A Golden Reef Tank
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That brings everyone up to date. I am skinning that sump with white acrylic now. I've got some major plumbing orders on the way. Everything will be sch80. Lots to do and too little time to do it.
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The sump is made up of an old reef tank I bought from a store going out of business in Tacoma and new fresh acrylic.
The old (shorter) section is 24" x 24" x 48". The new section (taller) is 24" x 18" x 36" so that the filter socks can be elevated above the water line.
I joined the two sections, however it's not a perfect joint because the old tank was really beat up and not entirely square. The sump would have held water, but I was just concerned about long term stress. So, I reinforced the seems inside and I'm using the white acrylic skin as an additional layer of security to hold the seams together from the outside. The white skin is bonded across the entire surface, so it essentially creates 3/4" thick acrylic walls when bonded with the 1/2" clear. I want to be able to park a car on this. Call it excessive, but I'll have a lot of bulkheads coming and going from this when the plumbing is done.
Plus, I haven't perfected the art of polishing acrylic. The old tank was still hazy after spending a lot of time wet sanding. So, I can cover up the ugly with white acrylic.
I've cut viewing windows in a few places where the clear acrylic is still exposed. I'll spend time polishing up those areas and ignore the rest. Those viewing windows will allow me to see everything I need to.
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The old (shorter) section is 24" x 24" x 48". The new section (taller) is 24" x 18" x 36" so that the filter socks can be elevated above the water line.
I joined the two sections, however it's not a perfect joint because the old tank was really beat up and not entirely square. The sump would have held water, but I was just concerned about long term stress. So, I reinforced the seems inside and I'm using the white acrylic skin as an additional layer of security to hold the seams together from the outside. The white skin is bonded across the entire surface, so it essentially creates 3/4" thick acrylic walls when bonded with the 1/2" clear. I want to be able to park a car on this. Call it excessive, but I'll have a lot of bulkheads coming and going from this when the plumbing is done.
Plus, I haven't perfected the art of polishing acrylic. The old tank was still hazy after spending a lot of time wet sanding. So, I can cover up the ugly with white acrylic.
I've cut viewing windows in a few places where the clear acrylic is still exposed. I'll spend time polishing up those areas and ignore the rest. Those viewing windows will allow me to see everything I need to.
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I used WeldOn #3. I clamped 6" at a time and poured the solvent down between the two surfaces. Then, placed another set of clamps and a board 6" further up and repeated. #3 is liquid enough it just flows down between the two sheets and disperses fairly evenly.
It isn't a flawless bond. There are a few bubbles but none of the imperfections can be seen from the outside.
Plus, I'm using a lot of MRC equipment and their commercial line of sumps are white acrylic from what I've seen. So, I'm kind of stealing their style. I'm sure they use solid white not bonding white to clear like I'm doing. But, the end product should be pretty attractive.
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It isn't a flawless bond. There are a few bubbles but none of the imperfections can be seen from the outside.
Plus, I'm using a lot of MRC equipment and their commercial line of sumps are white acrylic from what I've seen. So, I'm kind of stealing their style. I'm sure they use solid white not bonding white to clear like I'm doing. But, the end product should be pretty attractive.
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NanaReefer
Well-known member
Thank you for sharing your journey. This is awesome! That selfie made me laugh 
MMeritt
Member
This is over the top incredible!
Thanks everyone. The sump has the layer of white acrylic on it now.
NanaReefer
Well-known member
Sweeeeet!! Talented much? Lol
MMeritt
Member
That thing is massive! It really puts it in perspective next to your car. LOL
Thanks. I have learned a lot of new skills through this hobby. I had a good background in cabinetry before but have been able to adapt the skills.
I've made a lot of mistakes along the way.
It's 5' long. It took a furniture dolly to get it down to the basement today. Now, I need to do a little leveling and move on to a few of the other acrylic projects that should be completed before I start plumbing.
I have most of the schedule 80 plumbing collected now. I have one final order to place.
I hope to start the plumbing sometime in January.
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So, another big photo dump. I still don't feel like I've accomplished that much after endless hours of work, but it's progress.
Doorway entering the fish room. The far wall is my wall of plumbing parts for now.
A little further into the room.
A view panning the room from the far corner.
Panning the room again from a different corner.
A look down the cable tray. This is where I will run all of the data lines for the aquarium controller. I'm probably going to use a combination of Apex and DIY control systems for the tanks. I'll interface all of the custom built sensor arrays I'll put together with the Apex. I'll also be able to run plumbing lines through the tray like water from the mixing station or fresh water top off lines. I'll be running the lines to and from the RO/DI here to the far end of the room. I'll also be running some 120 AC lines over head where necessary. It will make more sense as everything comes together.
