Fish Room Shutdown (and) New Custom Tank Plans!

[darkdep]

hehe maybe in the new fish house. 

You know, I've always been the kind of person who is as interested in the equipment KEEPING the fish as the fish themselves.  All my thinking for the last while has been multi-tank based, but now I'm softening the blow of losing my fish wall by designing the heck out of this new tank.

So, I've started assembling the list of goods to sell.  I'm at 102 items so far and really haven't gotten that far in.  I'm starting to think this sale might turn into a big day long OVAS party

[dan2x38]

a DarkDep auction...  come one come all to the greatest fish sale in Ottawa...  SP have nothing on you!

[darkdep]

As Audioslave_36's sig says, "Go Big or Go Home", right?

[dan2x38]

if ya can't run with the big dogs stay on the porch... LMAO 

[babblefish1960]

Pity about the stairs of course, but the only reasoning behind the 300 gallon mark was to give you a sense of lateral movement in volume rather than a downsizing. At the moment, you have quite a few gallons of water in the house with fish, it would be kind of nice to give them a really stunning place to hang out in, and your dimensions only account for about 200 gallons. Would you consider building a tank in the basement rather than trying to get something built down the stairs?

[sniggir]

now we are talkin build it and instead of 300g uprade...hehehe go for 500!

go big or go home and then make it salt...hehehehe

[audioslave_36]

Chris do you want an 8' x 24" piece of plywood to play around with ? it will give you a better idea than the tape measure will.

Dave

[speckledmind]

I'm really sorry to read about you tearring down the fish breeding project.

Well ! as they say, " you can take the fish keeping hobby out of the person, but you can't take the person out of the hobby " 

Here is an idea for planning your larger tank project.
( also something I have done in the past ).
What to know what fits down the stairs and into your basement ?
Build a life size tank / mokup out of carboard to the dimensions you would like, then take it through the doors, into the house and down the stairs, figure out what's the best way of handling such a size / weight, how many people you will need, the weight that will be supported in every turn right up to sitting it on the stand.
Planning such a move can save you and everyone involved a lot of back akes ( maybe a hernia or two along the way ), and see if it's a doable thing.

Cheers,
Denis

[darkdep]

I have lots of plywood and have moved several sheets of drywall and other objects down those stairs...Pretty sure what it could handle.  The floor to ceiling on the landing is about 7'6".  That limits me to about 7'.

I did consider doing a plywood tank and building it but there's a timing issue...by doing this selloff it means the (few) fish I keep will likely spend their time in a rubbermaid container.  I'd like to minimize that time.  DIYing a tank, of any size, will require a lot of tank assembly time added on to the time of building the stand, plumping the sump, etc etc.

That being said, if there was a tank building expert who could pull it off quickly, I'd consider that.  Keep in mind that the reason I'm downsizing is to reduce the humidity in my house   Although with a single tank I can employ several strategies to keep it under control (not to mention a huge reduction in water surface area).

[groan]

wow, that sucks.
but on a happy note...can i have your stuff?


kidding, i'll be eagerly awaiting the sale but sorry the wall has to go, but on a happy note, the wall will become a room!

[speckledmind]

I hear you on the plywood and drywall moving, but a tank is a whole different beast altogether.

Someone mentioned a local Acrylic tank builder to me a while back as I was looking for a bullet proof Mantis Shrimp tank, I keep racking my brains on who said it, and who is the builder, but I'm coming out short with the info right now.
I remember the vague details because he said it could be built in place if need be, meaning the sheets cut to size would be brought in and built on the stand.
Off the top of my head, one guy that comes to mind and is probably your best bet is az from this forum, he got many tanks made for his store and in the past, so he maybe able to help out, also try Mike from Recif Quebec, then contact Marc Andre at La Niche , both these guys get tanks made out of Acrylic by a local guy.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Denis




moderator's note: link to banned user removed

[charlie]

Well, since I made the agreement to myself a long time ago that the fish investment stays in fish, I need to spend all the sale proceeds on the new tank. 

I want something at least 6" long, 24" wide...although I'd love to do an 8" tank.

This is not 24 wide , but might be worth a look @ the price 
http://usedottawa.com/classified-ad/3788582&category=aquariums-fish

[Fishnut]

IF you feel like taking a pick-up truck to Sudbury, my father has a couple of plywood tanks and a fiberglass tank that he's been storing for me.  I'll never use them.  The two wood ones measure aprox 48 x 24 x 24 and the fiberglass tank is bigger and is already fitted with a drain at the bottom.  I think it also might have a couple of holes drilled into the back near the top.  I don't remember for sure though.

[Mettle]

This is not 24 wide , but might be worth a look @ the price 
http://usedottawa.com/classified-ad/3788582&category=aquariums-fish

Wow. Now that's a good find! Haha.

[beowulf]

This is not 24 wide , but might be worth a look @ the price 
http://usedottawa.com/classified-ad/3788582&category=aquariums-fish

I saw that and was thinking of giving the guy a call.  I want to know what fish are in it as they probably will not interest me as much as the tank.

[BigDaddy]

The Big Sale will occur the weekend of September 1st.  I'll have a list posted this weekend.  Keep your eyes peeled. 

Okay slacker.  The weekend is over and there is no list.  You better start appeasing the vultures!

[darkdep]

Thanks for the tank offers folks!  Damn I love this community.

I think I have settled on my perfect dimensions tho.  Given all the variables, including the limitations of getting it where it needs to be, 84" x 24" x 24" is going to be the perfect size.  That's about 209 gallons according to the OVAS Capacity Calculator.

I've already received a price on a custom tank of this size from ray.  Just have to get it built and get it here from T.O.  Then I'll have to buy enough beer to convince an army of sympathetic OVAS'ers to come help bring it into the house

A 7 foot tank will look spectacular, it's unusual and just that much longer than a 6 foot tank.  24" high will keep it manageable to clean, and will let me use 1/2" glass instead of thicker (which will help with weight).  Since I'll be plumping it for a sump, I can put it right back against the wall. 

[darkdep]

List is going up now. 

[darkdep]

Here you go:  http://ovas.ca/index.php?topic=19643.0

[beowulf]

Attack of the vultures as we take all of APW stuff!!!