Build Thread: TKERacer619's 600gal SPS Tank

[jimmy n]

Awesome build TK. Tank is huge! Following.

[tkeracer619]

Originally Posted by jimmy n

Awesome build TK. Tank is huge! Following.

Thanks and welcome aboard!

The chore this weekend is plumbing and you guys get to see how this plumbing job is going to be

[BigBlueTang]

Originally Posted by tkeracer619

Thanks and welcome aboard!

The chore this weekend is plumbing and you guys get to see how this plumbing job is going to be

Sounds fun


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[tkeracer619]

Originally Posted by BigBlueTang

Sounds fun


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Sounds like... you're volunteering. See you around 9-9:30 tomorrow morning

[tkeracer619]

This doorway...


This door is in the way. I thought about moving it to the left side of the tank but the stairs are made of concrete. and I would have had to clean out my garage and move all kinds of stuff. I don't want to open that can of worms right now. Going to have to go around this...

I stripped the stone and wood off of the stairs, cleaned them up, and cut a chunk of drywall out.


The plan is to run the piping over the top step and extend the stairs out. They aren't equal drops per step so I plan on fixing that as well. I need to run three 1.5" and one 2" schedule 40 pvc pipes.


Started cutting materials... I chose the same ply I made the BTA and QT racks from. 3/4 11 layer ply.


The first step is to anchor some plywood strips to the back of the concrete. Since the concrete isn't very flat I made temporary jigs and had my GF stand on them to set the strip so the top of the board was secure as well as positioned lower the same distance as the thickness of the ply. I then used a hammer drill to drill the holes for the anchors.


Repeat for the bottom step.


After vacuuming and wiping off the concrete I used a wood/concrete construction adhesive on the backs of the strips and 5 minute two part epoxy in the holes.


I used 3/16" x 2-1/4" TapCon Concrete Screws to anchor the strips to the concrete. I used my impact driver to shoot them in.


The strips are secured... time for a break.

[sirreal63]

Awesome stuff Brother! I am amazed that they managed to clean up glass, super amazed they were able to do it to star fire glass, being that is a little softer and harder to polish. Your painting skills are far superior to mine.

Love the shoes, do you wear them often?

[tkeracer619]

I didn't actually take a break... I worked on this solid from 10am to about 6:45pm. I'm exhausted and also fighting a sinus infection... been sick for 3 weeks .

I cut out the two boards to be used for the top step. Secured the two boards together with some dewalt bar clamps. Glued, screwed, and then pocket screwed from the back side. I love Kreg pocket screws but in a application like this it is nice to screw from the other side, the Kregs like to move around on the final tighten, and screwing from the other side keeps them from moving. It's overkill but only took a few more minutes so imo it's worth it.




I used the same construction concrete on the edge that will be in contact with the top of the bottom step and wood glue on the edge of the top strip.


Put the top step in place and then used screws to secure it to the strip.


Check it out, it holds the bundle of pipes!


Repeat for the bottom step but since no plumbing is needed to go through the bottom step it got square edge reinforcements.


I used a Dovetail Saw to trim the baseboard to the right length.


I installed the adhesives on this step, put the stair into place, and fired screws into the anchored strip. The concrete isn't very even so I took up the gaps with some wood shims.


I marked the shims then pulled them out, smeared the construction adhesive on them, and put them back into place. They're strong as an ox. I'll finish them with the same 3/4" hardwood that is in the rest of the house. The bottom step will get a sheet of 1/2" subfloor and the top will get a 1/4" sheet of subfloor.

[tkeracer619]

Originally Posted by sirreal63

Awesome stuff Brother! I am amazed that they managed to clean up glass, super amazed they were able to do it to star fire glass, being that is a little softer and harder to polish. Your painting skills are far superior to mine.

Love the shoes, do you wear them often?

Nice one, that's my girlfriend, she wasn't excited to make her debut in the thread but I told her it was past due . One step at a time

Thanks Jack! I was about to give up hope with the glass, it really is huge! It took him about 4 hours to get his technique honed in but never stopped cursing the glass. He talked to the manufacturer of the grinding disks and they hadn't really had much experience with it. It was a lot of work to avoid swirls on the outer areas. There are some left but I told him not to worry about it. Not a new tank, going to get scratched, and they are nothing compared to the etches.

