400 gallon plywood aquarium. 600+ gallon system

Mr_Stian · Nov 19, 2018

The glass is in place!

It did not go 100% according to plan, but I am happy with the result. I used cut off zip ties as spacers to distance the glass from the plywood to create a good seam. Unfortunately I put the zip ties for the top of the glass too high, so when the glass was in place it did not hit the upper zip ties. But since it is the upper part of the glass, and the way the silicone is I am happy with the result. Used almost 4 tubes of silicone. 2 for the main seam, but I also put silicone on the inside as extra safety. Again, it helps me sleap better!

I am also finnished with the front. It got a bit hectic during the installation so I forgot to take any pictures until after we were finnished. So I will attached these.

I will leave it to cure for 48 hours and then I will put it upright and start on the bracing!

so no new updates for a few days.

Pictures:

Dsnakes · Nov 19, 2018

Awesome! Glad to hear it’s in place!

Muttley000 · Nov 19, 2018

Looks like you got a great seal all the way around! How wide is the lip your glass attaches to?

Mr_Stian · Nov 20, 2018

The lip is between 4 and 5 cm.

Mr_Stian · Nov 26, 2018

Some good news and some bad news! Lets start with the good.

The aquarium is on its stand!

This was a job that was easier than expected. it took 4 guys about 5 minutes to lift it from the floor and onto the stand.

That is when i noticed the bad news. As you can see on the picture i have not thought the placements of the bulkheads all the way through.

It will be hitting the inside wall! When i was finished building the tank i was not very exited with my choice of placement of this bulkhead, but since it is a big job to fix, i did not bother. And since it was only visual i thought it was OK. But after placing the tank on the stand i see that i have to fix this. My idea is to drill out two new exact same holes and use those as a blind plug that will be glued and screwed in place. After this I will use Pond Shield and fiberglass to waterproof it. It will take some time, but i think the result will be a lot better.

After setting the tank on the stand i also noticed that i will have some challenges when it comes to tank maintenance. It is so high, and the stand is so high that it will be difficult reaching the bottom of the tank. I was aware of this when designing the tank, so i guess i will manage. The compromise of building a large tank in a small room!

After the glass was installed i did the top brace before lifting onto the stand. Next step will be to install the outer brace. I am still waiting for the extra kit of pond shield to waterproof the brace.

A picture of the top brace:

And of course the final placement of the tank. Just need to add the moldings (And yes, i will fix the speaker grills)

Muttley000 · Nov 26, 2018

What did you use for the straps across the top?

Dsnakes · Nov 26, 2018

Mr_Stian said:
Some good news and some bad news! Lets start with the good.

The aquarium is on its stand! This was a job that was easier than expected. it took 4 guys about 5 minutes to lift it from the floor and onto the stand.

That is when i noticed the bad news. As you can see on the picture i have not thought the placements of the bulkheads all the way through.

It will be hitting the inside wall! When i was finished building the tank i was not very exited with my choice of placement of this bulkhead, but since it is a big job to fix, i did not bother. And since it was only visual i thought it was OK. But after placing the tank on the stand i see that i have to fix this. My idea is to drill out two new exact same holes and use those as a blind plug that will be glued and screwed in place. After this I will use Pond Shield and fiberglass to waterproof it. It will take some time, but i think the result will be a lot better.

After setting the tank on the stand i also noticed that i will have some challenges when it comes to tank maintenance. It is so high, and the stand is so high that it will be difficult reaching the bottom of the tank. I was aware of this when designing the tank, so i guess i will manage. The compromise of building a large tank in a small room!

After the glass was installed i did the top brace before lifting onto the stand. Next step will be to install the outer brace. I am still waiting for the extra kit of pond shield to waterproof the brace.

A picture of the top brace:

And of course the final placement of the tank. Just need to add the moldings (And yes, i will fix the speaker grills)

Looks like good progress! Nice to see it through the wall already

Mr_Stian · Nov 27, 2018

Muttley000 said:
What did you use for the straps across the top?

The straps are 3x30mm alu strips that are glued and screwed in place.

Mr_Stian · Dec 3, 2018

Not much to report about but I have made some small progress. I have started on the outside reinforcement. I could not do the last one since I had to fix the bulkhead that I had drilled in the wrong place. That is in place now and I will glue it further in place before fiberglass and pond shield.
The beams will be joined together in the corners with M10 bolts.

