Tall 485 gallon in-wall build

[CrazyDiamond]

Here is a shot of the long runs from the far side overflow (main drain and emergency drain) to the sump inlet chamber. I put a slight downward pitch on the runs ; so, it is not draining uphill.

[Birkholz51]

Very interesting! Following!!

[sixpackgarage]

really epic build. what is the stand made of?

[CrazyDiamond]

Thx - yes this build is definately gonna be a project and a half. The stand is made of wood. 2x6's / 2x4's and 2x10's. Everything is doubled up with metal brackets and painted in a white moisture / mildew resistant paint.

So far, no leaks in the bulkheads on the bottom glass (thank god). I am hooking up the closed loop pump and main pump for a test run of the pvc pipe fittings later this afternoon. Then the 6 stage RO/DI water filtration unit and mixing station.

Back to work this week - so, not too sure how much will get done.

[CrazyDiamond]

Ran the main and closed loop pumps for about an hour or two. I had to adjust the standpipe height (i.e. make it taller) to eliminate the sounds of niagra falls in my overflow boxes. That was easy. Good news is : All pvc fittings & connections are dry. Bad News : one of the darn bulkheads on one of the closed loop returns (bottom glass) is leaking. Tried tightening it up, but it appears the leak is where it connects via cement to the pvc. So, I will need to drain the tank & take out the existing bulkhead ; then replace it with a new one / re-plumb the line.

Other than that, all good. I will get it fixed. Dry Rock is supposed to be getting delivered tomorrow. May need to pull a few all nighters if I want to get her goin by weeks end.

[CrazyDiamond]

I Was able to get the RO/DI plumbed and in place. Had the plumber run a water line to the closet next to the aquarium. Gotta drill a drain and run it to where the saltwater mixing station will be.

[CrazyDiamond]

Great progress - tank is water tight ! All pvc fittings are perfect (no leaks) and I ran the system with freshwater through the main pump and closed loop. Good to go ! Framed up the skeleton facade and my contractor will be moving to do all the fancy trim work as a next step.

I received the dry rock delivery and will have to get it aquascaped before the salt water and live sand goes in. Salt water mixing station and ATO will be plumbed once I start getting her filled up.

Hopefully I get some time this weekend to make a dent on the to-do list.

[matt 76]

This is going to look great! Can't wait to see the trim work when it's all done

[CrazyDiamond]

Matt76 - thanks; it is starting to come together. The trim work is assembled and all nailed up around the aquarium. We used trim to match the crown molding and trim throughout the addition. It is a nice thick detailed design - not the wimpy stuff

Three panels of MDF on the bottom with shadowbox trim design around them and one long one across the top. They will be held in place with magnets and be easily removable for when I need to get into the aquarium from the top or into the sump area down low.

Everything will be caulked and nail holes / joints will be filled with wood putty and then primed / painted in a nice Linen White Benjamin Moore Oil Based paint.

Should look sweet when it is done !

Pic is a little blurry/ but you'll get the idea of what I am going for with the design.

[CrazyDiamond]

I got the dry rock delivered and set-up the aquascape on saturday. 150lbs pukani, 100 lbs shelf rock and 50 lbs Tonga Branch. I made two structures in the aquarium. The one on the left takes up about 25% of the tank and the one on the right tales up almost 50%; leaving about 25% of open space inbetween the two structures for fish to swim.

It took me about 3-4 hours to place all the rock and about another hour to fix some epoxy putty to the rocks. I used about 6 sticks toake sure all the rocks are solid.

Lots of ledges for corals and open rockwork for water flow. I have the rocks built around two closed loop returns with two 1" 45 elbows per return that will be fed by the L1 Vectra. That pump will push close to 3000 gph and can be set either as a constant flow or a random mode. I hope it pushes enough water so that I don't need to get any additional power heads; we'll see.

Anyway, looking forward to filling up the tank with salt water some time this week and getting her going so I can add the live sand, cure the rock and be on my way to adding some livestock in a few weeks.

I will post a pic with all the cabinet panels on so everyone can see the trimwork once the 2nd coat of paint dries

[CrazyDiamond]

Here is a pic of the aquascape

[CrazyDiamond]

Here is a shot of the tank head on

[CrazyDiamond]

Allright- I am filling up the aquarium with RO/DI H20. I am taking TDS from 10PPM to 0 PPM on a 75 gallon per day BRS 6 stage system. Started the fill process 2 days ago and have been running 24x7 non-stop. I figure I should be all filled up by Tuesday-ish.

