360 gal tank build

[acropoorer]

I'm building a new 360 gal tank to replace my 180. Thought I would post some pictures of my progress and a description of what I'm building for people that may find interest. The tank is 42"X72"X30", 3/4" glass, Starphire on three sides with a 1" pvc bottom, rimless (had to be rimless after suffering 4 years with the oceanic center brace). Two waterfall exteral overflows (Soon to be done cleaning overflow slots of algae).

The stand is laminated 3/4" plywood and will be oak covered with euro style cabinetry. The hood is 3/4" oak plywood and will house 3 luminarc reflectors with 400 watt MH, 6-6' t12 vho actinic and 4-2' t12 vho actinic.

Kind of new at posting this sort of stuff and was only able to post 5 iphone pics of my progress. I'll post more if I can figure out a better way. Suggestions anyone?:confused:

[UTSAltwaterEnthusiast]

Wow looks like your on the right track... Goin to be a sick setup.

One suggestion for the hood would be intake and exhaust fans for better cooling with the lights.

[hobogato]

very nice dale, gonna be great to follow this one. you can upload your pics to a site like photobucket for free and then copy and paste the img tag into your text box. erik has a good tutorial in this thread:

http://maast.org/forums/showthread.php?t=40582

[ACE]

WOW, you got some skills! This is going to be fun to follow!

[Squiers007]

Can't wait to see more pictures! Keep up the good work! Any ideas on what your stocking list is going to be?

[RayAllen]

excellent DIY, Cant wait to see the finished product!

[Europhyllia]

That is going to be awesome! Look at those dimensions! Whew :)

[Kristy]

WHOA!!! You may have to change your name to "Acropoorest" after you stock this thing. Love your plan here.

[txav8r]

That's a great looking build! Looks like you know what you are doing. Very well laid out.

[d3rryc]

Great idea making your own laminated beams out of plywood. You're gonna need to put on your swimsuit to maintain the middle part of that tank, though!

[justahobby]

I like the canopy, but the stand is missing a mini bar. Tiki Hut style!

[acropoorer]

very nice dale, gonna be great to follow this one. you can upload your pics to a site like photobucket for free and then copy and paste the img tag into your text box. erik has a good tutorial in this thread:

http://maast.org/forums/showthread.php?t=40582

Thanks for the info Ace, probably add links this weekend.

[olaggie01]

Did A.G.E build the tank Dale? Looks great by the way.

[acropoorer]

Thanks, actually I bought the glass from glass cages. AGE was willing to build the tank for me rimless but at 24" tall glass and I wanted 30" glass as well as other stuff that I think they would have issues with. For one, they do calfo overflows using the back glass and I didn't like the look -- you see all the plumbing. I built full acrylic boxes and extended the bottom for the boxes to sit on. The box has a matching cut to the slot in the glass and is siliconed just around the slot and at the bottom. When you look into the front of the tank at the back glass it is all black The waterfall is cut 3.75" from the top of the glass so the water is only 26" + deep. Leaves 3.5" of extra glass for extra strength and easy cleaning -- with the hood raised I can sweep a magnet above the water line.

I also wanted a taper on the overflow box as the tank backs up to a curved wall. At the end of the day I think I would have had to pay $9K to get what I have and there probably would have been compromises.

There are some tricks to doing a glass to pvc joint and I would share them with someone building a tank. Some of the tricks I already figured out on my own (lateral and vertical slots in the pvc dado joint) but the secret of making silicon stick to pvc was given to me after I had purchased all the materials. The pvc slots lock the glass in place and is the reason the pvc is so thick (and incredibly heavy). The empty tank weighs about 700lbs. I still have to figure out how to get it into the house, swap out all my livestock and plumb it in:at_wits_end:. Any suggestions?

[BIGBIRD123]

Dale, give me call. i am not working and could help. I sent my # by PM.

[DrMark]

Dale,
Good to see it coming together. I know you have been planning and working on this one for a long time. Thanks for calling a couple weeks back.
Mark

[allan]

Dude, if you live in the SA area I'd be happy to help you move that thing in if you can't get a crane rented.

That tank is going to be awesome!

[TexasTodd]

Nice to see this Dale. Your pets need some room!

