed more or less depending on the results I experience this winter and next summer.
1.
I will be using a bathroom fan, controlled by a humidistat, to exhaust air outside. The humidistat will not be connected in any way to the aquacontroller. That way, if the aquacontroller were to fail, the room temp should protect the tank temp from getting too hot. (I don't worry about cold because corals can survive quite a temp drop, but they can't survive just a small temp increase.) I will tweak the humidistat setting until I find a good balance between tank evaporation (which will increase as room humidity decreases), the amount of time the chiller needs to run (which will go up as tank evaporation decreases), and house humidity (which is obviously the most important concen.)
2.
All of the Lumenarcs are going to be connected to a vent system. That system will be on whenever the halides are. Since the halides are the greatest source of heat for the tank, it makes sense to deal directly with their heat, instead of letting them heat the water and then try to deal with cooling the water (which is more difficult). I am concerned about very hot days outside, when it is hotter and more humid outside than in the fish room. On those days, the air exuasted by the bathroom fan (1.) will be cooler than the air from outside that replaces it. This won't be the case for the halides' vent. Since the air will be running over and around 4 X 400+ watt bulbs, it will always be really hot.
3.
Although the chiller cools the water running through it, the chiller will produce a lot of heat. That heat will then heat the surrounding air, which will then heat the tank water. So, the chiller directly cools the water but it indirectly heats it. To try to diminish the indirect heating that the chiller causes, I am going to exhaust the chiller's heat to the outside as well. The chiller will simply have a fan that sucks its exhaust air outside. The fan will be controlled to be on when the chiller is.
Those 3 methods are my main line of defense to keep the tank cool. I am sure that I will also be running a fan or two over the tank to help with the heat, but fans blowing across the tank work via evaporative cooling, and humidity is as great a foe as the heat itself. Therefore I don't want to use fans as the primary means of temperature control (although I have always exclusively used them on smaller systems in the past.) As I install these diffferent systems, I will make sure to document them thoroughly. I intend to have all 3 in operation by the time the tank is truly operational.
I hope that helps,
Brad
overanalyzer
New member
sounds thorough! Have you thought about an air to air exchanger?
dascharisma
New member
Yes, I have considered an HRV, but I am not sure it is worth getting. Since it will bring hot air directly into the fishroom during the summer, I could only use it when the wheather is mild. I am hoping that my other methods of temperature control will be enough without an HRV, at least when it is cool out. My concern is what the summer heat will due to this system.
Brad
dascharisma
New member
Here is a pic of one of my many attempts at a good rockscape. I won't be able to do any of the big arches until I start cementing things together. For now I am just trying to come up with a good concept for the lower half. My goal is to leave the center of the tank open so that I have a nice spot for fish to swim in the current.
Brad
Brad
overanalyzer
New member
that's good - have you thought of putting any sea grasses in - like manatee grace or turtle grass (not macro algea)? I am excited to see the finished product and I just saw you are in ankeny - tank tour??
dascharisma
New member
Although this tank will not be strictly sps, I am going for the simple japanese look. I don't want the tank to look natural. I want a tank that has blue lights, no sand, and brightly colored corals. All of which you don't find in nature. So, I won't be doing any grasses, or anything that will prove difficult to control long term (anthilia, GSP, xenia, mushrooms).
There will certainly be a tank tour for everyone in the club who wants to come. I imagine that it is a lot further down the road than I would like to admit. There is still a ton of work to be done (and money to be earned and spent) before the tank will even be ready for corals. Then I still need to finish finishing my basement, which is another project all in itself.
Brad
dascharisma
New member
Thanks.:mad2:
You are right. It could be much better. Its weird because it looks much better in person, because you see a lot more form in 3 dimensions. The picture really steals all the depth from it. On the other hand, the same thing will happen once you are viewing the tank with water in it, since everthing shrinks up then too. I guess I need to come up with a structure that looks good on camera, because then it should look good once there is water in it.
Brad
dascharisma
New member
Alright, I have made a tiny bit of progress. I got the stands and steps primed and painted over the last week. I used 2 coats of oil based primer and 3 coats of Flore Cote polyurethane enamel. On the steps I mixed sand into the last coat of paint. I also sprinkeled sand on top of the last coat on the steps. I did this on the advice of the people at Diamond Vogle, because they said the steps would be slippery to walk on when wet, if I didn't mix the sand in.
Here is a pic of the stands drying (why are we watching paint dry
). They are moved over because I still need to paint the floors.
