Months of talk and thought... Paint has hit the wall... build has begun

[WarDaddy]

I have begun work on my small 500 gallon Prop system.

This is going to be a garage based set up that is only 7'x11', YO! But in that tiny space I hope to have 500 gallons of tanks, and 220 or 280 gallons of salt water waiting for changes.

Since the house is new, I am limited on the level of destruction my wife will allow, so I am making the best of the space I got. So far i have the garage floor painted with epoxy and the I am working on the walls, 2 coats of oil based kilz and 2 coats of Glidden Ultra-Hide Interior/Exterior Alkyd Gloss Enamel. This stuff looks like it will seal the walls pretty darn well.

In the next 2 weeks it will be time to start building benches and running pipes.

Whoot!

[Ding2daDong]

Sounds good. Keep us all informed on everything with pictures and the whole build. Everything sounds good so far.

-Matt

[Chaotic Reefer4u]

awesome...

[Reet15]

Wow - no pics - what a ripoff :( J/K good luck will be following along!

[WarDaddy]

Right now, it is nothing but shiny white walls.

I start cutting 2x4's this weekend. at that point it starts getting interesting :-)

Whoot!!!!

[A.T.T.R]

apply for aquaculture license now. its needed if oyu do anything besides a small tnak in fl

[WarDaddy]

Even if I have nothing but 2x4's and paint so far?

What about a business license, and a DBA, do I need to get all that going now, even if I will not be ready to sell anything until August at best?

EDIT...

I will open a new thread, specific to this.

[WarDaddy]

Ok here are pics after day one of actual building...

http://www.thegiffordgang.net/gallery/d/221-2/stand1.jpg

That is the stand, 2 more legs, Leg Braces and cross beams are needed.

44 inches tall, 80 inches long, 40 inches deep.

A 110 gallon tub will sit on the floor, and a 60 gallon barrel nest to it. A second 110 will be on top of the tub with a second 60 gallon barrel.

A twin of that set up will be right about where I was standing when I took the pictures. you can see the legs for the next stand.


http://www.thegiffordgang.net/gallery/d/224-2/Stand2.jpg


The stand is made from 4x4 legs, 2 2x4's for the 80 inch beam and a 2x4 on the 40 inch width. I am going to add an additional leg, a 2x4 and a couple cross beams. Should be pretty solid.

Whoot!

Lighting will be either T5 or T8, T8 being much cheaper. I could put 6 or 8 T8 bulbs over each tank for the cost of 4 T5 and bulbs cost a whole lot less.

I am waiting for my Kani/Ati DI system. It shipped today!!! YEE!

[WarDaddy]

More pictures after this mornings work...

http://www.thegiffordgang.net/gallery/d/227-1/stand3.jpg

http://www.thegiffordgang.net/gallery/d/230-1/stand4.jpg

2 of 3 tables built. now with extra legs. you can see the leg supports waiting to go on.

The storage above will be where packing supplies are held, right now it is filled with all my equipment for my 90 display tank...I so want to ge t my display set up!

[mmoore0803]

This still isn't done yet? Looks nice ;)

[WarDaddy]

bah.. supports are in and the first coat of primer is on!

[WarDaddy]

more Progress, worked last night and this morning...

Got all the framing in, and have the first coat of paint on!

The Plywood is just sitting there, it needs to be primed and painted.

http://www.thegiffordgang.net/gallery/d/233-1/Stand5.jpg

http://www.thegiffordgang.net/gallery/d/236-1/Stand6.jpg

And a detail shot of the support work...

http://www.thegiffordgang.net/gallery/d/239-1/Stand7.jpg


Next steps, Get the plywood primed, and the entire setup coated with hard enamel.

... then Electric, Plumbing, lights, water filters.... geez

[NALCOMIS]

About the lights... I had 6x54 t5 on my 120g display tank, it looked nice and the corals grew but after 8 months or so the bulbs started looking dim/yellow and seemed to need replacement very soon. At $23 a pop (138) plus the initial cost of the fixture $300, halides seem to be a better choice imo. I switched to 2x250 with xm bulbs. $140 for the bulbs and $160 for the fixtures. better penatration and longer life, also the t5 do get hot and add heat to the tank esp if the ballast is inside the fixture. lastly isnt the cost of electricity less in Florida? My .02
Good luck with the build btw!

