Kevin207 9 Foot Tank

[Kevin207]

Here is what I am thinking about for a 9 foot tank so far. This is a RENDERING done in Photoshop starting with a photo of the actual location. The window on the left and the stone chimney on the right are real, but the tank and the mahogany cabinetry/wall are rendered.

 

[Kevin207]

Here is a photo of the space to install the tank. You can see 2 feet of depth from the corner of the chimney (mahogany) to the post in the middle of the side of the chimney. This is why I am constrained to 2' front to back. I'd rather not come into the room.

If I go 9', I would have no space on the right side (up against chimney stone) and about 6 inches on the left side.

The back side of the tank would be revealed to the other room via a cutout in the sheetrock wall about 6' + long.

 

[Oceans Ferevh]

Nice!

 

[Kevin207]

The final dimensions are: 9 feet long, 2 feet front to back, 30 inches high. The company that made it gave it a 10 year warranty if they built the stand, so I let them build the stand.

The truck had a lift gate that we were able to slide the tank onto to lower it to the ground and then lift it with an excavator and straps.

 

[Kevin207]

We raised the tank with a jack to reinforce the pallet and prepare for rolling. across the deck. The stand is in the background which was light enough for two of us to lift.

 

[Kevin207]

After jacking the pallet up high enough to block all four corners, we reinforced the pallet with 9' long 4'x6' built planks, screwed a 3/4" piece of 4'x8' plywood to the bottom of the pallet, and then slid the aluminum plank underneath. We did not secure the aluminum plank since there was plenty of weight to hold it in position and since we would be rolling the tank off the plank to get it over the threshold into the house.

 

[Kevin207]

The light snow made turning the tank and pallet on rollers not too bad. Tweren't too hahhd to get it lined up in front of the dohwah.

 

[Kevin207]

The aluminum plank allowed us enough height to be above the threshold going into the house. We were then able to push it off the plank by inserting rollers ABOVE the aluminum plank (see next photo). It was high enough to re-land the pallet on the same 3" rollers inside the house on the floor, only this time without the aluminum plank.

 

[Kevin207]

Once we got in front of the door, we put these 3 little rollers into place (using the jack again) so that we could roll the tank & pallet off the aluminum plank and into the house over the threshold.

We we thinking on the fly, but managed to git er dun.

 

[bleedingthought]

How much is a glass tank this size supposed to weigh? Very exciting and looking forward to more pictures!

 

[Anonymous]

8O Whoa! That will be awesome! Keep on postin!

 

[Kevin207]

How much is a glass tank this size supposed to weigh?

The shipping company had the aquarium on a wooden pallet with the crating you see as weighing 1000 pounds. I don't know if this was just the estimate from the people who made it or not, but it is very heavy for sure 8O

The glass is 3/4" thick all around, the front and back are ppg Starphire™ glass. The crating might weigh 200+ pounds, so I am sure the tank must weigh over 600 pounds anyway. :!:

 

[trido]

Cant wait to see if framed into place. How many circuit breakers are you going to dedicate to the tank?

 

[Kevin207]

How many circuit breakers are you going to dedicate to the tank?

Hey, there is a good question. Curretly, I have one breaker going to the tank area, and at least one going to the closet directly below the aquarium on the floor below.

It would probably be wise to add a few more if that is what you were getting at....I have no place for a sub panel near the aquarium that would be safe really. I currently use several GFCI plug in modules (Tower Shock Buster Portable GFCI) between the socket and each piece of major aquarium hardware so that if something major fails, other systems should continue running OK (in theory :roll: ) on my 120 gallon tank. It is not an ideal solution, but safer for fire hazards.

 

[Kevin207]

Here is a drawing that shows the floor plan view of the aquarium and its dimensions.

 

[Kevin207]

Here is where the aquarium is in context with the rest of the floor.

 

[blackcloudmedia]

I love how you moved the tank. I heard somewhere that was how the egyptians moved the boulders for the pyramids. And for the record....9 feet....niiiiiiiiiiiiiccccccccceeeeeee......BIGGER IS BETTER!!!!!!!!!

 

[bleedingthought]

Now that you're back, we want updates, Kevin!

 

[Anonymous]

So whats the status of the project ?

 

[Kevin207]

Well, the tank hasn't been filled yet. Still working on the main house slowly but surely. The Sikkens paint fumes would wipe out a tank in an afternoon :lol:

But...
Here is the plan currently:
I am going to move the tank to the other side of the fireplace (right side instead of left side). This requires reinforcing the floor (as it was designed on the left side) from below in the unfinished room we are working on now. We have a glue-lam beam in place to support the weight on the trusses now. Finishing this room below the aquarium is why I am looking at the aquarium's future again :lol:

Why move it?
I have had a little more time to think about it
1) The aquarium will not be on the be on the South East side of the house now. It will be on the North West side. No direct sunlight.
2) Aquarium will be directly above the GARAGE:
(a) I can create a large but shallow closed off (no garage fumes) sump room along one side of the garage for a lot more space for everything...and with easy access compared to a 2 foot deep x 4 foot wide closet.
(b) I can put all kinds of big, noisy, and hot hardware in the garage area, where it can be noisy and hot. I think my drop in chiller will be big enough for the tank currently, and external pumps can run outside of the sump room via plumbing.
3) My wife will be able to look at the aquarium from her computer desk near the kitchen that she often sits at (and others use this computer as well), and I think more people will enjoy the aquarium more often from the kitchen area.

I was very inspired by cbui2's 600 gallon tank and massive system:
http://www.reefs.org/forums/topic105974.html

I will not move as fast as he moved. But, I hope to have plenty of forethought as I proceed with each step, with help from those of you willing to help with your aquarist wisdom.