Gabriel's NEW 300 Gallon Envision Tank ((PICS INTENSE))
 

I wanted to chronicle the development of my 300 gallon Envision tank that i received from James in November of '05.


After months and months of planning and assembling i am finally getting to the point where I can see some progress.


Where to start?.. well lets start with selecting a place for the tank so that i could tearing a hole in the floor to build an additional foundation to support the tank.
I decided to set the tank up in an extra room that i was using for storage....
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60...7/fb14a06d.jpg

As you can see the floor was removed and covered with mats to keep the cold air out of the house.

I made a new concrete slab for the tank beefing up the foundation. To make the slab i added 10 footings to the crawl space that i had.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60.../wholehole.jpg
Close up
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60...noconcrete.jpg
I spread the 10 piers over 6 floor joists in the floor. I then made a form and filled it with 20 90lbs bags of concrete giving me over 15" of solid reenforced concrete.

I asked my godfather (an electrician) to run me 2 dedicated 20 amp circuts to power the tank. One was placed aprox 7 feet high to power my lights and gther other near an existing oultet to power all filtration needs.

Now that the tank has a new floor to stand on time to order the tank. James got the call from me because of all the great threads that i have read here on RC showing his work. I changed dimensions on the tank and James several times before eventually sticking with a tank that is 98" long 26" tall and 30" deep. This would give me a true 300 gallon tank. Thanks for being so patient James.

Ok tank is ordered now time to get it some shoes "a stand for all those not following" for the tank

I called a local shop SoCalCreations for help in building the steel stand and sump. The stand built by Randy is 40" tall and made if 1.5" steel tube that is powder coated black.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60...ROQDF23232.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60...oldtank001.jpg

My sump was a real piece of work, it is 20" tall 27" wide and 50" long, roughly 125 gallons. I really put Steve over there at SoCal to the test when i gave him my final sketch.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60.../FinalSump.jpg
As you can see the sump has a built in water change chamber, fuge, skimmer section and a "return area" this is an area where i can easily run carbon, filter pads ect. The water change area has a 27 gallon capacity. I pluged in a mag pump with a T to empty the chamber and also mix the new salt water when i want to do a water change.
This should make changing the water as easy as turning a ball valve and starting a pump.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60...ctures1094.jpg

Here are some pics of the sump after it was built. Steve did a great job. I highly reccomend them.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/Bebo77/sump10.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/Bebo77/sump11.jpg
He even made me a platform form my Sanders ozone
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/Bebo77/sump13.jpg
and a stand for my Deltec.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60...ctures1096.jpg

I am waiting for the stand for the Barr it will be built the same way.

Now that the sump and stand are done time to show some pics of James' work on the tank...
Here she is still in her crate
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/Bebo77/pics033.jpg
top down
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/Bebo77/pics020.jpg
and here are my custom overflows. The teeth are 2" long to allow the use of a Tunze wave box. There are 2 overflows, in each one there is 1 1" hole for my return and 2 1.5" holes, 1 is a drain and the other is a dry line.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/Bebo77/pics022.jpg

The tank will sit on .5" of insulation foam and under that is a 3/4 Birch plywood sheet that i stained and sealed 4 times. Nothing is getting through that.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/Bebo77/pics008.jpg

Now for the fun stuff, I know how everyone likes pics of toys so...
My Calcium Reactor from Scott at Aquatic Systems Design.. Great guy!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60...ctures1062.jpg

The Aquatronica controller, Whats up Will!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60...quatronica.jpg
I am using auto top off switches controlled by the Aquatronica
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/Bebo77/kids064.jpg

I am plan on running 2 skimmers.
My workhorse will be the Deltec 702, Doug thanks for being so helpfull!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60...ctures1087.jpg

And a Barr SK 1220 hooked up to a Sanders Ozone and the calcium effluent from the reactor.

The Tunze equipment
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60...ctures1047.jpg
2 6200 streams, 1 multi controller, 1 Wavebox and 4 magnets for .75" glass/ acrylic
All the goodies up on the wall, i have a back up battery(black thing in photo) connected to the Tunzes in case power ever goes out.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60...ctures1095.jpg

To frame the whole thing I also had a custom wood stand(facade)(skin) and a solid topless canopy buit by Sean AKA sonofgaladriel here on RC. I hope to get it begining of next month (Jan.)
some pics of his progress
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60...nstruction.jpg

and again a few days later
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60...struction1.jpg

he finished it on 12/20/05
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60...ndComplete.jpg
This an awesome looking piece i think it will really set the tank apart, aside from his tank of course.;) Sean does great work!:rollface: If you want a great piece of work he is the man to see.