Since I didn't want to drywall the stand with the tank in place, I went ahead and started that process. It still needs to be mudded a few times and sprayed and then painted. I hope to have all that finished before the tank arrives. Right now the builder expects it to be ready for pick up the week of the 13th of August. So I need to get working.
I also had a door installed. I choose an exterior door. I did this to try to trap moisture in the fishroom. At first I didn't like having a dead bolt on the door, since I thought it might look weird in the room. After thinking it through I realized that the lock is probably a really nice thing to have.
Lastly, I had to go back and fix a previous error (Hooray!). When I built the opening that the tank will sit in, I planned to do a stand that was 3 inches lower, and a tank that was 2 inches lower. So I ended up needing to raise the opening up 5 inches.
Here is a shot showing all 3 of the aforementioned projects.
And now for a full tank shot
Brad
Here is a pic of the stands drying (why are we watching paint dry
). They are moved over because I still need to paint the floors.
Since I didn't want to drywall the stand with the tank in place, I went ahead and started that process. It still needs to be mudded a few times and sprayed and then painted. I hope to have all that finished before the tank arrives. Right now the builder expects it to be ready for pick up the week of the 13th of August. So I need to get working.
I also had a door installed. I choose an exterior door. I did this to try to trap moisture in the fishroom. At first I didn't like having a dead bolt on the door, since I thought it might look weird in the room. After thinking it through I realized that the lock is probably a really nice thing to have.
Lastly, I had to go back and fix a previous error (Hooray!). When I built the opening that the tank will sit in, I planned to do a stand that was 3 inches lower, and a tank that was 2 inches lower. So I ended up needing to raise the opening up 5 inches.
Here is a shot showing all 3 of the aforementioned projects.
And now for a full tank shot
Brad
dascharisma
New member
It has been a while since I updated this thread so here goes.
I got the drywall painted on the stand. I am still working on aquascaping desings. You can see a pic of my most recent attempt below. JJ and I also built the light rail you see above the mock tank. It is 10ft long and the bit that holds the lights is 61" X 40". Right now I have the 4 lumenarc IVs in place. I still need to take off an inch on 2 of the reflectors so that the rail will slide more smoothly. I will probably run just the 4 lumenarcs for a while, since there are more important things to buy for the tank than supplemental lighting.
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Brad
I got the drywall painted on the stand. I am still working on aquascaping desings. You can see a pic of my most recent attempt below. JJ and I also built the light rail you see above the mock tank. It is 10ft long and the bit that holds the lights is 61" X 40". Right now I have the 4 lumenarc IVs in place. I still need to take off an inch on 2 of the reflectors so that the rail will slide more smoothly. I will probably run just the 4 lumenarcs for a while, since there are more important things to buy for the tank than supplemental lighting.
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c87/dascharisma/IMG_8771Large.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a>
Brad
dascharisma
New member
I also installed a Panasonic whisper 270 cfm bathroom fan. The fan is very powerful yet quiet. It still needs to be vented out the window and have the plastic around it repaired.
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The fan will be controlled by this unit. It will turn on the fan when the temperature or humidity go above the thresholds set by the 2 simple nobs.
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Here are a bunch of pictures showing the light rail in more detail.
Here is the rail with the lights positioned over the tank.
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These bracket hold the rail in place. There are 2 on each rail. One attached to the wall and the other at the back.
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Here is the rack with the lights slid back. They pull back far enough to allow me to work on the tank from behind (mostly dealing with the pumps, scraping the back wall, and feeding).
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Here is an underneath view showing that the reflectors just sit on the rack.
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Brad
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The fan will be controlled by this unit. It will turn on the fan when the temperature or humidity go above the thresholds set by the 2 simple nobs.
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c87/dascharisma/IMG_8831Large.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a>
Here are a bunch of pictures showing the light rail in more detail.
Here is the rail with the lights positioned over the tank.
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c87/dascharisma/IMG_8793Large.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a>
These bracket hold the rail in place. There are 2 on each rail. One attached to the wall and the other at the back.
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c87/dascharisma/IMG_8809Large.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a>
Here is the rack with the lights slid back. They pull back far enough to allow me to work on the tank from behind (mostly dealing with the pumps, scraping the back wall, and feeding).
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c87/dascharisma/IMG_8816Large.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a>
Here is an underneath view showing that the reflectors just sit on the rack.
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c87/dascharisma/IMG_8823Large.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a>
Brad
