One Tank To Rule Them All

[Steve]

I think you are underestimating Ron, and especially the 6" clown, that's good size man, I have a trio of clowns barely 3 yrs old that are maybe 5" or so if that. ?Sounds like you got some good size fish. That's gonna be a great tank when it's up.

[danielratti]

No worries man I have the room to hold them.  I have a bunch of extra male champs I'll have some more mylochromis soon and other stuff I need to look

[Ron]

^ Good to hear, I'd definitely like both of those!

Updates...

I haven't been adding updates because sanding, filling holes, more sanding, drywall mudding, more sanding, cutting trim, more filling, and more sanding ... etc ... is boring. Painting was largely boring too. Some people seem to love doing that - not me!

Good news: Construction is largely done as of this afternoon!

Front side:


Back side:


The backside certainly looks more interesting. I added some thick trim around the edges because I preferred that route rather than cutting long, 1.4" strips of drywall to fill the gaps. I'm not sure where the sump is going just yet, so I've got a bunch of outlets on the right and some off to the left on the other concrete wall beyond the frame. I also put some up top over the far corner of the tank to use for whatever lighting I go with. The single is constant power and the double I put on a switch. I have a few ideas for how I might want to set things up and wasn't sure exactly what I wanted, so I added both when I had the wall opened up.

[jcunningham0295]

Looking really good Ron.

[Steve]

Nice clean work Ron looking very good so far.

[Ron]

Thanks guys.

I was watching Tom Brady getting it done for a few drives tonight and decided to get back to work myself. Most of clean-up is complete and I also managed to stack the stand back together. The upper-most portion would be a piece of cake with two people, but is barely manageable alone because of it's awkward size and weight (~2 2x8s, 5 2x6s, and a full sheet of 23/32" plywood, lol).

[Saulosi77]

Looks really great!  Can't wait to see it up and running.  Giving me ideas for when I get a house in the next year.  Keep up the good work.  Almost done.

[Rob S]

Looking good Ron! Operation Dream Tank is really taking shape!

[Ron]

3/4" foam laid and 3/16" weatherstripping placed around the edges to provide a nice seal between the tank and the wall. I'm currently trying to coordinate between various help with anticipation of being able to move the tank this weekend. We'll see ...



^The black tape around the edges of the main sheet is so I don't have to deal with crumbling styrofoam pieces from the edges, nor look at ugly styrofoam. The tape attaching it to the stand is temporary to hold it in place while the tank is set upon it. Afterwards I'll trim it with a razor blade and remove the excess so it looks good.

I'm starting to think other aspects of the project, specifically the background attachment. I don't want to silicone a background in since it would be extremely hard to remove from acrylic. Anyone have some idea on what size magnets I'd need for a reasonable pulling force through 3/4" acrylic? (Reasonable as in strong, but not so strong that I either become injured installing them or can't remove them afterwards. I know there are some companies making powerheads that are held in place via magnets for 3/4"- 1" thick tanks, but I've been unable to figure out what size magnets they are using.)

[Steve]

I know some people that have used some high dollar "rare earth magnets" (I believe they were)  to hold backgrounds in place on thick tanks (both glass and acrylic) but not sure where they got them or what they actually cost. I know one guy was on C-F, I'll see if I can find his post from a year or two ago and let you know. Wish you were closer bud, I'd give ya a hand moving it for sure if you weren't so far away.

[Arturtle]

Have been watching this thing come along, would love a tank that size.

As far as magnets, check out mcmaster-carr.  You would have to figure out what magnets are fish safe first, but I think you would just have to buy a few and see how they work.  Most will at least state a pulling force, so you could start small/cheap and work your way up.

[Ron]

Wish you were closer bud, I'd give ya a hand moving it for sure if you weren't so far away.

Appreciate the offer. 

Have been watching this thing come along, would love a tank that size.

As far as magnets, check out mcmaster-carr.  You would have to figure out what magnets are fish safe first, but I think you would just have to buy a few and see how they work.  Most will at least state a pulling force, so you could start small/cheap and work your way up.

Thanks, I'll look into that. 

I've gotten things lined up for this afternoon. If everything goes well, later tonight I should have an update with a tank in the photo. 

[Ron]

Through the use of simple tools, it was possible to roll the tank off the trailer and to the back door. It was then stood on one end to fit inside, upon another dolly and rolled inside. (Not too many pictures of how it was moved in, because I was actively helping bringing it in.)



Picking up the tank for the last 10' of it's trip onto the stand was a bit of a shock, because up until there we'd never picked it up and had no idea just how heavy it was for sure. It took every bit of 4 people and next time, I'm thinking 6 people would make it more pleasant for everyone involved. Thank god for the 3/4" styro between the stand and the tank - it definitely saved some fingers and hands from getting crushed against the stand. Setting it down and removing one's hands was a challenge and often required assistance from others in order for the last person on either end to get out from under the tank.

Getting it up tight against the window wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would given the weigh of the tank. Over the surface area, the force down upon the styrofoam wasn't too great and it was possible to slide the tank up against the window (as opposed to picking it up and setting it down flush).

End result:

[Rob S]

Great progress buddy! Now comes the fun part! What kind of substrate are you thinking of using? Decor?

[Ron]

Great progress buddy! Now comes the fun part! What kind of substrate are you thinking of using? Decor?

I knew I wanted sand and wanted it to look natural. After experimenting with play sand and creek sand, I decided to stick with PFS (the larger grain, tan PFS). I swear the pool people know about us fish people and charge a premium for it in the off season. When I first invested in it years ago, I paid $6-$8/bag. This time around I paid just under $12/bag. 
At the same time, I'm also thankful that I got some - talked to a couple stores who'd run low or out and didn't seem interested in ordering some more in.

Discounting the overflow portion, ~2" in a 8'x4' area would require ~5ft^3. The pool store barely had enough, 10 bags @ .5ft^3, so 500#s later, I have all the sand I should need.



I have some rocks on hand, thought about taking some from other tanks since I'm hoping to eventually downsize my tank collection, but I'm starting to think I'll still come up short. Not sure if I'll try to collect some from around my house or go buy some from a shop. I'm hoping to keep some larger sand areas open too, as I'll have phenos, fossies, etc, and would like to see them enjoy searching around in the and like they'd do naturally.

I'm also contemplating a UGJ setup, so I haven't started putting in any sand yet. It'd be easier to get the UGJ and rock work built before putting the sand in.

Currently I'm focused more on trying to get the plumbing designed. I'd like to get the plumbing functional and fill up the tank entirely, just to make sure everything's good before I start putting hundreds of pounds of sand and rock into the tank. It's still a little nerve-wracking to think about the idea of a leak.