One suggestion, you might look in to some of the high end T5 bulbs for your 2 footers. The KZ Fiji Purple is sick! Also lots of other color hues. I have a mix of VHO actinic and a couple of t5's on my new setup and love the mix along with the halides.

Allan, you are CLOSE to as strong as a crane, but I'm not sure you can actually replace one!

Todd

[BIGBIRD123]

All he needs is a red light on top of his head...lol

[acropoorer]

Nice to see this Dale. Your pets need some room!

One suggestion, you might look in to some of the high end T5 bulbs for your 2 footers. The KZ Fiji Purple is sick! Also lots of other color hues. I have a mix of VHO actinic and a couple of t5's on my new setup and love the mix along with the halides.

Allan, you are CLOSE to as strong as a crane, but I'm not sure you can actually replace one!

Todd
I definitely need more room for corals!

Been thinking about some t5's but already bought the 4-2' t12 bulbs from mako. Also, I can burn 2-6' and 2-2' t12's with one IC660 --still need a third 660 for the extra 2-6's. Might have room to fit both between the luminarcs or maybe 2-3' t5 at the very front edge of the hood and 2-3' at the very back edge -- this might be a better alternative if they will fit in 72.5".

Been a little overwhelmed with the logistics lately. Remember our bad algae talk. At this point I am seriously considering firing this monster up in the garage, bring up the Live rock with a few bulbs, slowly transfer coral and lighting out of the 180, 60 and 33. Acid wash the original system and move the 180 out. Finish the ccabinet work and hood while the system is up. Get all the plumbing roughed in for the new system. Then...:confused: What was I thinking, am I out of my mind! Building the tank was the easy part!

[thenewone1]

hopefully you have double doors cause your tank isnt going to fit trew a regular door

[TexasTodd]

Hey, I thought this was a hobby, THAT sounds like a lot of WORK! :)

BTW, I checked and you can mix t-5's and VHO off the same IceCap as long as you don't exceed the length / wattage limits. I'm running a 660 with 2-46.5 VHO and 2 48" T-5's. It also seems to then not overdrive the T5's as much...at least I haven't had any burn out and I'm not running fans down them.

Todd

[acropoorer]

hopefully you have double doors cause your tank isnt going to fit trew a regular door
Actually, everything fits through a 34.5" opening (3' door). The tank will fit through a 32" opening, but the stand is 34.25" tall with the riser collar removed.

[stoneroller]

Very cool. How's the hood going to be "raised"?

[acropoorer]

Very cool. How's the hood going to be "raised"?
Right now I am thinking a worm gear hand winch that uses a shepherds hook and two pulleys. I would mount them to a decorative piece of oak mounted to the ceiling. Worm gear winches hold there last state, so you crank to where you want and it is locked. There are also 3' or 5' rods that you can use a drill on, may go this route rather than the hand crank as the only winch I can find on line is 30 to 1 and 1500lb capable. More than I need and I don't want to crank forever (likely to require a lot of rotations). This would keep everything on the ceiling and wouldn't require pulleys and wires over to the wall and down.

Would like something electric but can't find anything light duty and small. I don't want to make it to complicated or I'll never get done. Also would like to keep the cash outlay small.

[ErikH]

you should make it viewable on all sides, I mean it is a 360. :D

[TexasTodd]

Dale, you should post some pictures of the outgoing tank.

I'd say it's currently the best sps tank in Texas.

Todd

[carong]

looking good so far keep it up man

[sharkboy]

More pics!!!!!!!

[hobogato]

Dale, you should post some pictures of the outgoing tank.

I'd say it's currently the best sps tank in Texas.

Todd

x2

[acropoorer]

Here's a few pics from my iphone.

iphone 278.jpg (http://www.maast.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=5297&stc=1&d=1265347401)
iphone 229.jpg (http://www.maast.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=5300&stc=1&d=1265348025)
iphone 233.jpg (http://www.maast.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=5301&stc=1&d=1265348415)

[stoneroller]

Now why do you need a bigger tank? That's awesome!!

[TexasTodd]

I rest my case!

TT

[aquasport24]

WOW,,,,RC TOTM for sure. No wonder you're having problem with your Deltec reactor.

[Paul28]

All i can say is WOW thats insane !!!!

