700 gallon Ray pond build

[saltyguy51]

I pretty much have this laid out now and alot of the pieces cut so I would like to ask if 12" centers on the wall should be good being there is only going to be 18-20" of water in there and what typhttp://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr302/saltyguy52/DSCN0038.jpge of adhesive or glue would you use in putting this together?

[Recty]

I would post this over in the large tank section, you'd get a lot more knowledgeable replies :)

Looks nice so far.

[xxtriggermanxx]

I would think 12" on centar would be fine. what are you planning to skin it with ?

[saltyguy51]

I have it on another site and I got some good response that I am going with. thanks

[HASBRO]

Looks like fun!

[barbianj]

Very cool! Your grandkids could swim in there!

[Damascus]

That is sweet! I wish I had the room. I will one day.

[Recty]

I hope your foundation can handle the 700 gallons of water, that's 3 tons just in water weight. Most floors arent made to handle that much of a load in one area.

[saltyguy51]

Im just going to use either a 35 mil blue vinyl liner or a 45 epdm black pond liner not to sure yet. My wife said it would be a good hot tub. Recty I see many basements with 4' of water in them and the concrete did'nt budge.

[capo larzo]

Hey deano! Pond looks awesome. I wouldnt worry about the water weight. Youve seen my shark pool and i have no worries down in the basement.

[Dan]

What are you doing for humidity control? Is there another floor above it? Looking forward to seeing the finished pond. Good luck.

Dan

[saltyguy51]

Havent thought about the humidity but thats a good point, I have a dehumidifier down here already that doesnt shut off with the 5' round pool and the 2 tanks. I guess I will have to get either a larger one or have 2 of them down here. Yes there is a floor above. At one time I must of had 30 square feet of open tanks and didnt notice any problem.

[xxtriggermanxx]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15707338#post15707338 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by saltyguy51
Havent thought about the humidity but thats a good point, I have a dehumidifier down here already that doesnt shut off with the 5' round pool and the 2 tanks. I guess I will have to get either a larger one or have 2 of them down here. Yes there is a floor above. At one time I must of had 30 square feet of open tanks and didnt notice any problem.

Is there a laundry room near by ? if so you could hook up a humidistat to an exhaust fan tied into the same line as your dryer. could also port out your light heat that way. of course I have no idea of what type of lighting you're using :rolleye1:

[lunker]

sweet start to a killer build. ont let any of the negative feedback get to you, if your worried about the load weight on the floor, any good concrete guy should be able to tell you if your safe. Cant wait to see this one, what will you use for filter and circulation pumps?

[BrianD]

Is that on a concrete basement floor? If so, I can't imagine the weight being an issue. I am sure a math wizard can chime in, but the 700 gallons is obviously being displaced over a large area. Of course, I am just an accountant who can't nail two boards together :)

I have a 550 gallons over 24 sq ft of floor (8x3), and I have had no issues.

As for evaporation, I would think the large surface area would promote evaporation even without considering the lighting. I have to run 2 dehumidifiers in my basement to keep up with my 550.

[saltyguy51]

Yes Im not at all worried abot the floor and I was thinking about one of those multipurpose sanyo aircond./ dehumid. and i wont have anything special for lights other T-12s 9300k. So far a sump, Dolphin pump.

[BrianD]

Salty, what kind of rays are you looking at? I have zero experience with them. I was at a resort in Oahu in May that had the coolest shark/ray ponds in the front of the resort. It was like koi ponds on steroids. They were obviously bigger than anything we could keep in our home, but darn cool :)

[saltyguy51]

I bought a Cal. Round Ray July 10 and put in a 5 ft pool and 2 weeks ago she had 2 pups and I had already orderd another one.

[lunker]

I work in the insurance restoration business, you can find large dehumidifiers that we use when we remediate floods, pipe breaks, etc., there are a few companies like pheonix, dri-eze, that will allow you to run it every few days, and have a drain tube that can be placed into a wash tub or into a sump crock, they can pull many gallons a day if needed.

