My wood tank build

[Fiziksgeek]

Love this build, been silently following all along! I am considering a wood tank build myself, but at about half the size. It seems like the best way to get exactly what I want with out going broke!

Did you consider any other brand of epoxy? There are many out there, the west system seems to be the most popular, but also the most expensive?

I am trying to put together a materials list for my tank based on how much you have used.

[dsandfort]

Thanks you guys. I'm a proud papa.

Bart, I've got about 300# from my last tank and I picked up 2 large pieces of lace rock that are really interesting. I'll get started with that and cherry pick some special pieces down the road.

Fiziksgeek-I was familiar with West System since I've used it for years. Never looked elsewhere. I used almost 6 gallons. If you get much smaller than 200-250, I'm not sure there will be much savings. "Materials list". My materials list consisted of what I needed for the weekend or evening and then a run to the store at lunch where I generally forgot something. I'm not a very good planner. I never even drew the tank plan. Just built it from my head.

Final wall finish starts this week. Stone is ordered.

Del

[EWC88]

Hey I have one question..

When you put the piece of glass on did you just put glass on the front and no were else?

[miwoodar]

Sweet tank Del. I'm stoked to see the water has gone in!

[scchase]

Come on Del you planned twice as much as I did. Doing it on the fly phhhf you're an amateur. Can't wait to see it set up though.

[dsandfort]

Yep, I'll bow to the true no-planning pro. I stand corrected.

Yipee.. I have a rock and 4 fish in the tank tonight.

[viperdragon666]

that is sweet that ur ready to go how long it take to fill it all

[Misfit6669]

Originally posted by dsandfort
Yep, I'll bow to the true no-planning pro. I stand corrected.

Yipee.. I have a rock and 4 fish in the tank tonight.

You built all that for only a rock and 4 fish

I just can't understand you Del

[Misfit6669]

any plans on a 5th fish

[pcostanzo]

Dude, your epoxy came out sweet. I just built a sump and laying that fiberglass is tough.

[rayman45]

looking good man... comming together nicely..

[dsandfort]

School started and got real busy all of a sudden. My wife is growing tired of the uh, rustic look, so I've been concentrating on finishing the view side of the tank.

We decided to go with slate under the glass so the tank looks like it is sitting on a stone wall. Here is a full shot.



A little closer look with the stone ledge to lean on while close-up viewing. Still need to grout.



Plumbing is coming along and I have about 11K gph moving right now. Brought the calcium and Nielson reactors on-line and waiting for the water to clear.



I have leak-checked, flow-checked and power failure checked everything. It all seems to work the way I envisioned. If you see something wrong, give a holler. I'm going to build the cat-walk this weekend so I can get to the back of the tank above the plumbing.

[viperdragon666]

i love the slate that is cool glad everything is moving along well

[jnarowe]

looking real nice. I love the "business end".

[erics3000]

Coming together nicely.

[Dtking]

looking good, cant wait to see the finished product!

[cbui2]

Del seems like you've been real busy lately. the stone wall is defintely different in color and size. what will you be adding to your outer left & right side wall display to match stone texture? could you explain the two sumps below the display and some plumbing?

[pcostanzo]

The slate came out great. I love the look of the natural wood on the outside of the tank once its epoxied. Looks like when they used to build boats that way.

[Bax]

The slate looks great!

He he "rustic look", I'll have to use that one

[psusocr]

Simple Yet Elegant! love the setup everything is gorgeous

hey BAX im an environmental scientist.. i was ironically looking to re-locate to jersey for my job pm me if you have any suggestions..

[dsandfort]

Thanks everyone. I kind of like the look so far. Bart, the above stone finish is a secret (meaning I don't know yet). When we talk about the public view side of things here in my house, the rule is...If she wants my opinion, she'll give it to me.

Regarding the double sump thing, here is how it works.

Water overflows the tank and goes to the left sump. Skimmer takes water from there and delivers it to the right sump so I don't skim the same water over and over again. Calcium reactor runs off the left sump. Left tub fills up and overflows to the right tub. Most bubbles are gone by now but there is a sump within the right tub where I can use filter floss, etc. I also have an auto topoff in the right tub which is fed through a Neilson reactor so I can replace with any percentage of regular RODI water or Kalk. Main return pump picks up from the right tub and goes to 2 Wavysea divices. There is also a manafold off the main return for carbon, phosban, etc.

It would be easier if I labeled the photo. Maybe the finished product.

Del

[jnarowe]

Originally posted by dsandfort
... the rule is...If she wants my opinion, she'll give it to me.

no kidding!

Regarding the double sump thing, here is how it works.

Water overflows the tank and goes to the left sump. Skimmer takes water from there and delivers it to the right sump so I don't skim the same water over and over again. ... Main return pump picks up from the right tub and goes to 2 Wavysea divices. There is also a manafold off the main return for carbon, phosban, etc.

This is very similar to what I do. Part of thinking was also to be able to isolate the bubbles in the "inbound" sump, so that I didn't need baffles. It works extremely well. I put my probes in the inbound as well and have the Ca, Kalk, etc. flow into the outbound sump, that way I get a more acurate system reading.

IMO, two sumps is really the way to go if you have the room. Then you never have to worry about bubbles in your display, and you get much better control of your system. Also, at least in my case, because I used flexible PVC for my overflow drain lines, either sump can be taken offline for cleaning, repairs, or a swap out, while still running the system for whatever time period it takes.

[dsandfort]

Kinda headed that way myself. I think I'll put my probes in the overflow box and the sumps are joined by unions. I can isolate one and re-direct the overflow to the other.

Oh yeah, I also wanted 2 sumps so I can do larger water changes if I want to.

[jnarowe]

There may be too many bubbles in the overflow for the probes to work correctly. I would ask Curt at Neptune about that.

Yeah, and that is the other, other reason for two sumps: Being able to absorb the water from a power outage or do large water changes. I change out about 90g once a week.

[cbui2]

thanks that work out great. secret society what will it take to join? email address