600 gallon Acrylic Reef - Page 9

pwhitby · #**201** 12/12/2005, 05:14 PM

im planning on christmas-new year week......I realy need to get my corals moved, they are killing eachother they are getting so crowded.

dugg · #**202** 12/12/2005, 08:20 PM

Paul, what have you done for reinforcing the floor? With that much weight, you really should be pouring about 6, 2 ft piers. It won't take much settling from a long dry summer to cause your floor to start cracking and enentually sinking with that much weight on it. If it were a solid object, you may be ok, but with a liquid object, that shifts it's weight, even if slightly, i would go for the better safe than sorry approach on this one. It's not a big deal at all to pour some support piers, then you know it will be safe. I have worked on a lot of homes in the OKC area, and not many of them don't have a few cracks in the floor. One crack within a few feet under that monster, and you could come home to a MAJOR disaster one day.

They sell the cardboard tubes you use to pours piers at HD cheap. It just takes minutes to saw out a square hole in the slab and dig out the sand 2ft deep. The slab will only be between 2 and 4 inches thick, depending on how broke the builder was the week your slab was poured. This would also make a perfect opportunity to run a floor drain that could insure this thing never floods your house.

Gwalker · #**203** 12/13/2005, 01:25 AM

"The INTERNAL tank volume is approx 540g"

With the thickness of material and length of overflow teeth it would acctually come to 542.14 gallons. Of course your going to have a little standing water in the overflows as well, but whos counting. LOL-I'm just trying to help you out, I know how much you want to have the biggest reef and every gallon counts!!

Knyght · #**204** 12/13/2005, 10:25 AM

What about sump volume? Are you counting that as well. It will add gallons and therefore weight if you are keeping it under the tank in the stand.

pwhitby · #**205** 12/13/2005, 10:55 AM

Sumps are in the garage.

Knyght · #**206** 12/13/2005, 10:56 AM

I have got to get up there sometime and see this thing and the plans you have for it.

pwhitby · #**207** 12/15/2005, 10:21 PM

update time.

The stand is finished and is light enough for two people to move easily enough. I estimate around 300lbs.

Here are a few pics:

First off the full thing:

and

the top:

and i tried to get a pic to show how flat the finished tube work was...you can get the idea from this I think.

Hope to get this to my house next week ready for the tank to sit on.

Paul.

Gwalker · #**208** 12/15/2005, 11:07 PM

Don't forget to rent a U-haul

mdiddy7s · #**209** 12/15/2005, 11:09 PM

I can get a trailer if you need. Just call.
Mike D

pwhitby · #**210** 12/15/2005, 11:26 PM

The fabricators will deliver....I just need to tell them when.

Like I said, two people can move it pretty easy.

P.

asnatlas · #**211** 12/16/2005, 12:58 AM

Very nice

I am pretty sure my next large tank (larger then 600gal) will have a steel stand...

pwhitby · #**212** 12/16/2005, 11:03 AM

LARGER THAN 600 ...Shawn....the madness has stop.

We have an oklahoma chapter of reefkeepers anonymous if you want to join

asnatlas · #**213** 12/16/2005, 03:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by pwhitby
LARGER THAN 600 ...Shawn....the madness has stop.

We have an oklahoma chapter of reefkeepers anonymous if you want to join

ROFL, I don't know how much larger, and it will not be until years down the road... Like 8+ when I move... But once this spending spree is finished I will be saving towards that...

pwhitby · #**214** 12/18/2005, 04:26 PM

Im in the process of figuring water flow options....I was thinking of a sequence 4200 pump connected to an OceansMotions 4 way. I already have an OM squirt, and I love it. Each of the outlets would be split to give 8 returns in total. Two of thse would be at the front of the tank...the rest on the sides and back. Heres the basic idea. Im hoping that as it cycles (15s per outlet) it will create a partial wave in teh water, 30 seconds from left to right then 30 from right to left...at least thats what I hope.
The pump will do 4,000g/hr so thats a fairly decent force of water.

Maybe add to that a couple tunzes on a controller or a wavebox....I think im set.

Paul.

poke75 · #**215** 12/19/2005, 12:03 AM

Where are you going to find those cool colors of PVC?

pwhitby · #**216** 12/19/2005, 01:49 PM

well since we had a vote on cool colors....I now know what I need. I may get one of those watercolor sets and paint them by hand.

Anyway...we should ask Ray that question....I may have him do the plumbing....he made an awesome job of his!

I think when the plumbing is done it will look like a small oil refinery. I didnt add in my diagram the 4 overflow pipes and the 2 returns from the sump.

Paul.

Knyght · #**217** 12/19/2005, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by pwhitby
well since we had a vote on cool colors....I now know what I need. I may get one of those watercolor sets and paint them by hand.
Paul.

I would advise against the watercolor set and recommend using instead sharpie markers.

pwhitby · #**218** 12/19/2005, 01:57 PM

Good call Greg.

pwhitby · #**219** 12/19/2005, 01:58 PM

well...the snow delayed delivery of my stand, they called very early this morning to ask if it was Ok to reschedule. Looks like tomorrow....unless we get more snow falling

asnatlas · #**220** 12/19/2005, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by pwhitby
well...the snow delayed delivery of my stand, they called very early this morning to ask if it was Ok to reschedule. Looks like tomorrow....unless we get more snow falling

Dang snow

For your colors, instead of paint or sharpies, you can use colored electrical tape

pwhitby · #**221** 12/20/2005, 10:49 AM

True to their word, My stand arrived this morning....Now the fun can begin....

Travis L. Stevens · #**222** 12/20/2005, 11:16 AM

....the fun of taking more pictures for us?.....

pwhitby · #**223** 12/20/2005, 11:28 AM

for you Travis....

Travis L. Stevens · #**224** 12/20/2005, 11:32 AM

Oh that is AWESOME looking!!! Are you going to put some sort of waterproof coating over it? I know it is "powdered", but what about many coats of some varnish? Would that deter scratches?

Don't forget a coat out in your garage there. It looks a little chilly.

Also, you have PM

pwhitby · #**225** 12/21/2005, 02:58 PM

While working on the designs for this tank I really needed to get a feel for how I was going to plumb it all and where all the power was coming from etc...So..I decided to draw a picture. Having plenty of time to spare I thought it would be cool to draw one like Twize and other people have done for their large setups. Before I began I always assumed that they did these just for show. I have to tell you, I learned a lot that I hadnt thought about regarding the layout of the "fish room". Below is what I came up with. There are still modifications to be made to this basic layout:

Once I had the layout figured I began running through my head what I would need for this to work as I designed. The reservoir tank is there to make water changes easy. The basic idea is to isolate it from the sytem at the two valves in and out of it drain the water refill it with RODI add salt, heat it up and reopen the valves. I then realized I hadnt added a drain to the reservoir nor a feed from the 200g storage drum. Ok..so its no big deal, but by doing that now on paper I save myself headaches down the way.

Plus....I know how many bulkheads to buy before I begin.

The system incorporates an auto top off on the main receipt/return tank. This keeps water levels constant. The flow is split, most goes thru the chiller to the tank. Part gets routed up the wall to the chaeto tank, from there the oxygen rich water goes through my shallow frag tank to flow down into the reservoir or receipt tank. I was thinking of adding an extra barrel in there full of rock rubble to help in filtration....im still undecided about that one.

P.