Loveless' 330gal build

[loveless]

Well typically im a lurker here and decided to start my own build thread. Hope everything goes well. This build is going to take a long time, maybe even a year to build. Also I work shift work so anything that happens does so every two weeks.

I currently have A 180GAL from aqua giant here in edmonton. I run 2 400w mh lights over it with an ASM G3 skimmer and a Mag 12 return. Nothing fancy.

At the moment I have tank being built by Marine Aquaria and it will be 90x30x28 tall making it around 330 gal (I think). It is going to have starfire glass front and both sides with a coast to coast overflow and closed loop.

And I am well aware that word dont mean a thing until we all see some pics...Be patient with me as this might not work right away.

http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000133-1.jpg

http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000127.jpg
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000132.jpg

http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000131.jpg

The first pic is of my current tank,the rest are of the room that the tank is going into and the wall that has been removed for the new tank.

[loveless]

I am not entirely sure on on how to get pics posted onto the thread so any help would be great.

[Delphinus]

Wow, nice size.

Pictures: When you look at your photobucket account, hover your mouse over the photos. A little section should appear under it. The last option should show some text like "[img] something something something ", highlight this, copy, and paste into your post and the picture will show up inline. Hope this helps. :)

[loveless]

Thanks ill try that for next update

[Parker]

Going to be a great looking tank when it's done.

Marine Aquaria built my tank also, they did an amazing job of it. I'm sure you'll be happy.

Let me know if you need help with anything, I'm always up for lending a hand.

[Jason McK]

Looks Great. You will love the fact that you have quick access to water.

J

BTW I made your pics post in the thread

[brizzo]

Haha, I love the pic where you started smashing a hole in the drywall, then realized "Stop! Time for a before picture!" :mrgreen:

Looking forward to seeing this progress!

[JDigital]

Wish I had the space for a full on fish room... Look forward to seeing this build... Gotta love the big ones!

[mseepman]

This looks like it's going to be a nice build. Great size of tank!

[loveless]

Thanks for the kind words everyone. Hope everything goes as planed its going to take time as I dont want the mistakes that I did with my current tank. Slow and steady.

[banditpowdercoat]

Stud #5 is crooked LOL

[Trigger Man]

Atleast you've had a tank before, so with this one you will know what to look for and about mistakes to try to correct this time. Your new tank looks like it will be great when its done judging by the pics so far.

[loveless]

Stud #5 is crooked LOL
Well so much for no mistakes. Kinda hoping that no one would noticed, upon further examination it is pretty obvious.

[mark]

two sides viewable nice.

[loveless]

Just an update. Built the stand today, still needs paint but other than that looks good. We used a laser level to get the stand level right off the hop so no need for shims later. The cement floor was over a half inch out over the length of the tank! Also started to install the tiles. Just used the cheep sticky back ones from Rona. Will finish the floor After the hole in the cement is filled. And yes stud number 5 is still crooked.

http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000134.jpg]
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000135.jpg
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000137.jpg
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000138.jpg

[loveless]

Still having troubles with posting pics.
When I use the attachment button and input this link it says
-Invalid URL

Then I use the one that says Direct Link on photobucket and it says
-Remote file is too large

Then I use the HTML code and it says
-Invalid File

Then I use the image code and it says
-Invalid File

Any more help would be great



http://s735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/?action=view&current=P1000134.jpg

[loveless]

http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000135.jpg

[loveless]

Never mind I got it figured.

[loveless]

Well its been a while since my last update. I have been out of town for work and the tank took a little longer than expected to get built and there really hasnt been anything new for a while....Until now.

The tank is on the stand with the overflow curing at this moment.

While viewing the next batch of pictures keep in mind that this tank is built from 3/4 inch glass and weighs in at over 1000lbs. It had to go down a set of 8 stairs while being stood on end and slid so the bottom went first. Viewer discretion advised as there was pretty sketchy moments, this was a very nerve wracking experience but all went very well. The overflow had to be installed after the fact due to space limitations while moving so the tank still isnt in its final resting place but it is close. I would like to thank all those that helped with the move, my friend Bryan, and the boys from Concept aquariums, and Marine aquaria...You know who you are. It definitely wouldnt have happend so smoothly without you guys..

