Monkeyboy's DIY 600 DT in wall build.

[DeniseAndy]

Ya. I gotta say testing 600 gallons is quite a waste. Unless you can reuse it for a pool or hot tub somewhere.

 

[FREAKINRICAN69]

Very nice build wow! God bless you and i'll be following. I love the way you did the aqua scape!

 

[fredk]

Brave.. or stupid LOL. Honestly up to this point I have successfully done everything before, just not to the scale if this tank. I have wondered about doing a water test on the tank but I keep telling myself.. the seams are perfect, i used high quality solvent (not weld on) and the design is solid so.. should be good to go.

Brave/stupid. Its a fine line. I cross over occasionally.

Having grown up on a farm I am no stranger to DIY, but big tanks are a special beast.

Maybe you should video the tank filling. Who knows, it could be spectacular.

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

LOL. There is an outside chance I could have a massive seam failure and send 600 gallons of water onto the carpet. for giggles I did a calc.. my entire living room would be under 3" of water. Maybe I should put a drain under the sofa?

 

[Magellan]

LOL. There is an outside chance I could have a massive seam failure and send 600 gallons of water onto the carpet. for giggles I did a calc.. my entire living room would be under 3" of water. Maybe I should put a drain under the sofa?

I feel like this is a great time to say... YOLO!

 

[Magellan]

Neat

Glad someone said it ;Hilarious

 

[MombasaLionfish]

You want forum pain? Work 12 hours straight on your new fish room, be really excited to post pictures on your build thread..and then crickets... not even a "neat".

Neat.

 

[Mr bigolsworth]

Looks amazing

 

[MBinNY]

What solvent do you use? I’m building a 600 as well.

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

What solvent do you use? I’m building a 600 as well.

you need to mix your own solvent. there is a night and day difference between store bought weld on and the stuff you mix yourself. It is somewhat of a carefully guarded secret but I discovered the formula online and was able to buy some directly from a semi-local builder who has an EXCELLENT reputation. It is made from LAB GRADE acetic acid and dichlormethane. You can purchase dichlormethane but the law requires that you sign something stating the use and it can NOT be shipped to a residential address. The acetic acid slows the reaction down a tad bit. I believe is around 5%? I can find out the exact concentrations if you are serious about it.

I can not stress how much better this stuff is. It dispenses sooo smoothly and it REALLY attacks the acrylic. Don't be a J#$k *** with this stuff, it is one carbon molecule away from chloroform, you need a organic vapor mask when working with it.

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

Hey Kool Aid!! Oh yeah!! Crash!

 

[Victoria M]

So cool!

 

[olaggie01]

Can I join in on the neat party? Well done on that thick acrylic.

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

Everyone is welcome... going to need all the help I can moving this thing. Lol

 

[McPuff]

This is awesome. I've built small acrylic tanks but have only dreamed of building something like that! Next on my gradient-of-increasingly-difficult-acrylic builds just might be a sump. It will only be 1/4" material but the actual size will be much bigger than what I've done before. I believe I would be ok without pins, but the shims might be essential. @pdxmonkeyboy Thoughts?

 

[Urtoo]

Where and when is the moving party?

 

[MBinNY]

you need to mix your own solvent. there is a night and day difference between store bought weld on and the stuff you mix yourself. It is somewhat of a carefully guarded secret but I discovered the formula online and was able to buy some directly from a semi-local builder who has an EXCELLENT reputation. It is made from LAB GRADE acetic acid and dichlormethane. You can purchase dichlormethane but the law requires that you sign something stating the use and it can NOT be shipped to a residential address. The acetic acid slows the reaction down a tad bit. I believe is around 5%? I can find out the exact concentrations if you are serious about it.

I can not stress how much better this stuff is. It dispenses sooo smoothly and it REALLY attacks the acrylic. Don't be a J#$k *** with this stuff, it is one carbon molecule away from chloroform, you need a organic vapor mask when working with it.

Found an acrylic fabrication guy out here who was able to hook me up with the solvent he uses. He’s actually helping me out a bit in trade for help (discount) on his new pickup truck lol

 

[Michael F]

Awesome build!

 

[lapin]

LOL. There is an outside chance I could have a massive seam failure and send 600 gallons of water onto the carpet. for giggles I did a calc.. my entire living room would be under 3" of water. Maybe I should put a drain under the sofa?

hahahaha prob never happen, since you did it yourself. It took me a few months to get over the what if stuff. You wont even think about the seams once you get stuff in the tank.

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

This is awesome. I've built small acrylic tanks but have only dreamed of building something like that! Next on my gradient-of-increasingly-difficult-acrylic builds just might be a sump. It will only be 1/4" material but the actual size will be much bigger than what I've done before. I believe I would be ok without pins, but the shims might be essential. @pdxmonkeyboy Thoughts?

I would go 3/8 for sure. The difference in price is negligible and it is much easier to work with. Probably don't need pins, or shims for that matter. Just take pains to ensure your edges are square and smooth and things will go off without a hitch.

In terms of progress, I had a guy bail on me today..was going to help my lift the header into place. So that, and moving the pipes is on hold until this weekend.

I also have to get my back up generator ordered, my breaker panel is absolutely maxed out so I will need to use the backup generator panel to run the circuits for the tank.

So much work when you move into a new house...and the wife just bought chickens..lol. but I DID get the hot tub hooked up today. That is one trip into the crawl space that will pay dividends.

Thanks for stopping by everyone!!