[saltyguy51]

Do you really think I will need all that? This is an old unfinished basement, we do have a full bath downhere and my so called office (desk and computer and file cabinet) and the washer and dryer are down here but nothing that I would be to concerned about like nice wood furniture, so another humidifier like a 70 pint should do the trick or the combo air cond./dehumidifier would keep the basement cooler during the summer.

[Dan]

Try searching RC for Mr.4000. Although he had a much larger tank, humidity principle is the same. Here is one link: Mr.4000 (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=7539777#post7539777)

Looks like way too interesting a project to overlook this issue. Good luck and keep us posted.

Dan

[saltyguy51]

Hey folks we are talking about 9' round pond not a 15x 30' pool. The sistern in this house which now is our downstairs bathroom is 12x12 and had 4-5' of standing water in it continually (unless a drought) and there arent any structual problems in the house due to high humidity and they did not even have dehumidifiers then, so I'm not giving it any more thought. If I need to take care of the problem I will. But thanks though.

[xxtriggermanxx]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15711585#post15711585 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by saltyguy51
I bought a Cal. Round Ray July 10 and put in a 5 ft pool and 2 weeks ago she had 2 pups and I had already orderd another one.

Very cool ,any pictures

[saltyguy51]

Theres a video on here some place

[saltyguy51]

http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr302/saltyguy52/th_DSCN0012.jpg (http://s494.photobucket.com/albums/rr302/saltyguy52/?action=view&current=DSCN0012.flv)

[Recty]

Just an FYI, I'm not saying you have to worry about this but...

Evenly distributed load, like a basement sitting with 4' of water in it, isnt going to crack the floor. Concrete has an amazing compressive tolerance, it can handle lots and lots of weight being stacked on it evenly, evenly being the key to the whole equation.

However, 3 tons sitting in the middle of the floor not being evenly distributed across the entire floor is a different scenario. You've got a lot of weight trying to push the middle of the floor down, no weight trying to push the rest of the floor down... concrete does not have very good strength in that regard. I'm sure your floor is rebar reinforced so that will help.

Anyway, just my 2 cents. I've read posts in the large tank section where they had engineers check out their concrete floor in their basement and they didnt think it would handle the load long term so they had to go with different options. I'd be willing to bet in your case you'll be OK, because the area of the bottom of your pond is a lot greater than most people's large tanks which are not circular.

Do what you want, just want you to have the facts :) I'd hate to see you get a nice new tank set up and end up with a cracked foundation in 6 months.

If I was setting up that large of a tank, I would at the very least just find out my basement slabs thickness and post on a housing forum or a engineer forum and tell them the dimensions of your tank, the planned weight and the thickness and age of your slab and see what they say. You could get actual good advice most likely for free, instead of advice from people who dont actually have any experience in the matter but are happy to chime in anyway ;)

[xxtriggermanxx]

Very cool video, Thanks for finding it. good luck with your build looking forward to seeing it filled !

[BrianD]

Darn, that is a cute vide :lol:

Is the rockwork necessary for the rays? It seems most of the ray pools I have seen were fairly empty. (Just a question, I have no idea).

[barbianj]

Most older homes have a fairly thick basement floor, and the fact that old cement is extremely hard, you should be fine. I think it's an issue for guys who do a cement block/waterproof paint right on the floor. Shifting or hairline cracks can be a big problem for them.

Also, as long as you have a good dehumidifier and keep the filter clean, you should be good. I run an extra box fan to circulate the air and I did not have an issue when I had 900 gallons in the basement.
I think Damnpepshrimp had trouble because his dehumidifier was not up to the task. ;)

[saltyguy51]

Brian the rock isnt needed but at the time it was given me and I didnt have a place to put it, but only one piece is in there now.

[Tangsreef302]

very nice wish i had the room for something like that

[capo larzo]

Hey in the picture of your build so far, whats the missing wedge in the frame for?

[saltyguy51]

Thats the end of the sheet of plywood when I cut it at the curve.

[saltyguy51]

Its been a while since I posted on this project because I have been so busy, but got all my curved plates cut and laminated together and my grand son and I worked on it last night and this afternoon. Used PL 400 to glue it all together. Ended up going on 11" centers for the 2x6 walls. Tomorrow going to put the floor joyces in and this comming week put on the inside and outside skinhttp://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr302/saltyguy52/DSCN0054.jpgs using 2 layers of 1/4" plywood and then I can lay the floor in.