[loveless]

Tank first showed up
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000151.jpg

[loveless]

Then the madness began
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000153.jpg
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000155.jpg

Took out the sliding glass doors to the deck for clearance, and got the tank onto a dolly.http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000157.jpg

http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000156.jpg

[loveless]

That was the easy part.
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000158.jpg

This is where it gets reallllly sketchy
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000160.jpg
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000164.jpg

It was good that Niel took charge of the whole moving part, someone needs to take charge of this whole thing to make it safer and smoother for everyone. Definitely shows that he has done it before.
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000165.jpgHaha look at the stunned look on my face. I was not having a good time at this moment

[loveless]

http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000166.jpg

Down it goeshttp://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000167.jpg

http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000168.jpg

The boys on the bottom, Brave soulshttp://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000169.jpg

Dont know if it could have been a tighter fithttp://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000170.jpg

[loveless]

Hard part over. At this point a lot of stress was gone from the whole operationhttp://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000171.jpg

http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000171.jpg

http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000175.jpg

Ahhhh relief, glad that is over, was a heavy last lift to get it up onto the standhttp://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000177.jpg

[christyf5]

Holey smokes, that looks like it was quite the tight fit down those stairs and the ceiling clearance. Can't wait to see it up and running! :biggrin:

[loveless]

Now the overflow had to be siliconed in place.http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000177.jpg

http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000185.jpg

First fish....Catfishhttp://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000183.jpg

Hope that dosnt overload the system.

Thanks for viewing

Cam

[loveless]

Holey smokes, that looks like it was quite the tight fit down those stairs and the ceiling clearance. Can't wait to see it up and running! :biggrin:

I actually made a mock up of the tank out of 2x4's to see if it would work. First one was 96" long, and wouldnt fit, so i cut it down to 90" and it just barely made it. So it was a good thing i did.

[loveless]

The tank is drilled for closed loop. going to have 2 reeflow snappers for CL and additional one for return.

[fishytime]

Woowzers, nice tank! Yup, anything too much bigger than that, borders on site building territory. A round of kudos to the crew that got that beast in the house.

[Delphinus]

Sweet tank. Will be awesome.

But, seeing those pictures of the stairs and stuff ... brought back memories of wrestling my 280g downstairs. You just inadvertently convinced me that I'm never upgrading .. or downgrading for that matter. I am done moving tanks up and down stairs. :lol:

[Parker]

Looks good.. Glad it made it down there safe and sound!

[JDigital]

Sweet looking tank! Can't wait to see the rest of the build. :mrgreen:

[lngrhaul]

Nice catfish. Sweet tank! Strong guys.........Jealous me.

[Joshua Jones]

Who's the good lookin' one in the white t-shirt? Oh wait, there's two of us!

Tank looks almost as massive in the pictures. It was fun, can't wait to do it again
for someone else :smile:

looking sweet Cam.

[loveless]

Well its been 4 and a half months since the last update. which if you are counting is about how long summer was this year, so its that time to get back at it. I have been busy with the drywall and paint and that is about it. I wanted to get the exterior done before the fun on the inside started cause if you are like me the tank will be running and you will still be able to see through the wall...:wink:

So time for some Pics

Here is the finished drywalling
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000592.jpghttp://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000593.jpg

This shows the front panel that lifts up
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000594.jpghttp://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000595.jpg
Rear view
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000596.jpg

[loveless]

After the drywall was finished I did some sealing
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000597.jpghttp://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000598.jpg

[loveless]

NOW THIS IS THE PART I NEED HELP WITH.

Criticism is appreciated. As you can see I painted the wall red. Still dont know if i like it or not. I have left the access panel just primed for now and dont know if I should paint it the same color or leave it. The rest of the room is going to be white with white trim.

Do you think the red is too much? Im still undecided.
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000612.jpghttp://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000611.jpghttp://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000609.jpghttp://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000608.jpg

[loveless]

Think I might actually like the white sealer better...

[Delphinus]

I like the red! Bold. But I doubt that once the tank is filled, you will really notice the red so much. I say keep it. :)

[Ellie_A]

Keep it red!

[lastlight]

Personally I'd make the red areas a really dark color like a gray or some earthy color. The red I think draws too much attention away from the tank itself.

Love how you've framed it out though...looks like a beautiful tank as well!

[Van-rookie]

I agree with Brett

[Mr.nintendo]

I have to agree that the red detracts to much, like a piece of art you never frame with a bolder colour that draws the eye away from the centerpiece. Maybe walls opposing the tank wall in a strong colour but the only draw on that one side should be the tank itself

[mseepman]

I have to concur...the red color will distract from the amazing colors of the reef.

[christyf5]

I really like the red but yeah I have to agree, it will likely detract from the tank. Great work though, I like the way you've done the framing :biggrin:

[Lance]

i really like the red but yeah i have to agree, it will likely detract from the tank. Great work though, i like the way you've done the framing :biggrin:



+1

[Delphinus]

Hahaha, looks like the writing is on the wall, you'll have to repaint. :p Oh well dude I tried to save you some rework.