[WarDaddy]

I am actually look in at T8 fixtures. I am growing low light stuff only, so Intense lighting is not needed.

my debate now is 4 or 6 T8 bulb fixture?

I am thinking 6 bulb would be best, but 4 is easier to find and cost a lot less. The best part is that a t8 bulb cost only 2.50 at home depot!

[BONDQ]

Looking good Bryan!

Keep us posted.

[raaden]

Bryan,

On the business stuff; It would probably be in your best interest to get the permits and the DBA sooner rather than later, even if you don't anticipate selling anything until August. The biggest reason for getting the DBA and business license now is that depending on how you setup the business you may have some trouble writing off actual expenses incurred before the business comes into existence.

The aquaculture permit may be different and you may be able to hold off on that but some others could give better guidance than I (there is no license in NC).

[WarDaddy]

Aside from the DBA/business license, what permits would I need...

[WarDaddy]

looks like LegalZoom is going to get a visit from me :-) They will do the DBA, get my Tax ID, and register me with the state in case I need to collect sales tax, although I do not anticipate selling retail.

[raaden]

not to negate the services they provide but if you can swing the time off you are much better handling alot of that yourself. It provides a great opportunity to talk to the people there about other things that you might need to do as well, not to mention that you can get referrals to "the best people to talk to" in each different department, and in the world of government name-dropping still holds great value.

In my situation I went to get my agricultural exemption and had the guy who was helping me with that also push through a couple of others things that were hung up for the better part of 2 months in the span of an afternoon. For me it was well worth the day spent to get someone who was a real help with all of the other things.

You can look at it as a "learning adventure" and if your business has billable service time you can bill that as an expenditure against business income.

Just my $.025, I can also see the value in having someone handle it for you as well. :)

[BONDQ]

Bryan,

I'm not too sure how it is in FL, but in CA getting a d.b.a. takes about 30 minutes downtown and another 15 minutes on the phone to a local paper to have it printed in a publication, as required by law.

Your TAX ID will likely be your personal SSN, unless you incorporate, have a partner, or other investors or a more complicated tax situation.

You'll want to get a resale license for the purpose of selling in your state and also for the ability to buy from vendors without paying sales tax yourself. This is also simple and downtown can assist with that.

The rest is alot of blood, sweat, and tears but's that all part of making it happen.

[WarDaddy]

So I went and talked to an accountant this weekend. Looks like we may set up as an S-Corp. It gives me some limited liability protection, not that I think I would need that, but it also helps with payrole taxes.

This weekend I have finished painting the first 2 stands and started the electrical work. Got the new circuit breakers installed and have started to pull wire! I also bought all the parts I need to make my power control centers, 5 of them in total. I will post pics as I go.

[BONDQ]

Sounds cool. When do you plan to be operational?

[WarDaddy]

I hope to get my DI filter this week. Once I have that I can start making water!

Once I have water made, several weeks to get my biofilteration up and working, and then its show time... Maybe I will have RBTA in the water in April, if all goes well.

I still have the major task of insulating the garage door and west wall, that will not be the most fun, or cheapest thing to do. The West Wall is concrete block, so I have to attach 1x3s then then the insulation ontop of those, per the manufacturers instructions. I am using Foil bubble foil type insulation. On the garage door, I will have traditional fiberglass, and then the Foil stuff ontop of that. It should give me pretty good insulation, I have a room above the garage, so I do not have to deal with roof heat.

I am thinking I may also curtin off the farm space with the bubble foil stuff hanging down from the ceiling creating a small room, in which I will pumo cool air to try and keep the tanks cooler. If I go this route I think I will run 4" exhaust vents out from the just below the celining and vent them to the outside.

My next steps are finish the electric, Plumbing, cut a hole in the ceiling to see how I can tap into the main AC System, Insulate and to build the stand for my 55 gallon tanks. That would conclude major construction. After that it is just about dialing in the tanks.

Sound like I will be building this out for eons!

[A.T.T.R]

as a corp dont you become an employee and then get involved in a whole nother mess?

[WarDaddy]

yes, but same goes as a sole proprietor... on the income you make you need to pay quarterly payroll taxes, on all the income you bring in. As a corp you only have to pay yourself a reasonable salary, the rest of your earnings can be just withdrawn. Of course you pay income tax on it, but you save on the payroll taxes, which can save thousands. And you get the added advantage of limited liability, my assets are protected.

[billr]

I am so glad you finally got started. I will be following closely. Thanks.....