My house has taken roughly 9 to 11 coats to cover up the high gloss dark forest greens and barbie pinks . I've had a lot of practice

[BigBlueTang]

Eh. Looks alright I guess.











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[tkeracer619]

Originally Posted by BigBlueTang

Eh. Looks alright I guess.











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Obstacle two should pose another challenge! Should be fun!

[jason2459]

Great idea to get around, or over actually, the stairs!

[tkeracer619]

Originally Posted by jason2459

Great idea to get around, or over actually, the stairs!

Thanks! I've been staring at this problem for almost 4 years, about 90% sure it's going to work

[dave.m]

I hope you are treating the wood. Wood shouldn't normally come in contact with concrete as it absorbs all the damp that concrete attracts and rots quickly. Either use a moisture barrier made for concrete, pressurized wood, or some sort of wood sealant.

Dave.M

[tkeracer619]

Originally Posted by dave.m

I hope you are treating the wood. Wood shouldn't normally come in contact with concrete as it absorbs all the damp that concrete attracts and rots quickly. Either use a moisture barrier made for concrete, pressurized wood, or some sort of wood sealant.

Dave.M

In the basement I did but for those steps I didn't. The wood I took off had been on there for 15 or so years without any moisture barrier so I just put these back on the same way.

[OurCoralReef]

Use a piece of tar paper
if you can get a small piece from a roofer or construction friend

[tkeracer619]

Originally Posted by OurCoralReef

Use a piece of tar paper
if you can get a small piece from a roofer or construction friend

Having just done my roof I have plenty of it. Thanks for the tip.

[tkeracer619]

The 2nd obstacle in the plumbing challenge is this bathroom. It's tiny, has a free standing sink that is directly in the way of plumbing, has drywall slapped directly onto concrete, and is the only way without cutting the concrete slab to route the plumbing into the basement. Dig my trash can!



Cut a hole to see exactly where the plumbing from Obstacle One comes through.



Cut out and disconnect the sink plumbing.




Move the sink out of the room and cover the floor drain.


Cut the hole where the plumbing shall flow into Obstacle Number Three!


Use a level, mark the cut lines, sawsall!






Pull out the chunks of drywall and clean up the concrete. The reason I cut all of this drywall out is because the plumbing cannot be recessed into the wall. I will need to make a ledge around the already small room to cover the piping and any bit of space I can gain is welcome. This of course will be done immediately... within a month or two.


Onward to Obstacle Number Three!

I'd like to give a big shout out to local hobbyist and most dedicated newbie Atul aka BigBlueTang. He came over and worked on this for 8 solid hours this past Sunday. Didn't complain once! Thanks bud, I appreciate all the help you have put into this project!

[tkeracer619]

The utility closet...


Conveniently they left just enough room for me to run 2" pvc behind the furnace. Almost as if they knew I would be installing a ridiculous saltwater aquarium and needed that space to run the plumbing.

The plumbing enters this room behind the water heater up high, goes behind the furnace, then out the bottom left side of the furnace. It's about a 7 foot drop. It will then go through the wall to Obstacle Number Four!

[tkeracer619]

The final obstacle is this staircase and the wall going into the filtration room!


We tore out the second step, cut a hole to pass two pipes through, and took a lot of precaution from then on out using the staircase. I've almost fallen in twice, the cat got stuck in there, and i've dumped a bit of water a few times since trying to mind the gap with a 5gal bucket full of water.

Remember when I had to move the doorway? This is why. To cross this staircase I need to make a landing at the top of step two and to be to code it is going to need to be at least 36" long. I wish we could have gone higher up but no go unless you want to duck every time you walk down the stairs. Trying to make everyone happy, stair two gets the landing.

We sized up the location of the sump and where the plumbing should go through the wall. Cut out a bit of drywall which I will cover then cover with FRP before plumbing. Using a long bit I marked and piloted the hole saw locations from the sump side. The sump is a spectacular 3/4" thick acrylic sump custom with museum grade seams made by AGE for a buddy of mine who is no longer in the hobby. It was a gift to the build! Thank you dude, it's going to good use!!


