Melev's new 280g Starfire tank thread

[hail_sniper]

yea that is pretty true, why the change?

[SaltNutz]

My 125 gal saphire glass tank came from InterAmerican and It is sitting on 1/4" faom on a plywood support.

Knock on wood, no problems yet.

[DerekW]

I've hadine om plywood and 1/2" foam for about 4+ years, no problem and my floor is not totally level, I see now it's about a 1/4" low on the one side. It was also set up for a few years before I bought it.

[teach]

Should you use foam/ plywood under all tanks? I have a 90 AGA and stand.
Marc, You are my reef hero.

[SPC]

I E mailed Oceanic asking about the foam plywood deal, here was there response:

"Because, for our standard production tanks it just does not matter and can do more harm than good. The tanks are designed to sit on the perimeter (trim) that we apply to the tank, and we build our stands accordingly. Potentially uneven pressure on the bottom from installation errors or mis-manufactured material is a good recipe for a bottom fracture, so we do not recommend the added material. However, on flat bottomed tanks as are many of our larger custom tanks, it can be helpful if the stand is not an Oceanic stand in order to compensate for any irregularities as most customs are engineered with the flat surface underneath in mind."

I didn't realize that there was a "flat bottom glass tank", is your's this way, Marc?
Steve

[Agu]

Mark,

Looking good !!

I understand that's not a load bearing wall and that your house is built with trusses, so that's out of the way . That's a fairly long span with no support, I'd be concerned about the top plate pulling away from the ceiling eventually. Especially with the amount of humidity the area will be subjected to. Quite often nonload bearing walls are just toenailed/tacked into place. I'd suggest confirming/reinforcing the top plates attachment to the trusses in the attic.

jmo,

Agu

[Foster]

Originally posted by Agu
Mark,

Looking good !!

I understand that's not a load bearing wall and that your house is built with trusses, so that's out of the way . That's a fairly long span with no support, I'd be concerned about the top plate pulling away from the ceiling eventually. Especially with the amount of humidity the area will be subjected to. Quite often nonload bearing walls are just toenailed/tacked into place. I'd suggest confirming/reinforcing the top plates attachment to the trusses in the attic.

jmo,

Agu

More on this - The top of the wall has basically become a single was sophit (sp?) You could get away with using A-35 clips or something similar to secure the rop part of the wall to the truss sringers. http://www.strongtie.com/

AGU I probably right, I have rolled hundred of trusses, and the best a partition wall gets is a toe nail.......once in a great while it might get a single nail "L" bracket but that only help from keeping the truss from moving side to side.

JME

[rjwilson37]

I think the lighting fixture will add alot of weight in that corner above the tank and IMO would put a support for the corner.

I remember him talking about the roll away forward and backward for the lighting and that will have some weight to it, so maybe he should have something in the corner for extra support.

[Knyght]

Have to agree. Always better to try and think 30-50 years down the road as far as housing modifications go rather that just the here and now.
And being in Okla. and not that far from you Marc we all know that foundations do shift over time.

fwiw

[Foster]

It is a little hard to tell with out standing there, but from the pics, Im guessing the he will be able to attach the light hanger/fitures/roller or what ever directly to the ceiling rafters, not the wall, and if they are trusses like he is saying, they should be able to support the little bit of added weight of a hanging fixure with no problem.

[SaltNutz]

Originally posted by SPC
I didn't realize that there was a "flat bottom glass tank", is your's this way, Marc?
Steve

Mine is flat.

[SaltNutz]

For the light fixtures I would suggest something of the type that I used that can be raised and lowered by pully. Take a look at my tank picture on page 5 of this thread. If you want a better picture of the pully system, let me know.

[Toledofishguy]

great start, similar to a project i want to start the day i close on a new house sometime down the road.

[melev]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I've been to Home Depot and Lowes today, but one more trip can't hurt.

The light system hasn't been fully designed yet, but I've got some ideas. I can make a track that spans the tank from front to back, at each end. That would allow me to rest the light system on the tank's walls. It won't be that heavy.

Maybe I'll make the track out of acrylic.

[SPC]

Originally posted by MikeSheridan
Mine is flat.

Ahhh, I didn't realize Mitch built even small tanks (compared to 220 and up ) with a flat bottom. This being the case, I would definitely place plywood and foam under one of his tanks then. Sorry for any confusion I may have caused in your thread, Marc, it was kinda an apples to orange thing.
Steve

[melev]

The whole topic is confusing. Mitch does put a plastic trim around his tanks, top and bottom. It is very thin, L-shaped stuff that I almost thought might have been aluminum.

When talking with him, I discussed the trim and the foam, and he was very adamant that I use it. So I will.