Also, I am using 15 (20 lb) bags of the caribSea Fiji Pink for substrate. It has a really nice look to it with about a 2-2.5" sandbed throughout the display.

I'll mix my initial salt mixture in a Brute 40 gallon can and pump it into the system as the 'last leg' of the fill, crank up the heaters and start running the pumps. Once I get her going, I suspect that I'll begin to get some die-off from the rocks and it will smell like low tide in here. (Of course I'll probably be at work and that lovely phone call will come from the wife - hee hee).

Can't wait to get the water moving in the tank and begin the cycle.

[CrazyDiamond]

"That's some high quality H20." -Bobby Bouche'-

[CrazyDiamond]

Here is a nice shot of the completed Trimwork around the Aquarium.

We used really strong earth magnets to hold the three small bottom panels & the one large top panel in place. All the panels are easily removeable for access to service the tank and sump.

We may decide to paint the panels green to match the walls and leave all the trim white. Not sure yet. Wife keeps looking at pintrest for 'inspiration'.

[CrazyDiamond]

Uploaded Pic

[MJNTWise]

Thats one good looking Tank...Now I really Jealous..

[woodnaquanut]

Originally Posted by CrazyDiamond

I'll mix my initial salt mixture in a Brute 40 gallon can and pump it into the system as the 'last leg' of the fill, crank up the heaters and start running the pumps.

So are you planning on mixing a really concentrated salt mix in the 40G Brute to add to the RO/DI already in the tank? If that is the case, you might have a problem. Most salts won't mix correctly that way. The ions will recombine to insoluble solids.

Please forgive me if I misunderstood what you wrote.

BTW the tank looks great.

[druzzelle]

beautiful build!!! question.. looking thru your pics it looked like a pier and beam foundation.. what did you use to compensate for the weight during construction... near 5000lbs of water and all the other weight always makes me think... my foundation is slab but my current system is a 240g with a 75g sump... and I guess i'm always a little paranoid.. I love your casing and wall work too! big tanks just bring out my happy lol

[CrazyDiamond]

ThX - MJNTWise! appreciate the mention - I happen have a DA lite controller and am interested in your feedback on their Archon application - are you happy with it ?

[CrazyDiamond]

woodnaquanut - thx for catching that regarding my approach to mixing the salt. you understood exactly what I am attempting to do with the concentrated mix and I appreciate the heads-up. If you think it is too risky, I will have to think of a better way to introduce the salt to the RO/DI in the tank since I have not mixed it all in advance. Much appreciated.

[CrazyDiamond]

Druzzelle - yes; you aint kiddin ! We built the addition over the existing beams where I previously had a deck. However, we extended the floor (where the tank is located) an additional 5 feet. So, when I submitted the plans to the town, they required my architect to have a structural engineer design the section where the tank would sit; due to the expected weight of the aquarium.

Very long story short, the engineer required the contractor put extra concrete footings under the aquarium location and triple-up the beams under the floor beneath it. It was a fairly significant undertaking to construct and the town had to come and inspect everything. The inspector and structural engineer were both really good dudes - they required special cross bracing between the beams running off the foundation and ensured the load calculations were more than adequate to carry the load.

Moral of the story, if you ever put a big *** tank in your house; hire a structural engineer- it helps with the paranioa (a little)

[dave.m]

Originally Posted by CrazyDiamond

Moral of the story, if you ever put a big *** tank in your house; hire a structural engineer- it helps with the paranioa (a little)

Dave.M

[woodnaquanut]

Originally Posted by CrazyDiamond

I will have to think of a better way to introduce the salt to the RO/DI in the tank since I have not mixed it all in advance. Much appreciated.

I've never tried to mix salt in the display tank. I'm not sure it would mix well with all the aquascape installed.

How about purchasing real ocean water for the initial fill? If it's available in your area, most suppliers can deliver it and pump directly into tank.

Perhaps some others here will chime in with more workable suggestions.

[CrazyDiamond]

John- thats a good idea - I will see if there are any companies around here that can deliver real saltwater to the house and pump it directly into the tank. Thanks.