I also had a visit from a friend of mine that is a plumber. He drilled the floor so that I have an emergency drain if something should happen. This is not for regular use as it is just going straight under mye house.

Under a few pictures of the outside bracing:

The drilling rig. Not sure what the English word for this is.

And the final result. Looks like there will be good drainage from this.

Dsnakes · Dec 3, 2018

Mr_Stian said:
Not much to report about but I have made some small progress. I have started on the outside reinforcement. I could not do the last one since I had to fix the bulkhead that I had drilled in the wrong place. That is in place now and I will glue it further in place before fiberglass and pond shield.
The beams will be joined together in the corners with M10 bolts.

I also had a visit from a friend of mine that is a plumber. He drilled the floor so that I have an emergency drain if something should happen. This is not for regular use as it is just going straight under mye house.

Under a few pictures of the outside bracing:

The drilling rig. Not sure what the English word for this is.

And the final result. Looks like there will be good drainage from this.

Good progress! The emergency drain is a good idea, that’s a lot of water if something were to happen.

That bracing looks good. Definitely more strength running them that way. Looking forward to the next update

Muttley000 · Dec 3, 2018

Very strong looking bracing! Would have been interesting to know deflection before and after.

We call that a core drill at work btw.

Mr_Stian · Dec 4, 2018

I am going to measure the deflection once everything is in place and before adding the water. So there will be a before and after comparison to this!

NP57 · Dec 4, 2018

Great build.
Did you leave the aluminum cross strips bare or did you paint them ?

NP57 · Dec 4, 2018

How did you attach the outside bracing to the aquarium?

Mr_Stian · Dec 4, 2018

NP57 said:
Great build.
Did you leave the aluminum cross strips bare or did you paint them ?

I was planning on coating them with pond shield when i do the inside top brace.

NP57 said:
How did you attach the outside bracing to the aquarium?

The outside brace was screwed from the inside of the tank. I also used wood glue. I need to fill the screws, sand them and add a few layers of pond shield on them. I discussed this with Pond Armor before doing this and this should not cause any problems.

Mr_Stian · Dec 4, 2018

Received the glass for the two sumps today. And I cut the glass for the overflow so that everything is ready for silicone tomorrow. I made the overflow from 4mm glass that I had lying around. The sumps are made from 8mm glass..

Now I am just hoping that the pond shield will arrive soon. I want to fill it with water!

garbled · Dec 5, 2018

Because my tank is so high off the ground ( I wanted the top line above the eyes ), it's impossible to work on without a ladder. I fixed this by building a walkway into the stand in the fishroom, so I can just jump up on the back and walk around above it. It's a very small walkway, I think I used a 2x10 or 2x12 and some very heavy duty brackets.

Mr_Stian · Dec 5, 2018

I have also thought about this, but i have limited space for an permanent walking platform. But i will have to consider this again when i am finished with everything.

Mr_Stian · Dec 5, 2018

Both sumps have been siliconed together. I have only fastened all the sides using spacers. Tomorrow I will do the full seam of both of them. And the overflow.

I also managed to complete one of the columns that I wanted to make. I am really pleased with the result and think this will look good once in the tank.

A few pictures:

The two sumps with one side drilled on one sump

The overflow. This will be glued onto the wall of the tank.

And the column that I made. It is a lot taller than it looks.

Mr_Stian · Dec 10, 2018

Still waiting for the Pond Shield. Its delayed due to black Friday and Christmas.

In the mean time i have tested the surge tank design. And filled the sumps with water to check for leaks. So far so good.

The surge tank is a 100L tank that i drilled in the bottom to fit a 50mm (2") bulkhead. This is connected to a 50mm motorized ball valve. It drains the 100l in about 15 seconds. I think this will give alot of flow in the tank!

I still have some testing to do, but this i need to do when the main display is connected. This is to check for air and sound in the design. I have some issues with the motor for the valve. This is a 220v motor wich opens when you apply power and closes when you remove it. But the return is operated by a battery inside the unit. This means the the valve have to be powered for some time to charge this battery. The time needed to charge is more than the time it takes to empty the tank. This again means that it will suck air from the bulkhead. I could change the actuator to be fail open. This means that it will be powered when closed. But if my system loses power this valve will open and all the water will go in my sump. Which i think will overflow with this and the water from the tank! I have a few ideas that i need to test, so i will have to come back to this at a later stage!

Below a few pictures and a video of the surge tank in action.