[SaltNutz]

Originally posted by melev
The whole topic is confusing. Mitch does put a plastic trim around his tanks, top and bottom. It is very thin, L-shaped stuff that I almost thought might have been aluminum.

When talking with him, I discussed the trim and the foam, and he was very adamant that I use it. So I will.

I'm not sure about your tank but my tank was custom made by Mitch and there isn't a plastic trim piece anywhere on it.

Here's a picture of the corner

[melev]

Okay, the wiring has been moved.

When I get the tank Sunday, I'll post a picture of the plastic trim to end all the controversy. Btw, it looks like white styrofoam under your tank, Mike. Mitch recommended pink, and I thought that is what you said you used.

[hail_sniper]

dont mean to jack, but i just built my sump today, similar to the model G (with a mod, to hold eggcrate in the ref for frags), and i just wanted to say that melev you are the master!

[webpolk]

Marc, the setup looks intense. I will definetely have to come and see this once you get it installed.

Great Project!

Steve

[delta]

Marc i love the way the tank will wrap around the wall nice touch

[melev]

Hi guys. I am reading your comments, so if I don't reply, it is because I'm up to my eyebrows in insulation fibers, saw dust, and sheetrock dust!

Here are the latest images. As I stated, the electrical was finished off. I have two circuits running to this spot, and at this point you'll only see two outlets. Each outlet is its own circuit, and I plan to get those DJ power centers that are all the rage in '04! That is why you don't see 20 boxes all over the place awaiting the equipment cords. I'll probably put them all on one panel, but after the tank is in. The two outlets are to the right side of the tank, not the blue boxes at the top.



The insulation is in, the wiring routed, the alarm panel relocated (THANKS BRANDON!!!), the phone wiring removed.

Also, for those of you worried about the furr-down section, I went ahead and talked to another framing genius, and he recommended in this application to put 3" screws in each upright. By securing them to the double-headers, it'll avoid sagging. While doing so, I noticed one double plate had separated, but one screw pulled everything up nicely. So I put three more screws just in case!

I finished the platform. You know how we always over do it? I think I did as well. Because the tank will stick into the room a couple of inches, and because I had no room to pull it into the garage any further due to the adjacent doorway, I added another 3.5" of wood across the front. That puts three 2x6's across the front, plus a sheet of 1/2" plywood as a spacer. And there are three across the back. The ends are made up of two 2x6's, and there are two cross braces evenly spaced in the middle section (every 22").

I still need to add a couple of 2x4s as legs on the front, in each corner facing the living room. Those I will wrap with fluted columns, which will accenting the mantle that will be in front of the tank. I'll be able to put things down in front of the tank, like a beer.



I know you can't see the front edge well, but it is pretty darn hot outside and I use this plastic to trap the a/c in the house.



Here you can see (a little) how far the front of the tank will stick out of the wall when you walk in. Roughly 2", but the mantle will be about 5" or 6" out from the front of the tank.



And just for fun, I thought I'd show you my new culture of phytoplankton brewing. I started these about 4 days ago, from the algae disks from Florida Aqua Farms. I'm looking forward to growing my phtyo in the new fish room!



I've been meaning to share this little tidbit about the water heater project that was mentioned earlier in this thread. When copper plumbing is run to a water heater, typically it is threaded onto galvanized threaded pipe. Due to the differences in metal, it is required (recommended) to use di-electric unions. This does something beneficial, although I've never taken the time to find out what. It was good enough for me to know you needed it and thus I'm familiar with them.

Anyway, when I removed the fittings from the water heater, the di-electric union that the hot water passes through was completely solid! You couldn't see through the hole like you could on the coldwater side. When I pressed on that smooth surface, it wouldn't budge. After unscrewing the galvanized pipe and holding it up to the sunlight, I could barely make out a few tiny spots of light through that obstruction. It's hard to believe I was getting any hot water all this time. Although I have all new fittings now, I really can't tell the difference. Still, I thought it was interesting and if some of you plan to rinse out your water heater of the sediment, you might as well check those pipes on the top as well, to see if all is clear and working.

[Knyght]

Originally posted by melev
Also, for those of you worried about the furr-down section, I went ahead and talked to another framing genius, and he recommended in this application to put 3" screws in each upright. By securing them to the double-headers, it'll avoid sagging. While doing so, I noticed one double plate had separated, but one screw pulled everything up nicely. So I put three more screws just in case!

Marc,
I think that you were wize to do that and I`m sure you won`t regret it.
Looks like everything is really starting to come together nicely.

Really like the idea of the tank coming into the living room a few inches instead of being flush or recessed.

[melev]

Man do I hate sheetrocking!

[SOMEthinsFISHY]

we all hate sheet rocking !