[saltyguy51]

http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr302/saltyguy52/DSCN0053.jpg

[00nothing]

This is going to be an awesome build keep up the good work and i may have to copy it for my shark lagoon

[saltyguy51]

let me know if i can help you

[saltyguy51]

anyone know why my pics keep getting in the middle of my words?

[barbianj]

It's cool that you let your grandson help you, and it's really looking like you're doing a good job.

When you post your pictures, put the picture link separate from the text. They need to be in separate rows to be displayed in a column. Then put a space or two between each picture, like this:


(IMG)http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q172/barbianj/IMG_2767.jpg(/IMG)


(IMG)http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q172/barbianj/IMG_2767.jpg(/IMG)


(IMG)http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q172/barbianj/IMG_2767.jpg(/IMG)

[saltyguy51]

thanks again Jerry. I had bought another Ray from the same person in St. Louis 5 or 6 weeks ago and had'nt had a chance to go down and pic it up and he emailed me and told me that it died so I have to go elsewhere to find a mate for Wilma. Might have one coming from a LFS in Bolingbrook, Il.. He will order it direct from a supplier in LA and will find out tomorrow if they have a mature male (Fred) haha

[Woodbutcher]

Thank You for your input On my thread about Free fish from AZ (decided not to get any of them and leave more room for the ones I have).

You haven't said anything yet on this thread about finishing the wood I recomend 3 to 4 coats of spar varnish (put a plastic sheet down and hand a brush to the grandson).
I like what your doing --- Thank You for sharing The Woodbutcher

[saltyguy51]

I havent made up my mind about sealing the inside before I put the liner in but the out side will be painted once it is wraped with plywood. For the inside I have a few ideas rolling around in my head, 1 was to line it with 1/8" fiberglass panels but thats going to be a little costly or there is some tub or shower wall plastic thats thinner and that could be used also. I'm not going to paint all the wood that you see exsposed in the pic since that will be all sealed off once the plywood is on. One thing that concerns me is putting the substrate down on the liner which lays on the plywood floor. The Rays like to bury themselves in the substrate which is course sand and it does have some larger grains, so I am wondering if it will dig or puncture the liner, most likely not as it's 30 mil which an above ground pool is 20 mil or heavy duty is 25 mil so maybe I should'nt worry or screed the sand that I have.

[premilove]

this is sweet. is the new pond going to be rays only? filtration? the smaller rays don't really like you too much lol

[Woodbutcher]

I think if the substrate works for the soft bellies of the rays it shouldn't damage the liner.

[saltyguy51]

Yes Rays only since these like cooler water(65-70F). Thats what some one else said, the y Rays dont weigh enough to do damage max out less than 3 lbs. As far as filtration I am going to have to break down and buy a SKIMMER along with my sump and a denitrater that I will build. I am looking a Aerofoamer skimmers # 848 rated I believe up to 1000 gal. but their might be something out their that will do the job with a more energy efficeint pump. Some one else recomended a bio chamber but not sure what its purpose is (have'nt researched it yet).

[saltyguy51]

Oh there is one fish that I would consider and thats a Calico Bass from the eastern Pacific. Anyone want to catch one and send it back from Cal. ? haha

[saltyguy51]

By the way where's Dpshrimp? Has he gotten out of the hobby?

[anbosu]

I guess haven't seen him posting anything for a while.

[barbianj]

By the way where's Dpshrimp? Has he gotten out of the hobby?

Something like that. :mixed:

[Juggler]

banned?

[clayw]

I'll catch you one, I spearfish weekly or so, out of lagun and over at Catalina. What size ya want ;-)?

[clayw]

Laguna*. ^^^

[saltyguy51]

8-12". Do you guys eat them and if you do how do they taste? Like chicken?

[saltyguy51]

Yea thats what I thought. Thats terrible, poor guy!!

