Dude I Know : Aquarium Project

The Aquarium Project

[Updated : 08-02-03]

Plans:

1) Aquarium Measurements :
     96 inches Wide
     24 inches Tall
     30 inches Deep
2) Stand : to hold aquarium.
3) Lighting Hood : for the aquarium.
4) Sump : within the stand.
5) Plumbing : for the sump/aquarium.

Size in Gallons : Approx. 300 Gallons

Synopsis:

To make a 300 gallon custom-built aquarium out of plywood, glass(or acrylic) and pvc plumbing including all accessories necessary to efficiently and cleanly run it.

Supplies Needed

A complete listing of all the tools and supplies I'll need for every stage and item of the project.

Supplies for the Aquarium:
Item	Where to use	Where I found	Approx Price
3/4" Sheets of Plywood CD Grade 4' X 8' (I went with lower grade - the PLYs appear stronger and I think that the cosmetic defects will not hinder the project, plus it was $10 cheaper per sheet!)	Aquarium Sides/Bottom	Home Depot	$15.96 per sheet
Epoxy Paint 1.5 gal. of epoxy and hardener	Aquarium to coat inside of plywood exposed to water	Online Price	$69.00
2 1/2" Deck screws	Aquarium to connect plywood	Ace Hardware	$2.59 Lb
Liquid Nails	Aquarium added strength when connecting plywood	Lowe's	$1.97 per 10.5 oz
G.E. door and window Silicon (GE012A)-(will need 5-6??)	Aquarium to seal Glass to Plywood	Home Depot	$3 for 10 oz.
Wood Glue	Stand used with screws for added strength	Home Depot	$4
Wood Screws (Brass if cost effective) Zinc 50 (#10) 2 1/2 inches long	Stand used with Glue for added strength	Home Depot	$2.80
Steel Elbows for added strength and support (need 4-8)	-	-	$1.70ish each
1/2" - 3/4" thick plate Glass or possibly Acrylic	Aquarium front	-	??? $200 - $250
Bottom, Sides, and Back will be constructed from 3/4" Plywood (high grade) which will then be coated with an Aquarium (food grade) Epoxy Paint to seal the wood. Multiple coats of the Epoxy Paint will be required.
Supplies for the Stand:
Item	Where to use	Where I found	Approx Price
2"x4" - 8 feet long	-	-	Approx $2.80 each
Plywood for sides, front, bottom, and possibly top	-	-	-
Screws 2 1/2" Zinc Wood Screws	-	-	-
Wood Glue	-	-	-
Wood Stain/Paint	-	-	-
Supplies for the Hood / Lights:
Item	Where to use	Where I found	Approx Price
Plywood	-	-	-
Flourescent Bulbs	-	-	-
Ballast	-	-	-
Wire	-	-	-
Flourescent Fittings / End Caps	-	-	-
Hinges	-	-	-
Screws	-	-	-
Wood Glue	-	-	-
Supplies for the Sump:
Item	Where to use	Where I found	Approx Price
Rubbermaid Plastic Storage Tote Minimum size 55 Gallon	-	-	-
PVC pipe or Plastic Tubing	-	-	-
PVC Glue	-	-	-
PVC Joints/Bends	-	-	-
3 Pieces of Acrylic/Plexiglass	-	-	-
Silicon Sealent 100% Pure	-	-	-
Lava Rock/Bio Balls/other filteration Media	-	-	-
Misc Tools and Supplies:
Item		Where I found	Approx Price
Sander		Own	~$35
Sand Paper		-	$2-$5
Rubber Gloves		-	-
Drill		Home Depot	$25
Screw Driver Drill Bit		Home Depot	$2
Painting Materials - Brushes/Rollers/Pan		-	-
Caulking Gun		Lowe's	$1.85
Liquid Nails - Heavy Duty 10.5 oz.
Table Saw or Circular Saw		Borrowed	~$50+
Eye Protection		Own	~$2
Painting Mask		Own	~$2
Wood Stain/Paint (for exterior)		-	-

Before Starting

Research.. research.. plan.. design.. do more research.... go to local hardware stores and start pricing stuff. This is NOT a quick overnight project. I've been planing and designing and redesigning for close to a year now, the internet is a WONDERFUL resource and NEWSGROUPS are one of the BEST sources of information on the planet (www.google.com and do a GROUPS search). I'm compiling this information for my readers so you DON'T have to spend the weeks and months of research that I have already done.

