Brian's 520 gal. Plywood Build + Fish Room

[muttley000]

That sump is beautiful! Can't wait to see it running!

[maxxII]

Just read all 7 pages....this is a beautiful build.
Very nice attention to detail and craftsmanship!
Cant wait to see this come together!

[Brian Crook]

Originally Posted by muttley000

That sump is beautiful! Can't wait to see it running!

Originally Posted by maxxII

Just read all 7 pages....this is a beautiful build.
Very nice attention to detail and craftsmanship!
Cant wait to see this come together!

Thanks a lot!

The tanks are now complete. I just settled up with Advanced Acrylics and they will be shipping them out later today. Here are some photos of the completed project. John also included a few extras which were a nice surprise (not pictured below). I'll report back upon their arrival!

[Rybren]

Wow.

[frankabagnale]

That looks great!

[Brian Crook]

There has been a lot going on in my life as my wife and I prepare for the arrival of our first child. In the time spent waiting for my acrylic tanks to arrive I've been busy working on a variety of other projects around our house.

That being said, I have still found time here and there to progress a few aquarium milestones. First off, I purchased 100 lbs of Marco rock online and another ~80 lbs of dry rock from a local hobbyist, as well as some 1/2" acrylic rods to fasten some pieces together. I bathed the rock in a muriatic acid / water mixture to give it a good cleaning, hosed it down, and let it dry in the sun. This will be combined with the ~200+ lbs of live rock currently in my aquarium.

My 1.5" schedule 80 bulkheads also arrived and I got to work installing the first few of them in the display tank overflows. I will be incorporating a full "Herbie" style overflow in the one (2 drains + full emergency), and a semi-Herbie in the other (2 drains), as I felt a second full emergency would be far too conservative a design. I used a standard holesaw to drill the bulkhead openings, and have to admit I was pretty impressed with the resulting pucks. Take a look at all that epoxy!

When I had done my leak test on the display tank a while back, I did notice mild deflection of the back panel of the tank as a result of the enormous pressure of the water. Although the amount of flex wasn't an immediate concern, it didn't sit well with me over the long term and I decided to do something about it now rather than think about it ever again. So I purchased two 1" square steel rods and bolted the end of each to the back of the stand, and connected the other two ends to another steel rod which sits flat on the inner rim of the euro-brace. The intention here is to reinforce the back panel at its weakest point, the center, and better distribute this force to the stand and the strong euro-brace. I thought I had some photos of this but they don't seem to be in my folder at this time, so I'll post one soon (easier to show than explain).

My sump, refugium, and frag tank arrived all the way from California! John from Advanced Acrylics did a terrific job and I am very happy I selected them for this job. Their attention to detail is top-notch and the resulting products are superb, although this seems to be common feedback among his customers. He also threw in the extra black / clear acrylic frag tank seen in the photo below, as well as the frag racks for my own tank. A very nice gesture indeed.

They arrived via big-rig which couldn't get onto my street, so I had to drive my trailer around and help the driver unload the double-wide skid from his truck onto my trailer, so I could drive them home. Fortunately everything worked out great and there were no flaws or scratches on the tanks.

Next up on the list will be to skin the stand and finish off some of the detail work on both sides of the tank. I have almost completely decided on purchasing the Reeflo Hammerhead/Barracuda Hybrid Gold pump to use as my main return, after which time I will begin the process of transferring over existing vessels/hardware, and eventually, livestock!

[scubadan206]

Have you considered using an epoxy for rockwork? I have used several sticks of Epo Putty on rocks and frags, and it really does dry and hold like steel. Stronger than the rocks that you bond together with it.

Daniel.

[Brian Crook]

Originally Posted by scubadan206

Have you considered using an epoxy for rockwork? I have used several sticks of Epo Putty on rocks and frags, and it really does dry and hold like steel. Stronger than the rocks that you bond together with it.

Daniel.