[JeffCo]

Nice collection and well grown out. Can't wait to see the new one!

[Big_Pun]

when you move i can help, for the low price of lil broken pieces, if anything breaks ;)

[twychopen]

wow! thats an incredible tank!

[greenmako]

looking awesome Dale, I need to come check out your progress

[ErikH]

HOLY GOD.

[olaggie01]

Any progress Dale?

[Pennies2Cents]

Now thats some serious inspiration! :)

[fishypets]

All those pretty corals and you're taking pictures with an I-Phone???? Maybe you should've saved a little for a camera! ;)

p.s. If you ever get tired of that 60mm macro lense I'll buy it back from you.

[acropoorer]

Ok, Ok, yes I've made some progress, but it's been slow. The trouble with DIY is that you really have to do it yourself ( I always forget that when I come up with these crazy ideas). Since my last post I've purchased an icecap 660 w/ 2-6' actinics, a tunze 6105, bought 125' wire, breakers and service box for one 40 amp 220 that I will split into one 20 amp 220 and two 20 amp 110's. These are all purchases visible to the boss lady and I still need 8 solid oak cabinet doors and a winch pulley system for the hood, a temporary skimmer and pump mod for my CS-8 euro reef (adding a second pump to my existing skimmer to handle new system).

I have also moved my rock into the tank and plumbed in a 110 gal tub, a panworld 250 pump and the 1hp chiller. Want to try to wire the service this weekend, which has to go up an exterior wall and through 3 attics and down to the garage (I really hate working in insulation). I also painted the inside of my hood metalilc silver (been told white is better but never seen any data). When this is done I will start with my crazy plan.

I'm going to fill the tank and run it in the garage to bring up the rock (have a chiller and a 1500watt heater to maintain temp). I will start with 2 icecaps and 4-6' T12 vho actinics and 4 - 2' T12 vho actinics. I'm also looking around for a cheap or borrowed skimmer for this very temporary setup. While the tank is maturing I will work on carpentry and lighting. Once the tank can support coral I will move one of my three 400 Watt halides from my existing system to the center spot in my hood and start slowly moving corals. Then more lights and more corals and a few fish and so on. At the point where my system is empty I'm going to remove the rock and flush the system with an acid water mix to completely clean up my tanks. The plan is to eliminate all the bad stuff you get in your tanks from not knowing and move the good stuff to the new tank.

At this point the plan gets a little hazy, but it involves completing everything and getting all the plumbing in place before moving every thing inside. The challenge is that as the summer moves in it will be scary expensive to run both tanks, especially the one in the garage. Oh, I might need to get some fans:hypnotyized:.

My question to any readers is who has experience bringing up dry live rock?
BRS says run it in the dark for three weeks, then seed and add lighting. Any suggestions.

[aquasport24]

Sounds like alot of works ahead of you, good luck and keep us posted.

[aquasport24]

Sounds like alot of works ahead of you, good luck and keep us posted..:)

[ReefCube]

very nice!

[SoLiD]

What a ton of work you have ahead of you, Dale. WOW!!!

[RayAllen]

Man im looking forward to seeing this baby going.

Note: You posted a double post above so I deleted one for you.

[acropoorer]

Man im looking forward to seeing this baby going.

Note: You posted a double post above so I deleted one for you.
Not half as much as me, starting to feel my age on this project. Thanks for deleting the post, hope you got the one with the spelling errors.

By the way folks, any suggestions out there on curing and seeding dry live rock? Starting to fill the tank this weekend and I am open to suggestions.

[olaggie01]

Hey Dale. I mentioned this before, but really try and get all the junk out of that dry rock, they will leech out stuff for a while. I would try and put as much live rock in there and skim away with as big of a skimmer as you can find. And take a large powerhead and blow all the stuff out of the rocks before you put anything into the tank.

[TexasTodd]

Hi Dale, how is it coming along?

Sorry I missed a couple of calls, I've been working like crazy, and not on here enough!

Todd

[acropoorer]

Hey Dale. I mentioned this before, but really try and get all the junk out of that dry rock, they will leech out stuff for a while. I would try and put as much live rock in there and skim away with as big of a skimmer as you can find. And take a large powerhead and blow all the stuff out of the rocks before you put anything into the tank.

