Tank Journal

[dogboy]

I was lucky enough to score an 8 X 2.5 x 2.5 for free from my nieces friend. well nearly free, he had to dismantle it to get it out of his bedroom and then reassemble it at my place. so $100 of silicone and 2 cartons of beer later.....

the tank being built:

the sump. it is 1m X 50 cm X 50 cm, the pump is a jaebo 10,000lph

the plan is to have a 3d foam/cement backdrop and move some tropheus and other Tangs from the fish room to have a nice display tank

[Chris.K]

love the idea of a journal. i can see me coming back to this thread many a time !

[Stuart86]

Your tank is the exact size of mine that im in the process of setting up . At the moment im up to drilling the holes for inlet and outlet, then ill be building the weirs.

Good luck with the project mate. I look forward to seeing it all come together so i can see how to set up mine..

Stu

[eckies]

hey mate nice idea and good to see another sa member!! woo hoo.. i have only got 6x2x2 and a 3x1.5x1.5....

would love to own a tank of that size one day but then the cleaning scares me enuf not to at this stage. LOL

keep us updated on how you progress..

[mcloughlin2]

Looks great. I was worried about the silicon job in the first picture as it look very iffy to say the least!

Looks like it was a clean job though in the second picture.

How are you drilling the tank for the sump? Your going to need to take some measures of noise control if you want to be pushing 10 000lph through the drain pipes. You might have been better off with a smaller return pump and using some wavemakers used in marine setups for intank circulation.

[dogboy]

thanks guys.

yes the silicone looks messy in one photo, that was excess silocone from the join that was trimmed off once it had cured, nice and neat now.

as for drilling for a sump... i have drilled many tanks and i have a simple rule, if i cannot afford to replace a piece of glass i am not going to drill it. this tank is 15mm glass and an 8 X 2.5 is more than i can afford to replace. so the solution i have come up with is a " no holes overflow" in an overflow box

heres a link to an aquaponics forum that can explain it much better than i can; i will be making mine from either 40 or 50mm pvc pipe. if they are to noisy i will incorperate a durso type inlet

http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/vi...?f=8&t=4086

the overflow boxes are not located in the corners but inset a little, this is because the tank will be viewed from 3 sides and i didnt want ugly overflows on display. the overflows are 30cm X 10cm. there is no bracing in the tank in this photo, dont worry it has since been attatched.

[superbad0417]

this setup is going to be awesome when finished i reckon cant wait to see more updates.

btw not sure if i understand how the sump is going to work

[CThompson]

I’ll be interesting to see how you progress. I understand the plumbing idea, and though it’ll work, I don’t think it will be as “stable” as drilling etc. I appreciate your concerns regarding drilling, and I’ll be very interested to see how it all turns out for you. It has always seemed a bit of an oxymoron to drill holes in a perfectly good tank.

I have always thought having a weir centred rather than the end is an easier place to hide, but the trade off s harder access. Had you considered an overflow box (maybe not a good idea if the both ends are open for viewing) instead of a weir?

When you cut the tank up to move it (brave job by the way), did you make sure you took off every skerrick of silicon before reglueing? Silicone does not stick to silicone.

Craig

[dogboy]

I’ll be interesting to see how you progress. I understand the plumbing idea, and though it’ll work, I don’t think it will be as “stable” as drilling etc. I appreciate your concerns regarding drilling, and I’ll be very interested to see how it all turns out for you. It has always seemed a bit of an oxymoron to drill holes in a perfectly good tank.

I have always thought having a weir centred rather than the end is an easier place to hide, but the trade off s harder access. Had you considered an overflow box (maybe not a good idea if the both ends are open for viewing) instead of a weir?

When you cut the tank up to move it (brave job by the way), did you make sure you took off every skerrick of silicon before reglueing? Silicone does not stick to silicone.

Craig

thanks Craig,

i did concider an overflow box, i figured the method im going to try is a similar principle and should be easier to hide.

dont worry the guy who dismantled and reassembled the tank was a glazier and all the silicone was well and truely gone, he did all the hard work, all i did was provide the beer!

[dogboy]

heres the latest pics, im working on the backdrop. it looks a bit wierd st the moment, there will be some more sculpting and ill use a heat gun to help shape the foam, then on with a layer or 3 of coloured cement. you have to use your imagination for now

[scotty81]

It's looking really good, keep us up to date with regula r pics

[antz]

wow.. thats inspiring. really like the background'

so its gonna be dark grey/blacks? or more dark browns like an ocean cliff face'

[mcloughlin2]

Looks great mate, has plenty of potential.