[saltyguy51]

Just a couple of meaningless pics, I had to glue block underneath the top plate because if I glued the top of all the studs I thought the glue would have dried before I got all the way around. I needed to adjust the studs to the line before i screwed them down with the coated screws. Did'nt fell it needful to use stainless screws since they wont be exsposed.

[saltyguy51]

Here they are

[00nothing]

Since your build is so close to what I am looking at doing figured I would show you a product i found last night that I am starting to get as much info as possible on right now

zavlar liquid rubber
http://www.liquidrubber.ca/Zavlar.asp

It is a completly potable roll/brush/spray on rubber application that creates a water tight seal. I found it on another forum where a lot of fresh guys keep monstrous fish ponds dont want to violate any rules though so PM me for a link if you like

After some reading I am leaning towards this to line my pond

[saltyguy51]

Yea I saw this or simular but it was very pricey for my budget. If I had the time i would lay fiberglass matting and resin the whole inside and out, but I need this done so I can get to the less important chores around the house like insulating the atic, getting ready for the leaves on the ground ,honey do chores ect...lol

[saltyguy51]

Yea thats what I thought. Thats terrible, poor guy!! I was talking about Dpshrimp here.

[clayw]

we do eat them. here is what a good eat would look like after a great day of diving.
sheepshead - calico bass - white seabass - lobster - corvina - large croaker - halibut

theres some other stuff but thats what i like to stick to when shhore fishing.

[saltyguy51]

Oh yea your making me hungry, I love to eat sea food except rubbery seafood like squid, octopus or anything with that texture but your menu sounds good. What time should my wife and I be there for dinner? And what would you be serving with that? How about some crab cake with shrimp sauce!! Well I better go up and eat my porkchop, my wife is calling.

[saltyguy51]

Laid half of the floor joyces just so I could start to put the first layer of ply on the wall. Ended up going with luan since it was easier to bend and it will end up at 3/8" on the wall thickness (still is good enough). Miss my helper tonight, sure could have used him.

[00nothing]

I may have missed this are you going to be insulating the floor ?

[clayw]

just went fishing a few weeks back out in mexico.

came up with a good size dorado, a white seabass out of nowhere and a few yellowtail.
we had sashimi right then and there. it was my first big yellowtail soooo i also had to eat the heart, still warm and wet. haha

sushi anyone?

[Got Sharks?]

Cool build! keep the pictures coming...

[Got Sharks?]

How much time do you have invested in this project?

[saltyguy51]

At a guess I would say around 20 hrs so far.

[herpboyben]

those little rays are too cool. i wish i had room for a pond at my house.

[saltyguy51]

http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr302/saltyguy52/DSCN0057.jpg

[saltyguy51]

just went fishing a few weeks back out in mexico.

came up with a good size dorado, a white seabass out of nowhere and a few yellowtail.
we had sashimi right then and there. it was my first big yellowtail soooo i also had to eat the heart, still warm and wet. haha

sushi anyone? I thought a warm heart was something about my wife loving me not something to eat, so here's what I have to say about eating one, YUK

[saltyguy51]

Clay do you see the California Round Rays on your fishing trips, or how about the Cortez Rays that look very simular in Mexico ?

[huskerreef]

I have a little experience in the wood linered tanks so I thought I would share some thoughts. Mine was 900 gallons on concrete elevated off the ground with joists just like this one, no issues with the concrete or need to insulate floor. From the looks of it the construction so far is awesome and more than adequate to support the water weight. I lined mine with 1/2" foam board prior to the 45mil pond liner. I was up for about 3.5 years and one day began to leak about 3-5 gallons a day all over the floor.:(. Mine was a full blown reef with corals and 1200 lbs of liverock and 800 lbs of sand (roughly 2" deep). What I never saw coming was either a sharp edge of a rock finally cutting throuh the liner or my theory that a tube worm had slowly grown over time under the rock that eventually pushed through the liner. It was impossible to locate the leak, it was on the bottom and the LR had lots of spiny tube worms growing on the undersides upon disassemble. I have since when with an acrylic inwall to replace it. I think this project you are undertaking is awesome, so I am not trying to discourage but rather giving a vision down the road a few years hoping that you will not have the same issues. Now I could be completely off on why I leaked, but thinking about it may have you taking some actions now to prevent future issue. Maybe the deeper sand bed is the key, maybe double liner or a more flexible underlayment. Cant wait to see this project up and running.

