322 replies to this topic

[Hydro]

We currently have 3 bow front tanks...a 175, 75, and 36 that we are going to consolidate to a 440 gallon tank at our office instead. We ordered it a few weeks ago from glasscages.com and hopefully we will get it in the next couple of weeks. 130" long x 30 1/2" height x 25 1/2" deep reef ready commercial grade tank with starphire front glass. The tank alone weighs 1100 lbs and full it will weigh around 4500 lbs! This will be an interesting build b/c we are going to be doing a couple of things different than usual. We are building a powder coated metal stand with an attached metal canopy that will be covered with large cabinet grade doors that attach to the frame with magnets. This way I can completely remove all of the panels from the aquarium stand and canopy with ease for any kind of maintenence. It will have a custom 60 gallons sump, (5) 400 watt MH lights all water-cooled with Ice Box heat exchangers, dual port ChillKing chiller (one port to cool lighting and one port for the tank water), frag tank with VHO T5 lighting built inside tank stand, drain pan underneath aquarium, plus much more.

I will be updating photos as things progress, so far we have got the tank stand built minus some cross bracing and the 3/4" plywood top. Its probably going to take a couple of months for us to finish everything.

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[mcallahan]

wow...I should film the build when you get all the parts together.

Want a 6-line wrasse for the new tank? He's easy to catch...

[cmanning]

WOW!! that's a huge(long) tank...whats the thickness of the glass? Will it have middle braces or euro bracing? Keep the pics coming.

[Hydro]

Have you still not caught your wrasse? lol....I'm sorry!

The glass is 3/4" thick and we will be adding x bracing from top to bottom on the ends and in the middle. That should all be finished tomorrow and I will add some new pics.

[Dena]

I'm interested in finding out more about this drain pan...is it going to be under that tank, or under the stand? What will it be made of and how/where will it "drain"? I want to do a large tank in the future (not really in the near future LOL), and we've thrown around ideas of putting tile on the floor around the tank and having a drain in the middle in case it overflows or leaks.

Can't wait to see this done.

[Hydro]

We are putting a solid piece of steel in the bottom of the stand (on top of the cross pieces in the photo) which will be welded in place. We will be attaching a 4" tall strip of sheet metal all the way around the bottom inside of stand, basically making a sidewall around the piece on the bottom (hope that makes sense). The bottom piece of steel and the sidewalls will be sealed together using silicone caulk. I'm going to install a 1" bulkhead fitting in the side wall piece of sheetmetal that connects to a PVC pipe that will be routed outside which is easy since my tank is on an outside wall.

[jakedoza]

suddenly my 135 build got a lot less exciting..

[Hydro]

lol...well you will probably be finished before me!

[GKarshens]

Sounds interesting! I too am planning a larger tank in the future and plan on using a metal stand as well. Looking forward to see how this progresses.

[Dustin]

Plz keep updating pictures! That looks like its going to be a project and a half. How long are you expecting it to take?

[Hydro]

What is interesting is that the manufacturer recommended NOT to us a metal frame saying that it could flex and crack the tank. I really had a hard time with that advice. I worked with metal in high school and as a body reapir tech out of college, I have also worked with wood when I owned my own contruction company...so I'm fairly familiar with both. I have to start out by saying ANY stand not built properly could flex, no matter what it is made of (the manufacturer should have told me that instead). I asked him why not use metal and he said b/c it would eventually flex which is not true if it is built properly. Well I can tell you that a steel post will be much stronger and last much longer than a wood post if it is sized properly so I decided to take my chances. I considered hiring an engineer to draw up plans for the stand but I just decided to over build it instead.

They also recommened to put a 3/4" thick piece of styrofoam underneath the tank on top of the stand to fill any dips and to adjust for any flexing. That seems like a great idea to me and makes sense.

[DaJMasta]

A pad of some sort under it does sound like a great idea - if nothing else it increases the contact area for all that weight, reminds me of the sand bed layer under the liner when you're digging out a new pond. I also agree with steel being a better choice (especially with magnetic doors, I've always liked that idea), though because a piece of unbent steel that can support the same weight as a 2x4 would have more flex when spanning horizontally, I think so long as you're using stuff with angles for rigidity and lots frequent vertical supports the risk of flexing would actually be less. Perhaps a wooden stand would actually add a little bit to the effectiveness of the styrofoam cushion, at least after a break in period.


