New Tank build thread. [Archive]

H20cooled

07-22-2006, 12:35 PM

Well I received my new tank today built by Aquarium Obsessed. The workmenship is amazing and I couldn't be happier. The shipping crate protected the tank perfectly and everything looks great.

So, the tank is a 130G the size is 48" long x 24" wide x 26" tall, it has the front and side with Starphire glass. It is Eurobraced and is frameless. Right now the tank is setting in my garage, the first thing that I'm going to do is create the Faux sand bed in it, this will be a lot easier to do on the ground. Then the plumbing and testing begins. I will continue to post in here as I work on it...

Here are some pics of the tank:

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank005.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank004.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank003.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank001.jpg

WAVES

07-22-2006, 12:47 PM

Are you going to put that sand bed on some starboard or right on the tank? Deep or just a thin layer?

Seems like that will be tough to keep clean...

Reefin'

07-22-2006, 12:48 PM

sharp looking tank!!

so there is no plastic trim around the edges? just sealant and glass?

H20cooled

07-22-2006, 12:51 PM

Joel,
The faux sand bed is made with a 2 part epoxy mixture and sand, it will be removable if i need to also. I saw someone elses tank that did the samething and after a year it still looks great, most that should happen is for coraline to grow on it.

Reffin',
Nope no trim at all, just glass and sealant...

R-3

07-22-2006, 12:56 PM

Beautiful tank Rich. Looks Great! Later Ryan

H20cooled

07-22-2006, 01:22 PM

Thanx Ryan..

Does anyone know what type of foam to use under the tank and where to get it?

Thank you,

Rich

reefgeek84

07-22-2006, 11:43 PM

Tank looks awesome!!!!!! again, let me know if you need a helping hand and I will be more then happy to come over help with what ever.

Chief

07-23-2006, 12:18 AM

Thanx Ryan..

Does anyone know what type of foam to use under the tank and where to get it?

Thank you,

Rich

I could be wrong, but I thought you only put foam under Acrylic tanks. I have 3/4 pink insulation foam ( hard stuff ) that you buy at any home improvement store under my 240. I was under the impression that Acrylic tanks had to be fully supported and glass tanks only needed to be supported on the edges, unless it is drilled on the bottom.

Jay

H20cooled

07-23-2006, 08:19 AM

That is true except for the fact that this tank does not have a frame, so it is basicly the same as an acrylic tank. I'll check out HD for some foam.

Thanx,

sknoch78

07-23-2006, 08:21 AM

Framed tanks should not have foam under them but frameless are a lot like acrylic and it is a good idea to use faom under them. As for what type, I would not recomend the rigid pink. I am using an open cell blue foam, I cannot for the life of me remember what it is called. Rich, I would recomend something that is plyable, just not to soft. I think the pink is to hard, but straight styrofoam would work great. Why don't you use what your tank was shipped on?

Shawn

sknoch78

07-23-2006, 08:21 AM

Well you beat me to the punch Rich.

H20cooled

07-23-2006, 08:41 AM

That foam would be great except that I really want to use something thicker. I'll look around some more though. Thanx,

Rich

sknoch78

07-23-2006, 08:50 AM

How thick are you looking for?

H20cooled

07-23-2006, 09:03 AM

3/4 to 1" is what they reccomended.

reefboy

07-23-2006, 09:12 AM

buy mine at lowes if you got one they should have both sizes

Reefin'

07-23-2006, 09:14 AM

I could be wrong, but I thought you only put foam under Acrylic tanks.

Dang it , i knew i forgot something DOH!

sknoch78

07-23-2006, 10:11 AM

Rich, I was just up in my shop and noticed that I still have some foam left from my tank. It is perfect for what you are doing. It is free if you want to come and get it. Follow the link for my location. If interested let me know.

Shawn

http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?formtype=address&country=US&popflag=0&latitude=&longitude=&name=&phone=&level=&addtohistory=&cat=&address=23707+SW+Mountain+Creek+Rd&city=Sherwood&state=OR&zipcode=97140

H20cooled

07-23-2006, 10:15 AM

Shawn,
Thank you for the offer, but it will be a little hard for me to get out that way anytime soon. I'm going to see what I can find at Lowes.

What kind of foam did you use and where did you get it?

Thanx,

Rich

Ahbrit

07-23-2006, 10:22 AM

The foam really doesnt need to be very thick. it's only there to make sure the tank is level and counter any imperfections in the stand
i used a camping bed from GIJoes (the black foam stuff that is rediculously hard to sleep on)

H20cooled

07-23-2006, 10:45 AM

Yeah, I just going by what the manufacture told me, he said 3/4" but if you can use 1" even better.

