ashwinv96
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2021
- Messages
- 10
- Reaction score
- 8
- Location
- Longmont
- What state or country do you live in
- Colorado
Hi fellow reefers,
I'm using this space to document my progress with setting up my 300 gal aquarium and fish room. The tank will go in a corner of my unfinished basement. It will be located next to a seating area where there will be a TV so I want it to look good and not be too loud.
Below, I have documented the steps that I have taken so far. There is still a fair amount of work to do and I look forward to documenting the journey here. I also look forward to connecting with other reefers and being a part of the community here in Northern Colorado.
Ashwin's 300 gal display tank
This is the corner of the basement where the tank will go. To make sure the tank and stand will fit down the stairs, I created and moved a 3d structure out of PVC a little larger than the dimensions of the tank through my main entrance, down my stairs, and till the intended spot in the basement.
Unfinished basement where tank will go
After planning where the tank will go, I needed to prepare the area so it can house a large aquarium without damaging the house. To do this, I did some framing in the parts where it was missing and acquired and transported the large used tank (with help from some good friends and moving guys).
Area with framing done and the large used tank
After the framing, the next task was to put up some walls and flooring to protect the concrete from any water damage. For the walls, I decided to be overkill and put up cement boards. These are also called tile backer boards and usually go in areas where there is high moisture like the insides of showers. For the floors, ideally I would have liked to go with a tile. Because of budget constraints, I decided to use epoxy on the floor and am pretty happy with how it turned out. There are a couple areas where the epoxy has chipped but hopefully that won't cause too many issues down the road. I also like how the flooring is textured with the flakes that were applied so I am not too worried about it being too slippery if the area is wet.
Cement board walls and epoxy flooring added
While building this area out, I realized that I will need to have a separate space to mix saltwater, test water quality, and install a sink for cleaning and maintenance. For this, I decided to use the other corner of my L-shaped basement. Although my wife is not happy that I am using a large portion of the basement real estate, I was able to quell her fears by promising to give her control of the living space and space to add workout equipment . To build the mixing station, I wanted to elevate the plastic water storage containers so that I could store salt underneath and wipe away any spills before it should contact the concrete flooring. I was also inspired by other people's mixing station stand designs on YouTube. By following, Joey the King of DIY's instructions, I was able to build the below mixing station stand which will house my water storage tanks. Next to the mixing station is also a utility sink that will be used for cleaning and maintenance as well as a 7-stage RO/DI system to create clean freshwater. My storage tanks are quite large in capacity and easily exceed the minimum 20% needed for a weekly water change. I felt it wouldn't hurt to have more water stored and also gives me ideas for expansion with multiple frag or display tanks .
Mixing station stand build
Next, the display tank area needed the walls to be painted. Before painting, I had to prepare the walls by applying joint compound to fill in holes/joints, tape joints, and sand. This turned out to be much more work than I expected and gave me a new-found respect for drywall installers!
Walls prepped for painting
After, preparing the walls, they needed to be painted. I went with a euro gray color from The Home Depot. I also decided not to build my own tank stand but rather just get a t-slot stand made of aluminum extrusions. I decided to go with Alufab to fabricate the stand as I liked their prices and found them via Tidal Garden's YouTube page.
Painted walls with aluminum stand
Tank with aquascape then filled with saltwater
I'm using this space to document my progress with setting up my 300 gal aquarium and fish room. The tank will go in a corner of my unfinished basement. It will be located next to a seating area where there will be a TV so I want it to look good and not be too loud.
Below, I have documented the steps that I have taken so far. There is still a fair amount of work to do and I look forward to documenting the journey here. I also look forward to connecting with other reefers and being a part of the community here in Northern Colorado.
Ashwin's 300 gal display tank
This is the corner of the basement where the tank will go. To make sure the tank and stand will fit down the stairs, I created and moved a 3d structure out of PVC a little larger than the dimensions of the tank through my main entrance, down my stairs, and till the intended spot in the basement.
Unfinished basement where tank will go
After planning where the tank will go, I needed to prepare the area so it can house a large aquarium without damaging the house. To do this, I did some framing in the parts where it was missing and acquired and transported the large used tank (with help from some good friends and moving guys).
Area with framing done and the large used tank
After the framing, the next task was to put up some walls and flooring to protect the concrete from any water damage. For the walls, I decided to be overkill and put up cement boards. These are also called tile backer boards and usually go in areas where there is high moisture like the insides of showers. For the floors, ideally I would have liked to go with a tile. Because of budget constraints, I decided to use epoxy on the floor and am pretty happy with how it turned out. There are a couple areas where the epoxy has chipped but hopefully that won't cause too many issues down the road. I also like how the flooring is textured with the flakes that were applied so I am not too worried about it being too slippery if the area is wet.
Cement board walls and epoxy flooring added
While building this area out, I realized that I will need to have a separate space to mix saltwater, test water quality, and install a sink for cleaning and maintenance. For this, I decided to use the other corner of my L-shaped basement. Although my wife is not happy that I am using a large portion of the basement real estate, I was able to quell her fears by promising to give her control of the living space and space to add workout equipment . To build the mixing station, I wanted to elevate the plastic water storage containers so that I could store salt underneath and wipe away any spills before it should contact the concrete flooring. I was also inspired by other people's mixing station stand designs on YouTube. By following, Joey the King of DIY's instructions, I was able to build the below mixing station stand which will house my water storage tanks. Next to the mixing station is also a utility sink that will be used for cleaning and maintenance as well as a 7-stage RO/DI system to create clean freshwater. My storage tanks are quite large in capacity and easily exceed the minimum 20% needed for a weekly water change. I felt it wouldn't hurt to have more water stored and also gives me ideas for expansion with multiple frag or display tanks .
Mixing station stand build
Next, the display tank area needed the walls to be painted. Before painting, I had to prepare the walls by applying joint compound to fill in holes/joints, tape joints, and sand. This turned out to be much more work than I expected and gave me a new-found respect for drywall installers!
Walls prepped for painting
After, preparing the walls, they needed to be painted. I went with a euro gray color from The Home Depot. I also decided not to build my own tank stand but rather just get a t-slot stand made of aluminum extrusions. I decided to go with Alufab to fabricate the stand as I liked their prices and found them via Tidal Garden's YouTube page.
Painted walls with aluminum stand
Tank with aquascape then filled with saltwater
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