[clayw]

see them all the time spearfishing and freediving. stingrays, batrays, shovelnose shark aka sandshark, leaopard sharks, horn sharks, the works big and small alike. =] the baby rays are very fun to chase around

[clayw]

why not do this, after its framed out and ready to be lined with vynal or whatever, get the liner in place. and then on the bottom of the thing, have a piece of 1/4" acrylic cut, or plastic or whatever you want and just drop that over on top of the liner, you would never see it because it would be covered with the sand after that, and would provide a hard durable surface for things that may otherwise puncture the softer liner. could this work?
-clay

[saltyguy51]

Thanks Huskerreef and Clay I have thought about that very much, although I will have no rock at all in the pond I still am concerned about a punture so I think I will go ahead and put the tub surround plastic which is about 1/16" thick and lay it on the bottom before I drop in the sand just not sure what to tape the seams with, maybe pvc tape but would the adhesive be bad for the Rays? I wish it was legal for you to catch me a few and ship them back here. I dont know what the difference would be if I sold you a fish that I had in my tank and shipped it to you or if you caught something out there and sent it here but I'm sure there is.

[saltyguy51]

Oh yea my liner is 30 mil not 45 mil because I want blue

[clayw]

oh its illegal for sure. I actually got in trouble with a game warden, for a bit of "poaching" luckily I escaped by way of rugged terrain that he wasnt willing to take on. I took out a couple lobsters one day during the off season, they were to big to let go! and it was a tremendous dive to get them! Oh well, But I know rays are illegal to hunt, and or take out, anything live is illegal to remove from the ocean out here...

guilty, guilty, and guilty. Ive got a few free margarita snails in the past, but all were returned upon the break down of my old tank.

you tell me how to ship it, and I'll get one for ya ;)





.....:strange:but seriously....

[jjk_reef00]

The California sting ray can handle a little warmer water. Everything I read said 70-75 but I have one in my 275 reef so you could put some other fish in there is you want. My tank maxes out at about 81 in the summer AZ, and my ray is doing great. He is about 10-12" now and eats 2 times a day and is a total pig.

If my tank were bigger I would definitely have rock work large enough for them to swim through. They are very active swimmers and like to explore and swim at all different angles. Mine use to try to fit into one of my larger caves but he figured out he was way to big. Now he swims through a corner of the tank where the tunze cord comes out. It is a tight fit but he seems to enjoy swimming through that spot. Reminds me of a race car driver taking an exciting turn.

I have some tunze 6100's in my tank and my ray loves to swim against the current. Just a thought.

Sorry to hijack but here's a pic of mine under my radiums:
http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu234/jjk_reef00/fish1/DSCN0580.jpg

[jjk_reef00]

Before anyone gets on me for the sand bed being to small, that spot there is about 2-3". Other parts of the tank are 6". My ray is constantly moving the sand all over the place. Not to mention my 30x turnover. My sand is fine other than some larger pieces that transferred over from my old cube. IMO a filter sock is a must because I get a lot of sand through my overflow.

I am amazed at how the ray can completely bury itself 100% in the sand. More than once a person has seen my tank and didn't even know I had a ray in there.

Oh yea, I've read that they love/require high oxygen levels. Just a thought when you select a skimmer.

[saltyguy51]

I'll take your male ray reefoo, I've been looking for a mature male for a while. They usually don't mate in captivity but it does happen at times so i would like 3 females and 1 male for my pond. These Rays (Cal. Rds.) do tolerate those kind of temps but depending on your info. source they will not live to their life exspectancy in temps like you were describing. The adults will go into warm shallow waters to have their pups and then will seek cooler temps.. They can live in water as cold as 56 degrees but do best in the mid 60s, I keep my pool at 68 degrees on the basement floor. I notice venders selling these Rays say they should have water from 72-78 but thats just not so. I have been helped by a couple of folks from the Aquarium of the Pacific who raise these Rays and do a decent amount of research on them and they say to keep them at this kind of temp. (65-70 max)for a long life, but then you are limited to what you can have with them. Personally I think they should be kept with a minimum amount of other fish unless you have a good size area for them to swim without obstruction.