The frag tanks and all acrylic tanks are sitting on this rubber mat that I found and cut to size. It is an anti-fatigue mat intended for floors. It has little rubber legs underneath. It's relatively firm but also gives a little bit. I'm hoping that will work well to even out any inconsistency in the shelving surface to support all of the acrylic tanks. It will also prevent water spills from sitting under the tanks forever. There should be just enough air flow to allow things to dry out over time. We'll see. My main concern was getting something under the tanks to help minimize stress on the acrylic seams.
Doorway entering the fish room. The far wall is my wall of plumbing parts for now.
A little further into the room.
A view panning the room from the far corner.
Panning the room again from a different corner.
A look down the cable tray. This is where I will run all of the data lines for the aquarium controller. I'm probably going to use a combination of Apex and DIY control systems for the tanks. I'll interface all of the custom built sensor arrays I'll put together with the Apex. I'll also be able to run plumbing lines through the tray like water from the mixing station or fresh water top off lines. I'll be running the lines to and from the RO/DI here to the far end of the room. I'll also be running some 120 AC lines over head where necessary. It will make more sense as everything comes together.
The frag tanks and all acrylic tanks are sitting on this rubber mat that I found and cut to size. It is an anti-fatigue mat intended for floors. It has little rubber legs underneath. It's relatively firm but also gives a little bit. I'm hoping that will work well to even out any inconsistency in the shelving surface to support all of the acrylic tanks. It will also prevent water spills from sitting under the tanks forever. There should be just enough air flow to allow things to dry out over time. We'll see. My main concern was getting something under the tanks to help minimize stress on the acrylic seams.
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Thanks. I am definitely in a patient mode. Normally, I would be fighting the urge to cut corners and just get it done. It's still two steps forward and one back with each stage. You think you've planned everything out well enough and then get a reality check. So far, I think I'm meeting one of the goals with this system which is to plan out things well enough to allow modification in the future. That's one of the major benefits of having that overhead cable tray. I can run just about anything I want through it. It is solid enough to use as "monkey-bars" in spite of the giant warning sticker I removed that advises not using it to support humans. (I tried it out).
Anyway, the next major goal is the refugium. I have the tank. It's 24" x 24" x 48" roughly. I just need to reinforce seams, plug some holes, and buff it out. It will be a somewhat typical fuge with algae but will also have an elevated portion with a hidden deep sand bed in removable containers. That way, I can use a product like miracle mud and swap out the substrate as needed. That will be the area for mangroves to root into. Underneath that elevated portion will be a large cave system to grow out fans and sponges. (Cryptic refugium) Water will cycle through there before going into the main fuge through pipes I'll hide in the rockwork.
Disclaimer - I have heard most of the pro's and con's for refugiums/cryptic refugiums. My system could do perfectly well without either. In fact, the refugium might be slightly detrimental to the system because it's more ornamental than functional. I'll have just as much algae decay and detritus accumulation as I will be benefiting from nutrient export. Still, I love fuge's and the diversity. I doubt the fuge will cause any problems with the system as a whole and I know the tank will benefit from the critters procreating and getting sucked up to the display over time. If the ornamental approach to a fuge doesn't work out, I can easily gut it down the road and use the tank for something else.
SantaMonica
Well-known member
Is the floor titled towards a drain?
NanaReefer
Well-known member
Dang I'm overwhelmed just looking at all the work! Lol
Are you looking at all of the tanks thinking that I'll be in a world of hurt if something explodes?
I'm building the tanks strong enough to be bomb-proof and the shelving is overrated in strength. Hopefully, bad things don't happen! But, plan for the worst, right?Yes, there is a floor drain. I installed a lot of concrete to bring the floor up to a reasonably level surface. Before, the flooring sloped away from the new floor drain. My moron contractors installed the drain in the high point of the room and the floor sloped away at a rate of 1" over 10'. I brought everything up level but didn't get it sloped back to the drain perfectly. That would have required about $1500-2k more in materials on my part and skill that I didn't have at the time. I was also mixing 5 gal at a time by hand (with around 250 gal already poured). Call me lazy, but level was good enough. I did get a lot better at working with the material by the time the whole basement was done. The rubber flooring went down over that layer of concrete.
However, I created a type of drip-pan out of the entire room so that any spilled water will be safely contained. I put a layer of water proof material 6" high on the walls before pouring concrete up to them which bonded to the material. The baseboard went on over that to hide everything and was also siliconed down to the floor. The water will work its way back to the drain.
I'm overwhelmed thinking about all of the work left to be done!
The fudge is almost done. I'll post pictures when it's in place. It was another miserable weekend covered in acrylic shavings.
I met a neighbor that keeps planted fresh tanks. I need to recruit him to lift it in place. It's getting heavy with all of the reinforcing I did on the seams.
I just read this beginning to end - and I have to say - WOW - WOW - WOW... Are you sure this is a private setup??? Are you sure this isn't a behind the scenes build at a private club?? You have more gallons in frag tanks and quarantines setup than most people do their entire setups - AND your FISH ROOM would make the ER Jealous!?!! Look how clean that is?!??!?! :jaw: Job well done sir! Job well done.. :jaw:
