290G Peninsula build...yet another Canadian reef

[mseepman]

Well i figured it was time to start documenting this build on RC. It's been a long time in coming...and by that I mean I started two years ago and only now am I closing on getting the tank installed.

In all fairness, I'm building a house around the tank so there are a few other variables involved

This is gonna be Pic intensive as I'm going to move through a couple years worth of pictures.

It all started about 4 years ago when I bought a lot with the intent of building a new house and a dream of convincing my wife to allow me to put a big tank in it. Luckily, she's pretty understanding of my saltwater addiction.

Here's a shot of what I'll be looking at whenever I tear my eyes away from the tank:


From there, I started drawing the house plans and planning out the tank. I ordered it to be custom built by an incredible tank builder in Calgary who sadly no longer makes tanks.

Here's the crate I made to go pick it up in:


And here is the tank waiting for us to figure out how we're going to get it outside and onto the truck.

Readying the crate:

Considering I made without seeing the tank...it fit with 1/4 inch to spare all the way around.

Here we are getting ready to crate it up. You can see the detail they put into the overflow and the entire tank.


The specs on the tank are 84"L x 26"H x 32"D. This is a major upgrade, considering that I have a little 70G tank now. It's got an external overflow and it's Euro-braced with Starfire glass on all the viewing sides. There is an additional smoked glass pane on the overflow side so that you won't be able to see any plumbing.

We got it loaded and drove the 7 hours home through the mountains. Once we got back to my current townhouse we got some friends together to help us get it off the truck. Quite the funeral procession:

[mseepman]

So would you believe that was about 1 1/2 years ago. We thought the build on our house would start sooner but as we all know, Murphy is a son of B*$#

Since then, we've had our challenges but the house finally got started and here are a few shots of that:



Where the tank will sit:


The future fish room below the display:


The plumbing coming up from the fish room:

[mseepman]

And the construction continues:

The plumbing in my fishroom wall from the display tank. Returns on the left and BeanAnimal overflow on the right:


Inside the fishroom. We lined the walls with finish grade plywood. This way if I need to get to the in-wall plumbing, I can just take a panel off. We're going to really laquer up the walls, so it will be well protected.


Now the bench for my sump is in. The commercial HRV will be going in overhead and out of the way.


The tank stand is in progress now and there's no doubt that it will hold all I need it to:




It's been marine epoxy'd up on the inside and now it's in place in the house:


Behind it you see a dedicated cabinet with built in sink that will be part of the entire cabinet. My wife demanded that if I was going to spend all this cash on the build, I should have my own sink and leave her kitchen one alone.

Here the stand build continues:








This is where we were at as of Friday on the tank stand.

[mseepman]

During all the construction, I got my original tank builder to put together my sump before he called it quits on doing tanks. He does beautiful work for a good price...very hard to find.







I've also completed a DIY build on a large 6' CREE LED build

[mseepman]

Finally I managed to finish off the light and started programming my APEX to do all the dimming:







And finally a picture of what the house looks like so far:


We should be moving into the house by early July so things are going to move quickly from here. Hopefully I can keep this interesting for everyone who has thrilled me with their builds here on RC.

[T.MONEY]

Wow! Looking great, love the custom house. (I know what you mean by Murphy being a B!*&* lol, im in the process of having a house built also) I will be tagging along for this one though.

[geaux xman]

Looks like this could become an awesome build.

I say make that left window above the garage a huge in-wall tank for all the people in the street to see.

The light unit looks great. About how many Radion LED's would that be equivalent to?

[mseepman]

Originally Posted by geaux xman

Looks like this could become an awesome build.

I say make that left window above the garage a huge in-wall tank for all the people in the street to see.

The light unit looks great. About how many Radion LED's would that be equivalent to?

There's 184 LED's so all I can say is "quite a few". The light is made up of CW, NW, RB and Blue LED's all controlled separately. I can play with the color quite a bit. I'm a believer that red mostly grows algae and I spend enough money combatting that as it is so I didn't put any in the light.

[ptr13]

tagging along, love the LED light fixture,wow that is sweet and the house is not bad either. two builds in one.

[mschmero]

Keep going it is coming together nicely.