First decide exactly how LARGE you want your aquarium to be. It's BEST to have a LONG, WIDE tank as opposed to a TALL tank. Taller tanks are harder to clean and require THICKER glass and sides due to the increased pressure on the BOTTOM (bottom sides) of the aquarium. Besides, how many fish just swim up and down??? Fish like to swim side to side... back to front... not as MUCH up and down. My suggestion would be, build the largest aquarium you can afford to that will fit where you want it to fit. As I write this BEFORE I start building, I anticipate that my greatest single expenses on this aqarium will be 1) the GLASS front and 2) a return pump from my sump.

Formula to calculate Gallons in a Rectangular Area

(L * W * H)/231 = Gallon capacity
L = Length in inches W = Width in inches H = Height in inches

12/8/01 - The work begins! Chapter 1 - The Stand

I figured that the BEST way to start this project would be to build the stand.

Today I went out and purchased lots of 2x4 x 8 Feet (they were approximately $2.60 each and I need about 13 of them).

I cut 28 pieces 30" long (these are going to be the MAIN supports of the Stand) and the 4 remaining 2x4 x 8 Feet will be used as top and bottom pieces in the front and back of the stand. Very important note here, when shopping for 2x4s, look at each and everyone carefully. Check it for straightness, damage, knot holes, dryness/wetness, and any other defects you can think of. Choose the BEST looking wood you can find. Here are the parts and steps you will need to take to build the stand framework.

1) Gather the following :

13 - 2x4 x 8 feet (my stand is going to be 30" x 30")
2 - boxes of 2 1/2 inch Wood Screws (each box had about 50 Screws)
1 - a good quality Drill (I bought one at Home Depot for $25)
2 - Drill Bits to piolet the holes. I believe I used a 7/64
1 - big bottle of Wood Glue (I used Elmers)
1 - a table saw or a circular saw or some other means to CUT the wood
1 - a measuring tape
1 - some form of writing utensil
1 - more then likely an extension cord will be necessary too
1 - a level

2) Measure and Cut the wood.

My stand is going to be 30" x 30" so every piece I'm cutting will be 30" long. That makes it easy for me. For a tank 96" long, I need 7 support legs. They will be spaced approximately every 16 inches. If you make your stand 60" long, then you would want 4 support legs (i.e. ONE support approximately every 16 inches of length). So in this step, I cut 28 2x4x30". Measure VERY carefully.. this will help avoid problems later on!

3) Use Pilot Holes to avoid splitting

Carefully Line up and Drill Pilot holes for each screw. This will lessen the chance for splitting the wood.

4) Wood Glue strengthens the entire frame.

Place a generous amount of Wood Glue between each board before you begin putting the Screws in. Wood Glue is a MUST as it adds extra strength to the whole structure.

5) Screw everything together.

Begin putting the screws in. If you are using a Drill to do this, becareful not to OVERPOWER the screw and strip the head to nothing. I did this many times and had to grab a pair of pliers and start turning in reverse to get those screws back out. It wasn't fun and I highly suggest trying not to strip the screw heads.

Pictures
Side view of the Aquarium Stand (skeleton)	Another sideview- NOTE the positioning of the 2x4s this is optimal for holding HUNDREDS of Gallons of water.
Front view of the Stand.

4-13-02 : Work finally starts again

Today I purchase 3 sheets of plywood. I know that my original plans called for AC grade plywood, but I decided to go with CD grade. Aside from a few "cosmetic" flaws, the plys seem to be better filled in the CD grade. Remember AC grade is more of an INDOOR wood, CD is more of an exterior wood. I HOPE this decision does not come back to haunt me later on.

I purchased 3 4' x 8' sheets of plywood for the sides and bottom of the tank, I also purchased 1 sheet of 4' x 8' cheap "scrap wood" to cut and use at the bottom layer of my stand.

Lastly I bought a box of 2 1/2" drywall screws for the project.

4-14-02 : In search of epoxy paint

I went in search of epoxy paint today. I tried Home Depot, Lowe's, and even discovered a local Sherwin William's store near by. None of them had what I needed. The guy at Sherwin William's said that their main store in Phoenix carries products like what I'm looking for, but his particular store only stocks standard painting items. While at Lowe's I bought some Heavy Duty Liquid Nails and a Caulking Gun.

10-5-02 : Back to WORK!

It has been a HECTIC life the past 6 months. With a new baby and going BACK to school, I haven't had the time or money needed to continue the project... until now! In the last week I have made some major strides into making this dream into a reality.

