DarkDep's Ultimate DIY: 8 Foot 300 Gallon Tank

[darkdep]

Hi Folks,

Lots of thinking and planning has gone into a new project for me, since the dismantling of my fish wall.  As some of you know, I was forced to shut down my breeding operations due to humidity issues in my house, which is incapable of handling the load I put upon it   However, I needed something cool to do fish wise, so decided that with my acquired aquatic knowledge to date, it was time for something I've always wanted...THE BIG TANK!!

The big tank won't fit down the stairs to my basement, so it must be built in place.  Even tho it will be large, it only has about 35% the surface area of my breeding operation; plus it will be sumped and will be completely covered, minimizing evaporation.  Should allow me to have this sucker without the humidity problems.

What's big?  8 Feet long!  The tank dimensions will be 96" long x 30" wide x 24" high.  It will be drilled and hooked up to a large sump.  It will have a new DIY stand built, with the goal to make it nice looking similar to the DIY stand I wrote an article on a while ago.  Goals will be some nice DIY T5HO lighting as well as moonlights and some other goodies.  A semi-automatic water change system, inline battery backup power, and more will be part of this giant project.

First, the tank itself.  It will be constructed of 1/2" glass, possible due to the height (only 24" remember, I can't clean anything deeper!) as well as the use of Euro Bracing.  The front panel will be Starphire glass, which is super clear compared to regular plate glass.  I've attached a cutsheet I submitted to the glass shop today for the final quote and to find out time to receive.  I should know within a day or two.  A few other nice touches I'm thinking of doing will be to get polished edges to the exposed glass pieces on the bracing and the corners, for a unique look.

I'm planning to have three overflows, one in each corner and one in the centre.  It's mainly because the tank is so long, but it'll help pull grunge from multiple locations.  Returns will be via a center pipe (not shown yet) so all plumbing is internal; this will let me put the tank right up against the wall.

The tank build itself I'm going to need plenty of help; I'd like to ask for anyone interested in helping with such a build to PM me.  I've already got several people who have said they'd help, but I'm going to need I'm guessing about 5 people minimum to make sure all goes well and there are plenty of hands.  First hopeful date is Sunday, October 28.  That'll likely slip, with the way work's been lately, but that's the current goal.

Let me know your thoughts, if you've got any.  I'm WIDE open to suggestions.

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[Adam]

What about a PVC bottom?  And making it 6 inches wider .

[Shrimpy]

Count me in to help!  I'll probably need the help in return at a later date! 

[bitterman]

APW your diagram shows 2" holes.. Most 1.5" bulkheads require 2.5" holes or 65MM. I highly advise going with 1.5" Bulkheads.

What overflow design are you going with? I would advise doing Durso stand pipes

http://www.dursostandpipes.com/

I will help when ever it is planned if possible. My wife is expecting Dec 1st, so the closer it gets to that the more Iffy my help will be.

How is the bracing going to be layed out?

For the stand I would ensure that use use plywood on the top to help support the weight as 1/2" would not be good if you were suspending the tank on the outer edge. Thats alot of weight to hold.  My 180 has 5/8" thick bottom and 1/2" sides.

Bruce

[darkdep]

Hi Bruce, the hole size I was unsure of 100% as I had to run the sheet out to get the quote.  We spoke on this before and I thought your sizes were great, so I'll have the design changed to use 2.5" holes.

I will be doing a Durso standpipe of some kind, yes. 

The bracing is going to go all along the inside edge of the tank, top and bottom.  Bottom bracing won't be seen as it's underneath the gravel, but the top bracing will be seen.  It might go thicker, as I was told those pieces at that length might be very difficult to cut and not have break; it was suggested 6" wide and possibly thicker, which is all fine as it will still give me what I'm looking for.  Euro bracing set up this way should eliminate the need for cross bracing at all.  Although your comments on the glass tops bears further thought...once set up with the sump, I want this tank COMPLETELY covered in a glass top (and no, one big piece is not good enough).

For the stand, the top will be 3/4" plywood with styrofoam.  I am also considering making a "box" and adding some leveling compound once build to be 100% assured of a level surface.

[sdivell]

For the stand, the top will be 3/4" plywood with styrofoam.  I am also considering making a "box" and adding some leveling compound once build to be 100% assured of a level surface.

I would recommend building a curb on your basement floor for this tank. - Use 2x4 wood for the form work, same size as the future stand and fill with self-leveling concrete.  I say this because its very common for basement floors to be sloped towards a floor drain and also floor slabs will settle un-level over time.

[dan2x38]

Even tho it will be large, it only has about 35% the surface area of my breeding operation; plus it will be sumped and will be completely covered, minimizing evaporation.  Should allow me to have this sucker without the humidity problems.

Have you considered incorporating an inexpensive off the shelf dehumidifier with a hose running into the hood to draw out moisture to insure less humidity?

Returns will be via a center pipe (not shown yet) so all plumbing is internal; this will let me put the tank right up against the wall.

I would leave a gap at the back so there is no sweat with temp. changes between wall & tank. Also if there is a small spill you could put a small sponge mop or something to wipe it up off the wall... it would also give a small space to run some small hose for a dehumidifier or and after thought piece of equipment...

