My Aqua Hobby Journey

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Chris_A

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 22, 2008
15
0
0
Spruce Grove, Alberta
First off, HOLY ****! That is AMAZING! Nice to know someone in my neck of the woods has something like that. Not really sure why... but it is. Congrats!

I work a shear and break press so this thread really got me thinking very bad thoughts (read: really big, reinforce floor big, big F'in tank). Two questions though.

1) Why 316L? I understand it is marine grade and will NOT corrode even under extreme conditions but why not 304? It's food grade and has a similar composition to 316 plus it's significanly cheaper and I find it easier to work with. As of today the cheapest I could get 304 11ga for was ~$19/sq ft. I'd hate to think what you paid for 316L.

2) What, if any, profiles did you have broke to add strength and/or rigidity?

Again, WOW!

Chris
 
D

dimfer

Gambusia
MFK Member
Dec 8, 2005
490
3
16
Canada
thanks guys for the additional comments.

sad to report that my I recently lost my green green sev.

He got a gill infection and I isolated him on a hospital tank. He died there on the fourth day.

thankfully, everybody else is doing fine.

additionally, I've been cleaning the substrate using a Matala Pond Vacuum II, and this thing works. I modified the discharge section a little bit, I got rid of the discharge hose and replaced it with some parts from built in vacuum system and DIY damper using cutouts from the lid of a margarine container. This way I could fit the vacuum on the sink beside the tank. I am very happy with the result and it made up for all the failed experiments on DIY vacuuming systems. While I had what I still consider good ideas, most of the pumps I used were just not powerful enough to do the job properly. Most of them worked, but with limited capability.

Thanks to Ron at Aquarium Illusions for the excellent deal on the Matala.
 
D

dimfer

Gambusia
MFK Member
Dec 8, 2005
490
3
16
Canada
Chris_A;1757605; said:
First off, HOLY ****! That is AMAZING! Nice to know someone in my neck of the woods has something like that. Not really sure why... but it is. Congrats!

I work a shear and break press so this thread really got me thinking very bad thoughts (read: really big, reinforce floor big, big F'in tank). Two questions though.

1) Why 316L? I understand it is marine grade and will NOT corrode even under extreme conditions but why not 304? It's food grade and has a similar composition to 316 plus it's significanly cheaper and I find it easier to work with. As of today the cheapest I could get 304 11ga for was ~$19/sq ft. I'd hate to think what you paid for 316L.

2) What, if any, profiles did you have broke to add strength and/or rigidity?

Again, WOW!

Chris
Click to expand...
thanks for the nice comment Chris

The value of the arowanas is simply too much and I don't want to take risk with other materials. We use 304 extensively in the manufacture of class A chimneys in our shop and I was quite familiar with it's properties - but my supplier (and friend) insisted on 316L for it's non oxydizing property. Yes, it is more expensive than the 304, and much harder to work with. We used 3 - 10' x 5' sheets and as previously mentioned, the guy who did the stainless part charged me for 75 hours (ouch, you know how much shops charge for journeyman hours).. but no regrets - he did an excellent job. Before the project started, I had no idea how hard it is to weld stainless steel and keep it from bowing.

except for the welded U channels on both ends, there were no reinforcements added. We just folded the material strategically, and you can see how it was done on the sketches provided early in the thread. The opposing folds (like a Z) around the glass viewing areas are supposed to be stronger than square tubing.

I hope you go ahead with your ideas... only way to find out if it works.
 
R

Robert_Lu999

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 19, 2008
288
0
0
Sydney, Australia
awesome tank. Your living my dreams. If you went back in time, would u have built the tank taller to cover the top part. I reckon it would look alot nice if it was deeper.
 
D

dimfer

Gambusia
MFK Member
Dec 8, 2005
490
3
16
Canada
Robert_Lu999;1817243; said:
awesome tank. Your living my dreams. If you went back in time, would u have built the tank taller to cover the top part. I reckon it would look alot nice if it was deeper.
Click to expand...
It would look nicer, for sure, but I won't change a thing. I am quite happy with the result. Making the tank deeper will make maintenance harder, in my opinion.

ok, if I have to change something, I would use stainless or aluminum angle bars to frame the enclosure instead of cedar (although cedar has not presented a problem yet)..
 
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