Does EVERYONE get to go into the back room there? I thought I was all special getting to see the operating room table and stuff. Yeah that was mine you saw!

Nice Tank
 

The tank is looking pretty sweet. Definitely fit for the bits!

Love,
TheBits

Coming along for the ride. Looks sweet.

Are you kidding? He'd chase me out of there with a shotgun if I got anywhere near. He had the tank out in front, you had to walk right by it to get at his fish tanks :p

Since this build is slow I will tend to update for ANY progress lol.

By extreme luck Gold's had my skimmer in stock! This won't see any electricity for months unfortunately. It's a BK SM250 and the thing oozes quality. The lid is a WEAPON. Hopefully it can skim too =)

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/build/bk1.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/build/bk2.jpg

Next item will be a Dart Gold that I have on order. I really hope the new (original) Baldor motors are as quiet as I've heard.

A bit more progress to report...

I've got most of my plumbing parts now and I began connecting it all. This pic shows the 4 1" returns into the tank. These will tee to 1.5" flex pvc that will snake behind the tank to the pump. The 90s are slipped on right now because there isn't enough clearance to rotate them all the way around and I don't want to commit at this point. I may use some 45s for the middle two returns to get some flow between my planned rock islands/piles.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/build/returns.jpg

These next two pics show the two tanks I tried my hand at building. I picked up 3/8" glass and went to town and I'm really happy with the result. I water tested successfully and then added the first baffle. I may not add anymore actually. Will do a wet run and see how the bubbles are. Space was at a premium so I don't have a large return area so more baffles might actually increase noise. I'll see...

The tall tank is basically an extra 20 gallons of system volume I will have in circulation. To do a water change I'll shut it's feed valve, flip a switch to run a little eheim that always sits in it...draining it into the basement drain (via the safety drain in the bottom of my stand). Then I'll turn a valve on my mixing tank hidden in my office (other side of the wall, in a cabinet) to top up the tank and open it's feed valve back up to bring it 'online'.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/build/sump1.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/build/sump2.jpg

Once my flex pvc arrives and the baffle cures I'll get these into the stand and hook it all up! Really excited to be able to fire my Dart up. My fuge will be a 15 gallon tank on a shelf inside the stand but I likely won't build it. Just need to plumb everything to make sure a stock 15 (24x12x12) will fit. Cheaper than custom and I'm nearly out of black silicone anyways.

Nice job on the tanks! Now everyone will want you to build them one. What material is the black back of your display tank?

Hey thanks =)

The best part is they hold water! I was a little worried as I filled them even tho I was pretty careful in their construction. Only hiccup was putting a massive gouge in the table when i slid the sump over a bit lol. You can see it extending past the left side of the sump in the last pic.

The back of the tank is paint. I think the builder used a marine enamel. The 1/8" acrylic backs I had siliconed into my previous tanks buckled and warped which i really didn't like. This will allow me to scrape the back religiously like any other panel too.

OUCH! That is a nasty gouge!!! But everything looks excellent! I'm looking forward to the build! (bet you are too!)

I moved the tanks into position. Nearly broke my back and hit my head not once but twice on the opening. Hopefully not an indication of what maintenance is going to be like lol.

I found a new use for an interlocking playmat my wife wasn't using in her dayhome anymore as well! I placed the 'nice' side down since it's disney princesses =)

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/build/sump3.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/build/sump4.jpg