I have (as always) continued my research into plywood aquaria, and I have finally found a good epoxy paint! It's called "Bar Rust 233H" by ICI Devoe. I happen to have a friend that is in the concrete/flooring business and he has access to this stuff (at a GREAT price!) With this NEWS in hand, I got excited again. I discovered that one piece of the plywood that I was going to use to create the aquarium was massively warped. I decided to purchase anyother sheet at Home Depot. This time I had THEM cut it for me. Talk about a relief! I would HIGHLY reccommend that you have the store you purchase your wood from CUT it. Even if it cost 50 cents a cut, it is well worth it!

So now I find myself with all the wood cut and ready to assemble. This morning I decided it was time to do it! Using my Stand and some spare 2x4s I propt up the "back" piece on the ground and the "bottom" piece on the stand. In this manner the "bottom" was laying horizonally, on TOP of the "back" (which was standing vertically from the ground). I pioleted and drilled in 2 screws. (Screws are 2.5" Deck Screws - basically "drywall" screws, but of better quality). Then I pioleted every 3" along the wood. After all the piolet holes drilled, I removed the original two screws that I had previously put in. Then, I then lifted the "bottom" off of the "back" and I applied a nice THICK bead of Liquid Nails on the edge of the "back" piece. I quickly realigned the bottom piece and began putting the screws in. Liquid Nails ooozed out once the screws were tightened.

By the way, a GREAT tip on putting the screws in: DO NOT start on one side and work your way across. Instead screw in one screw on the right side, then one screw on the left side (and continue doing this until you finish in the MIDDLE of the board.) Another GREAT tip: purchase a "toilet bowl setting ring/gasket" (which looks like a circle of wax) and dip all your screws in it before screwing them it. It makes them a little easier going in and is suppose to help prevent "splitting."

After the "back" was attached to the "bottom", I grabbed an old rag and wiped away the excess liquid nails, and there was plenty of it! I then proceeded to attack the 2 sides using the same technique as I did for the "back".

I'm suppose to get the epoxy paint tomarrow night. The "plan" is to start painting that puppy this week! I still have NO clue as to what the cost of the "GLASS" is going to be. The estimate that I have seen on the net seems to indicate that I will be spending $200-$350 on it! OUCH!

Pictures
The Side,Back, and Bottom. You can see the Liquid Nails excess around the edges. A view of the "box". It's big, it ugly, and I love it!

10-27-02 : Epoxy Paint

Well after hearing story upon story about how BAD epoxy paint smelled, I was expecting to DIE when I mixed the epoxy paint together. I was pleasently surprised. In my opinion, the paint didn't smell TOO bad at all. I was working in my garage, with the garage door fully opened and 2 box fans blowing on me pushing air OUT of the garage. I mixed up 1/2 a gallon of the epoxy paint and waited 20 minutes before I began having fun. For this part of the project, I work "older" cloths that I didn't mind getting paint on, and a nice pair of industrial grade rubber gloves. I grabbed a paint roller and started from the top and worked my way down. I figured that the paint would run some...... but to my surprise, this epoxy paint is THICK and goes on THICK. I quickly coated the entire inside of the aquarium and I STILL had LOTS of paint left in the pan. I knew that I would NOT be able to preserve this paint, so I made the decision to paint the OUTSIDE of the tank as well. The MORE I think about this decision, the happier I am. I figure having the water proff epoxy coating both on the inside and the outside of the tank, I will end up having a MUCH safer tank in the end. After appling the first coat I waited about an hour or so. When the paint was virtually dry, I threw on a second coat on the inside of the tank. At first I was concerned with making the paint SMOOTH. Then I decided that I didn't care about smoothness at all. I would rather have an aquarium with some personality. So I gupped on a second layer of epoxy paint. At this point I decided to let the whole tank CURE before proceeding. My wife and I went out to dinner and when I got back home I checked on the aquarium (in the now closed garage). The SMELL from the paint was horrendous! From this point on, I had the world's worst headache. In the morning I discovered that the paint had dired to a hard shelled coating on the aquarium.

I spent the last few weeks calling local GLASS companies. I was expecting to find the sheet of glass I needed for arround $200. Much to my surprise, I had difficulty just getting a glass company to GIVE me a price!! Most of them said they would call me back, but never did. A few quoted me in the $300-$400 range, 1 quoted me in the $800 range!! My BEST quote thus far has been for $215.

Pictures
All that BLUE stuff is my epoxy paint.

