Yoccm's 300G DD In Wall Build

[yoccm]

6-8 weeks?...wow that is some wait.
Over here LFS sell standard tanks and have them in stock. For example my first sump was an "of the shelf" standard tank 4ft long and i went to a glaziers and had the baffles cut to size and siliconed them in myself...is that a possibility for you?

your tank looks exceptionally nice with the white trim and the granite ledge.

What are your thoughts on the back and sides?...will you paint them?...or vinyl?..or maybe a temporary backing that can be removed? A reefing mate of mine uses black foam board on the back of his in wall build. It is attached with velcro tabs and can be removed from behind to allow him to see in from the back. I always thought it was a great idea.

Yeah - I was hoping to get something that didn't need additional work to pull together. Plus like the idea of acrylic so that I can drill easily.

For the back I already got my hands on royal blue vinyl backing. I did buy enough to also cover the sides but not sure if I am going to cover them or not.

 

[yoccm]

OK - came across a decent looking sump from a place called advance acrylics out of California

Measures 46lx24wx16h

Cost would be around $750 including shipping. Anyone heard of this company?

 

[caliking]

OK - came across a decent looking sump from a place called advance acrylics out of California

Measures 46lx24wx16h

Cost would be around $750 including shipping. Anyone heard of this company?

Nice size..

 

[redneckgearhead]

Looks good!

 

[othercents]

OK - came across a decent looking sump from a place called advance acrylics out of California. Anyone heard of this company?

Advance Acrylics does a bunch of Ebay sales, so you can check their reviews on Ebay about their tanks. I have never seen one that big on their posts. The only bad reviews I saw were people who said they didn't receive their items. Otherwise the rest of the reviews looked good.

http://stores.ebay.com/Advance-Acrylics

 

[yoccm]

Advance Acrylics does a bunch of Ebay sales, so you can check their reviews on Ebay about their tanks. I have never seen one that big on their posts. The only bad reviews I saw were people who said they didn't receive their items. Otherwise the rest of the reviews looked good.

http://stores.ebay.com/Advance-Acrylics

Thanks for the link - looks like consistent positive feedback on quality of product with a few issues with timely shipping and communication. I am going to shop around a bit more but this is definitely a viable option.

 

[Alex T.]

I've been following this thread. Truly a great build project. I'm jealous.

I just wanted to put your mind at ease about one of your previous comments regarding the use of nails over screws for the stand. A framing nail has almost 3 times the "shear" holding power of a screw. Screws are great for horizontal applications like hanging sheetrock to ceilings and tile/ply board to floors. However, when strength is the primary concern, a framing nail is my first choice every time. If screws were truly better, you'd find them in home improvement aisles labeled "framing screws', but there's no such thing. Next time you have a minute look at the diameter of a framing nail compared to a screw that most would use and you'll see the difference in both width and strength. If you put a nail and screw of the same diameter in a vice and bend it with a pair of plyers, the nail may bend, but the screw will snap. The same width screw is still more weak because of the grooves and softer materials needed to carve those grooves. Nails are a much heavier metal with more tensile strength.

I have the Marineland 72x18x27 which is a 150 gallon tank. Basically it's your tank cut in half. I am a contractor and built my own stand out of 2x6 lumber, framing nails and PL400 adhesive. I also didn't put plywood on top of the stand as it really is unnecessary unless you don't trust your framing skills, or have a rimless tank. The bottom rim of my tank is sitting directly on the 2x6 structure and open underneath. I planed all the 2x6's that touch the tank until I couldn't slide a piece of copy paper under the level all around.