Rich

sknoch78

07-23-2006, 10:54 AM

I figured it might be a bit far from you, just thought I would offer. I cannot for the life of me remember what this stuff is called. I got it through one of my vendors at work. HD and Lowes have a styrofoam that will work fine.

Shawn

H20cooled

07-24-2006, 09:07 PM

Well I finally got started on my faux sand bed, I'm using a product called Glaze Coat, I mix it about 1 part glaze and 2 parts sand and pour it on to wax paper. The reason for the wax paper is that it doesn't stick to the wax paper and it keeps it from sticking to the tank. I'm going to make it into 2 pieces so i can remove it and then when I'm ready I will use silicone and sand to re-assemble it. Here are some pics:

First the Glaze Coat

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank016.jpg

Pics for it poured (1st half, 2nd tomorrow)

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank013.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank012.jpg

And my little mermaid that crawed into the tank.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank008.jpg

spayne

07-25-2006, 04:29 AM

Nice! I'm seriously considering the faux sandbed for my nano whenever we get around to plumbing it into the big system. I love the look of sand, but I would love the easier maintenace of a bare bottom system. One of these days I'll have that 350 gallon sump!

So when it comes time to do my "sand bed"... I'll be pestering you! (whistle)

reefgeek84

07-25-2006, 09:21 AM

looking good buddy!!!!

H20cooled

07-25-2006, 02:47 PM

Thank you! I think it turned out really good, now I just have to do the other side...

Nyles

07-25-2006, 03:49 PM

Hmmm. making me think about dumping my SB. LOL very nice.

H20cooled

08-01-2006, 07:29 PM

Thought I would update with the latest pics and status. So, the faux sand bed is almost done, the seam between the 2 peices need to be filled with silicone and sand. I finished my sump this weekend, it will hold around 30G of water with a 10G area for overflow in a power outage. The tank is now setting on the stand on a 1" peice of foam from HD. I have to wait until friday to work on anymore plumbing because the peices I needed had to be ordered. So here are the pics.

Here is the faux sand bed in the 2 peices
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank023.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank027.jpg

Here is the sump.
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank021.jpg

Here is the tank on the stand.
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank025.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank024.jpg

H20cooled

08-07-2006, 07:56 AM

Well I got a bunch done last week and over the weekend. I still need to finish the plumbing for my skimmer but everything else is pretty much done.

I installed my Tunze 6100 streams in the tank this weekend also and I'm blown away with the amount of water these things move, the actually create a wave that runs across the tank. The only thing I don't like so far is their mounting system, it doesn't hold them as tight as I would like but I'm working on fixing that.

For the plumbing I tried to stick with the gray pvc but I found out that I was missing a couple of items so I had to use the white. I also tried out the bending of PVC pipe for the plumbing, it works very good if you pack the PVC with sand and get it hot enough.

Here are some pictures.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank028.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank032.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank031.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank029.jpg

Chief

08-09-2006, 12:21 PM

It's looking sweet Rich. I like the pvc bends. Might have to try that when I redo my plumbing this winter. Very nice.

Jay

H20cooled

08-09-2006, 01:04 PM

Thank you! The PVC bending worked great and doesn't kill the flow like 90's do. I picked up a $10 heat gun from Harbor freight to do it.

Rich

B Foxy

08-09-2006, 07:25 PM

That is one sweet lookin' setup!

H20cooled

08-09-2006, 07:32 PM

Thank you, I can't wait to get moved into it, but that's going to be a lot of work...

rude944

08-17-2006, 12:43 PM

Where you at now, Rich?

H20cooled

08-17-2006, 12:52 PM

It is in the garage basicly ready to go, I have a couple little things that I need to do but nothing that would affect the install. That said the person that was building my stand cover and canopy was not able to do it, so I'm back at square one with that. I have an appt tonight with a customer cabinet guy to see what he can do for me.

Then I have to find the time to get the tanks swapped and setup. My plan is to borrow a frag tank setup from a friend, move the current tank into it and then move and setup the new tank. Then I can work on separting the corals from the rock and putting them in a good place.

Rich

H20cooled

09-02-2006, 03:47 PM

Well, I finally have a good update. I now have my stand cover and the tank moved into the house. The contents of my old tank is in a friends frag tank in my garage. Doing it like this makes it a lot easier and it allowed me to replace my floor with pergo type flooring.