I look forward to see water cooled lighting

[Hydro]

I think that it will probably take 3-4 weeks from now before we will have water in it...probably 2 months before we have all of our creatures in it.

I have a question for the members. I was going to put new sand in the 440 but use the 550 lbs of live rock that I already have in my 300 gallon system right now. I had planned to fill the 440 with mostly fresh saltwater but was going to add 70 gallons out of 300 gallon system to the new tank to seed it (which I can do once every 2 weeks). What will be the cycle time of the new tank? Won't it just be the sand cycling? I had planned to wait a couple of weeks and add approx 100 lbs of rock (all I can get out without corals attached), wait 2 weeks and then add some of our less expensive fish, wait 2 weeks add more of the rock with some of the less expensive coral attached, wait a 2-3 weeks and add the rest of the fish and remaining live rock and corals. What do you guys think of that plan? To aggressive?

Some info that I considered
There is roughly 60" of fish total...4 of them tangs and the others are smaller (clowns, mystery wrasse, gramma, blennys, etc).
Over 100 corals but none of them very big, mostly medium to small colonies
New tank is 600 gallons total with sump, so there is lots of water volume compared to fish and corals.
Large Deltec skimmer
Large UV

Thanks

[Fishtales]

Will you be selling any of the bowfronts?

[Eckreef]

Hydro Innovations, on 13 April 2010 - 08:15 AM, said:

What is interesting is that the manufacturer recommended NOT to us a metal frame saying that it could flex and crack the tank.

Interesting since A.G.E. builds and recommends you use their own metal stands for larger tanks.
A.G.E (who is a high quality custom tank builder in Houston) provides a 3 yr warranty if you use their metal stand, 1 yr warranty if you use a manufactured stand and no warranty if you use a DIY stand.

[GKarshens]

Personally I would move everything at once. Since your live rock is cured and will only be out of the water long enough to move it, there should be no cycle. The water is not what keeps your tank stable. It is the rock and the sand if it is live. If you are using new clean sand it will not cause a cycle either. If you plan on using old sand that is a different story. Just think of it as a tank move but into a new box. I would just make sure that the new water you are using has been mixed for a couple days and the parameters of PH, temp, CA, and KH are as close to the old water as possible.

[Crab Rangoon]

GKarshens, on 13 April 2010 - 07:49 AM, said:

I plan on using a metal stand as well. Looking forward to see how this progresses.

I'm excited to pick up my metal stand this week Other than the fact that the average person being more likely to have wood-working tools & skills as opposed to metal, and possibly the cost of shipping (based on weight, obviously) - I do not see why we don't have these more commonly. I've seen many stands directly from AGE, I believe, that are all metal, to be skinned by a carpenter post tank installation.

I'm glad to see this upgrade coming, and really anticipate the final product Your in-house lighting plans should be pretty interesting, too!

[Hydro]

I'm exhausted...I'm not used to this kind of work anymore. I basically spent today finishing my welds on the frame and installing the drain pan. Did you know that you can get a very bad sunburn from welding? It has been a few years and I forgot that....I should take a picture of my burn! I wore long sleeves and pants today...lol

The picture on the right is of the stand upright and I was just starting to make the pan.

The picture on the left is of the stand upside down with the pan completed.

I still need to do the x bracing, powdercoat, install the 3/4" oak top, install a 3/4" oak back panel, and silicone the corners of the drain pan. I might be done with it tomorrow but I doubt it, I have only been able to work a few hours a day.

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[Hydro]

Fishtales, on 13 April 2010 - 10:42 AM, said:

Will you be selling any of the bowfronts?

Yes all 3

[Hydro]

GKarshens, on 13 April 2010 - 03:32 PM, said:

Personally I would move everything at once. Since your live rock is cured and will only be out of the water long enough to move it, there should be no cycle. The water is not what keeps your tank stable. It is the rock and the sand if it is live. If you are using new clean sand it will not cause a cycle either. If you plan on using old sand that is a different story. Just think of it as a tank move but into a new box. I would just make sure that the new water you are using has been mixed for a couple days and the parameters of PH, temp, CA, and KH are as close to the old water as possible.

That makes things much easier, I'm glad to hear that, thanks