Here's what I did:

1) Filled the tank 2/3 full with ro/di and soaked 1 day with 2 6105 tunze powerheads running. Moved one around manually to blow out rocks. Drained the tank.

2) Filled the tank again 2/3 full with ro/di and repeated step 1 and drained the tank

3) This time I filled the whole system thinking I washed out the worst of the junk. Fired up the single pump that goes through my chiller and returns -- 1850 gal/hr. Was thinking I was ready for salt but after a day or so phosphates where still climbing to .2 mg/l so I decided to wait on the salt. I let it run a couple more days and continued blowing off the rock a few times a night. Emptied the water again.

4) Completely filled the system again but this time I added the salt. Set up a skimmer (decent sized deltec) and another pump for rowa and carbon. Keep blowing the rock with power head and sucking out the debris in the tank. Changed out the carbon last night and couldn't get the lid off of the rowa reactor (3 little fishes reactors suck) -- finally broke the lid. Now I am just running carbon and the skimmer. Ammonia is still at 2ppm and this is the start of week 3 with salt water. Phosphates are at around .06mg/l and I will probably swap back to rowa in a few days as I don't want a build up in the water/rock.

5) Been doing water changes into my old tank and taking old tank water and putting it into the new system. Getting a little impatient but even if the ammonia were gone I don't have my lights completely mounted in the hood -- starting out with just the t12's 4-6' and 4-2' about half done.

Here's a pic of my bailing wire and duct tape system.
iphone 373.jpg (http://www.maast.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=6050&stc=1&d=1270360944)

[BIGBIRD123]

Let me know when you plan on moving it inside, so I can put in for a trip to Mexico...LMAO.

Looks fantastic Dale...as I offered to you the other night on the phone, lmk if I can be of assistance...

[acropoorer]

Hi Dale, how is it coming along?

Sorry I missed a couple of calls, I've been working like crazy, and not on here enough!

Todd

I understand busy. I was calling to see how your tank is progressing. You can see the pic above for where I stand. Working on lighting right now. Decided to add 6 finnex moonlight LED strips (9 1-watt LEDs per strip) that I saw at Mike Delgado's house. Sic looking, like being on another planet. Shimmer and glow is how I would describe it, but the glow is like nothing I'd ever seen before.

[acropoorer]

Let me know when you plan on moving it inside, so I can put in for a trip to Mexico...LMAO.

Looks fantastic Dale...as I offered to you the other night on the phone, lmk if I can be of assistance...

Just stop by and finish er up! Tools are in the garage and the post describes what I want. I was thinking of a medium oak finish on the cabinet...

[BIGBIRD123]

make breakfast and I'll be there...

[Mrs. z28pwr]

Dale, your tank is AMAZING in person!!!! It was nice meeting you and your wife the other day with Chad and Belinda. I love those little Gobies in your coral they are so cute....

[acropoorer]

So, I am nearing the end of cycling after a month. Ammonia is 0, nitrites and nitrates are coming down. I've completed installing most of my actinic lights/leds into the hood - 8 fans, 8 finnex leds and most of my T12's. This will be my temporary lighting until I have enough stuff moved and can start pulling halides/luminarcs from my existing system. Here are some pics. The luminarcs fit in the empty squares
74637464

[BIGBIRD123]

Dang....looks good Dale...really like all the blue and it will go nice the the 10Ks

[acropoorer]

Dang....looks good Dale...really like all the blue and it will go nice the the 10Ks
Can't wait to get some of my corals under these leds, even though everything will be sitting in the garage half finished. Shimmer and glow man, shimmer and glow. If you haven't seen leds yet, trust me, you will want them so bad... I had to explain to my kid that I couldn't help him with college expenses this month.

[addboy]

And hey!!!.....If it doesn't work out,...you could always turn your garage into a night club. :)....forget the halides,...take the money and book "Blue Man Group" I think those funky bald dudes would look way cool under all that actinic......And then I could tell all these people that saw them in New York : "Yeah....but have you seen them under actinic......hahaha"

[acropoorer]

And hey!!!.....If it doesn't work out,...you could always turn your garage into a night club. :)....forget the halides,...take the money and book "Blue Man Group" I think those funky bald dudes would look way cool under all that actinic......And then I could tell all these people that saw them in New York : "Yeah....but have you seen them under actinic......hahaha"
Laugh now, but you'll be sellen yur guns when you see these!