Now that I have all the pieces time to start putting them together.
Tank as of 12/12/05
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60...ctures1001.jpg
Tank as of 12/16/05
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60...ctures1002.jpg
Tank as of 12/22/05
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60.../pictures1.jpg


I am using 3 different Pan World pumps 2 for returns and 1 to power the Barr.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60...ctures1088.jpg

I am also using 3 types of hose on the tank to help reduce vibration i didnt like the look or flex of spaflex.
Left Kanaflex Middle Tigerflex and right is Tygon Silicon hose
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60...ldelete002.jpg
I wrapped them all in blue tape( thanks psyire for the hint)

Now some pics of the inside of the tank...

The tank being filled
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60...ctures1081.jpg

and some pics of the Live Rock. The yellow measuring tape is 6.25" long and is laying flat on the rock to give you some perspective on the size of the one piece. I got those from Anthony at Passion of the sea in Rowland Heights.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60...ctures1091.jpg

I am still missing a few things and i hope to get the rest of the live rock over then next 2 weeks.


So, what do you think?

Nice looking work Gabriel, very nice!

Dude, I thought I put in a lot with 6 piers under my tank. 10! SCHWEET

Wow- very impressive- I love the stand! Very clean and well though out- can't wait to see it up and running!

Great looking setup so far!!!

wow,,,

Thanks Guys.. I had a few hick up starting out... but i got it rolling now....

I'm just curious, how much does this all cost and what type of job do you have?

I would rather not add up the cost , it might make me pass out!:twitch:

I did get most of the equipment at wholesale, i know some good people...

And i am a teacher by trade.:D

Beautiful setup!!!!

Dave :thumbsup:

Very nice set-up! I do have a curiousity though:

Is the wooden stand larger than the steel stand?

From the pictures it looks like the back of your return pumps are hanging out past the base... Is your wooden stand going to fit around that?

Ohh another thing. Maybe you mentioned this and I missed it...

Is the wooden stand going to be attached to the wall? It sure will be nice to pull it away for large scale maintenance.

The wood stand will wrap around the steel stand covering 2" of the tank bottom...

Thats the angle, sorry, all equipment is in the stand.

As far as pulling the wooden stand skin off, thats exactly what i thought.. great minds think alike! that is the way that it will work. I will be able to pull it off and have full access to the sump and
equipment...

Sean and I came up with that idea....

WONDERFUL WONDERFUL WONDERFUL!

YOu do some excellent work! Looks well planned... Can't wait to see it fully operational!

Very cool... Will the pumps clear the stand and be able to draw air?

I have 3" of space behind the pumps and the stand. The pumps have nothing near them. I also migh add that the pumps are sitting on 2" of foam and a mouse pad....

Thanks, it has taken up most of my free time for the passed 6 months or so....

Awsome! That is going to be an amazing setup when your done. Now, can't wait to see you fill it up!

Thanks, you know more about the story than most. I cant wait either... i feel like Santa is coming to see me this year....:dance: :inlove:

looks great - I have a few questions - one is why two skimmers? isn't the 702 rated well enough to more than cover your volume? and the second is, do you know how long the battery back up (is that a computer UPS) will power they tunzes? that is a good idea - I have been thinking about getting a large automatic generator to kick in, but that will cost thousands - but on the other hand it will power everything - including furnace etc (hey - I live in michigan - it gets cold!) - ironically I live with nuclear power plants 30 minutes north of here and one 30 min. south and I have never experienced more power outages than I have here

First off the 702 is rated for my total water volume but I am at its max for a heavly stocked tank 400+ gallons total water volume. I read about some of the sucess that people were having with ozone and i wanted to try it as well. I am not going to run ozone on a $1,600 skimmer, I cant affort to buy it again. So i got the Barr. God forbid, i would rather slowly beak down a $300 skimmer than my Deltec. Plus i hear that ozone inhibits the skimmers ability to skim to a certain degree. I want the Deltec to run free so i am not doing anything to hinder it.

The back up battery is a UPS I got it from Costco. If something goes wrong with it like salt water spray or such i know that Costco will replace it no problem. This is what i have http://www.tripplite.com/ power never goes out here except for earthquakes so i just wanted to be safe. The tripplite has a built in surge protector and more, i can't see any harm in doing it.

If power kept going out, like your area, I would look into it. Much cheaper than a whole generator. Less than $100 bucks.

HTH

Thanks for asking

Thank you very much....