For the record though, I think the rest of you are all nuts. When the tank has water in it, I guarantee nobody will be looking at the walls saying "Boy too bad you made this red." It's a reef tank for crying out loud! Nobody looks at the walls, it's all "Ooooh, what's that shiny green round thing? THAT'S SO COOL!"

[Phanman]

Id have to agree with the others about the red being abit too much. What about a nice glossy tile around the tank?

[Delphinus]

Looked at the pictures again, and, ok actually, I'm going to backpedal a bit. The red is not too much because of the *tank*, but it's true that it doesn't go with anything else in the room. The carpet is this kind of light blue, and the couch is brown. I think the red is awesome on its own, but indeed, the whole package is like it doesn't know what it wants to be.

[loveless]

Thanks for all the input guys. I think I had made up my mind about repainting before I even posted but wanted some feedback. So I thank you all. As for the colors not matching anything ....ya the carpet is a sore spot with us, it was in when we got the house and new so changing is fairly wasteful. Nice carpet not so great color.:redface: At the moment I am thinking of doing the tank wall brown like the couches and the rest of the room a light yellow. It in the basement so going brighter will hopefully lighten up theroom a bit. And maybe match....

[lastlight]

I approach builds now like this:

I can't garantee I can get anything to live let alone thrive. Better make it all look nice empty and go from there. I'm sure you're not in the same boat tho =)

[andestang]

Looking like an impressive build so far. Looking at all the colors in the room I think if you kinda like a red try going with a dark burgundy/wine color I think it would with you coach & rug at the same time. Keep up the good work.

[Doug]

I,m a more earthy type color fan also.

Great build thread. Love the pics so far and like Tony, reminds me of hauling a few up & down stairs. :lol:

Looks very nicely done though. And nice looking aquarium itself.

[loveless]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

Time for an update. I work out of town so tank stuff is done in spurts. Last days off I had about 90% of the plumbing done but ran out of time. So I was getting pretty anxious to finish it when I got back home. It almost complete in these photos aside from screen on the drains,and pump pick ups and odds and ends.

I went pretty deep into the tank budget with the plumbing. The PVC alone was about 4x what I initially thought it was going to be, not to mention all the big ticket items. It was quite trying to locate all the necessary parts ie true union ball valves, gate valves and spaflex, but I managed to get it all together.

This is my contribution to plumbing madness/overkill...

2x OM 4-ways on snappers for the closed loop

1x Dart for the return, this is a big pump compared to the snappers

A sump (built by me, hope it holds the test of time) with 3 separate drains for safety and an overflow in the sump plumbed directly to sewer.

Sump, drains, and return pump, the line to sewer takes off around the corner and is plumbed into the utility sink
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000624.jpg

Back of tank showing drains, CL, and return up left side
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000626.jpg

Here you can see the Herbie in the overflow
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000627.jpg

Back of tank showing CL. You can save alot if you go without all the true union ball valves, and maybe use a regular union and separate ball valve. Oh well next time
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000628.jpg

Side view of the closed loop pumps and OM's. This setup works really well creating constant well placed flow in the tank with minimal dead spots. As recomended by Paul from OM
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000629.jpg

Here is a photo of the Herbie style overflow. Really like this setup as you have control over the level of water. Only problem is I cant see any surface skimming taking place in the overflow itself. Minor prob
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000630.jpg

Top of tank poor pic but. I had the eurobrace drilled to accept bulkheads but they could only be 3/4 so I bypassed them and just did 1" over the top, personal preference I guess.
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000632.jpg

This is the right side as viewed from the tank room. These are the returns for the closed loop along the front of the tank. Not overly happy with the hole placement but the extra bracing along the bottom front had to be there i guess. I originally wanted them closer to the front so I just have to make due.
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000633.jpg


Closed Loop viewed form the front.
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000634.jpg

And again from opposite side.
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww351/loveless_75/P1000635.jpg




Next step is wiring and lighting. Thinking LumenMax elites, with 250W

Thats all for now folks. Thanks for viewing:razz:

[loveless]

Had prolly like atleast 10 leaks all of which were on threaded joints so they were easy fixes. Only one concern was that I missed cementing one of the fittings for the closed loop. Stupidly on my part I still havent glued it in these pics even with 330gal of water sitting on it. :twised:

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Nice build!

Awesome looking tank!

[BWI]

looks good so far!!!