[ReefOne]

One of the best DIY's i've ever seen! Looks awesome!

Ram

[addboy]

Uh uh uh.....The Blue Man Group is why I have guns in the first place. Everyone knows that they follow you home after the show and try and steal your color (or lack ther of) while you sleep....they used to be called The Boogie Man Group...I guarantee that all that actinic is going to draw attention to your home. Be safe my friend.
BTW folks....I used to not believe in Low Iron or Starfire glass....Then I go over to Dale's and ask him "what's with the bubbles on the front glass"?...he replied "those bubbles are in the water"...and that's when I realized that it was filled to the top with WATER!!!!!!
When the global warming starts to bleach the earth's natural reefs, they are going to try and get a hold of DALE and see if he can hold thier coral for a little while....at least until they can get a chiller!!!
YOU DA MAN, DALE !!!

[apedroza]

Dale if this is anything like your current tank it will be AWESOME!!!! Can't wait to see it in person.

[acropoorer]

First light, first coral. Nitrates are still a little high, but I am starting the lighting to get coraline going. Slowly adding more robust corals and keeping a close eye on them. Pics:
75707571

[greenmako]

Man I have got to go check that out, it looks awesome Dale!

[acropoorer]

Man I have got to go check that out, it looks awesome Dale!
Maybe you could stop by and help me figure out how to turn it into a reefcentral tank of the month. Oh, and drive the cool car, I love to stare at it.

[acropoorer]

Added a few lps and Zoas to the new tank. Still not ready for sps, but want something in there to look at.

7809

7810

[Europhyllia]

You are so much more patient than I could be! It looks awesome so far (although I can't see the latest attachments).
Probably a silly question but wouldn't macro help with the nitrates? Do you have a refugium?

[acropoorer]

You are so much more patient than I could be! It looks awesome so far (although I can't see the latest attachments).
Probably a silly question but wouldn't macro help with the nitrates? Do you have a refugium?

You should be able to click the attachments and they open (do for me). The new software on the site is messing me up. Posted the way I always do, but something is different. Maybe it's because I posted with a quick reply.

Macro would help with phosphates but the only thing that gets rid of nitrates is anaerobic bacteria. Sewer bacteria, the black stinky stuff that is deep in developed live rock or a developed deep sand bed. I have 250 lbs of developed live rock in my old tank but didn't want to transfer it to the new system. Hoping to avoid the bad stuff I've collected from early in the hobby (astea stars (sp?) and various algae strains). My plan was to build up the new rock in the garage by slowly adding corals and fish, but so far the dry rock hasn't even removed the initial nitrates from the cure, let alone any new stuff that would be created if I start adding a lot of live stock. If I don't see some reduction by this weekend I'm going to start adding rock from my old system. I'll try to get everything off but I know I'll end up transferring the starfish -- they will get in the holes in the rock. Can't afford to run a 450 gal system in a 100+ degree garage for an extended period of time (I will get major complaints from the management if $900 electric bills start coming in:bareteeth:). Need to get this system in the house!
Trying the pics again in advanced post.
781178127813

[TexasTodd]

Hey Dale, those LEDs are sweet. Do you have a link for where you found them?

You WILL have a $900+ powerbill if you don't move that pig of a tank!

My tank is doing pretty well. I STILL haven't set up an auto top off which is a pain and I'm not dosing/ball method yet even though I have EVERYTHING need to do this. My company moved out of our house and in to a real office / warehouse at the end of March. Then we took on a new manufacturer's line that essentially double the company April 1st......so it's been extremely busy here. I'll try to get some pics up.

Your new setup is really coming together. Maybe you should surprise the Wife with a cruse for her and your daughter...then have the tank in place before she gets back. ;)

Todd

[acropoorer]

Hey Dale, those LEDs are sweet. Do you have a link for where you found them?

You WILL have a $900+ powerbill if you don't move that pig of a tank!

My tank is doing pretty well. I STILL haven't set up an auto top off which is a pain and I'm not dosing/ball method yet even though I have EVERYTHING need to do this. My company moved out of our house and in to a real office / warehouse at the end of March. Then we took on a new manufacturer's line that essentially double the company April 1st......so it's been extremely busy here. I'll try to get some pics up.