Using the pilots I used the correct size hole saw to drill from the step side. From bottom to top we have... The Emergency drain, full siphon 1, full siphon 2, and the return. These are just test pipes we used throughout the process to make sure stuff would fit.


Plumbing will have to wait for another day. We were tired and beat up from the day of work. We did however source about 90% of the plumbing parts as the day went by. We only had to make 2 trips to 5 separate stores to make it happen .

Something exciting is showing up today ! I'm like a dog staring out the front window waiting for their owner to show up! Eta is within 3 hours

[OurCoralReef]

Originally Posted by tkeracer619

Having just done my roof I have plenty of it. Thanks for the tip.

Try covering all the wood
no need to cover the cement

[tkeracer619]

Many years ago I made my own reflectors and pieced together components to get the lighting I desired. They worked great and still have some life left but the ballasts are all on their last legs. MarineDepot had a 20% off sale last month on these particular lights so I took the opportunity to refresh my lighting with a brand new set of four Hamilton Lighting Cabo Sun reflectors, M80 ballasts, and Radium 250w 20k bulbs!

This is the setup, I think it is a great way to go for SPS tanks and Hamilton is one of those companies I like to support! http://hamiltontechnology.com/index....earch=cabo+sun





Very good packaging from Hamilton! Impressed!


These reflectors have a very good and even light spread. The use of both hammertone and flat polished material give the best of both worlds in regards to reducing peaks as well as getting the most par out of your bulbs.


We'll get to the actual lighting fixture as installation and assembly is taking place. It's a pretty trick setup but will have to wait until my next paycheck, this set of updates ate up the last of my aquarium budget for the month

[BigBlueTang]

Any updates?


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[tkeracer619]

Two weekends ago BigBlueTang and I made three trips to Home Depot, two trips to Lowes, and a trip to a spa supply store. We picked up roughly 120ft of 1.5in PVC, 40ft of 2in PVC, 25ft of 1.5in SpaFlex, 20ft of 2in SpaFlex, some strapping, a couple screws, some pipe mounting bracket, and a bucket of fittings.


We thought we may actually get in a fair amount of plumbing but demolition, driving, planning, and eating took up a good part of the day. We did get four pipes behind the furnace. It was a PITA and as of this past Saturday I realized the 45deg fittings we put on the bottom end of the pipes the weekend before were not going to work . I ended up having to cut off the ends in a space that is about as skinny as I am fat.

This past Saturday I devoted my efforts to getting the sump in it's final resting place. I put up FRP back splashes, drilled the sump, installed the bulkheads, glued in the pvc, and slid the sump into place. The sump is custom made by AGE out of 3/4 inch acrylic.


There isn't much room to spare here...


I wrapped up on Saturday with 3 pipes through the wall.


Between Sunday night and tonight (Monday) I finished linking the pipes we had in place behind the furnace and the sump. It's really satisfying seeing these pipes in place. I've been thinking about this for almost 4 years.




Since I am running two full siphons I needed some valves. I wish they could have been closer to the sump but there just wasn't enough room. They have to be located in the mechanical room. You can see signs of a struggle (45deg elbows and PVC primer on the ground).


I'll secure the plumbing once it is completely dry and I get the first run in the bathroom complete. Should happen tomorrow. I'll need more SpaFlex to complete the bathroom and the run to the tank but we're getting close to water!!!!

[BigBlueTang]

Originally Posted by tkeracer619

I ended up having to cut off the ends in a space that is about as skinny as I am fat.

You can see signs of a struggle (45deg elbows and PVC primer on the ground).

I'll need more SpaFlex to complete the bathroom and the run to the tank but we're getting close to water!!!!

The first two lines crack me up That's why my skinny self is useful I guess..

Water! So excited!! Everything looks great! Post pictures of the bathroom when you're done with it!

[sirreal63]

Love the lighting! There is no comparison to the large reflectors, coupled with M80's and Radiums it is a winning combination.