My 240g tank journal

[crazy loaches]

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!

Thanks MoonPye, I think sometimes I am a bit too daring and it gets me in trouble... lets hope this tank doesnt end up being one of those!

I love the woodwork, it will look even better I'm sure once it's aged and soaked and in situ, etc..

Having seen yours and some of the other great self-builds on this forum, I'm thinking of changing my signature to....
"One of these days, Mine'll look like theirs!"

Thanks TCJ, I hope the manzanita will look at home eventually. I did try the other day to put a few pieces in to give me an idea but I was struggling with the long skinny branchy shape of the manzanita compared to the large chunky malaysian wood I am used to. Most of it will eventually be covered in moss I am thinking.

Holy suh-moley! Is that tank huge! I understand the nature of your stand and bracing much better now. I'd be worried what was under the slab floor.

Great pictures. I can't wait to see it full.

Thanks Mark, I just hope no animals were harmed in my making this tank

I dont beleive there should be any issues with the slab floor. I mean my house (a common bi-level design around here) has a garage as half the lower level and I dont think the slab on the garage side is any thicker (but I could be wrong) so being that vehicles park on it which is a lot of weight in the small area of the tire/floor contact then my 8'x2' footprint should be fine.

[Mark in Vancouver]

Concrete won't budge. At one point recently I lived on the 8th floor of an apartment building with nearly 200 gallons of water in various tanks. And Vancouver gets earthquakes! A solid slab would be ideal.

You can make beautiful loach music with a tank that size. I'm totally jealous - and amazed to see someone making their hobby/obsession into reality. You've got fans now. Keep the camera going.

[loachmom]

Well, finally, I get to see the pictures on this thread. I was having computer problems, and Tristan kindly helped me through them.

What a great project! and a great photo journal! The tank is enormous..even larger than I imagined. And I really like the black background and the driftwood. I'm looking forward to the rest of the project!!
Thanks for sharing this with us.

[crazy loaches]

Thanks Loachmaom, lets just hope your computer can continue to work right and not revert to its earlier state!

Ok time to start the plumbing. Here are a few pics:



Various plumbing parts. This is actually a fraction of what I ended up using (partly because I ripped out half of the plumbing 3-4 times because I've changed the pumps and design). I bet I have $200+ in just pvc parts. Sickening really, and I could have gotten by with a lot less had I had a good design to start with, oh well.




Durso style standpipes. Seems to be the common way to make a standpipe with lower noise and less co2 loss. After I made these I found there was a couple other methods too, the stockman standpipe and also a totally silent but touchy setup that draws no air (complete siphon) the Herbie Method. I'd have tried that if I hadnt already done most the plumbing. Maybe next time.

Spraybars:

Mocking up some spraybars. I was undecided on how to plumb the returns and eventually decided on spraybars that crossed the whole tank nearer the bottom. The idea is since the intake is at the top (overflows that skim the surface) I want a good current coming from across the bottom then up to the top. On the little space between the overflows and the ends I also ran a smaller vertical spray bar just so there was a dead spot.



Painting them black so they disappear against the black background (I hope).

Hopefully tomorrow or soon I'll post the rest of the plumbing pics. I have it pretty much complete just working on getting the tank full and running, and uploading pics yet. But with the holiday and my work schedule, not sure how much I'll get done on the tank for a week or two...

[crazy loaches]

One last update before I'm gone for the weekend... To continue with the plumbing theme I'll start with the sump:

This is what I should have really thought of more before building the stand, so I could have built in specific room for the sump, which I sort of did but took no measurements or even decided how big I wanted the sump. One thing I definitely wanted was the ability to take the sump tank in or out if needed. So on the stand I designed the two outer section to be wider to accommodate this. But I was left with some odd dimensions and couldn’t get a common tank to fit. But I was thinking of just using a Rubbermaid or similar tote anyhow. But I just couldn’t find one to fit the space efficiently until I went to the Container Store. They had about the perfect size to fit the end compartments in my stand - a 33g. Was a little pricey there but decided it was the easiest way to go. I also wanted plenty of volume so I could do water changes out of the sump easily, and since my stand would accommodate two, I decided to go with two, and that would provide the shortest possible plumbing with each sump under the bulkheads on each end. Each sump would have its own return pump. if needed I could shut down one and just use the other too, like for an extended cleaning, etc. The only problem would be balance, so I put a bulkhead in each and connected them together - if one was filling faster than the other the extra would level out through the connecting pipe. Well all this was the original idea, I’ve changed it somewhat since, but will show the pics and explain it as it really happened.



The 33g tote. Since this is going to be in the cooler room in the house, on slab floor, and against the outside wall, I am insulating everything I can to make it more thermally efficient. So I got some foam insulation and am lining the sump tanks as well as the base and back of the display tank.



The bulkhead I put in the side of each tank to connect them together.



Sump tank in the stand. I lined (but not stapled in place yet) the whole bottom of the stand with heavy gauge black plastic lining to hopefully catch the stray splash of water so it doesn’t soak into the carpet underneath.

There is a small amount of bowing [expected] and I think I will also add some bracing to prevent the bowing later. I cut a slot in the foam in the front and am going to mark the sump level with gallonage marks.

