Feeling the fear!!

[garethwood]

Its been a while since ive jumped on the forum.. tanks been ticking over nicely for a few years : )
My DIY tank has done me well, but my novice build has finally got to be updated. So todays the day... my DT is staying but the stand and sump is being overhauled and ill be honest im bricking it!
Ive got a plan, RO, SW and buckets galore, but im sure ill realize ive forgotten something at just the worst point.
Any tips or experience is welcome before I start.

 

[garethwood]

As you can see from my initial build, i incorporated a consumer unit and water proof switches into the build. The idea at the time was to keep all plugs and pipes contained and child proof as my boy was only 18mths at the time.
Its all worked well and is still doing the job.. but the 6 plug setup was inadequate quickly spreading out into the adjoining cupboards, now housing an atu and multiple plug setups.
You can see my space is limited inside the stand so my plan now is to properly repurpose the cupboard and remove the CU from the stand giving me some needed space and possibly a sump rebuild?
So to do this the stand needs some time out. I've got a friend's stand to put in place while the works done, so im going to be doing two change overs this month... scary stuff!

 

[garethwood]

My better half asked..
"why rework that stand? "
" youll have to move the tank twice."
"cant you just make a new frame?"
What I heard was..

"Why not make a new setup darling?" ; )

So my plan now is a new build!
WOOP! WOOP!

Its been four years since my last diy, hopefully ive learned some bits along the way.?

 

[Xam]

Lol I love reading between the lines... intentional or not, you have the green light WOO HOO!

Good luck on this. I love the clean, machine look of the original, but yes theres not a lot of room to grow.

What are you planning for the new build? Without knowing that, and coupled with the fact that I recently diy'd my own stand and sump, the only advice I could give is: over-estimate when it comes to structural integrity, and room needed. I can probably park my truck on my stand and I have a lot of room to put things I probably dont need. ;)

 

[garethwood]

Yeah she said it now and cant take it back, looks like ill be decorating the bedroom in pay off ; )
So my original build was 500x400 footprint the tank being 500x500 at the front and 350 deep.
My plan going forward will be, bin off the oversized TV unit that is half housing my atu and plugs and build a stand
1800x400x700 high,and share the top with the pesky tele!
meaning i can probably go 800x400x400 for the tank : ) im going slightly shallower than my current build 500 was a stretch for my tiny arms.
Glass im thinking 9mm should be suitable?

 

[garethwood]

this is the space im looking to fill

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Awesome!! Following!!

 

[garethwood]

Lol I love reading between the lines... intentional or not, you have the green light WOO HOO!

Good luck on this. I love the clean, machine look of the original, but yes theres not a lot of room to grow.

What are you planning for the new build? Without knowing that, and coupled with the fact that I recently diy'd my own stand and sump, the only advice I could give is: over-estimate when it comes to structural integrity, and room needed. I can probably park my truck on my stand and I have a lot of room to put things I probably dont need. ;)

Xam.. pictures or it didnt happen ; ) seriously tho some insparation is welcome from any d.i.yers out there

 

[Xam]

Xam.. pictures or it didnt happen ; ) seriously tho some insparation is welcome from any d.i.yers out there

Sure thing. Here is a pic of the water test a few months ago before skinning it.. I made the stand tall (41 inches) for various reasons.



Here's a pic of it in place and skinned.



I didnt build the tank though.

 

[Xam]

Oh and the stand build is pretty simple. Search YouTube for "king of DIY stand". Hes built and uploaded several... same design really... just different dimension tanks on them.

Edit: spelling correction

 

[garethwood]

Man thats nice! i particularly like that your sumps raised, something i may consider with mine?
Did you make doors to fit, or arrange your build around 'off the shelf doors'?
Im looking at a possible 4 door setup depending on sizes and maybe going 2m high with a cannopy and tv surround?

First day planning, im so excited I may pop lol

 

[Xam]

Thanks! Yep I can just roll my office chair over and comfortably access all areas of the sump.

The door isn't hinged, it's just "sat" in the opening and held closed by cabinet magnets at the top. Here's an older pic without the door on. I think this was day 1.

 

[garethwood]

The target for this build was £500..

(my previous build i got in under £300, alot of this cost was the internal power setup)

Planning is going well altho my budget isnt playing ball!
Ive already mentally spent £600 and the stands not even part of it : (

Ive seen on aps they have an 8mm optiwhite tank 800x400x450 close enough to the size i want but no holes.. has anyone ever tried drilling an aps tank?

Im thinking about 3 holes at back of the base panel 1x return 1x syphon 1x skim/ED a black glass panel drilled along the top 4x set in 60mm from the back panel glass. similar setup as a rear overflow section, but this section will be dry. Im copying the setup i currently have as its worked perfectly for me with 0 risk of overflow.. i simply dont trust single drain systems!

Any feedback welcome

 

[garethwood]

This is the setup im running on mine.
Return nozzle - emergency drain - surface skimmer - syphon.
Ive had great success with this, its quiet clean and no matter what happens the tank wont overflow or flood... believe ive tried all scenarios : )

 

[garethwood]

Ok so someone tell me if i can, or cant do this?
Exscuse the crude sketch.. Im thinking of making this tank 800x450x450 from 8mm glass.
My plan is for a black glass divider in the rear with 4 holes drilled, same setup i run now.
Then the base plate drilled 3 holes to allow for pipework.
This rear section will be dry, has anyone heard of this being done before?
my plan would be to have a piece of 38mm hardwood top on the stand, and have cutouts under the 3 holes... safe?

 

[Xam]

This is the setup im running on mine.
Return nozzle - emergency drain - surface skimmer - syphon.
Ive had great success with this, its quiet clean and no matter what happens the tank wont overflow or flood... believe ive tried all scenarios : )

HAH! My clowns photobomb too.

Ok so someone tell me if i can, or cant do this?
Exscuse the crude sketch.. Im thinking of making this tank 800x450x450 from 8mm glass.
My plan is for a black glass divider in the rear with 4 holes drilled, same setup i run now.
Then the base plate drilled 3 holes to allow for pipework.
This rear section will be dry, has anyone heard of this being done before?
my plan would be to have a piece of 38mm hardwood top on the stand, and have cutouts under the 3 holes... safe?

I'm no pro, but I would be very concerned with the pressure breaking the glass of the dry section. Even the All-In-One manufacturers cut holes in the bottom of the baffle between DT and sump to ensure the baffle doesn't fail when you're just filling the tank up. Bracing maybe? Dunno, that's a lot of pressure.

 

[garethwood]

Hmm... Thats what i was concerned about, im no pro either hence why I was putting it out there.
What im trying to achieve is a clean look down the side as its visible.

 

[Xam]

Hmm... Thats what i was concerned about, im no pro either hence why I was putting it out there.
What im trying to achieve is a clean look down the side as its visible.

You may be able to achieve the same goal by just adding side "wings" to the back of the tank? Not actually part of the tanks main load bearing, but an extension to hide the back? From what I've read in the DIY threads, that corner joint is particular. Maybe you could achieve the same strength with the extention.

 

[garethwood]

Stage 1 of the new tank build....

 

[garethwood]

Walk in wardrobe to keep the missus happy.. getting my number 2 on the house keeping : )
All the tank build is sorted in theory, once the bedrooms done im good to start!