Your new setup is really coming together. Maybe you should surprise the Wife with a cruse for her and your daughter...then have the tank in place before she gets back. ;)

Todd
Hey Todd,
Got the lights from a friend in houston, but they are Finnex lights. Only 1watt bulbs, 9 per strip but they look cool at night. They are availible from aqua cave.

I know what you mean on the 2 part. Trying to get mine set up now, but have just been manually dosing so far. I think the dosers are going to be to slow as I get the system up and running. May need to dose 1Liter plus and the instructions on the pump say not to run dosers for long periods, but to break the on time up -- most you can dose is 1.5L per day running continuous. Do I need 2 dosers per solution? Just a lot of stuff to do.

Post me when you get some pics up, I wanna see...

[aquasport24]

Dale, it had been awhile. Any update?

[acropoorer]

Dale, it had been awhile. Any update?
Yes, and I've made some headway. I have installed all my lights into the hood and moved most of my corals into the new tank in the garage. So far, chilling hasn't been so bad as I am running a night cycle with lots of fans. Water quality is still poor -- missing the magic yet so corals are not well colored but I haven't lost any. I still have 10 to 15 corals to move and not a lot of room left. Some of my SPS still has decent color but others are not so hot yet. LPS and softies are all doing well. Here's a few iphone pics from whats moved in so far.
82288229823082318232

[aquasport24]

Good progess so far Dale, how do you remove those big colonies? did you have to move the rock that they on too?

[twychopen]

I must have missed it, your going to move the tank inside? If yes, how!!!??? Second, we did this to my garage when I kept lots of cichlids in the garage. At home depot or any other place they have the sheets of insulation. We put it in the pannels of the garage door. In Mcallen, at the hottest part of the day, with the sun beating down on the doors, it is around 80. That stuff is amazing! You can go touch the outside of the metal door and get blisters, but stanind right next to them on the inside of the door you cant feel any heat at all! The stuff is really inexpensive also! Just a suggestion!

[Europhyllia]

so nitrates are still high?

[acropoorer]

I must have missed it, your going to move the tank inside? If yes, how!!!??? Second, we did this to my garage when I kept lots of cichlids in the garage. At home depot or any other place they have the sheets of insulation. We put it in the pannels of the garage door. In Mcallen, at the hottest part of the day, with the sun beating down on the doors, it is around 80. That stuff is amazing! You can go touch the outside of the metal door and get blisters, but stanind right next to them on the inside of the door you cant feel any heat at all! The stuff is really inexpensive also! Just a suggestion!

Yes, I will be moving the tank inside. Why it is outside is complicated, but mainly due to bringing up new dry rock, cleaning stuff in the original system and having time to set up peripheral plumbing and infra structure while my stuff has a place to live. I had thought of insulating the doors and still may do so, but the doors have to stay open a crack to vent the chiller.

[acropoorer]

Good progess so far Dale, how do you remove those big colonies? did you have to move the rock that they on too?
None of the big colonies are attached to anything large so they are easy to move. It's harder to find a temporary home and get them all into the tank. May have to part with a few when I move them back into the house.

[acropoorer]

so nitrates are still high?
A little bit, 2-5 mg/l. Just missing the magic but I'm hoping I get it back.

[apedroza]

Dale its amazing what your building there. I can't wait to see the finished project!!!

[apedroza]

Saw this in person today and it is amazing. Excellent work Dale.

[ErikH]

wow.

[Mr Cob]

wow wow!

[ErikH]

Great to meet you today Dale. Next time we visit Austin, your house is on the list. :D Well if we're invited of course! :D

[acropoorer]

Great to meet you today Dale. Next time we visit Austin, your house is on the list. :D Well if we're invited of course! :D

Hi Erik,

Enjoyed visiting with you and meeting your wife and kids. Would love to have you visit sometime. Just give me a heads up so I can coordinate with the head honcho.

-Dale

[hobogato]

any updates dale? has everything settled in?

pics would be great too...

[SoLiD]

I was wondering the same thing some time back...

[Texreefer]

I know where to come for my starter frags... beautiful!