I probably could have custom built the whole thing from acrylic but I was hoping this would save time and money, at least since I wasn’t going to mess with chambers and baffles, etc. The sump is merely a holding tank of water. I plan on putting a large 250 micron media bag over the drain outlet to catch debris, and sort of visible in the last pic I am going to make filter boxes the return pumps will be sucking through, with a large piece of floss and some bio media inside. Hopefully this will be easy to maintain. Time will tell. And I apologize if this looks kind of ghetto rigged, with duck tape and all... lol

[Diana]

I used under gravel plates to support and separate various filter media in my sump. Water falls into it in the left rear corner, bubbles through some bacteria media that is held in a mesh bag that onions came in, then goes through several densities of sponge and floss. UGF plates sandwiching it all together (well, not the biological stuff). The pump is on the far right, and is connected to the return with a flexible hose. That way I can move the pump without having to disconnect it to clean under it. It is easy to disconnect, too, because I put a union in the return line, high enough up that I can pull the whole box out if needed. I also used an extra sturdy storage box as a sump, it is around 20 gallons if it is full of water, but it keeps evaporating.

[crazy loaches]

Here are some pics of the filter boxes I am making. The idea here is sticking with the tote theme. I have some mechanical filtration that will be a media bag on the drain outflow in the sump. But I thought about making something like the pond filters, that are just a big filter box on the intake of a fountain pump. So on my return pump I will plumb the intake into a tote that will have a filter floss pad as well as bio media inside. Simple, and hopefully easy to maintain.

There will be two of these... one in each sump:


Tote with lid cut.


Return pump is a Quiet One 4000. Used a union for easy disassembly. Intake is plumbed into box and has a T, holes will be drilled around these.


A piece of eggcrate cut to fit perfectly into the lip in the tote.


Some good cheap bio media... pot scrubbers. A 3 pack was under $1.


Completed filter box.

Time will tell how long it takes for the floss to clog, I am hoping to not have to replace it too often. My goal is once a month or longer for maintenance that requires me to actually do something . If it clogs too fast I might make a larger box. Or the other option I was contemplating was two layers, a more coarse filter pad on top of the floss maybe...

[newshound]

"Some good cheap bio media... pot scrubbers. A 3 pack was under $1."
becareful I know most sponges have anti bacteria chemicals in them

[Colin]

I have used those scrubbers before too although it was actually for an alligator's pre-filter for a large pool. The problem was that dye leaked out and discoloured the water.

It didnt bother the alligator but I changed it as soon as I noticed the water colour. if it was a fish tank it might have been a different story, if might have been poisonous?

Yoor obviously doing a great job of setting this tank up properly. Fot the sake a of few extra dollars I'd buy aquarium safe sponges...

best wishes
Colin

[crazy loaches]

Nah, pot scrubbers are actually pretty common as media, in fact some of the more serious studies on biomedia and surface area have been performed on them. I've already used them in my canisters for about a year. No dye I've noticed leaching, no chems, and they arent the ones that have metal bands on them either. For example here is an interesting site thats been mentioned before on other forums: http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/filtra ... 071603.htm I dont know the credentials though, and I disagree with some of there prices, my potscrubbers were cheaper than what they are saying. One reason I dont want to spend a ton on bio media (would probably cost a lot, I've got several gallons of media volume) is because its not even needed really. But will be there for extra assurance. Heavily planted tanks dont need a lot of bio filtration, the plants will compete with bacteria for ammonia, etc, and the many leafs provide a huge amount of surface area in the tank anyways. I have seen a few impressive planted tanks that dont run filters per se, just some in tank circulation pumps. But they arent stocked heavily, and I wanted the sump for many reasons other than bio filtration .

Thanks for the concerns though, I will watch for any leaching of color. They are the same type from the same store I have been using for a while though, so I hope I have nothing to worry.

BTW, countdown is growing near. I am testing out my plumbing today filling the tank and will try to heat it up, get ph readings, test the filtration, drain system, tune the overflows, etc over the next few days. Unfortunately I do have to work this weekend though:evil:. Will probably run it through a trial week and then if everything looks good I'll be planting it shortly there after. Fish will wait a few weeks more.

I do have lots to finish still, most of which I have already at least started on. But pretty much all the critical parts are in place.

[crazy loaches]

Time to finish up the stand. Well maybe not finish... but put some more work into lol! I built the frame of the stand already, with the intentions of just covering up the framing with something easy like tongue and groove pine. I am trying to keep it simple and easy to do, as well as the nice country pine look that I enjoy. Here is what I got so far:


Putting the tongue-n-groove together. I cut the pieces to length with my sliding miter saw, put together with some wood glue, and tacked in place with air brad nailer.



Staining the wood, I used aged maple stain and semi gloss acrylic finish.



Haven’t stained the doors yet.



All the staining & finishing done (to the front section). Just need to get the door hardware installed.



My son really likes to help (translate: he throws a fit if he doesn’t get to be in the way) .



Well, I let the whole thing sit in the garage to long before installing and some of the pieces warped/expanded and a couple of the doors don’t fit right. Off to the saw...



I hate having to put a finished piece back through the saw...



Cabinet locks were a must for me...



All the doors installed and working... along with a light in the stand. Now to rig up some switches so it will automatically turn on.



The stand so far. The front is done, the side panels need stained, finished, and attached yet.

[loachmom]

You and your son do wonderful work together. The stand is just beautiful.
I think the locks on the doors are great idea. Having kids myself (I'm assuming the locks are to keep little hands out), I think I'll ask my husband to include locking doors on the stand he will be building for me.

[Colin]

Great, glad you have used them before and found them okay.

My 4 year old daughter loves 'helping' too. Funny when she calls the battery drill Daddy's toys

[Keith Wolcott]

Nice job on the stand. I may do something similar on mine.

[Whitey_MacLeod]

Looking good. The pot scrubbers are a great idea- I'm going to pick some up to pack out my xp3.