What this means for you is that you're good to go. My tank has been up and running for two years, and I've checked for plumb, level and stress cracks in the lumber every few months with no apparent changes since it was set up, and mine is sitting on a 2x10 plywood and joist system, not a concrete slab like yours. Furthermore, don't ever check for level on your tank top. Production tanks with glued on plastic bracing are almost never level, so don't assume it's out of level because the top of the tank may say so. Always refer to the stand. It's the foundation for what keeps the water level in the tank. If the stand is level and the tank is not, that's the tank builder's fault, not yours. To truly see how off the tank may be regarding craftsmanship, when you fill it up with water stop half way and trace the water line with a fine felt tip pen across the tank with a straight edge. Measure the distance in various spots from the water level to the top of the stand and see if there's a measurable distance. Since water will always find its own level this is the only way to truly judge a tank manufacturer's build quality aside from looking at siliconed joints and polished edges.

As long as the stand is level and stays that way you should never have an issue. Great job...can't wait to see it a year from now!

 

[Alex T.]

^^^My bad.

I meant to say that if you want to check your contractor's stand leveling work you can measure to the top of the stand from the felt line to see if there is variation.

To check the build quality, you must measure from the felt tip line to the top end of the black bracing.:thumbsup:

 

[yoccm]

Hey Alex - glad you are tagging along and I really appreciate the insight. Makes me feel much better when someone with your level of experience confirms the direction I am headed. I will definitely try your level test when I leak test the tank.

 

[cubsare1]

I actually have 2 tanks from advanced acrylics. 95wide with euro bracing, tank looks good except where they routered the euro brace on the outside of the tank it scratched the heck out of it. Never used the tank but did water test it and it did not leak. Then a smaller frag tank, no euro brace and it bows out badly and its only a 15 or so gallons. I've heard people go to the e-bay site and used the best offer to get it cheaper. May be able to send him an e-mail saying a lower price.

 

[yoccm]

I actually have 2 tanks from advanced acrylics. 95wide with euro bracing, tank looks good except where they routered the euro brace on the outside of the tank it scratched the heck out of it. Never used the tank but did water test it and it did not leak. Then a smaller frag tank, no euro brace and it bows out badly and its only a 15 or so gallons. I've heard people go to the e-bay site and used the best offer to get it cheaper. May be able to send him an e-mail saying a lower price.

Funny you should mention the one tank that bowed. From the pix of the sump it does not look braced at all and I was worried it might bow. I will email to check on bracing and price. Curious if you had them shipped to you and how quickly you got them?

 

[cubsare1]

It was shipped to me by fed-ex freight. I remember there was a couple delays in the build process so that took longer than I was originally told and the communication of this was very poor. I had to e-mail him asking when it was shipping then he would tell me it was delayed but he did give me a little price break because of this.

 

[MikeFisher1972]

overflows

overflows

Can you explain or show where you added the extra silicone to the corner overflows?
I have the same tank as you and never saw or heard of this being an issue.
Thank you for sharing it with me

 

[yoccm]

It was shipped to me by fed-ex freight. I remember there was a couple delays in the build process so that took longer than I was originally told and the communication of this was very poor. I had to e-mail him asking when it was shipping then he would tell me it was delayed but he did give me a little price break because of this.

Sounds pretty similar to the feedback I saw on his EBay site. Worries me a bit but quality of his work sounds good.

 

[yoccm]

Can you explain or show where you added the extra silicone to the corner overflows?
I have the same tank as you and never saw or heard of this being an issue.
Thank you for sharing it with me

Hey Mike - if you look inside the overflows you will notice there is no silicone just the black plastic up against the glass. I siliconed the inside edge top to bottom and along the curved bottom as well. I will get some pics posted tomorrow. I still need to clean it up with a razor blade but think it will definitely help prevent a seam failure along the inside of the plastic overflow.

 

[yoccm]

Been BUSY so not much to report. Also waiting on contractor to wrap up punch list ... then carpeting and basement is finished.

While I am waiting for contractor I have been planning my sump. I think I have a good plan (stole it from Drummereef whose build thread is awesome!!!)

But I realized I need to decide on my skimmer before first so I can make sure the sump dimensions work.

I was originally looking at the vertex alpha but it is big $. I have since seen good reports on the SRO and SWC skimmers.

I am leaning toward the SRO XP 5000 internal.

Any thoughts?

