600 gallon acrylic tear down and rebuild or roll the dice?

[wednesday13]

So I am definitely putting checks on inlet lines because evey time I have flooded my house it was due to inlets lol
Anyways what I am thinking I want to get the new tank up and running as quickly as possible. If I keep the water level at say 18" or so temporarily it would be plenty for the fish. Question is will 2 FX6's be sufficient filtration for a week or so? That way I can take my time setting up the sumps just how I want them and possibly cycle them before cutting the FX's away? In my mind it works

Not a bad plan to jump start everything that way if u need to move fish over quickly. Did u decide on covering/patching all the bottom holes or not? Only thing id do is drill for the new drains before firing everything up. Ive drilled plenty tanks half full while running. It makes a mess tho with acrylic dust everywhere in the water. The panels will be bowing a bit also so the bits can get stuck easier. I like to drill half from each side also with 3/4” material. That also helps from getting the bits stuck.

 

[bluehand]

Got everything mapped out as to how it is going to fit in the available space. I will probably end up regretting it but I think I will have to use the existing overflows and inlets. The way it will have to be placed I would either have to plumb them out of a viewable side or in a few inch space up against the back wall that I would never be able to access again once it was set up. I do like the idea of the inlets being in the center of the tank for better flow/less dead spots but I am not really thrilled about them being on the bottom. I have the day off tomorrow so I'm going to try to get the two 6's relocated so I can start on the stand. Stay tuned!!!! Lol

 

[bluehand]

Getting the tank in the house and on the stand will be a little tricky. If i build the entire stand first, I wont have room to get it all the way in the door so I will have to build it a couple feet on each side, bring the tank in on its side, put it on the stand on its side, build the center of the stand then lay it down. Should be interesting

 

[danotaylor]

 

[Bizdaddy]

I can't even imagine trying to shuffle around an 8' x 5' footprint. That's almost a room itself! Throw some pulleys up on the ceiling and hang your tank up above while you build the stand, then just lower it down

 

[wednesday13]

Got everything mapped out as to how it is going to fit in the available space. I will probably end up regretting it but I think I will have to use the existing overflows and inlets. The way it will have to be placed I would either have to plumb them out of a viewable side or in a few inch space up against the back wall that I would never be able to access again once it was set up. I do like the idea of the inlets being in the center of the tank for better flow/less dead spots but I am not really thrilled about them being on the bottom. I have the day off tomorrow so I'm going to try to get the two 6's relocated so I can start on the stand. Stay tuned!!!! Lol

Theres always another way … at the least id use stand pipes glued in for the 2 overflows in the corners. Patch off all those holes in the middle and just run pipe or vinyl tubing up and over the lip of the tank for returns. I had check valves fail me twice on a bottom/floor return. Luckily i was home both times to deal with the tank draining half way and flooding over the sumps.

 

[bluehand]

Theres always another way … at the least id use stand pipes glued in for the 2 overflows in the corners. Patch off all those holes in the middle and just run pipe or vinyl tubing up and over the lip of the tank for returns. I had check valves fail me twice on a bottom/floor return. Luckily i was home both times to deal with the tank draining half way and flooding over the sumps.

Maybe a reasonable work around? If I set them at top water level they wouldn't really be able to siphon much if a problem occurs? I would of course have two small islands camouflaging them. Rocks, driftwood or plants of some sort.

 

[bluehand]

I could probably block off a few of them fo less plumbing and still have plenty of flow

 

[bluehand]

One of these on each island should be more than enough I think

 

[wednesday13]

Maybe a reasonable work around? If I set them at top water level they wouldn't really be able to siphon much if a problem occurs? I would of course have two small islands camouflaging them. Rocks, driftwood or plants of some sort.

View attachment 1547337

View attachment 1547338

View attachment 1547339

Yeah, as long as there glued into the bulkheads theres not much worry. Small hole for siphon break or above the water will prevent any back flow. Currently have a 500 over here with bottom holes/bulkheads. There just capped off at this point tho.