[clayw]

any updates of the pond?

[jjk_reef00]

saltyguy51 thanks for the info. I didn't know that. I'm going to try to keep my reef at 75-76 and hope it's not too uncomfortable for the poor guy!

[saltyguy51]

A few more pics: my grandson stapleing the secound layer of 1/4" on the inside walls http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr302/saltyguy52/DSCN0067.jpg

[saltyguy51]

http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr302/saltyguy52/DSCN0068.jpg

[saltyguy51]

starting to put the first layer of plywood for the floor down 3/4" and the 1/2" or maybe even 1/4", I'm not sure yet. The floor joyces will have blocking under them to http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr302/saltyguy52/DSCN0069.jpgthe http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr302/saltyguy52/DSCN0071.jpgconcrete floor so there will be enough strength.

[clayw]

Looking great! Where've you been?!

[saltyguy51]

Looking great! Where've you been?!

Just havent had time to work on it lately, plan to have it built this weekend and order the liner and start on the plumbing next week. :wave:

[sayn3ver]

just curious, i know you will be using a liner but have you considered sealing or treating the frame since it doesn't appear to be pressure treated?

I figured at the very least a little BLO or deck seal for the wood or something like spar varnish. more expensive would be resin/fiberglass.

it would be a shame if the liner sprung a leak and the water destroyed your finely crafted wooden structure. or worse, it sprung a very small undetected leak and over time the structure weakened and then gave way one day.

[saltyguy51]

I am planning to use something more like a marine paint. Maybe deck sealer on the inside and paint on the outside. If it was summer time I would glass the whole inside and forget the liner. I lay up fiberglass at work from time to time but the smell in the house would be unbearable.

[saltyguy51]

Ended up using a concrete water proofing paint from Zinsser. Going to paint the outside skin with exterior paint in the aqua marine color and then I'll be ready for the liner then plumming. http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr302/saltyguy52/DSCN0081.jpg http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr302/saltyguy52/DSCN0083.jpg http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr302/saltyguy52/DSCN0086.jpg http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr302/saltyguy52/DSCN0082.jpg

[s.reef]

Nice progress!

[saltyguy51]

I decide to raise the level of water when I drilled for the bulkheads to 21" so that will give me almost 800 gallons. I nearly drilled my wall studs to keep my flexible pvc hidden in the wall but then decided not just incase I have a leak and have to do a major tear apart so the pvc will be run along the top of the wall around to the sump.

[s.reef]

what size sump are you going with?

[saltyguy51]

All I have for now is a 48x18x18 75 gallon sump, going to get a 150 gallon stock tank to tie into that for my skimmer to sit in. Down the road would like to switch to a sand filter (maybe)

[Recty]

Looks nice! If things go well, how long until you plan on putting water in?

[saltyguy51]

Looks nice! If things go well, how long until you plan on putting water in?

Next week, but the way things go I'm not going to hold my breath. LOL

[anbosu]

Sweet, I think some of us are probably as excited as you are.

[palmer373]

the only question i have is how are you going to put aproximatly 800 gallons of water into that tank that is in your basement? do you have any fire department freinds?

[saltyguy51]

It took me about 2 hrs to fill my 375 so 4 + hrs on my well, maybe longer as I bought 2 more 5 micron cartridge filters so that will slow things down abit.

[s.reef]

the only question i have is how are you going to put aproximatly 800 gallons of water into that tank that is in your basement? do you have any fire department freinds?


800 gallons really isnt that muc water :smokin:

[saltyguy51]

800 gallons really isnt that muc water :smokin:

Except when its on the floor!

[saltyguy51]

Got a question for you's: I need to put something on the floor before the liner goes in to give it a little cushion what do you think pink styrofoam, carpet padding, foam rubber?

