My 240g tank journal

[crazy loaches]

More stand pics:


I didn't really take into consideration the overflows when I built the stand. Nothing major, but I needed to cut out a section for the plumbing and bulkheads. The piece isn't weight bearing really so no big deal.



The whole thing built & disassembled to move inside. The front and back separate, the top comes off, and you can also see the plywood backing and the MDF I'll lay across the top.



Most of the pieces in the house. Sorry its messy! I guess I was too excited to get the tank into the house... will have to clean up a bit.



Getting it all put together.



My son is rather excited that I built him a new playhouse.



I just wasn't sure if 2 2x4's was going to be strong enough for the columns. Remember we're talking about over a ton of weight, probably around 2,500 lbs. I'd guess. I figured it would be easy to add a 3rd 2x4 to the front, spanning between the 2x6 base and 2x8 top. That would also turn the 2x6's and 2x8's into load bearing pieces.



Since I was adding the extra piece after the fact, I cut each one so that it was a very tight fight so as to be useful for support. Now I basically have the equivalent of 8 4x6 columns. No worries now.



Everything is in place, 3/4" foam will cushion the glass-bottom tank. I am actually going to cover up the frame with tongue and groove later. I just need to get the tank out of the garage to have the space to work on the finishing pieces.

[Mark in Vancouver]

It will be handy if you ever need to park a bus on top of it. Great work.

[Whitey_MacLeod]

Looking good. I don't think you need to worry about it being strong enough- the compressive strength of wood is enormous, and you've done a very solid job on the bracing. You could probably park two buses on it if you need to I'm looking forward to more pictures.

[crazy loaches]

Painting the tank. It was my first time painting a tank so I decided on latex that would come off easy.



The first couple coats went on very thin. The pic doesn't really show it well, but I was really worried how many coats it would take. I didn't take any more pics till it was done but it was like 6 coats.


.....and finally a few days later:

Tank is finally out of the garage and on the stand! It was a bit of a production getting it from garage to family room despite the move being only about 25 foot. There were 4 of us in all, but the hallway was to small for anyone on the sides. Two of my friends actually carried it all the way through the hallway themselves. That was a little nerve wracking. I had some rollers for the floor I figured we could roll the tank, but they wanted to carry it themselves rather than have to set it all the way down and pick it back up again from floor level.



Another pic for size reference. I'm placing the bulkheads in the overflows. Definitely not going to be easy to reach the bottom when completed, but doable. I wont be doing any low growing plants that will need frequent pruning.

The stand did end up being a little taller than I had envisioned, which will make in tank maintanence a bit harder. I think I will build a sort of scaffolding that can be setup quick when I need to get into it.



Bulkheads in. Used schedule 80 1" and 1.5" on both overflows. Just 4 of those bulkheads is over $50. Plus two bulkheads I got for the sump tank put my order like around $75 just for bulkheads. These parts do add up quick.

[chefkeith]

That tank looks awesome.

That reminds me of when I moved my 8ft tank inside. Unfortunately we couldn't fit it in through the hallway. So in the fishroom, we had to take out the sliding windows and move it in through the window frame. Luckily the tank is acrylic and only weights about 125 pounds.

[shari2]

Nice, Tristan! The black background is lovely. Looks like it's almost big enough to swim in. Yes, it is a tall stand for such a big tank, but I bet you'll appreciate the space underneath it for all the 'goodies' you'll have room for in there.

[crazy loaches]

That tank looks awesome.

That reminds me of when I moved my 8ft tank inside. Unfortunately we couldn't fit it in through the hallway. So in the fishroom, we had to take out the sliding windows and move it in through the window frame. Luckily the tank is acrylic and only weights about 125 pounds.

Yes I remember you moving it in through the window! Actually my house has very small windows that wouldn't have worked if I tried! Just glad I got some big friends lol. Personally I am a cross country runner not a power weight lifter! I don't know how much it weighs but I was guessing over 300 pounds at least.