[tgunn]

Really nice workmanship on the tank! Is the filter sock holder in the sump glass? The builder must have used a Water jet cutter for that. Nice!
Looking forward to see this all come together.

[mseepman]

Thanks for the compliments everyone. Glad I could share the whole adventure.

As for the sump, my builder had a glass C&C machine. Even the sump edges are beveled.

[drktemplar]

nice build i like how its very neat, the pipe work that is. And the house looks great. congrats!

[Chappy]

Awesome. I will be tagging along also.

[webersole]

Tagging along.

[mseepman]

Thanks everyone, I know its been a little while since I did an update. Most changes lately have been related to the main house and not the tank.
I will try to get a few pictures in soon.

[Noobtosalty]

this is going to be a epic build

[mseepman]

Well, it's been a while since I have done any updates to this. Since Murphy regularly likes to kick my butt, it will be no surprise that we are still not in the house. In fact, it now looks like late October before we get in.

I have been working on stuff though so here are a few pictures.

Here is where the house sits now on the outside...railings still need to go in and the final bit of painting is being done:


On the inside, flooring is just now going down. My fish room still has to get epoxy on the floor and all the walls need several coats of protective finish. I have now got the stand for my two 100G storage bins built as you can see at the back right and once the walls are sealed, the HRV in the box will be hung and installed.


I've got my Generator installed along with auto transfer switch.




All plugs in both the fish room and at the Display will be covered by the generator...along with my fridges, freezers and furnace.

I spent the weekend trying to get my light hung in the canopy. My design for the light lifter had a few hiccups which will be dealt with by week end.

Right now it's sitting on my ghetto support system (Paint cans are all I could find in the unfinished house).




The light will be lifted by a linear actuator with remote.



The end of the actuator at full extension and my wiring to the driver controls will go through the cabinet wall. It's a double wall so cutting that out was an SOB to say the least. This is also where you can see the flaw in my design. That long hook looks strong...but the fixture is about 80lbs and between the downward pressure and the power of the linear actuator, both hooks bend sideways when I lift the light. I will be replacing these with shorter closed loops and pulley's.


Here's an idea I got from Garage's build on here. This aluminum brake part works perfectly to balance the fixture.


Hope I can share more soon. As always, comments and ideas are welcome!

[adddo]

Nice! will be following this build

[mseepman]

Thanks...I know it's taken too long but I'm hoping things start to move faster now.

[MSHUR]

Great build!

I am on the same page.. building a new house with new fish room.. can you help me with generator bussiness..
my contractor recomended the same brand generac but i am not sure what model to choose...

thanks,mike

[Crazy_Beaver]

Very nice so far!Will be following!

[mseepman]

Originally Posted by MSHUR

Great build!

I am on the same page.. building a new house with new fish room.. can you help me with generator bussiness..
my contractor recomended the same brand generac but i am not sure what model to choose...

thanks,mike

Glad to give you my recommendations. There are some things that you need to think about when picking a whole-home generator. Mainly whether it will cover your whole home...haha. I chose an 8kW version for two reasons. Price and my fish tank related items where the main concern. The fact that it can cover my cold goods, a few lights and my furnace are big bonuses but were not crucial to me. If those other things were important, I would have gone to a 10kW so that I could add my AC to the mix as well. Budgetary wise, this entire 8kW kit in BC was $2300. It would have been another $800 to move up to the 10kW and I figured that $800 could buy me a few fish and corals instead. The above price doesn't include install.

The Generac series of generator are for sure the cheaper home solution. Cheap pricing can come with issues. There have been stories of the voltage regulator going on the unit and then it pushes uncontrolled power out thus wrecking some items in the house. I put a whole house power arrester in to guarantee this didn't happen. Otherwise, just remember that once per year you should service the unit or have someone do it for you.

[MSHUR]

mark,
greatly appreciated . i am looking into 10kw unit, just in case did you order unit on-line and have some one install it?
what kind of service will be required once a year?


mike

[mseepman]

I think the 10kW is an excellent choice. I bought from a local retailer and had the electrician doing my house put it in. Note that I always knew that I was going to put one in so some of the pre wiring was done with generator in mind.

Many electrical contractors will be able to source one for you for a good price.