320g build/journey/experiment DIY :-)
 

I started this thread on another forum and had a local here in Courtenay tell me I should post on here. I thought hey it's not that hard to just cut and paste so most of this thread will be a duplicate until I get to where I am today. Hope you enjoy!

So here I go, I have a lot of work ahead of me. I have to re-enforce the floor, build the stand, build the tank and then connect it all together. Aqua-scape, making some of my own rock. Then cycle the tank and slowly overpopulate my tank. I plan on having a reef setup with a 72"W x 30"L x 39"H with a bottom tank of 100g 60"x18"x24"
Edit*** Lots of lighting 3 x 250w MH for the bottom tank 2x400w MH +2x175w MH + 3x20w LED with a possible moonlight if I can find the kind I'm looking for. (One that turns on every night slightly brighter for 14 days then darker till it's off) ***
-I'm going with an all LED DIY setup now.
Still not sure on the pumps I'm going to use... but there will be 2. No wave makers, power heads, reactors, or protein skimmers. (the 2 pumps will be split into 2 pipes each so it will be like having 4 power heads) I plan on overpopulating my tank to the edge of collapse to see if I can find a way to have a dense population of fish. I will be using aragonite oolite sand. I will be posting pictures at least once a month and be updating once or twice a week (maybe more in the beginning) I have amassed a large list of fish... 25 spices 126 total fish (I plan on having schools and I know that the total number of fish will probably be smaller that's what this test is for)
Edit *** I'm ordering my glass today ***
-The glass shops couldn't guarantee me the sizes I needed so I got the tank custom made.
and pouring cement for the foundation of my floor for the tank (will weigh around 6000lbs when finally set-up). I hope this perks your interest and it's something that you will enjoy at least a little, cause I know I will :D

This is where my tank is going to go
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...tionoftank.jpg
This is looking from the outside
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...nklocation.jpg
This is some of the mess I made while making a foundation for the approximate 6000lbs that is going to sit in the bay window.
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...foundation.jpg
It took me about 8 hours to jack the addition up 1" put the 6"x6" beams in drop it back down (fell 1/2" so still 1/2" higher then before to allow for some sinking) mix 1 yard of concrete and pour it into a 1.5" by 10" hole. Now it's done and ***Edit*** I'm going to order my glass just waiting on a quote*** (couldn't get the glass had to get it custom made). I also got my 110g tank ready for pickup I found it in the "Buy and Sell" for $150 but I need to re-silicone it I think. More photos in 3-7 days

This is the supplies for my stand... but you need to add 3 more 8' 2"x8" boards.
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...ysforstand.jpg
This is the start of my build with my small tank approximately where it is going to stay... I have taken the silicone out of the inside and am going to re-silicone it.
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...ovedstarto.jpg
Stand almost completed... still needs some braces on the legs and the 3/4" plywood on the top.
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...adyfortank.jpg
This is another picture of the same state but with my 4 year old helper in the picture to give you an idea of size.
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...withhelper.jpg

some more pictures of my stand in the stage where I am ready to build my tank on it... The tape measure is the height of my tank.
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...reofstand2.jpg
My daughter really likes to help... but most of all she wants to be in the pictures.
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...reofstand3.jpg
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...oreofstand.jpg

Taggin along :mrgreen:

This is some rock I made a couple of days agohttp://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...hesamerock.jpghttp://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...smallrocks.jpghttp://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...1med1large.jpg ***Edit*** (I didn't end up using these rocks they were not what I wanted)
So I went to a couple of glass places in town... a few times... and none of them wanted to sell me the glass... Every time I talked to them they would need to get back to me on something so I would wait for a call back... no call ever came... I went back to both stores and more crap. So I decided to go with a pre-built tank rather then building it myself. I ordered it today and they say I can pick it up in 4-6weeks :-D. I also got some more oolite aragonite. The stupid stores in my area can't order it in for me and they only get 2-4 bags in at a time... so I go in and clean them out when their truck comes every 2 weeks... got 12 30lbs bags so far.
Making more DIY rock today this time with the white portland cement.

I've finally perfected my recipe and made a bunch of rocks

Small kiddie pool filled with DIY rock.
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...ullofrocks.jpg

My daughter pointing to the one she made... all I did was tell her the amounts to mix she did the rest.
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...ithherrock.jpg

Finished rock will be posted in a couple of days.
Finally here are some pictures of my DIY rocks

http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...DIYrocks-1.jpg
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x.../DIYrock-1.jpg
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...e/DIYrocks.jpg
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...ne/DIYrock.jpg
I like lots of hiding places... this isn't necessarily how I'm going to set it up in my tank. The size of the rock pile is approximately 2'6" wide, 2' deep, and 2' high.

