250 gallon build thread

[chadscamaro]

Exactly ! Thanks for the help.

[michealprater]

Oh, that makes great sense. I will do that. Thanks.

[michealprater]

First set back....

I was working on putting the cripplers in, and my uncle came over to lift. I figured I would include lifting the aquarium onto the stand into our workout, LOL. Anyhow we got it on there and as I was putting in the center cripplers in I noticed a gap between the tank and the center of the stand. 3/16" on the front and 1/8 in the back. It is going to be tough to find 2x6s with less camber. I am thinking of pulling the tank off and shimming the center of the plywood up. What do you all think?

[ncox38]

I had the same issue, thats why I went to MDF. I put about 4 coats of paint on it before I screwed it down to seal it. Because its more rigid than plywood it was easier to shim and get level. Not that scabbing on those cripple studs is a bad thing, but a galvanized wood screw has at least a 250# shear weight. so 12 screws could have held that stand together, with no problems. Just for future reference.

[michealprater]

I kind of thought that also, but they will not hurt.

So you do not think I can make it work with the 3/4" plywood? It was kind of expensive, hate to just scrap it.

[fareforce]

Here is my tank build thread. I did a custom stand (still in the works) that will hold about 15,000 lbs, and uses 23/32" plywood. Tons of pics to help you through the process too. Let me know if you have any questions.

Personally I dont like "gorilla" built stands like the one you are doing because they give the wood on the stand to much oportunity to wrap under damp conditions. Just my opinion though.

[michealprater]

OK.............

It is in-wall build, why would I make a finished stand???

Do you have any advice for the problem I am having for the stand I built, or did you just want to link your build?

[fareforce]

Originally posted by michealprater
OK.............

It is in-wall build, why would I make a finished stand???

Do you have any advice for the problem I am having for the stand I built, or did you just want to link your build?

Sorry I skimmed over the thread while I was at work. I missed that is was an in-wall.

What I would do if you want to continue with the stand you built is put a 3/4" ply top on it. Screw it down nice and tight. Get the stand put in its final resting spot. Cover the top with visqueen (probably spelled it wrong). Build temporary sides to hold the visqueen tight, and give you about a 1" lip over the top of the 3/4" plywood. Then drop a 1/4" - 1/2" layer of self-leveling concrete on the top. Let it dry, remove the temporary sides, put your foam down and presto. perfectly level!

[michealprater]

I already have the 3/4" on the top of it. That is not a bad idea.

[ncox38]

Since it is acrylic and will have a piece of foam under it to help absorb inconsistencies in the stand, I would shim it every few inches from opposite sides of the stud and be done with it. Do you know what i mean? two shims coming from opposite sides, leveling each other out.

[michealprater]

Ya that is intially what I thought. I got the foam under it already.

[ReefEnabler]

are you planning on painting the exposed wood on the stand? I know its not going to be visible, but painting it would certainly help it from soaking up moisture. epoxy paint would be best, but you could also just use exterior latex paint or a clearcoat of polyeurethane.

[BigMOCats]

Originally posted by michealprater
tanks will moved within the walls, then the walls will be framed, stand built, then tanks put in place. then outside of room finished out

Have you amended this order? Looks as though the stand will be built then the wall framed around it? My 200g was up and running for quite a while before the wall was built. I think it's easier to frame the wall to the stand.

Front:

Back:

[michealprater]

not sure if I will paint the stand. I am sure it wouldnt hurt, however in the past I have never had issues with raw wood stands.

I will build the walls around the stand and the tank. Technically the stand will be part of the wall.

[StupidsReef]

Originally posted by RyanBrucks
are you planning on painting the exposed wood on the stand? I know its not going to be visible, but painting it would certainly help it from soaking up moisture. epoxy paint would be best, but you could also just use exterior latex paint or a clearcoat of polyeurethane.

Mike, I agree here. On my 225g stand I painted the whole stand as well. I used Killz exterior. I placed 2 coats on the wood stand. I didn't use the "criple" pieces though. I did what Nick was saying and bought the srews that was 250# and then doubled them up.