02-01-03 : Front Frame

After months more of planning, wishing I had spare money, and dealing with little Lorien, I have finally found a little time to put the "frame" around the front of the tank. I used Liquid Nails and a few more handfuls of those deck screws (spaced approx 2.5 - 3 inches apart) to get the frame connected to the rest of the tank. The frame itself is actually comprised of 4 pieces of wood. 2 - 96 inch long pieces running along the top and the bottom and 2 - 19 inch pieces for the sides (wedged between the 2 longer pieces).

Pictures
The Front Frame has been added and you can see my 2 durso standpipes up in the back.

March/April-03 : More supplies

Well once again TIME and money are a factor in this project... TIME being my biggest concern. During the months of March and April I manged to purchase a Danner Mag Supreme Pump rated at 2400 Gallons per hour at ZERO head. Translation... if the pump were pumping level with out pushing the water UP against gravity it could pump out 2400 gallons per hour. At 4 feet of HEAD, its rated at approx 1800 Gallons per hour, and that is close to what I'm shooting for. I ordered this bad boy from www.bigalsonline.com for approx $130!

I managed to go to Home Depot and buy more supplies... this time I bought Coral Granite landscaping rock. I believe this stuff ran around $5.00 per bag and I got 4-5 bags. Gotta remember to soak this stuff thoughly before placing it in the tank.

I began work on the "filtration boxes" as I like to call them. These 2 sections will be locate inside the aquarium in the back. The Durso Standpipe will reside in them. I cut them to form a 5" X 7.5" box with the back wall of the tank. They will be glued in sometime in the future.

Other tasks completed / started:
Purchased 55 Gallon Rubbermaid "Roughneck" Tote - section 1 of Sump
Purchased 30 Gallon Rubbermaid Tote - section 2 of Sump
Purchased 2 - Plasic Drawer systems 3 drawers each - to be used in each sump section as the MAIN filteration of the entire system. I plan to put foam-sponge material in the top drawer and bioballs in the 2nd drawer. My calculations were OFF as to the heigth of my stand and there really won't be enough room to utilize all 3 drawers, so I will have to cut them down to 2 drawers each. I'll go into greater detail about these when I actually put them together.
Managed to find a few decent deals on "Bulkheads" on Ebay. I won 2 separate auctions: 9 - 1 1/2 inch bulkheads and 7 - 1 inch bulkheads. I believe I paid about $20 for each auction. When I got the 1 1/2 inch bulkheads I was amazed at how BIG these things are, so the 1 inchers will come in quite handy I think.
Purchases a "Hole Saw" add on for my drill so I can drill HOLES for my bulk heads. The 1 inch bulk heads require a 1 3/4 in hole and the 1 1/2 inch bulkheads require a 2 1/4 (I think) hole. More about the bulkheads when I write up my plumbing section.
My BIG purchase came in April when I ordered my sheet of acrylic. I struggled for months with the choice between acrylic and glass. Glass would be HEAVY and 1/2 inch thick (which could effect the clarity of viewing thru). Arcylic would be lighter and more optically clear, but would also require a THICKER sheet (as per an email conversation I had with the people at WetWebMedia.com), 3/4 inch thick to be exact, and acrylic has the added problem of scratching MUCH easier than glass. Acrylic is 8 times strong than glass, and doesn't shatter like glass. Instead, acrylic will BOW under pressure. That is the reason I was recommended to use 3/4 inch versus 1/2 inch arcylic. 1/2 could easily hold back the water that I was planning to put in my aquarium... the question was could it hold it back without bowing?? So I made the decision to go with acrylic. A few months back, I found a few sources for a sheet 2 feet by 8 feet. Well, now that I was ready to order the size I NEEDED was no longer available! After posting on a few of my favorite "aquaria" message boards (Predatoryfish.net - ReefCentral.com - AquariaCentral.com) I found a place in Utah called Delvies Plasics (DeliviesPlastics.com). I had to order a FULL sheet that's 8 feet by 4 feet (had I known this before I started my aquarium, I would have made a MUCH taller aquarium! They quoted me 3/4" clear 48" x 96" cut to 24" x 94 1/2" is $224.00, with $65 for a truck to ship it from Utah to Central Arizona. So I paid about $300 for the acrylic... and now I have enough for 2 tanks!

pictures to be inserted ASAP

06-03-2003 : Installing the filteration boxes

Well Marcy and Lorien headed to Oregon for a few weeks to visit her Grandparents, now I the FIRST and probably ONLY opportunity I will ever have to finish this aquarium. I decided it was time to install the overflow filteration boxes in the tank. My original plan was to glue them in then add screws to the back and then epoxie paint over the glue. I decided that the screws MIGHT be an unnecessary risk. Let me explain. Any leaking into these boxes would be bad, but NOT detremental to the integrity of the aquarium itself. My greatest problem could be (assuming I have leaks into these boxes) IF power goes out, this boxes will continue to overflow into my sumps and eventually wreek havok on my living room. I was willing to risk having SMALL leaks by only going with the Glue (ala Liquid Nails) and the epoxy paint coating the glue and any spots which I might have missed.

