And it begins...220 built in thread (6/27 update)

[Rob Top]

I have been putting off starting this thread because the progress has been painfully slow. The tank was taken down last July when we moved. Since then there has been the birth of my son, an unfinished basement finished, well about 90% finished, 4 of my tanks set back up, all but 2 rooms of the house painted, landscaping done, retail management life of Q4, inventory and a new store opening, and perhaps most importantly spending lots of time with the kids So I guess I have gotten a lot done in the past 10 months, even though it doesn't feel like it when I look at this tank :?

Anyhow, as soon as the wife wakes up(got to let her sleep in when I can ) I am suppose to have the day to work on it.

The 220 will be viewed from a "great" room in the basement. The current set up of this room is a large play area for the kids and a tv/sitting area in front of the tank. The play area will change as the kids grow. What is cool to a 3yr old wont be to a so cool down the road. But the sitting area will remain the same.

The tank will be plumbed into a 125 and have a 100gal sump.
Skimmer is an Aerofoamer 830
Ca Reactor is a K2R pro

Lighting is 2x400MH with a 250 in the center, plus 2-4 96w pc's. Havent decided on the bulbs yet. Thinking the about the 400's being 6.5K and the 250 20K and the pc's 50/50
Pump from the sump will be two Iwaki's a 35 and a 40.
Closed loop will be a Reeflo Dart. I'm working with Paul from OM to design a 2 way programable device for me that the dart will flow through. If this plan falls through I'll go with an 8-way, 4 outputs with the revolutions.
Auto top off system on it of course. Thinking of making it BB or a faux sand bed. Just not sure I want to spend the time to make a faux sand bed when it time it will be covered with coralline
The 220 will be sps
The 125 will be a kind of fuge. I have several show size lps and softies that wont be able to go in the 220 and I don't think I want to part with. Theres a bubble bigger than my head that 4 yrs ago was fiist size. Thinking of throwing some algea in the 125 and keeping it fishless. Otherwise the 125 will be more for proping the sps in the 220 and the lps and softies will go in one of my 75's

This system will be wired to 3 differant fuses all 20 amp. The pumps will all be on differant fuses, as will the 250 from the 400's and the pc's. This way if a fuse trips for some reason I don't loose all the pumps or all the lights. The reason for two return pumps is this and if one dies there is another on rolling with out issue. I know Iwakis don't die, but still JIK.

Well that's the jist of it. Hopefully the wife will be up soon and I can start the work. I'll post pics tonight.

 

[Anonymous]

Sounds nice. - Hitching along so I can get notified of updates.

 

[Anonymous]

Sounds nice to me. Good luck.

 

[Rob Top]

Well of course you never get as far as you hope one these things. It amazes me how uneven a house can be. The beam above the tank slopes nearly 1/2" over the 6' of the tank. Makes things a little tricky when the support pillar next to it also slopes out. At any rate. this is how far I have gotten.

Forgot to take the before shot, opps. Hope to have the acess door finished this week. I just got the hole saw I need to pop a hole for the 2" bublk head I want to feed the dart on a CL. That will be after the build in is done.

 

[MartinE]

Keep us updated

 

[bleedingthought]

I'm interested in seeing the progress also. Good luck!

 

[fyrefysh]

How's about some more pics!

 

[Rob Top]

I'll take a few more soon. Hoping to get a few things done with it tonight.

 

[trido]

Well of course you never get as far as you hope one these things. It amazes me how uneven a house can be. The beam above the tank slopes nearly 1/2" over the 6' of the tank. .

Darned houses will make remodeling tough every time.. Sometimes its best to just use a tape measure and leave the level in the garage. Not for the tank itself of course. Looks like your coming along nice and quickly.. Keep the pics coming.