Nice, Tristan! The black background is lovely. Looks like it's almost big enough to swim in. Yes, it is a tall stand for such a big tank, but I bet you'll appreciate the space underneath it for all the 'goodies' you'll have room for in there.

Thanks Shari! I've always liked the look of black for backgrounds - as long as you have lots of plants to focus on you don't want the background 'taking away' from the main subjects. The stand is a bit taller than I would have liked but no going back now! The big 2x8 across the top doesn't help for space either. And there will be lots of stuff packed in there dont you worry lol. I'm already running out of room quick because of my somewhat poor choices for the way I did the sumps... thats soon to come.

[crazy loaches]

Oh, and I was wondering if anyone else has had troubles viewing any of the pics? Since I do run the webserver myself if anyone has any issues give me a shout through PM so I can try and catch any problems I might have quicker.

[LoachOrgy]

Wow!

[crazy loaches]

OK, time for something other than tank/stand pics. Here is the driftwood I ordered from Manzanita.com. I ordered the large aquarium bulk pack. Probably will only use a quarter of it, but then I can pick n choose which ones I want, and have some left over fro other tanks or trade/sell.





To soak it, I just got a couple big totes out, filled with garden hose, and changed the water every few days. Soaked for a total of about a month outside this summer.

[newshound]

OMG that is a nice large tank!
I hope the floor is supported underneath...or is it slab?
nice
currently I have so much driftwood in my living room that it is hard to move.
I am redoing one of my tanks.
my place is such a mess my gfriend will not come over LOL

[Rocco]

If you adopt me, I'll do your water changes and tank cleaning.

[MoonPye]

Drooling over your tank. Love it!

[crazy loaches]

OMG that is a nice large tank!
I hope the floor is supported underneath...or is it slab?
nice
currently I have so much driftwood in my living room that it is hard to move.
I am redoing one of my tanks.
my place is such a mess my gfriend will not come over LOL

Yeah, slab floor. Estimated to weigh in at a ton and a half when fully complete (~3,000 lbs). And beleive me my place has been a mess through the time I've been setting this up, my wife is about to kill me. Its turned out to take A LOT longer to setup than I thought.

If you adopt me, I'll do your water changes and tank cleaning.

LOL, but I got me a fancy dancy controller that will automate the waterchanges, but I still could use some help cleaning.... not sure if the wife would approve though.

Drooling over your tank. Love it!

Thanks MoonPye! I just hope it works out in the end... I dont want to dissapoint. But I've already run into one problem, and I am not hiding any problems, I'll let everyone know everything that happens. This is my first big tank and my first all DIY (well except for tha actual tank), so despite looking like I might now what I am doing, it has been a big learning experience.

The one issue is the tank is slightly off level. Its just a hair my floor might be off and a slightly larger hair my stand is off. The stand measures about 1/16th off across end to end, maybe just slightly more but less than 1/8" total. Doesnt sound like a big deal across an eight foot span. But by setting it on carpet which is compressable and the 1" foam, it equates out to about 1/4" across eight feet (for the waterline). Again doesnt sound to bad... except my tank uses overflows. I did a test fill the other day and one overflow was taking 75% of the flow and the other 25% (well thats just a guess, one was a lot more than the other basically). And with the decent size pump I am using I appear to be maxing the one drain out. Not a big deal I can throttle back the pump slightly. So hopefully this problem wont actually be a problem, because now the tank is on the stand and full of water, it wont be coming off the stand unless its going into a new house.

[MoonPye]

I swear, I feel like i'm holding my breath waiting for your tank to be complete. I was a nervous wreck just setting up my 55 gal in the livingroom (worrying about level tank and floor support, leaking once all the water was in it.. etc) I think I'd be out of my mind with a tank your size. Still wouldn't stop me from doing it though!

Oh I wish you the very best with the whole project. I really admire all you DIY guys and your beautiful set ups. I'm sure it's going to all be worth it. How wonderful to come home and be able to space out / de-stress in front of a tank that size.

I'd gladly put up with a mess if my husband were doing this project!