Our 270g Google Tank Build

[blkdrgn]

First of all let's get this straight. I called this our Google tank because we know nothing on how to setup our tank. Everything we are learning are from Googling, YouTube, MFK, talking to some people, etc.
Here is our 270g acrylic tank from Tenecor. Luckily our tank was in good shape. We bought it from a distributor and just trusted what they said. They said Tenecor will build the tank, sump, recommend the pumps, hoses, etc. All we had to do was choose what color background and overflow style we wanted.

Now this is where it sat for the next six months. We were going to have someone build the stand and canopy for us but we ran into a family member medical problem. Everything is fine now but our funds were depleted helping them out. I recently contacted a lot of Contractors but either they didn't want to do the job, didn't reply to my calls or emails, or quoted to high. I decided that we are going to build everything ourselves, my wife and I. I'm 35 and she's in her twentys. We both really have no hardware skills at all. I bought most of the tools to do this job which in a way would have cost close to the contractors but I figure we can gain experience from this.

 

[blkdrgn]

First was to start building the stand frame. This took days to figure out how to design it. We copied some people's design we saw here. We got the untreated wood from Home Depot.

We saw this plywood at Home Depot too and it was a better quality one. It was straight and smooth.

 

[blkdrgn]

We started the project in our garage but I noticed that we wouldn't be able to carry it through our door. We made the top and bottom and assembled the rest inside the house. Everything is made from 2x4s and 2x6s to fill the gap on the sides. Yes, I'm the one who didn't know that 2x4s were actually 1 1/2" x 3 1/2". lol We had to run out and buy a few more wood.

 

[shua71]

Wow looks awesome. Your first tank is nicer than my best one! I'll be keeping up with this thread

 

[rgonzales]

Looking good, what are you planning on as far as stock?

 

[blkdrgn]

Now time to put the foam on as recommended. We could only find 1" foam at Home Depot so that's what we bought. Some told us to use a black sheet to cover the top the the white doesn't show. I had a better idea, I was going to use black auto carpet. The ones they use to cover subwoofer boxes, etc. It's stiffer and wouldn't shift around when sliding the tank on. One thing I didn't know was that the contact cement spray was going to eat away at the foam. I had to be quick and not bunch it up. It came out great and stuck pretty good.

 

[blkdrgn]

Now time for the plumbing. I figure that would be the easiest part. Boy was I wrong! I am serious, I went to Home Depot, Lowes, pluming store, and a couple others at least 5 times each. Just buying all the wrong parts, changing my mind on the design, etc.

This was our first attempt. It was very noisy because of all the water splashing and gurgling noises.

This is when we found out about the durso stand pipes. First we tried 1" but it was still noisy. Not until one member here informed us that we were supposed to use 1 1/4" pipes which adapt to our 1" bulkheads. The one in this picture is the 1" pipe.

I still wasn't satified as I could hear the splashing now in the hoses and sump. I changed the hoses so that I curved more and that helped. Still I wasn't satified until my wife figured it out. She stuck her hand under the sump bulkheads and instantly no noise. So we decided to put some filter material under it but now we have to watch it for clogging. Seriously it almost whisper quiet. The pump now make more noise.

One thing I forgot to mention was that I forgot to install the barb fitting before installing the bulkhead. That was a pain to reach down the overflow. My wife suggested that I use my special sink pipe wrench and that worked perfect.

I'm a little worried about the hose over the PVC pipe as there are no barbs. But so far no leaks and it was a ***** to install. took me a couple hours to get it on screaming. My arms felt like I just power lifted for a competition.

 

[yodaLBC]

very nice!

 

[blkdrgn]

Whoops forgot about the light under the tank. We had an extra 5ft LED bulb so we installed it for when we do maintenance. This one is a 5ft - T8 360 pcs SMD 3528, AC 90-250V, 20w, 2180-2280 lumens fluorescent LED Tube. It doesn't require a ballast and it is super quiet and not hot. Installed a light switch underneath for easy access.

 

[C L O W N K N I F E]

Very clean! I bet a lot of money is going into this build lol

I can't wait to see this when its all setup with fish in! It's going to look amazing that's for sure.