Got a bad back not so useful for lifting... I can hold & steady... even make runs for extra silcone, etc... OR just stand around looking handsome... ROTFL   

[darkdep]

A curb on the basement floor...never thought of that.  That's an interesting idea.  Two issues there are that I've never worked with concrete before (that's overcome-able I think; you make a form out of wood, mix and pour the self-leveling stuff, and let it sit for...a month?) and that my wife might start having second thoughts.  I was originally going to do my best with the wood to level everything, then use some self leveling compound on the top of the stand to deal with any imperfection...do you think this will be enough?

Since I'm looking to get back into the home automation thing, is to incorporate an electronic humidity sensor in the hood to do something based on the level; I DO have a cheapo humidifier (probably part of my problem, I need a bigger / more efficient one anyhow).  Hooking a hose up, I would think that might ENCOURAGE evaporation...hmm.  Interesting idea tho.

By "against the wall" I mean maybe 1-2 inches from, not in contact. I'm not too concerned about anything here; the wall is freshly installed covering the concrete foundation wall.

[dan2x38]

PS- big suggestion... how about changing your Sig?

[sdivell]

A curb on the basement floor...never thought of that.  That's an interesting idea.  Two issues there are that I've never worked with concrete before (that's overcome-able I think; you make a form out of wood, mix and pour the self-leveling stuff, and let it sit for...a month?) and that my wife might start having second thoughts.  I was originally going to do my best with the wood to level everything, then use some self leveling compound on the top of the stand to deal with any imperfection...do you think this will be enough?

Yes concrete is very easy to work with actually... think of it as clay that goes hard...forever.  All you need is a wheel barrow, a hose, and a bag of premixed self-leveling concrete (probably readily available at home depot or Rona).. let sit for 24 hours before you remove the form work and then I would wait 7 days before you add load to the curb.  when the concrete is 28 days old it will be 98% of its total strength.

Your plan will give you a level stand at the start but I'm just thinking about all that weight sitting on a wood base will over time compress.  To go with your idea I would build your wood base with wood joists @ 12" centres just to spread the load out as much as possible on the concrete slab to prevent any cracking or sinking.

[darkdep]

I'm confident in the strength of the floor and in the stands I build; The rack of 6 x 40gallon tanks were on a stand with far less "floor area" than this new guy. 

I like the idea of the concrete slab but I really have "just enough" of my wife's support to get this in there.      I think I would get a lot of flak for doing the slab.  I'll just have to be really good about the stand...It only needs to support...oh...3500-4000 lbs or so

[dan2x38]

Later on if you sell the house the slab might not be a selling feature with out a tank on it... If you do go that way make sure it is contrete not cement!

[sdivell]

Well you always gotta do wht the foreman (or forewoman....errrr foreperson) says!  

seriously though I'm sure your stand idea will work fine.  I was just suggesting another option.  Probably the 'luxery' option.

Good luck on the build..Look forward to seeing the updates.

[darkdep]

Dan:  I've already said "the tank is included with the house" when we sell.  If they don't want it, I'll cut the glass and take it with me, but if there's a concrete slab...well, that'll be harder to deal with

[Quatro]

Is it possible to first lay down a tarp and pour the concrete on it?  Would the slab then be removable?

[sdivell]

Then you would have a tarp under a couple hundred pounds of concrete.    Concrete isn't hard to remove with a strong back and a sledge hammer.

I believe he has decided to not go this route anyway so lets drop it.

[Aquaviewer]

I think if you did do a slab on grade it wouldn't need to be huge.  Just frame off the footprint of your stand and add enough leveling compound to fill and find its level.  This could be less than an 1".  If you add trim or baseboard to the bottom of the stand it can be scribed to hide the slab - no one is the wiser.  If you do remove the tank/stand at a future date I doubt it would noticeable and I would think not likely to detract from the sale of the house.

Having said that, a wood base can be built and scribed to match the floor to a near perfect fit, requiring little supplemental shimming - just takes patience.

If the stand is built with the wood grain oriented properly and suitable load orientation there should be negligible compression.

[woodendude]

I always thought that Euro bracing was the glass lip around the inner upper edge of a tank such as this.
http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2086329290040076581mohmUQ

[busdriver]

I'm confident in the strength of the floor and in the stands I build; The rack of 6 x 40gallon tanks were on a stand with far less "floor area" than this new guy. 

I like the idea of the concrete slab but I really have "just enough" of my wife's support to get this in there.      I think I would get a lot of flak for doing the slab.  I'll just have to be really good about the stand...It only needs to support...oh...3500-4000 lbs or so

Take it from a guy who has had a tank crack on him, I would go with a slab, as wood will compress under that much weight.
What kind of mess would 300 gallons of water make in your basement?
The 150 sure made a mess.

[darkdep]

That is eurobracing woodendude, they're doing it with acrylic in that pic but I'm going to do it with glass.

Terry: As much as I respect what happened to your tank I'm not really afraid of the stand compressing.  I've built many stands including the stands which currently hold 2 75's one on top of the other, and the stand holding 6 40gallon tanks (That's 240 gallons).  Nary an issue with compression or anything else have I had.  I overbuild to a fault, and don't expect to have an issue here with the stand.