 

[crvz]

In several places along the stand I can slide a sheet of paper between tank and stand ... maybe 1/32" off in some places. I assume once I get water in the weight will disburse that out evenly and not be a problem.

The problem is there is a pretty significant gap along 2/3 of the length of the back of the tank between the frame and the stand. It is at least 1/16 and as much as 1/8"+ in some places.

I've heard people say that you shouldn't put foam under tanks with plastic frames? would it still cause uneven pressure points?

I know I'm coming to the party a little late, but I've some experience here as well. I have a 300DD on home built stand. While I made sure the stand was plenty flat, I also had some gaps when placing the tank. I had anywhere from 1/64" to 1/16" when the tank was empty, and so I called marineland. They told me as long as the gaps are not in the corners to go ahead and fill the tank, but to call back if they didnt settle out after the tank had water in it. I filled the tank, and most of the gaps shrunk. However, there were still plenty of places I could slip a couple sheets of paper between the tank and the stand. Again, I knew the stand was level, so I called them back. The marineland engineers looked over pictures I emailed them and told me that some gap was well within the tolerance of the frame that the tank sits in, and again, as long as the corners of the tank where in contact there should be no concern.

I like that you put another support in the middle of the stand. Hopefully that will aid in long terms support. I just used a pair of 2x8s to carry the weight of my tank and avoid a middle support, but I also jointed/planed all my lumber and glued every piece together (I didnt use either screws or nails , though I agree with Alex's post above). I overkilled it, to say the least.

Good luck moving forward, and I'll keep an eye on your progress. Feel free to poke in on my 300DD build over here.

 

[yoccm]

I know I'm coming to the party a little late, but I've some experience here as well. I have a 300DD on home built stand. While I made sure the stand was plenty flat, I also had some gaps when placing the tank. I had anywhere from 1/64" to 1/16" when the tank was empty, and so I called marineland. They told me as long as the gaps are not in the corners to go ahead and fill the tank, but to call back if they didnt settle out after the tank had water in it. I filled the tank, and most of the gaps shrunk. However, there were still plenty of places I could slip a couple sheets of paper between the tank and the stand. Again, I knew the stand was level, so I called them back. The marineland engineers looked over pictures I emailed them and told me that some gap was well within the tolerance of the frame that the tank sits in, and again, as long as the corners of the tank where in contact there should be no concern.

I like that you put another support in the middle of the stand. Hopefully that will aid in long terms support. I just used a pair of 2x8s to carry the weight of my tank and avoid a middle support, but I also jointed/planed all my lumber and glued every piece together (I didnt use either screws or nails , though I agree with Alex's post above). I overkilled it, to say the least.

Good luck moving forward, and I'll keep an eye on your progress. Feel free to poke in on my 300DD build over here.

Hey Chris - thanks for the comments on the stand. I have been subscribed to your build for awhile and have found it very helpful. I will double check the corners but since jacking up the stand and adding the additional vertical the back left corner is now making full contact whereas before there was a gap there. Again, thanks for the help and please chime in with other advice along the way!!

I've been out of the hobby for so long I could use all the help I can get!!

 

[prop-frags]

But I realized I need to decide on my skimmer before first so I can make sure the sump dimensions work.

I was originally looking at the vertex alpha but it is big $. I have since seen good reports on the SRO and SWC skimmers.

I am leaning toward the SRO XP 5000 internal.

Any thoughts?

We have the 6000INT - it's rated at 450g, and apparently that's right. We're glad we upsized and got the bigger unit. It is performing well - the pump on it is a real beast.

 

[yoccm]

We have the 6000INT - it's rated at 450g, and apparently that's right. We're glad we upsized and got the bigger unit. It is performing well - the pump on it is a real beast.

Looks like a great skimmer and your system looks fantastic so it is clearly doing it's job!!

I have wondered how convient the SSS units are to access and clean the pump?

The XP 5000 is rated for slightly higher tank size ... I do plan to have pretty heavy fish stock eventually so hopefully it is not too much skimmer for what I have planned. I also really like the auto cleaner option. How is that working out for you?