290G Peninsula Tank
 

Okay...so now that I have your attention...:twised:

This build thread has been a long time coming. Unfortunately, it's going to go pretty slowly so hopefully I can keep everyone's attention long enough to get this tank built.

For the last 10 months or so I've been trying to get started on a new house but every conceivable obstacle seemed to rise and stop us from getting anywhere. Thankfully, things appear to have started moving and I just signed off on the building permits yesterday so we've officially started spending our hard earned money.

The plan for this tank is a 84"l x 32"d x 24"h three sided Starfire peninsula tank. By my figures, this works out to about 280G. The plan also includes an external overflow 28" along the side of the peninsula buried in the cabinet work. I will be using the Bean Animal Overflow (if you don't know this one, I will put up a link further into the build).

Right now I haven't decided on who will be building the tank as the two builders I was considering the most have both closed their doors. Several people have PM'd me with new suggestions and so I have to explore some price quotes with these vendors.

The house will be a basement level entry and so the display will be on the main floor and I will have an 8 1/2 by 14' fish room on the ground level. My sump, fuge and future frag tank will all reside in the fish room. Along with these will be a laundry tub, RODI, FW storage and SW mixing tanks.

I've been gathering stuff for this over the last year and so far I've got the return pump (3600 Reeflow Blackfin), 2 x 6105 Tunzes along with the 7096 controller and an MP40W. I've also got various plumbing supplies, etc when they've been on sale.

My current 70g will end up migrating most if not all it's contents and inhabitants into the new display. Unfortunately, I've got a little problem with mushrooms in the 70 and I've yet to decide how to make sure they never enter the new tank.

Anyways, there's no doubt this will be a huge undertaking for me and I'm going to need a lot of help from everyone in order to make this work out right. Hopefully I've learned enough from this forum that the mistakes I make (and I'm sure I'll make some) will be small enough to get through without blowing too much extra dough. My better half has been very understanding about my need to build a house around my fish tank. Roughly translated, that "understanding" means we've established a budget together and if I know what's good for me, I'll need to stick to it.:biggrin:

This sound like its going to be a nice build. I have very simular hopes of building something simular. I like the peninsula style tank for the veiwing purposes of being able to have full veiw of both length side glass panels. Came across the beananimal overflow awhile back, it does sound like a great set-up. What are you thinking for your lighting ?

Re: 280G Peninsula Tank
 

Sweet! It's about time !!:lol: you've been dropping hints about this tank for a while :-). Looking forward to seeing it come together!

For lighting I'm going to be putting together a light rack very much like one done by Glassreef on RC. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...6#post13477526

In the end I should have 3 x 250W MH with large Lumenbright reflectors as well as 8 x T5HO lights for actinic and accent lighting. I will also incorporate some moonlights though I haven't decided which ones or how.

My biggest concerns so far are how I will lift the light up and out of my way when I need to get into the tank. The canopy will be cabinetwork all the way to the ceiling. I haven't figured out what it will look like yet but I think it should match our kitchen cabinets.

Lookin forward to this build, I'm running a 170 Peninsula so a 280 is next on the list!

Wow!

Now this will be a tank Journal. :biggrin:

Can't wait to see this Mark. :mrgreen: I will definetly have to come up to Vernon to see this one. On second thought, maybe I better not... :twised:... might make me want one this size too.

Haha, I don't doubt that this is not your last upgrade Leah. I'm hoping that I might be able to come see your tank next weekend since my sister-in-law should be popping (having her first baby) sometime between now and then in Penticton. No guarantees though as I'm not sure what my wife will think of me deserting the "event" to go oogle your new fish tank (is oogle a real word?)

Wheres the pics.....Aww I lost interest LMAO:razz:

Haha...would this be called a self fulfilling prophesy?

LOL, Pretty much.

Hey Mark,

He he! :biggrin: I think that this will have to do me for a while. Can't just sit and gawk at my tanks all day need to do other stuff. :wink:

You are very welcome anytime you know and bring them too! Would love to see your daughter. :mrgreen:

Congrats to the Uncle. :dance:

:lol: Funny that is exactly what I was thinking. :wink:

Like what other stuff? Surf Canreef like me??!! :razz:

Hey! Watch your step :wink: Mr. :razz:

What, am I about to step in some......

Okay so we all know that threads without pics just aren't as fun. So...since I am just going to get started on building the house, I figured a few pics of where we're going to put the house were in order.

Here's a shot of my wife (about 4 months pregnant) and I shortly after we bought the lot a few years ago. (yeah, it's really taken me that long to put this together)

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...g?t=1268020909

And here's what I'll be looking at whenever I find time to turn away from the tank.

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...g?t=1268020963

So now there are pics.:biggrin:

Nice view!......and should be a schweeeeet tank........

Okay so I have a question for those of you with external overflows. I rarely see any lower support on the overflow (like triangular supports), but it strikes me that the overflow holds a lot of water...sometimes 7-12 gallons and when I do the math on the weight of that...I get nervous.
Has anyone had issues with this? Have you seen some that have been built with supports?
When I got my first tank quote from Aquarium Obsessed they found humour in my worry about the overflows but they included the supports in the price because I asked for it.

ooh sexy.. and your plot of land ain't bad either.

i don't think my external overflow holds more than 2 gallons :-)

I have a 280 as well and I just calculated my overflow to be about 4.7 gallons. No issues so far.