[dogboy]

thanks guys,

the back ground will be mainly sandstone coloured but i have some light brown and chocolate oxides as well for hopefully getting some different shades and make it look less monotone.

the tank will recieve some direct sunlight first thing in the morning so im sure it will have a layer of algae on it before too long. But Im sure the tropheus will enjoy that.

I was hoping to get the cement on before Saturday as im going on holiday for 3 weeks but I really doubt that will be happening so it will have to wait till August before i can do anymore work on it.

cheers DB

[dogboy]

ok so its been a while since an update , sorry about that, here are the latest pics of the backdrop. its not exactly universal rocks standard but im reasonably happy with it.

i have cleaned up the mess since the photos were taken.

[superbad0417]

looks pretty good to me mate, how long did the whole process take and what did it set you back for materials $$$ ??

[dogboy]

thanks,

the foam was free, old packing from dishwasher and a few other thingsand foam boxes from green grocer, i probably used 6 to 10 (i lost count) tubes of silicone @ $10 each, 2 kg cement @ $10/kg, 3 containers oxide @ $9 each and sandpit sand 20L for 10 cents from local gardening supplies shop.

time wise i dont know, probably 6 to 10 hours over 2 months, i did a little bit when the mood took me.

[CThompson]

You've done a remarkably good job. With a bit of submerged aging and algae growth, it'll be as good as store bought.

Did you take progress photos between the bare poly and finished job?

[aqua84]

great work, it looks fantastic!

[dogboy]

thanks again,

sorry craig i didnt take prgress shots, the first layer of cement was monotone and looked fairly average, i was really worried the whole thing was a disaster at that point so didnt even think to take pics.

the second layer with the colours all went on in one session, i had to keep getting in and out of the tank to mix new batches of cement and check how it was looking from a distance. with hands being covered in cement i didnt reach for the camera.

[dogboy]

ok so its been a while since an update.... i have been "letting the cement cure" , or in otherwords I've been to busy doing other stuff and this project unfortunateley always goes to the bottom of the pile.

well i have done a little more, nothing photoworthy.

I have applied 2 coats of clear pond tite to seal the cement backdrop, cleaned the glass and spent 2 hours cramped in a tiny crawl space under the floor making sure the floor wont collapse, im really lucky as there is a concrete slab under where the tank is going so i just had to pack between the bearers and the slab ( 3 to 4 cm gap). the slab is only where the tank is, the rest of the floor is held up with stumps.

need to leave the pondtite to cure for at least 7 days then rinse. then fill tank, leave 2 days then empty and refill. i was going to put rocks and sand in before i finish the cross bracing to make access easier but if im filling the tank to rinse it i will have to do the cross bracing first.

anyway I can see me getting more done over the next few weeks and am getting exited about seeing some fish in there.

[fosco]

should be a great looking tank i will keep an eye on this

[fronty_man]

how ya going with ya tank mate

[dogboy]

things are starting to move ,

have done most of the plumbing, 40mm return pipes all done, wrapped in bubblewrap to help insulate them, may or may not make a difference.

the sump is in place, its 100cm x 50cm wide x 45 tall. I am planning to encase in polystyrene to help with insulation.

first chamber has scoria in it, 20kg washed and in 20kg to go. will probably top off with bioballs when i can afford some,

second chamber coarse foam, then finer stuff

third chamber filter wool, then 6kg coral

pump = Jebao 10,000 L/h

heaters 2 x eheim jager 300w

[CThompson]

first chamber has scoria in it,

give this stuff a miss. It's best feature is it's price, which is not a great guide for choice. I believe scoria is false economy, first priority is surface area (in an area where space is at a premium), and scoria is WELL down the list of first choices.

You've got your pump in the sump - go the extra yard and plumb it in.

You also want your heater in a chamber that can not be run dry (and burn it out). The last chamber is the last place to put it.

You want to have lids on the sump. You'll be very impressed with evaporation rates other wise, and possibly be forced to add extra water between water changes. This might mean a rethink on how the plumbing enters the sump for water entry.

If you are using the scoria as a bio media (as you must be), then it is in the wrong chamber. Mechanical media goes first.

Suggestion;

Water enters sump with a pipe going through a drilled hole (thick perspex will do as a lid) in lid, to either a spinning arm or a diffusion plate. Put different grades of mechanical media in first chamber (coarse first). Put your heater in the next baffle (where your sponges are) as this whole first section will not be run dry. Put Pond Matrix into next chamber and coral grit into last chamber (which will probably act as a settlement area as well). Plumb pump in line and have it outside the sump.