I've been thinking about different ways to attach the rocks, and checking out other peoples threads to get ideas. I'll have to look into Epo Putty and see what it is. I have the opportunity to work with this dry rock now before putting water in the tank, but I also need to be able to work on an even larger portion of rock once I fill the tank with saltwater, so trying to figure out a plan for aquascaping has been a bit challenging. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Brian Crook]

On a side note from the aquarium itself, there has been some progress on getting the display side (ie. the rec-room) caught up and starting to look like the proper relaxing space I imagined it to be. We ordered a sectional couch which should arrive in the next few weeks. We also picked up some artwork and décor for the room, and a pair of bar stools. I put up the remaining trim and did some touch-up work here and there. I'll share some photos of the overall room a little later in this project when the aquarium has fish in it.

However I also decided to put some of my left-over wood to good use! I realized I still had quite a bit of oak veneer plywood and oak panels left from building the aquarium and bar ledge, so I built a matching oak coffee table which should fit nicely with the sectional couch and add a bit more red oak to the room to tie in with the bar. I branded the bottom corner of the table with my initials prior to sealing it all with polyurethane.

[scubadan206]

Nice woodwork. Epo Putty was more or less introduced to us by Ching Chai from Thailand. It is a standard epoxy for masonry work but has proven to be one of the best things for use in aquariums. NOTHING to pollute our tanks is released and it hardens like steel in or out of water completely in a few hours. It's now available at Amazon or similar.
With it you can make a much more free-standing structure with rocks than we usually do.

Daniel.

[maxxII]

I would suggest drilling holes in the rock pretty much anywhere you think you might want to stick a frag plug. Doing all of this (S-L-O-W-L-Y) while the rock is out of the water will give you all the coral mounting realestate you could ever want.

You can take a bare frag plug and size it to your masonry drill bits and get it slightly oversized easily. I went this route so that I could cut acro frags from their plugs, mount them to clean new plugs, (old plugs that I scraped everything off of and soaked in bleach then sun dried), and then if needed secure them to the rock via putty...


Just a thought.

I have no experience with Epo-Putty.

[ADVRESOURCE]

Originally Posted by Brian Crook

Done (more-or-less)! The bar ledge is mounted, the trim is up, and the front access cabinets are installed. There's a tiny bit left to do... namely some quarter-round (in black) to butt up against the aquarium on top of the bar ledge, and a little touch-up paint here and there.

The cabinets open up very easily and the support arms keep them open (and prevent them from slamming closed). Light bleed is virtually non-existant, but in a couple spots I'll probably add some fabric/foam or other filler material.

Haven't yet heard back from the aquarium company I contacted regarding the sump, so I'm losing a bit of hope there. I did watch those "King of DIY" YT videos regarding how to make your own acrylic tank and it isn't as difficult as I assumed it was.

That's a really nice bar. Like the rockwork. I have the same on my outdoor fireplace. Whenever I see a beautiful bar like that, I expect a well poured drink.

[Brian Crook]

Originally Posted by ADVRESOURCE

That's a really nice bar. Like the rockwork. I have the same on my outdoor fireplace. Whenever I see a beautiful bar like that, I expect a well poured drink.

Thanks! That's definitely the idea haha

[Brian Crook]

One of my goals with this build was to make the equipment side of things bright, clean, organized, and as visually pleasing as a place like this could be. I never liked looking at 2x4's and construction material each time I went into the equipment room for my current tank, and I certainly didn't feel a lot of pride when showing this space to friends. So in an effort to improve the look and feel of the stand, I "skinned" it in 1/4" sanded plywood, (painstakingly) painted the entire stand with two coats of semi-gloss white, and added some trim here and there. I'll also be adding a white silicone bead around the tank/stand seam and the floor seams.