The part that scares me is that your 4.7 gallons is not far from 50 pounds...along with the weight of the glass...hanging off of some silicone.

Maybe I'm just being paranoid. My overflow would be about 6.5 gallons.

does the fact that your tank will be held together with the same stuff which will undergo far greater stress then 50 lbs pushing outward concern you ?

either way, if you really want to support it, a 2x4 or 2 should be easy enough to use for your purpose.

Well put! I guess that really is the way to look at it.:lol:

Okay...so I'm in need of some opinions on something for this tank.

I'm not a fan of holes in a tank. I've never felt that there was a need to drill a tank like swiss cheese and so I shy away from this.

In my new tank I will be having an external overflow and I will be utilizing the "bean animal" system which uses three pipes rather than the tradition two in a herbie overflow.

My question revolves around why people tend to "return" their water back through their overflow rather than via pipes up and over the top of the tank? I realize that looks have a lot to do with it, but this just strikes me as another point where my tank could "fail" or leak. My fish room will be in the basement and so my current plan was to return the water via a 2" pipe which would split at some point into smaller 1" pipes and then go over the top (which you can't see in my plan) and come down through the eurobrace in the tank at the far end to push water towards my overflow.

Does anyone see issues with this plan?

Nope; No issues at all. Most people run the returns through the overflow purely for aesthetics. If you want them over the top do it. I've seen several tanks with the return line running along the euro-bracing.

That's what I was planning. Much in the same fashion as the tank Red Coral did at the Toyota store in Calgary if I recall.

Thanks for your response.

Okay...so although my house is no-where near ready (still at excavation stage)... I have ordered my tank. I've also ended up upping the size just a little bit to about 290G. Along with the tank, I've ordered a 6' sump as well.

Jay from Elite will be building this and given what I've seen of his tanks...this should be a beauty. Sorry for anyone who was wondering but I couldn't quite afford the 1 piece eurobrace so it will be a normal one.

Anyways...I wanted to give him a big thank you for all his suggestions about ways to improve the tank before I had even given him the order.

Now if I could just figure out where I'm going to store this giant while I wait for the house to be finished. But hey...there could be worse problems right?:lol:

Good choice on a builder you'll be happy with the tank I'm sure. As cool as the one piece eurobrace is I doubt it's worth the cost. I also wonder if they are prone to cracking at the corners. Guess it'd depend on the radii of the corners. I'm assuming you're getting mitred/polished edges? Those are a real nice option for looks on the corners and for safety/comfort on the eurobrace.

I'm jealous of that lot you picked up! Looks very nice =)

Hey Mark,

I could store it here if you Like. :twised: :wink: :lol:

And I could store stuff in it like... some rock, corals, fish... that kind of stuff. Of course I would have to get rid of everything in my living room...but a sacrifice I would be willing to make for a friend. :biggrin1:

Don't be too kind. He may need to keep his boot somewhere :smile:

haha...Leah, thanks for the offer. I would hate to push you out of your living room.:biggrin:

I'm really happy that Jay is going to be doing the tank. Pricing worked out well and I am getting the polished edges. Jay is also doing a really nice sump for me and it too has polished edges.

As for storage, my wife appears to have agreed to get the boot from our garage so that we can store the tanks there once I go and get them from Jay in June. Without a doubt....I'm blessed with an amazing better half.

Jay&Colby built my tank last August and I just met the guy (Jay) for the first time two days ago :-) Great guy and he knows his stuff! This is going to be a wicked peninsula :-)

Well...although I wasn't ready for my tank yet...it was due to be complete for this upcoming weekend. Jay just contacted me to tell me that due to a forklift accident...all my glass (for both tank and sump) is smashed so it has to be re-done for the future.

Hopefully this is all the bad luck Jay or I have for the next while. Never like to see all that glass go to waste.

Mark,

Oh no! That is terrible. :sad: But at least you do not have to worry about storing it at the moment.

Well, I will be heading to Calgary this coming weekend in order to finally pick up my new tank and sump from Elite Aquatics. I know they make amazing tanks and I'm really looking forward to seeing the finished product. Jason has promised me some pictures of the build for this thread and so I should have those soon. Sadly, by the time I actually get to start using this tank I may be competing for the slowest build ever.

As my house is not ready, I've got to store this bad boy and it's little brother for the next handful of months. I've also got to transport it safely home from Calgary and over the Rockies. Knowing this, I've built a crate to ship and store the tank in (an adventure all by itself). Just fitting the crate in my garage has made my wife and I realize how big this tank really is compared to little 70g I have now.

Anyways, I'll get some more pictures up in the next few days to bring this build back to life. :biggrin:

Yeah even shots of the crate would be cool. I love all aspects of a big build!

Well in light of such a suggestion, here is a pic of the crate I've made for transporting and storing this big tank until my house is ready.

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...g?t=1279120272

The wheels you see belong to a long flat dolly that I made which is not attached to the crate but only sits underneath it so that I can move it around my garage if necessary.

The piece you see on top of the crate is the base that I will be putting underneath the sump for the ride home from Calgary.

I will make sure to get pictures of us trying to load and unload the tank once I've got it.

Sweet!

Just coat that badboy with some marine epoxy and you've got a plyBuild! You'll need to cut a porthole =)

Haha...didn't think about a plybuild. hmmm...maybe two tanks in my future...lol.