Triple-S Fish Ranch - 1700gal 164” x 48” x 56” SPS peninsula build

[rbarn]

2. Yeah, I got a kick out of the crane. I was a huge Tonka fan as a kid.

Crane counterweight
The counterweight is 25,000 pounds and had to be delivered on a separate 18-wheeler flatbed.

Crane footing
Apparently even 18" square feet might punch through the asphalt of the street, so they bring 4' steel plates to further distribute the weight.

lol, yeah I sell those for a living. Pretty neat stuff to be around. Thats actually a bit of a baby crane.

I've got a 275-tonner hitting the docks in Houston from Europe in 2 weeks if you want to buy one. lol ..... 155,000lbs of counterweight. Takes 4 trucks. Make you a hell of a deal. Only used by a grandmother on Sundays to move her oil drilling rig around.

 

[.Marshall]

YUP.. amazing, subscribed!

 

[roni]

Wow Paul, amazing. Very sorry to hear about your mishaps. It's impossible to replace fish you've had for years and I applaud you for staying the course.

That view looks pretty similar to my parent's view near Far West. Looking forward to seeing how the build progresses!

 

[worm5406]

Thanks so much, worm5406! I was trying to work out something along these lines, but hadn't gotten to the drawing phase yet.

Do you think I might need more like a 20gal mixer in order to be able to dump an entire bucket in one go?

One concern I have about this approach is whether the flow pump would actually pull from the concentrate reservoir given that there is no flow-through, it's just sort of off to the side. Have you implemented or seen an install like this?

As long as the inline pump is lower than the actual 'mixing station' (for lack of a word) it will prime and flow to the pump. This will inturn get pushed up the piping to the top of the saltwater storage container. Placement of the pump above the bottom level will not be able to pull a suction. Turning on the lower valve will bring the water from the bottom, into the top, and mix the water continously. Be careful of water heigth, again, in the storage tank as it will need to be below the water level. Discharge of water into the top will create a waterfall affect so care should be taken on airation, into affect.

I have seen this but in a feeding aspect. Put food into the bucket with tank water and turn it on to suck it into the piping. Same aspect, except you are just adding salt in to it. With the mixing station at this level you can do it multiple times by turning one valve and mixing the salt inside it. Once done all you do is flush it a few times.

Or we can get you a electronic hoist to lift the bucket up.

 

[HunterBryan]

This build is gonna be amazing I'm excited to start my 75 gallon build but dang that's just one of your QTs haha... Amazing!

 

[nanoohio]

I like how your driveway actually goes underneath the house! That's really cool, but beautiful home and setups! Can't wait to see more looks like it progressing fast even with the setbacks and extreme renovation! Following along without a doubt!

Best of luck from Ohio!!!

Joe.

 

[biecacka]

Amazing house my friend. I'm sure the tank will follow suit. Any idea on skimmer and water movement in the tank?

Corey

 

[aquasport24]

Oh heck yeah, only an hour away too. Hopefully, i will have a chance to see this tank in person someday.

 

[pmrogers]

Good lord!
Is that 4 floors in the building? 1 Floor completely dedicated to fish?

3 floors. Fish in two rooms: fish room on the lower level, and a 15x23 display room on the middle level.

Wow Paul, amazing. Very sorry to hear about your mishaps. It's impossible to replace fish you've had for years and I applaud you for staying the course.

That view looks pretty similar to my parent's view near Far West. Looking forward to seeing how the build progresses!

Thanks, Roni. Good eye, we are indeed near Far West, in the Cat Mountain area.

As long as the inline pump is lower than the actual 'mixing station' (for lack of a word) it will prime and flow to the pump.
. . .
I have seen this but in a feeding aspect. Put food into the bucket with tank water and turn it on to suck it into the piping
. . .
Or we can get you a electronic hoist to lift the bucket up.

Okay, got it. Thank you for the explanation. I've also seen the feeding solutions you mention. For that matter, the venturi intake on my old skimmer is the same idea, I suppose.

A hoist, simple pulley if not electric, is a great idea! Even with a mixing station at 4' or so height, lifting the buckets to pour is going to be a bit of a pain.

Amazing house my friend. I'm sure the tank will follow suit. Any idea on skimmer and water movement in the tank?

Thank you, Corey. I do have some ideas and will be posting in the next few days about the selection process and open questions.

I like how your driveway actually goes underneath the house! That's really cool, but beautiful home and setups! Can't wait to see more looks like it progressing fast even with the setbacks and extreme renovation!

Joe.

Thank you, Joe! "Fast" isn't the first word I'd choose to describe progress-- these first updates are summarizing work that started in November :twitch:. Once I've caught up with this first batch of posts I imagine we'll be going 2 and 3 weeks at a stretch between interesting progress updates.

Oh heck yeah, only an hour away too. Hopefully, i will have a chance to see this tank in person someday.

Sure thing! I will most definitely be hosting an open house once things get to some semblance of done.