 

[Rob Top]

Sometimes its best to just use a tape measure and leave the level in the garage

That is the truth for sure. Having done some sort of work in every house I have owned either a complete restoration of finishing of basements I have learned a few tricks. As for where the tank goes I am not using 1 pcs to cover the 6 feet of the stand. Instead it is 3. 1 pcs at 32" on at 32.25 and the other at 32.5, This way the slope of the floor and the shimming of the stand gets hidden better. Then I use painters caulk to fill in the joints easier to deal with than mud/sand/mud/sand. Just 1 shot of the caulk and maybe a little touch up. Here's where the front is at.

From the fishroom side, under the stand.

Boring pic I know. The white is the water proof side of of shower sourond board. Makes a great barrier!

 

[trido]

Not boring at all. Sounds like you've done this before. I just cant seem to figure out why everyone else's tank build seems so much more interesting and exiting to me than my own. :?
Guess Im some sort of freak that way.

 

[Rob Top]

trido88 yours isn't boring at all dude! Yeah I did do this before. We moved last July and at that house it was built in too. I am liking this set up better thna that one. At the other house I had no door on the front to service the tank from that side, what a PITA that was. Also the fishroom was smaller and there wasn't much room on the back side. I had about a 3 ft walkway there before the next tank, and the sump was sitting in the way with a catwalk above the sump. Here I have a ton of space. If you look at the first pic the light in the background is on a 75 against the back wall. That wall has a 125-75-75-55 running along it then the slop skink. From the back of the 220 to those tanks is about 8'. Plenty of room! and please don't ask for a pic of the fishroom. It is so cluttered I am embarrassed

 

[Rob Top]

Couple more pics

Just about done with the front. The dark lines are where I had to touch up the caulk between the two boards. I'll put some primer on that then it's time to paint and trim. Hopefully by the end of this weekend.

This is behind the "hood" I used a simi gloss exterier paint on it. I'm at 2 coats now. I'll add a couple more, just because. I'm then going to give it a clear coat.

 

[trido]

I dont even have LR in my 120 and I already have tank envy. :lol:

 

[Rob Top]

bit more progress. Hope to have the trim done in the next day or two then start the plumbing.

 

[Rob Top]

It just might get water before the 4th!!
Ok some up dates. Paul is still working on my programable actuated ball valve. Basically it will be a version 3 4-way that I can controll the speed at which it switches. Started the plumbing work on that, but need a few nerve racking. Every other hole I have drilled has been in tanks that if they cracked, it wasn't THE tank.

Now I need the faux sand bed. I found a local spot to get 2pcs of scrap HDPE that cost me $58. Not bad at all. Here they are in the tank.

And ready to start the faux sandbed. I used Envirotex Lite. They suggest mixing it in 1 container for a minute and pouring it into another for a minute more mixing. This helps get an even mix. Here is everything I used.

Just bought a treadmill for the wife and the lid to the box was perfect to use as a work area. After I mixed the epoxy I added sand till it was thick, almost like a thick cake batter.

Next it was time to cover the HDPE

Once it was covered with the wet epoxy I covered it with dry sand

Now that is was completely covered I took 3/4" couplings and placed them where I will need support for the rock work. I filled the inside with a little leftover sand/epoxy so they are solid.

Now the best part. While I will miss the wife and kids this weekend I will have Friday to Monday to myself to work on this. The plan is 5am to 7 pm each day.

 

[Rob Top]

Boy o Boy do plans change. First the wife didn't leave until last night, so progress has been slow. I did get my CL plumbed and some rock work done. I also ripped out the faux sand bed. 8O What happend was I used the couplings and build my pvc structure the way I wanted it, then was takeing it apart to drill a bunch of holes in it. As I was doing that I accidently ripped one of the couplings out. No biggy I'll glue it back. But then I realized there was water between the HDPE and the faux sand. I used fresh water to test run the CL and water seeped between the two. Not sure if it would have ever been an issue, but I didn't want to run the risk. I'm not sure if every faux sand bed could have this issue or if I did something wrong. I just didn't want to run the risk. So it is now just the HDPE. I might but some substrate down. I prefer the sand beds, but with the flow was concerned about the sand never really settling. I guess we will see what happend. Well I better get busy as 42 hours worth of work need to get done today. The coffee is extra stond this moring