[s.reef]

I would do carpet...maybe some foam around the bottom edge of the walls and floor

[saltyguy51]

Finished the out side skin tonight and painted it with Behr Premium Plus exterior semi gloss and its called aquatic green from HD. http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr302/saltyguy52/DSCN0092.jpg

[s.reef]

looks great!

[dudley moray]

i would use pink foam carpet pad will deteriorate in a couple of years

[RobbyVonAwesome]

Looking great! I can't wait to see the water go in.

As for the foam, I, and a lot of other people, use the stiff pink styrofoam sheets to support glass tanks. It seems to hold up really well. Mine gets dripped on a lot and I haven't seen any sign deterioration. Plus, it's super easy to work with and cost efficient.

[darb85]

did I see that this was full of water now?

[Crazy One]

Wow Dean the tank is coming along very nicely, I'll have to stop by when you get it all done.

[barbianj]

That is really looking good! Nice progress.

BTW, pink styro, no question.

[barbianj]

Oops, just saw that you have another thread going, haven't been around for awhile.

[saltyguy51]

Its up and running but not quite finished like the liner needs to be pulled over and straightened and stapled and the the top plate which i think i will go with 1x10 composite decking wood. I just put Wilma the Ray in tonight and she swam around checking it out and then ate and then buried her self. Most likely stressed alittle from the move and acclimation. It ended up being 860 gallons at 21.5 inches of water plus the sump. Its kind of weird looking at something that big down here but it is fun. http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr302/saltyguy52/DSCN0109.jpg http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr302/saltyguy52/DSCN0102-1.jpg

[saltyguy51]

That is really looking good! Nice progress.

BTW, pink styro, no question.

I had been wondering if you gave up the hobby or went to another site. I ended up using a 7/16 " padding under the liner as the liner guys recomended

[saltyguy51]

Wow Dean the tank is coming along very nicely, I'll have to stop by when you get it all done.

Anytime anyone

[s.reef]

Sweet. Congrats on getting it up and running

[clayw]

any updates on this?
-clay

[johno4]

How are things going?

[saltyguy51]

Wow forgot I even have a thread on here, I have 6 California Round Rays noe ranging from 6" across to 9", 2 males and 4 females, also have 2 yellow striped grunts in there just for a change of scenery. The are all of breeding size but what i hoped for hasnt happened yet and from what I have heard they have never reproduced in captivity. Well anyways I wiil get some pics up. http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr302/saltyguy52/DSCN0057-1.jpg http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr302/saltyguy52/DSCN0056-1.jpg http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr302/saltyguy52/DSCN0055-1.jpg http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr302/saltyguy52/DSCN0058.jpg

[debatecoach]

It has always been one of my dreams to do this!!!

Great inspiration! Kudos to the project....seriously cool

[saltyguy51]

Actually it turned out to be 860 gallons plus sump

[johno4]

Very nice. I love how you can get in there with them.

[palmer373]

thought about putting some more sand in, some rocks in the middle, and a few tangs?

[reefergeorge]

Looks amazing!!
I personally would add more sand, a few large pieces of rock, and look into a pair of brown banded cat sharks. :)

[Ranzan]

Beautiful man, was in the process of building my own 350 gallon very shallow ray tank but Military caused change of plans. Good to see good ray tanks !

[saltyguy51]

Very nice. I love how you can get in there with them. only my grandkids get in there.

[saltyguy51]

Looks amazing!!
I personally would add more sand, a few large pieces of rock, and look into a pair of brown banded cat sharks. :)

I could use a little more sand but they seem to all huddle close to each other where there is no sand. I have around 300lbs covering 2/3 of the pond and no rocks at all on my pvc liner and I don't care for sharks other than the swimmers and I dont see them going in here.

[saltyguy51]

2 new ones tonight; ribbontail blue spot. http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr302/saltyguy52/DSCN0005.jpghttp://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr302/saltyguy52/DSCN0007.jpg

[Ranzan]

Nice post lots of updates on those Ribbontails. Interested in seeing your care for your rays. Care to post your feeding scheds, tank temp and flow control ? Also some updated gear specs :P

[barbianj]

Man, that is really cool what you have going on there, Dean! Great pictures of the Grandson. That is a lot of work to get to where you are now, congrats.