On another note, your R/O DI unit that you bought. Nice one, but the very top chamber is junk and does nothing for your Reef. The top chamber abover your DI resin is designed for drinking water it's call a GAC carbon filter. It removes odor's for like making ICE or drinking water. Martikx makes a block filter ( which is the second chamber on the bottom) that makes the GAC OBSOLETE BY COMPARISON. I would remove it and add another DI chamber. The second DI unit will help keep your TDS as low as possiable. I have two of the in-line DI chamber's that are spares, beings I'm changing my R/O DI unit's desing I don't need them anymore. Another thing you need to find out is what type of sediment filters came with that unit. They need to be 5 Micron Poly sediment or the best which is 1 Micron Poly Sediment. Not trying to be rude, but the cheap ones on E-bay come with 10 Micron Poly sediment filters. While they work fine for drinking water the filters ware out very fast and deosn't stop everything you need it to. I speak through my personal experiences, I too bought the cheap 'o off e-bay and learnt the hard way. The unit I currently run is an E-bay cheapy, with all the top of the line filters. Here's a link to show you the filters are not high dollar either.

http://www.thefilterguys.biz/filters.htm
OR
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/RO/DI-...duct_info.html

Hope this helps ya out.

[michealprater]

StupidsReef, thanks for the advice, I will look into changing the filters and getting a new di unit. Can I just run the di unit in-line on the out side of the ro unit?

I will probably paint the stand.

Does anyone have any other suggestions on the gap issue on the stand?

[michealprater]

Stupidsreef, there is a lot of filters on that page, can you tell me the exact ones I need?

[michealprater]

Well, not to get off the subject of the stand, but here are pics of the new skimmer. It is HUGE!



Here he is with his little brother, mini me. EV2000 next to EV150

[kraash]

the EV150 is ""cute" LOL what a beast of a skimmer, wanna trade?

[michealprater]

Sure I will trade you for your ev1000 if you throw something else in on the deal, your going to need a skimmer this big when you do your 1700 anyhow.

Kraash and I were talking on messenger last night and we have the first solution I am going to try on the stand to fix the gap. If it does not work, nothing is lost but time. I am going to put cripplers on the on the ends. Take the screws out of the center braces. Make cripplers for the center that are the same length as the ends. Then I am going to use a hammer to wedge them into the center. Considering it is pine, it should flex enough to fix the problem. We will see. It is worth a try.

[michealprater]

OK fixed the sag in the stand and it is finally done. Put the extra cripplers in and I would say this tank is extremely overbuilt, but hey, thats a good thing. Here is the shots with the tank on it.





level as could be.

[michealprater]

Hopefully Sunday I will be picking up the 75 gallon for the sump. Then I will need to start configuring the baffles and plumbing.

Any advice on what to use for a return pump. 250 gallon, with 75 gallon sump. It will have two overflows into the sump, the return will split into 3 1" returns.

Looks like I also have a 70 gallon reef ready available to pick up that I will probably use for a fuge. It will be plumbed seperate, but into the main sump.

[ReefEnabler]

Originally posted by michealprater
Well, not to get off the subject of the stand, but here are pics of the new skimmer. It is HUGE!

im but sure if you noticed but a gollum crature appears to be taking a liking to your new skimmer!!
is that some sort of hitchhiker?

[fareforce]

Originally posted by michealprater
Hopefully Sunday I will be picking up the 75 gallon for the sump. Then I will need to start configuring the baffles and plumbing.

Any advice on what to use for a return pump. 250 gallon, with 75 gallon sump. It will have two overflows into the sump, the return will split into 3 1" returns.

Looks like I also have a 70 gallon reef ready available to pick up that I will probably use for a fuge. It will be plumbed seperate, but into the main sump.

For the return pump you want to get a flow that will closely match the output of your skimmer. That way no water goes unskimmed. I dont know much about that skimmer. What is the gph it can handle?

[michealprater]

Aqua C EV2000

Specifications:
Height: 42"
Recommend pump: Iwaki 100RLT
Footprint: 9" x 12"
Foam Tower: 8"OD
Tank Size: 500-2000 gallons
JG Fitting: standard
Bubble Size: .03–.05mm
Water flow-thru rate: 1200gph
Volume of foam produced: 1100cu.in.