Prior to completing the stand however, I had to remove part of the center post in order to fit the sump underneath. The sump and refugium fit nicely on the floor under the stand, and I've positioned them such that the left-most overflow will have a completely vertical flow path to the sump, and the floor space between the sump and refugium will be where my return pump will sit. All sections are easy to access for monitoring or maintenance.

I also have a couple photos here which show the bulkheads installed in one of the overflows, and the steel vertical supports that I described in my previous post.

I'm currently working on determining my PVC fitting requirements and finalize the location of my returns... A head-ache inducing endeavour.

[maxxII]

I've been a member here many years and one common theme I've seen in truly stunning aquariums is an almost obsessive attention to detail.

You are at that point with this build and you havent put water in it yet, except to leak test.

I'm sure the OCDD, (Obsessive Compulsive Detail Disorder) results in a stunning tank because it transfers over from the planning and build phase to the reefkeeping phase and that same level of OCDD keeps the afflicted tuned into every thing happening in the tank.

I compare this to someone who has a garage-majal in which every tool has it's place and the work bench is a thing of beauty. Be it wood working, metal work, automotive work, gunsmithing, etc.....You have transformed a sump room into what is essentially a shop....(wood shop, metal shop, auto shop etc), meaning a place where business is conducted and is not only presentable but part of the environment at large.

It's taking into account how the entire picture looks and the entire installation as a whole.

All of that to say...

Looks great. Super sleek and clean. I'm jealous.

[dave.m]

Originally Posted by Brian Crook

I've positioned them such that the left-most overflow will have a completely vertical flow path to the sump

If it's not too late I would like to suggest you rethink this strategy. Having the water pour straight down into the sump can result in a pretty thunderously loud sound and the creation of lots of micro-bubbles if you aren't using socks. The insertion of a 90° bend and some horizontal pipe can go a long way to quieting the sump.

Dave.M

[truffle22]

Sweet build. Iv been wanting to build a giant build out of wood. Deff gunna fallow u to see what happens. Iv always wondered about leaks and price wise for something like that.


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[Brian Crook]

Thanks maxxII! Yeah I've been focused on the details which is why we're 7 pages in and there's still no water in the tank! haha

Originally Posted by dave.m

If it's not too late I would like to suggest you rethink this strategy. Having the water pour straight down into the sump can result in a pretty thunderously loud sound and the creation of lots of micro-bubbles if you aren't using socks. The insertion of a 90° bend and some horizontal pipe can go a long way to quieting the sump.

Dave.M

Thanks Dave, I wasn't sure about that. One of the drains will be full siphon, thus no air in the line, so I assumed it would be dead silent if submersed on the drain end. It's definitely not too late. I'll likely be using Flex-PVC for the drain lines since it'll make things a little easier (holes on sump do not exactly line up with holes in overflow, etc...), so there is definitely some wiggle room to try different configurations out.

[924wal]

Man that's is the nicest set up I've ever seen
Can't wait to see your power management

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[Tigé21v]

Originally Posted by Brian Crook

Is all that black the coats of epoxy on the surface of the wood?? It looks like it has to be close to 5/16" thick or better. I didn't realize the epoxy ended up/needed to be that thick.

[Tigé21v]

Originally Posted by maxxII

I've been a member here many years and one common theme I've seen in truly stunning aquariums is an almost obsessive attention to detail.

Looks great. Super sleek and clean. I'm jealous.

+1
Inspiring.
I wish I could be so detail-oriented, on a sustained level.

[Brian Crook]

Originally Posted by Tigé21v

Is all that black the coats of epoxy on the surface of the wood?? It looks like it has to be close to 5/16" thick or better. I didn't realize the epoxy ended up/needed to be that thick.

Yes it's all epoxy... Definitely much more than what would be required to water proof a tank. Granted the epoxy isn't this thick throughout the entire tank, but this was still quite a surprise.

[cabinetman123]

Any updates?

[ADVRESOURCE]

Those footer sock clog fast. May want to consider mesh socks, too.

[ADVRESOURCE]

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