 

[pmrogers]

Tank peek

Tank peek

Got to see the tank again briefly yesterday when the cabinet maker came out to take measurements. For most of the past month it has been covered up either with:


Full crate for the rafter install

or Foamboard padding during the drop ceiling install

Tank shot
It is filthy with sawdust, but so far unscathed, knock wood.

Plumbing!
The sum total of my plumbing thus far. Two valves to seal the closed loop bulkheads for the water test.

Cross braces are beefy to say the least. These will complicate things for the cabinet maker.

Radius corners
More hassle for the cabinet maker. Finishing out these corners cleanly without throwing away an inch+ of viewing panel on each axis will be a challenge.

Stand overhang
Top of stand overhangs 6.5" all around to make room for a full-on soundproof exterior stud wall with double layers of 5/8" drywall and isolation clips. Same treatment up top for the canopy. Doors through the soundproof wall will be 4" thick solid core wood. All of this will be hidden under a cosmetic cabinetry layer.

Overflow
One detail got lost in my order with Waterdog: rails for holding an egg crate grill in front of the weir. I'll have to make my own and find an adhesive that is good for bonding PVC to FRP.

 

[worm5406]

That is a very nice setup. What do the workers say about it? Do they come in and comment on it?

What are you going to do about natural light coming in?

 

[dave.m]

Paul, can you please talk a bit more about the construction of the display tank itself? How thick is the glass? What is the material bounding the edges and how is it all held together? Your picture of the bracing looks like it is somehow pegged. What is all that about?

I am really interested in lighting a deep tank with LED canons as you have proposed. Do you have a PAR meter to test your set-up once everything is installed? I'd be curious as to how these work in a real-life scenario. Have you considered some of the other LED canons like the Orphek DIF pendants?

Thx,

Dave.M

 

[SPotter]

Ummm.....Im speechless. Cant wait to see this all come together!!!!

 

[Jarob]

Amazing build thus far! I will be moving to Austin next year and definitely hope to see this beauty in person!

 

[FuzzyZipperbaum]

1. Excellent point, rbarn. Our 205 was starphire and I did manage to put 3 significant scratches in it over its 15 year life. Mostly from over eager use of a metal algae scraper. Even still, the first impression on seeing the tank was that it was new and you had to make a point of looking for scratches; contrasted with the acrylic 750 that was half the age and looked like a war veteran. My plan for the new tank is to use only acrylic-safe algae pads and scrapers. My biggest worry for now is losing control of one of the taller aquascape pillars during install.

2. Yeah, I got a kick out of the crane. I was a huge Tonka fan as a kid.

Crane counterweight
The counterweight is 25,000 pounds and had to be delivered on a separate 18-wheeler flatbed.

Crane footing
Apparently even 18" square feet might punch through the asphalt of the street, so they bring 4' steel plates to further distribute the weight.

"1. Excellent point, rbarn. Our 205 was starphire and I did manage to put 3 significant scratches in it over its 15 year life. Mostly from over eager use of a metal algae scraper. Even still, the first impression on seeing the tank was that it was new and you had to make a point of looking for scratches; contrasted with the acrylic 750 that was half the age and looked like a war veteran. My plan for the new tank is to use only acrylic-safe algae pads and scrapers. My biggest worry for now is losing control of one of the taller aquascape pillars during install. "

am doing my rock formations right now....I have the same worries about falling aqua scape during set up. I hung heavy terry cloth towls on the inside when we were building the scape....it has saved me twice......

 

[pmrogers]

That is a very nice setup. What do the workers say about it? Do they come in and comment on it?

What are you going to do about natural light coming in?

The workers mostly just laugh at the craziness of it all. None of them are aquarium guys but they got the idea this was going to be an unusual project starting from the 15 24" and 30" piers, through the 24" structural steel beams, and then the size of the crane used to hoist the tank. By the time the tank itself was dropped in I think they were done with being surprised.

I view the natural light as a good thing. My 205 got direct sunlight on one end for a few hours each day and the anemones and corals on that end were the happiest in the tank. This tank will only get fairly weak mid morning light. That said, there will be both full blackout and sheer shades on those windows as part of the media room light control system.

 

[chingchai]

Paul. Very inspired build thread.
Thank you for sharing.
Look forward to seeing the progress.

All the best.

 

[yrema]

^ Chingchai pointed me to this thread. :lol:

Holy crap, Paul! This is one sweet, impressive build! Subscribed!

 

[AJsTank]

GOOD LORD this tank is huge. I did not know you could go this big with Glass. Can you please tell me who built it?

 

[Lofty]

Clearly you put a LOT of thought into your sump design. Very nice. And yeah, when a crane is involved with unloading the tank, it's an epic build project. LOL. Beautiful home. I wholeheartedly agree with your ideas so far. It sounds like you are walking the same path as Dan's Arizona build. I'm looking forward to your progress.

Anyone have a link to this thread... I would like too check it out

Oh yeah... Subscribed!! This one is gong to be epic!