Pictures
That's my sheet of acrylic, man is it THICK! 3/4 inch to be exact! That a Standpipe, Durso style! Comprised of 1 1/2 inch PVC parts and a 1 1/2 inch bulkhead. A view of the BOTTOM of the tank, you can see both of the 1 1/2 in bulkheads sticking out.

06-05-03 : Installing the Bulkheads

.

With all the holes drilled and all the bulkheads preped, I generously coated each bulkhead gasket in silicon and then laid a bead of silicon down where the bulkhead was to be placed. I screwed each bulkhead in from the bottom as tight as I could and then moved onto the next one. When all was said and done, I install 2 1.5" bulkheads for the overflow boxes, 6 - 1" bulkhead for bottom drainage and cleaning, and 1-1" bulkhead for pump return water from the sumps.

06-08-2003 : More Epoxie Paint!

With loads of Liquid Nails now dried on the overflow boxes, I decided it was time to add more epoxie paint to the tank. I covered the new glue, the sides, all corners around the tank, any area with exposed wood which I may have missed before and basically added another coat to the entire interior of the tank.
Some notes about epoxie paint...
1) it utterly destroys the paint brushes you are using to put it on with. After about 5 minutes of painting expect your brush to become globbed up with the paint... the brush then becomes totally useless. So remember to buy LOTS of cheap brushes!
2) Epoxie paint, UNMIXED will always be somewhat wet! Keep this in mind when a few days later you put your hand down on the old lid of the paint-side that was NEVER mixed with the hardener. You will find yourself covered in this stuff rather quickly.
3) if epoxie paint dries on your cement drive way... it will be there FOREVER! A drops conglomerated on my cement garage floor... a few days later I was hitting it with a "C-clamp" and it wasn't phasing it. Another day later I took a hammer to it.. sure the epoxie paint came up... but it took some of my cement with it!
4) I wouldn't say the epoxie paint was the WORST smelling stuff I've ever worked (last week I used some "Scrub Free" for my shower.. that stuff literally almost knocked me out!) with, but you MOST definately want to have a fan running and some good airflow when you are appling this stuff.

Pictures
Epoxy Paint and my "chemical warefare" golves. Overflows installed and everything given another coat of epoxy paint.

06-10-03 : Installing the Acrylic Sheet

I purchased 5 calking tube of Silicon (GE Clear labled for Window and Door - I found many website that list this as a SAFE silicon for aquariums as it contains NO mildewcides and is 100% PURE Silicon) at Home Depot. My friend Neal came over and we fliped the aquarium on it's side so that the FRONT was actually laying face down against my stand. Neal began removing the protective sheet from the acrylic while I put gobs and gobs of silicon down on the front "frame". I was astounded at how quickly I was reloading silicon calking tubes. I quickly found myself on my 5th tube. I laid down about 4 tubes worth of Silicon and then we moved the acrylic into place. My plan was to let gravity take it's course and let the sheet of acrylic just lay flush against the front frame and cure in that silicon. Well, life isn't fair... I very quickly noticed that my 100% dead even, flat sheet of 3/4" thick acrylic was NOT sitting flush again the lower front frame. Apparently my frame was slightly bowed. ARG! So we quickly made the decision to stand the tank back upright (so the sheet of acrylic was standing upright in the aquarium. Neal grabbed the silicon caulking gun and began squeezing off silicon to fill the gaps between the frame and the acrylic sheet. I grabbed about 7 C-Clamps and clamped the TOP of the Acrylic to the frame. I then looked around and grabbed anything I could find that I though could help put pressure between the back of the tank and the front piece of the acrylic.
We messed with it for awhile adding silicon all around the edges of the acrylic sheet and any where it came in contact with the wood.

Pictures
Installation of the Acrylic Sheet..thanx for all the help "c-clamps"!

06-12-03 : