785 Gallon Glass Reef Build in CT

cleanmyaquarium · 04/29/2016, 03:46 PM

Hi everyone, I will be sharing pics and details of a 785 gallon build I am doing in CT. The tank is 120" long x 48" wide x 30" tall. It was built by customaquariums.com in WI. I was a bit nervous about building such a large tank out of glass, but Lee & Deb at Custom Aquariums were a pleasure to work with and so far everything has gone smoothly. On Tuesday, I picked the tank up at the Estes shipping hub in Middletown, CT because the tank was too large for curbside delivery. It won't fit on a liftgate, so I picked it up with a 16 ft landscaping trailer.

dave.m · 04/29/2016, 04:07 PM

Dave.M

rygar · 04/29/2016, 04:47 PM

You must be on cloud 9 right now. What's your reason for getting such a monster tank?

sfsuphysics · 04/29/2016, 05:33 PM

Neat can wait to see this build I have been eyeing a 10 ft tank from them as well.

If I can ask how much was shipping on that? Their free shipping in 2k worth of stuff has exçlusions on bigger than 8ft, or no direction being 2 feet or shorter

jbvdhp · 04/30/2016, 01:47 PM

Awesome!!!!

Sent using your IP address

phk36 · 04/30/2016, 04:04 PM

That has to be very heavy

Acrononomus · 04/30/2016, 05:07 PM

Awesome ! Welcome to the 10' club! Did u do starfire or ultra clear glass?

cleanmyaquarium · 05/02/2016, 07:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rygar

You must be on cloud 9 right now. What's your reason for getting such a monster tank?

We just bought a new house and I told the wife if she was upgrading the house, I would be upgrading the tank. Maybe I went a little overboard!

cleanmyaquarium · 05/02/2016, 07:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sfsuphysics

Neat can wait to see this build I have been eyeing a 10 ft tank from them as well.

If I can ask how much was shipping on that? Their free shipping in 2k worth of stuff has exçlusions on bigger than 8ft, or no direction being 2 feet or shorter

I am not sure how much shipping was, it was included in the price.

cleanmyaquarium · 05/02/2016, 07:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acrononomus

Awesome ! Welcome to the 10' club! Did u do starfire or ultra clear glass?

I think they refer to it as ultra clear....not sure what the difference is. I think it just means that there is a low iron content in the glass keeping it more clear.

cleanmyaquarium · 05/02/2016, 07:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phk36

That has to be very heavy

I think it is around 1400 lbs. It took 14 guys to lift the tank onto the 52" high stand.

cleanmyaquarium · 05/02/2016, 07:24 AM

The tank sits on the garage slab so there are no concerns about the ~9000 lbs of weight.

cleanmyaquarium · 05/02/2016, 07:46 AM

The tank will sit on 2 x 3/4" plywood on top of a 9.5" LVL frame. Here is the 9.5" LVL plate bolted to the wall.

cleanmyaquarium · 05/02/2016, 07:51 AM

The frame of the stand has 50 feet of 9.5" LVL on top of 3 knee walls with double jack 2x4's. The ends of the stand also have 3/4" plywood to tighten everything up. The height of the stand is 52" because the garage is 16" below the floor of the house. It works out well because there is a lot of space under the tank for the filtration.

cleanmyaquarium · 05/02/2016, 08:01 AM

The stand is painted with Redguard waterproofing membrane. The underside of the LVL's are covered by 3/8" sheet of Azek to protect from moisture. Electrician came and wired 16 outlets on two dedicated 20 amp breakers. The floor of the stand is insulated with 7.5 R foam insulation.

cleanmyaquarium · 05/02/2016, 08:06 AM

I had 10 people attempt to lift the tank from the trailer onto the stand on the first attempt. We got it into the garage but were unable to lift it up onto the 52" stand. I was able to corral 4 more good friends for a total of 14 people needed to get the tank in place.

cleanmyaquarium · 05/02/2016, 08:08 AM

The tank has been filling with RO water since Thursday night. It is about 1/3 of the way there! I will spend the next few evenings finishing the stand and installing the plumbing.

dave.m · 05/02/2016, 10:38 AM

Before you go much further I really strongly recommend you insert an access panel over the top front of the tank. You will curse not having this later on.

Dave.M

Sphack · 05/02/2016, 10:50 AM

I love it. If my house supported it, I'd love this approach. Unfortunately our stairs are against the main wall. Instead, we installed a 7'x13'x4' tank (er, pool) in the garage.

Excited to watch this build come together.

McPuff · 05/02/2016, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sphack

I love it. If my house supported it, I'd love this approach. Unfortunately our stairs are against the main wall. Instead, we installed a 7'x13'x4' tank (er, pool) in the garage.

Excited to watch this build come together.

So is this a tank or endless pool? If tank, where is the build thread?? Please do post pics!! :0)

cleanmyaquarium · 05/02/2016, 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave.m

Before you go much further I really strongly recommend you insert an access panel over the top front of the tank. You will curse not having this later on.

Dave.M

I considered it, but I like the clean look without an access panel. The tank just looks like a picture hanging on the wall. I have a pretty good reach at 6'8" tall so I am not too worried. Also, the tank is going to have a retractable blue insulated curtain around it, so when open you can see what you are doing through the back glass.

adamPL · 05/02/2016, 07:09 PM

Beautiful tank!! Never to big!! Good luck.

SPS_77493 · 05/02/2016, 09:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave.m

Before you go much further I really strongly recommend you insert an access panel over the top front of the tank. You will curse not having this later on.

Dave.M

The tank is so large he can dive in to place corals and do regular maintenance :-)

You do have a good point though...

rygar · 05/03/2016, 03:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SPS_77493

The tank is so large he can dive in to place corals and do regular maintenance :-)

You do have a good point though...

My tank is exactly the same size. And the back is in the garage...with a platform. Almost the same setup...kind of crazy actually.
Right now, my front access is bolted shut. Reason is that Its tweaked for some reason and my furnace was pulling humidity into the house. Need to figure out a way to get it sealed, but still be able to open it.

And let me tell you , I HATE IT!!! I don't even have fish in it and its a pain in the butt. Yesterday, it took me FOREVER to clean the front of the tank from the back. Up down, up down, around the front to see what I missed over and over.
Now to think of placing corals, moving corals/rocks, feeding, etc...can't imagine wanting to leave it this way. Yes it may look good, but you can do some unique thing with the front too.
Without access from the front, I wouldn't even do it. It would put me in an early grave.
But its your tank. And Im sure it will be awesome and am looking forward to seeing it come together. Your going to love all that room behind the tank. Just be prepared that whenever anyone comes over, they will want to go back there to check it out.
Seems like people are more excited to see whats behind the tank than whats in it.

McPuff · 05/03/2016, 06:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave.m

Before you go much further I really strongly recommend you insert an access panel over the top front of the tank. You will curse not having this later on.

Dave.M

I second this. I have a 120 (4x2x2) in the wall and I don't have an access panel. It's difficult to reach certain areas even with the standing ledge I built into the stand. Your tank is MUCH bigger. I'm sure there's a unique way you could incorporate an access panel. You won't regret it.

04/29/2016, 04:07 PM	#2
dave.m Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Canadia Posts: 4,276	Dave.M __________________ My Gawd! It's full of corals! Current Tank Info: None. Nil. Zip. Nada.

04/29/2016, 04:47 PM	#3
rygar Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: michigan Posts: 282	You must be on cloud 9 right now. What's your reason for getting such a monster tank? Last edited by rygar; 04/29/2016 at 04:54 PM.

04/29/2016, 05:33 PM	#4
sfsuphysics Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: San Francisco Posts: 9,103	Neat can wait to see this build I have been eyeing a 10 ft tank from them as well. If I can ask how much was shipping on that? Their free shipping in 2k worth of stuff has exçlusions on bigger than 8ft, or no direction being 2 feet or shorter __________________ Mike

04/30/2016, 01:47 PM	#5
jbvdhp Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: San Diego Posts: 1,131	Awesome!!!! Sent using your IP address __________________ This hobby = no more money Current Tank Info: 8' 240 gallons of headache

04/30/2016, 04:04 PM	#6
phk36 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Long Island N.Y. Posts: 304	That has to be very heavy __________________ PHK Current Tank Info: 204 mixed Two Radion pro 3 one Kessil 360 Bubble King Supermarin 250 Apex 114 watt UV

04/30/2016, 05:07 PM	#7
Acrononomus Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2015 Posts: 173	Awesome ! Welcome to the 10' club! Did u do starfire or ultra clear glass?

05/02/2016, 08:08 AM	#17
cleanmyaquarium Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: CT Posts: 259	The tank has been filling with RO water since Thursday night. It is about 1/3 of the way there! I will spend the next few evenings finishing the stand and installing the plumbing.

05/02/2016, 10:38 AM	#18
dave.m Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Canadia Posts: 4,276	Before you go much further I really strongly recommend you insert an access panel over the top front of the tank. You will curse not having this later on. Dave.M __________________ My Gawd! It's full of corals! Current Tank Info: None. Nil. Zip. Nada.

05/02/2016, 10:50 AM	#19
Sphack Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Northern, CO Posts: 51	I love it. If my house supported it, I'd love this approach. Unfortunately our stairs are against the main wall. Instead, we installed a 7'x13'x4' tank (er, pool) in the garage. Excited to watch this build come together. __________________ ...too many freshwater tanks... pre-404g: 40g/40g: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=24451109

05/02/2016, 07:09 PM	#22
adamPL Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Middletown,NJ Posts: 474	Beautiful tank!! Never to big!! Good luck.