8ft 330G Construction Has Started (Pics)

[dme330i]

Thanks.


One minor update today in my slow-going project. Got the 3.2" diamond-coated bit in the mail today and decided to drill the sump. Worked great, even on this thick piece of glass. Now, my 2" sch 80 bulkhead fits-in perfectly.

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[rdnelson]

You need to step it up. I want to see this tank in action.

 

[dme330i]

Thanks to Bill and a neighbor we got the tank on the stand. Started filling it up Saturday night and just about 1/2 way there. Will post some progress pics tomorrow.

Have about 8 hours into the plumbing and am 90% done.
BeanAnimal design. Main drain will feed external skimmer at ~500gph with the rest going to the sump. Secondary drain will go right into sump (contemplated frag tank feed, but will pass for now and feed the frag tank with a separate pump or via manifold). 3rd/backup drain will drain right into sump if ever necessary.

Going with a Reeflo Super Dart Gold on the return with about 5ft head, including fittings.

Going back and forth on reef grade-special sand or bare bottom. I want to go BB, but wife wants a little sand - may settle on 100 pounds total if any. Current lean is BB.

Tunzes all around as well as Tunze osmolator for top off. CA reactor pending and will have some form of a KW reactor if I can integrate with the top-off. Will auto dose Vodka.

100 pounds of Pukani has been cooking/colonizing for 5 weeks in rubbermaid tank, along with 5L of seachem matrix.

I imagine the tank will be turnkey with some corals and fish going in on "day 1" - targeting this weekend.

 

[ichthyoid]

:showoff:

 

[dme330i]

Will do this a little out of sequence. Somehow lost my plumbing pics, so will take some pics of the final product later this week. Meanwhile, here's where I am as of last weekend. Water in the tank. 400W of LED's over the tank. That's 1.2W/Gallon. Have another 100W ready to go if needed and also have 108W of T5 fiji pink if needed. Pics below are just the 400W of 20000k and royal blue (200W/each).

Going bare bottom. Don't want to deal with future sand issues.

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Will add the trim piece to cover foam and black plastic this weekend.

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Also a deepwater aussie colony that I picked up today. Will likely move it over from the 93G this weekend.

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[db366]

Wow, what a beautiful tank!

 

[miami dolfan]

Awesome!

 

[jbdreefs]

Would you mind elaborating on your staining/finishing process. It looks really awesome! I need to stain a stand of mine and I'm hoping that you will share some of your techniques.

What kind of stain? Two shades?
Did you spray the poly with HVLP? How many coats? Sand in between?
Did you do anything after the poly was sprayed?

 

[rdnelson]

Looks fantastic Jon. I would make one comment though. If you had a GOOD contractor the electrical cover plates and the wall base molding would already be installed. LOL JK Tank looks fantastic and I love the stand and canopy.

 

[dme330i]

JBDreefs;748961 wrote: Would you mind elaborating on your staining/finishing process. It looks really awesome! I need to stain a stand of mine and I'm hoping that you will share some of your techniques.

What kind of stain? Two shades?
Did you spray the poly with HVLP? How many coats? Sand in between?
Did you do anything after the poly was sprayed?

A lot of help from my father-in-law on the staining/finishing. We stained with an oil-based dark walnut color - think it was Olympic. Because it was very cold out, we sprayed in the basement. And, because we did this inside the house, we used a water-based poly (Rustoleum) in satin vs. something more volatile/oil-based. We weren't sure about this stuff but it ended up impressing us. We lightly thinned and sprayed 3-4 coats with a conventional spray gun. After this initial coat, we knocked down the poly with green scrubber pads (what you use for dishes) - this made the surface very smooth. Finally, finished with a couple of very light coats.

Edit:

rdnelson99;749002 wrote: Looks fantastic Jon. I would make one comment though. If you had a GOOD contractor the electrical cover plates and the wall base molding would already be installed. LOL JK Tank looks fantastic and I love the stand and canopy.

LOL - how do you know the cover plates are not on? Had to paint the walls.

 

[rdnelson]

dme330i;749251 wrote:
LOL - how do you know the cover plates are not on? Had to paint the walls.

OK, I will let it slide this time. But I need to come do an inspection. Well, maybe I will inspect the tank more the electrical craftsmanship. :yay: That is going to be a gorgeous tank. Ever since seeing you cube I want one in my family room. One of these days.

 

[jbdreefs]

Thanks!

 

[dme330i]

Quick iphone vid behind the tank. 1.5" drains x 3 - no gurgling - very quiet. Only 2 of the drains are in use. One is running full siphon and also feeding the SRO 5000 EXT @ 500 gph. Impressed with how much this thing is pulling - 3 days of slightly wet skimmate in the vid. Total overflow rate is approx 2000 gph. Apex. Tunze Osmolator. manifold will provide water to CA reactor and other future accessories. Still a mess back here, but getting there.

<div class="gc_ifarem_title">330 gallon reef tank plumbing - YouTube</div>

Edit: Also, here's a unedited iphone vid of the front. Coloration is very different in person - much more of a very crisp white with a slight blue to it. The vid is not very representative. One week since setup.

<div class="gc_ifarem_title">330 gallon reef tank plumbing - YouTube</div>

 

[superclown]

Very nice, Love the stand

 

[snowmansnow]

for what its worth I really love this tank! I saw a lot of discussion on the stand build and IMO it will be plenty strong. I build my stands out of doubled 2x4s and have never had an issue.

Looking forward to the grow in

Edit: no offense, but make sure to build something awesome w your rock work its gonna be in there a while and theres nothin worse than wishing you'd done something else w aquascaping

b

 

[bruce 1]

Looks good. I got to get mine going. I am getting close.

 

[heathlindner25]

Being in construction I would put the studs closer together and the top studs should sit on the studs not skrewed to the sides your probably going to put 1200 pounds on it just my humble advise

Edit: Basically build headers

 

[gnashty]

Wow

 

[tchristman]

Double thumbs up. Very nice.

 

[reefknight]

Very nice set up, congrats!