This is a DIY rock tutorial I made...

http://www.youtube.com/v/hboNJHlgOvc&hl=en_US&fs=1&

http://www.youtube.com/v/wndkovV8DpU&hl=en_US&fs=1&

http://www.youtube.com/v/cgI3aiMCJyk&hl=en_US&fs=1&

http://www.youtube.com/v/We95IFct7R8&hl=en_US&fs=1&

http://www.youtube.com/v/OXxyvNZJOaY&hl=en_US&fs=1&



Some things of note.

-With the formula I have you need to let the molds sit for 48 hours to cure properly. If you want it stronger (also it will be less porous and heavier) you can remove the salt from the formula or add extra cement.
-You can't make things too thin or they will brake.
-Will flake lots of stuff off (using more cement stops that)
-You can use sand as the medium for molding your rocks in.
-If you use balloons for making shapes you need to make sure you take out the balloons when done. (some times the balloons pop and you have to chisel the balloon out or just through out the rock)
-The oyster shell can be substituted by aragonite sand or crushed/pieces of coral. (It is not anywhere near as porous but is way stronger... but I would prefer to use no salt or more cement then aragonite or crushed coral)
-After being made it needs to soak for up to 2 months to make sure most of what can leach out has leached out. (with a proper set-up you could possibly do it in 1 month or less with the formula I have used as there is lots of water flow through the entire structure... a downside of that is there is much less anaerobic areas in the rock turning nitrates to nitrogen... most tanks don't try to do that process anyways, on the upside there is lots of aerobic area for turning ammonia/ammonium all the way into nitrates... and that's the most important part of the nitrogen cycle in most tanks.


Formula:

-3 Parts washed crushed oyster shell (can be picked up at almost all feed stores, very inexpensive... in a city you might have to go to the edge of town as not many people in cities keep chickens http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/im...es/biggrin.gif )
-1 Part Aragonite sand (picked up at most fish stores can be substituted for pool sand or removed from the formula all together... I like to keep it in there)
***Edit*** (now I would not use less then 1.5 parts of White Portland Cement, it needs it for the strength and to prevent it from degrading as fast in the water.)
-1 part White Portland Cement type 10 or general use (can be picked up at some places where cement supplies can be purchased. You can use the gray stuff as it is cheaper and easier to find, but I have heard that it takes longer to cure and it doesn't look as good IMO, also to make your rock stronger you can add extra cement to your mix... makes it slightly less porous and slightly heavier... would also make more anaerobic areas)
- 1 part Course Rock Salt. (I used water softening salt it can be purchased at some grocery stores as well as at some appliance stores and some hardware stores... also very cheap... can be removed from formula to make rock stronger... also makes it less porous and heavier... also makes slightly more anaerobic areas)

I put my DIY rocks in the ocean on the 20th and will be pulling them out July 11th.

This is my custom tank. The long awaited arrival... now I have a lot of work ahead of me! I put my kids and wife in the tank to give more of an example on dimensions.

Top View
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...ne/Tanktop.jpg

Side View
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...e/Tankside.jpg

Front View
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...tankfront1.jpg
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...tankfront2.jpg

Some updates as I work on the tank...
I taped off where my tank is going to be so I could silicone without stinking up my house or affecting my young children.
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...nktapedoff.jpg

My door for getting in and out of my taped off area is the window.
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...one/Mydoor.jpg

The acrylic overflow... I bought the 2 pieces this afternoon glued them together then added it to my tank. The two left bulkheads are in the overflow the right one isn't.
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...Myoverflow.jpg

A look at the full height of the chamber.
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...erflowfull.jpg

And my little helper that has to always be in the photo http://www.reef2reef.com/forums/imag...on_biggrin.gif
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...e/Myhelper.jpg

Glad to have you here

Now I'm up to date... Let the questions fly http://www.reef2reef.com/forums/imag...on_biggrin.gif... or let people observe in silence heh

That is some true dedication right there to this hobby. This is going to be a great looking setup....I'm in awe.:bounce:

The story behind it is I had a tank about 6 years ago... then we got to move from Brooks AB, back to my hometown of Courtenay BC. Well I knew that I couldn't try and set-up here for at least 6 months so I sold all my fish and LR back to the LFS. When I took my tank out of storage it was cracked and I didn't have the money at the time to buy a new tank (it was a 70ish gallon tank). Fast forward to September of 2009. I'm riding home on my motorcycle and some lady comes out of a side road going way to fast and not stopping till she is in the middle of the road... only being about 15 feet in front of my I had no time to do anything, so I rammed right into the side of the van. Got hurt and totaled the bike. Wife says "NO MORE MOTORCYCLE!" but she says I can do what I want with the payout as long as I don't buy a new bike. We took a holiday and I get my tank.

Got to love lousy drivers :D

LOL, never thought you got this tank from a story like that.:lol:
Good though for getting back into the hobby, plus keeping fish tanks are WAY cooler than having a bike.:mrgreen:

Both are good at releasing stress... although both can add stress too lol... all and all though I will spend more time at home and less time on the road and that's good for the whole family. Plus kids really enjoy a fish tank.

This tank will be very interesting...crazy depth. Hope you have long arms...lol.