[saltyguy51]

Nice post lots of updates on those Ribbontails. Interested in seeing your care for your rays. Care to post your feeding scheds, tank temp and flow control ? Also some updated gear specs :P

I have been feeding every other day with the California Rounds and they have fattened up consideribly. I make my own food so they get a good rounded diet all at once. The feeding schedule might have to change with the Blues since they were feed twice daily with the previous owner but I will ahve to see how it goes with them since they havent been at meal time in my pool yet, tonight is my feeding time and they will have to learn to eat whats set on the table. :D The temp I try to keep around 72 but with all this heat here even my basement has warmed up to 78 and thats the water temp now. As far as flow control I'm not sure what you mean by that but I can tell you I have one inlet which is 2' going back into the tank off of a Dolphin 4200 GPH pump. I have just a 75 gallon sump with the 2- 2" drains dumping into it and have some live rock covering all of the bottom. I run a custom/ lifereef 5 1/2' tall skimmer that I bought off of Craigslist and added some Lifereef parts and put a 1" Mazzei injector/nozzle on it with a Panworld 200 and it out skims all the rays in a couple of days. Actually these Rays seem much more simple to take care of that my fish only tanks that I have allthough I have had some die that were shipped in and one from a LFS that was bad shape allready. Alot of it has to do with the size of the pool not changing water pars. much I think.

[saltyguy51]

Man, that is really cool what you have going on there, Dean! Great pictures of the Grandson. That is a lot of work to get to where you are now, congrats.

Its been fun barbianj, yea Clayton has been begging to get in so I finally let him. A little work at a time when it come to stuff like this. Going to do a 300 gallon stock tank sump in the next week or two for alittle more media area that I think I will need after adding these and a few more rays. Oh yea I forgot to mention my water changes are 50 gallons a week and thats not allways and I have been making my own salt mix for maybe six months now and that saves some money, I believe it cost me 16.00 for 200 gallons worth.:fun2:

[Recty]

Making your own salt mix? How do you do that?

[saltyguy51]

Making your own salt mix? How do you do that?
sodium chloride, magnesium chloride, magnesium sulfate, calcium chloride, potassium chloride, sodium bicarbonate, strontium chloride, some form of essential elements

[saltyguy51]

Just a pic of the equipment if you can see it and yes my basement wall need paint BAD. http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr302/saltyguy52/DSCN0008.jpg

[Ranzan]

sodium chloride, magnesium chloride, magnesium sulfate, calcium chloride, potassium chloride, sodium bicarbonate, strontium chloride, some form of essential elements

I like this, shows how serious you are about rays.

[beex215]

wouldnt the evaporation turn the pool to the negative side quickly?

[saltyguy51]

wouldnt the evaporation turn the pool to the negative side quickly?
why would it make a difference with homemade more that boughten? The rays havent complained yet. You would be surprized how many people make their own saltwater. I know one person that has a 15,000 gallon shark lagoon and mixes his own salt, he said he could not afford to buy premixed.;)

[Recty]

Would you mind doing a writeup or pointing me to the right site with info on how to make your own salt mix? I'd like to read into it.

[bluerexy]

awesome tank! I saw on the travel channel of some kid who bred sting rays. He used a hose to simulate rainfall to start the mating process but i forget exactly how it went. I believe he had a large tank full of males and introduced a female till they paired up. Anyway, good luck!

[anbosu]

Would you mind doing a writeup or pointing me to the right site with info on how to make your own salt mix? I'd like to read into it.

Same here, I've never even heard of doing that.

[saltyguy51]

awesome tank! I saw on the travel channel of some kid who bred sting rays. He used a hose to simulate rainfall to start the mating process but i forget exactly how it went. I believe he had a large tank full of males and introduced a female till they paired up. Anyway, good luck! I'd like to see that:D

[saltyguy51]

Would you mind doing a writeup or pointing me to the right site with info on how to make your own salt mix? I'd like to read into it. The recipe comes from a book called Chemical Oceanography by Frank Millero and the recipe can be found on another forum that has to do with rays and sharks but with this site I dont know if you're allowed to post it, so pm if you want it