Here are some pictures.

Frag tank setup with contents of old tank.
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank006.jpg

New tank moved into the house:
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank005-1.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank004-1.jpg

R-3

09-02-2006, 05:49 PM

Looks good Rich. So when is the full move in gonna happen? Just wondering. Later Ryan

CCCP

09-02-2006, 08:35 PM

if you have space where you can cut the wall to stick that one there. Now that would be OUT THE SHIZNEYYYYYYYYY. than put some stone around it. just an idea :D

B Foxy

09-02-2006, 09:27 PM

I might know a good guy to do some stone work for ya... I think he might post on this board..

...See above...LOL

Seriously..that is one sweet setup..

...Is jealousy a sin??

CCCP

09-02-2006, 09:41 PM

yeeee b foxy :P

H20cooled

09-03-2006, 11:26 AM

Thank you, I wouldn't want to add anything else to this house now for my next house most definantly an inwall tank...

H20cooled

09-10-2006, 06:49 PM

Well I'm almost done, the rock and corals are all moved into the new tank and looking happy. I still need to install my chiller and clean up the wiring, and deal with a minor macro bubble issue. Here are some pics from today.

Rich

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank010.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank022.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank020.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank017.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank016-1.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank015.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank014.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank013-1.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank012-1.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank011.jpg

CCR

09-10-2006, 07:10 PM

Great Job!!!!!!!!!. The corals look fantastic!!!!!!!! They all look like they made the change over without a hitch. The hood and cabinet came out perfect. But is that water dripping in the 2nd picture on the right??? J/K :) Maybe you can shoot a video of the flow and the skimmer. Again, a great build. Thank You for sharing it all. (clap) (clap) (clap) (clap) (clap) (clap)

H20cooled

09-10-2006, 09:05 PM

Thank you, it was a lot of work but I fix it came out very well. I will see what I can do for a video...

Rich

H20cooled

10-10-2006, 08:23 PM

New tanks and friends pics:

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank012-2.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank011-1.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank008-1.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank007-1.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank005-2.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank004-2.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank003-1.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/New%20Tank/NewTank001-1.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/Corals015.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/Corals014.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/Corals013.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/Corals011.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/Corals009.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/corals177.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e241/h20cooled/corals151.jpg

Nyles

10-10-2006, 08:46 PM

Nice pics h20 :)

H20cooled

10-10-2006, 08:49 PM

Thank you, some came out a lot better then others...

180Brandy

10-11-2006, 09:48 AM

Nice setup!!! I like your fish.

impur

10-11-2006, 11:26 AM

Great pics Rich. How are the cardnals? They stay out in the open and together most of the time?

H20cooled

10-11-2006, 07:50 PM

Well they did but for some reason suddenly started dieing off, so now I have 1 left. Its kind of sad cause I really liked them...

reefgeek84

10-11-2006, 09:19 PM

Your tank looks awesome!

H20cooled

10-11-2006, 09:39 PM

Thank you!

vanz

10-23-2006, 10:00 AM

Seen this tank in person and it looks amazing! Sorry to hear about the situation with the fishies...that cardinal school looked awesome.

oldbrownies

10-23-2006, 04:31 PM

Maybe you got a terrorist living in your rocks?

H20cooled

10-23-2006, 05:35 PM

Sean, thank you...

Maybe that is whats going on...

oldbrownies

10-23-2006, 08:34 PM

I had no idea for about 6 months on my tank, and then my chromis started dissapearing, one after another, until i finally found a rock crab living in a cave in there

robz

11-12-2006, 04:44 PM

I really like the way your sand bed looks. What process did you use in makeing it? Did you rinse the sand and wait for it to dry before you mixed in with the faux? How long did you let it cure before adding water? Very nice looking reef.

H20cooled

11-12-2006, 05:07 PM

Thank you, I'm happy with the way it came out, its a little ugly now because I've been fighting with algae.

I copied a process that I found on Reef tank (http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66246)
The sand that I had was rinsed a long time ago and was completly dry, I didn't wait any certain amount of time for it to cure but the tank sat in my garage for around 2 months before it was used.

robz

11-13-2006, 10:40 PM

Atleast you can suck the algae out without sucking up the sand. Or if it's the tough stuff just scrub it with a tooth brush before doing a water change. If I go with the faux sandbed I'll be sure and have a ton of flow down low to hopefully keep algae from forming on the sand.