Ya that's what is the biggest difference from other large builds... is the depth.
My arms are pretty long... but to reach the bottom I need goggles and a snorkel... my whole shoulder and head have to go in but the rest stays out... I think... I still don't have the tank on the stand so I will have to wait and see.

Tagging along...excellent build!

At that depth, anything falling to the sandbed is staying on the sandbed (at least until you feel the urge to get soaked).

I find my 29" depth to be plenty deep. BTW, don't get those pickerupper things from the LFS. They rust out & break within weeks we found. The cheap dollarstore ones (red & black in colour) have lasted for months. Go figure.

Thanks hope you enjoy it :D

I plan on making my own "pickerupper" (tongs) out of acrylic. I'll post pics once they are made... they may not work but I'm going to try.

Tagging along for the ride! Looks to be an interesting build.

Comming along nicely.Also looking forward to tong "build".

Welcome aboard

I will try to make it as detailed as I can.

I think I would have built it the other way (39" wide and 30" tall) instead. I hate the feeling of wet armpits:redface::wink:

It is sweet that your wife & kids like the idea of a huge sw tank. My wife likes the hobby too (although for me its more of an obsession) and my 2 years old daughter loves fish & corals. She can already name many of the species in the tanks.

Looking forward to more progress reports.

Anthony

It makes a huge difference if the family is enthusiastic about it. I always gotta chuckle with my wife... when it's time to pick out corals or other inhabitants it's OUR tank! When it's time to do waterchanges or any other work it becomes MY tank :mrgreen:

Space was the biggest reason (Tank would have been way cheaper to go in some other dimension)... my wife didn't want me to go the whole 8' (she wanted to put plants on either side since it was where she had plants before I got the tank) Also we didn't want the tank protruding into the room. So up was my only option... I went as big as I could with the space I was aloud to fill. The second reason (didn't have as much weight) is fish tend to like to inhabit one of three "main" "zones" in the ocean. At the top closer to the surface in the middle around overhangs and such, and at the bottom in or on the sand. Most tanks tend to have only two "zones" top and bottom. I'm hoping that with my height I can get that third "zone" and enable me to have a more dense population in my tank.
I don't plan on diving in very much. I hope that my CUC will take care of most of the bottom of the tank... I also plan on making sure things are secure. One last plan is to have some sort of tongs :D

HAHA... Ya my wife not so enthusiastic... it's more like the better of two evils... I was in a motorcycle accident and she said she didn't want me to get a new bike but I could spend the payout money on whatever I wanted... so we took a trip and I got the fish tank :D

i cant see trading my fatboy for a bigger tank i guess ill have to sneak one into the basement somehow lol

My bike was totaled. She wouldn't have let me just sell the bike and set up a fish tank because the value of the bike was no where near what I would need for a tank. I sold the bike and my knee for the set up :D

oh and good luck sneaking a tank like this inside... over 1000lbs

lol i have an 8 foot 300 gal out in the garage but too scratched up to even bother bringing it inside lol

WOW....Awsome build....definately tagging along to this one.:mrgreen:

Would make a sweet refuge for a 500-1000g tank... :wink:

Welcome aboard hope you learn something... but most of all full of knowledge I can steal muahahaha! :D

Great how to DIY rock. I think I might have to try this.:wink:

:welcome:

Little late but

Welcome
to Canreef

:mrgreen:

Not that late I just signed up yesterday at 12:00am you posted within 44 hours of me joining. I just can't do much atm so I have been online a bit... over 50 posts :D

I ordered my LED's and my Aluminum slab today.. expect to get the LED's by mid August and have my heat-sink ready by then.

Intense build here dude! Tagging along for sure!

Welcome aboard :-)



So this is the start of the heatsink... I still need to buy the thermal paste so I can attach the copper but this is what it looks like ATM.

Aluminum slab is 5'x2'x3/8"
Groves cut with a router 5/8" rounded bit... (went through 3 of them) cut about 3/16" deep
1/2" copper pipe
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x.../Heatsink1.jpg
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x.../Heatsink2.jpg
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x.../Heatsink3.jpg
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x.../Heatsink4.jpg

Dude! Holly crap! Like wow! Thats gonna be a big lighting system! Yah and you say im ahead you in my build??? I beg to deffer! Watching eagerly.

You have your lights and most of your equipment (my LED's are at least 3-4 weeks away plus I have to wire them... I expect that to take 2 weeks)... your tank is on the stand (I still need to put some of my rock in first... finish my stand... Drill 2 more holes in my tank... convince 4 people that they want to help me slide my tank onto the stand and hope the jacks don't kick out)... I will have fish in September when are you planning on having your first fish?
My "lighting system" is only 5'x2' there are lots of pendents that are 6' or 8'.

Ok that is one hardcore heatsink! Are you plumbing water into the copper piping to draw heat out?

Tagging along. Your daughter is hilarious btw. They don't speed the process up but it's a lot of fun to see them get into it.