Finally Upgrading: 600gl Plywood build

[JonesSoda6]

dude absolutely outstanding. talk about motivation to call my landlord tomorrow morning.

 

[The Amazonian]

Sweet!

 

[ronin_man]

fantastic job !
cant wait for more updates.

 

[cvermeulen]

Alright well not much to update. I started fiberglassing the filter divider wall last night. I had to empty the tank because it squashed the styro pads underneath each leg and was sitting off level. The feeder died too, which sort of worries, me, but sort of doesn't at the same time, as the tank was not cleaned before I filled it, and it was cold, and it wasn't aerated or anything. So I will be replacing the styro pads tonight with styro and plywood pads. I will fiberglass the other side of the divider and start laying out the rough shape of it.

I need to find myself some large diameter PVC pipes (some 8" and some 12") to make the removable modules for my filter area, so I might go touring construction sites this weekend.

 

[basslover34]

Airation shouldn't have anything to do with the death since that little guy had a good 550+ gallons of water in that tank and wouldn't have made much of a difference in the params of that much water itself... well not that quick anyway. I'm sure it's either due to the shock of the water temp... or just that it's an un healthy feeder.

 

[Armand]

I am really enjoying your therad and as i follow your project i feel more and more just like starting to build mine.... and that is quite a deal i mean you are encouraging me to do so just by reading and watching picts and that is a lot, believe me because I am really lazy and unexpirienced regarding building projects......




I'll Keep reading and watching.


Cheers.

 

[cvermeulen]

Airation shouldn't have anything to do with the death since that little guy had a good 550+ gallons of water in that tank and wouldn't have made much of a difference in the params of that much water itself... well not that quick anyway. I'm sure it's either due to the shock of the water temp... or just that it's an un healthy feeder.

Yeah. He was healthy enough I think... been in my sump for a month or two. I took him from a 80deg tank and chucked him in a 50deg tank though, so I'm not exactly surprised he died. He lasted 3 days though. *shrug* hard to really chock up to much as there were so many potential reasons.

 

[cvermeulen]

I am really enjoying your therad and as i follow your project i feel more and more just like starting to build mine.... and that is quite a deal i mean you are encouraging me to do so just by reading and watching picts and that is a lot, believe me because I am really lazy and unexpirienced regarding building projects......




I'll Keep reading and watching.


Cheers.

LOL, Thanks! well start building something small... I find laziness coincides with disinterest... if you want to do it and it's interesting, it keeps you engaged.

 

[cvermeulen]

Alright, so I got a lil detailed with the pics today cuz I had the camera out there and I run into the situation where I don't have a holesaw a LOT, so I decided to share my solution to the problem. (plus I f***ing HATE holesaws... I've sprained fingers and wrists, even dislocated a shoulder once using the damn things with a hand drill...)

Anyways. I fiberglassed the filter divider and cut it to shape:

Here it is mocked up:

I did some sketching today of the rough layout of the filter section, and decided to once again in this build, share my drafting skills (or lack thereof)

Here are the filter bags (just examples) that I will be using. This is the mech section I made for another sump many moons ago, that has been sitting in my yard collecting leaves

When I had the tank filled, and then emptied it, there appeared to be some patchiness to the gelcoat. I was concerned that the wax additive did not work properly over the whole coating, so I sprayed some stuff called PVA down on top of the gelcoat today. It's function (in this case) is to form a film and seal out the humidity so the gelcoat can properly cure right to the surface. I'll have to wash the PVA off with soap and water later. Anyway, that's why the fan is in the tank:

So on to the fabrication tips... I realized I did not have a 2.5" holesaw... but I DID have a 2.5" ID brass pipe, and some epoxy, and a flush trim bit for my router... I'll let the photos do the talking.

And with the bulkheads mocked up:

I also found this really cool polycarbonate greenhouse material for making lids. I'm using it to make a lid for the 225 acrylic I've made for a customer. Here is the photo of the lid in progress for that tank.

Aaaand, a gratuitous pic of the boys after a good feeding.

 

[ScottXGTR]

awesome tank build sir. dont be surprised to see the design copied by others. imitation is the sincerest form of flattery afterall.

anyhoo, i see you love your router. if you plan to cut circles frequently, may i suggest some jasper circle jigs. i have a set and they work wonderfully.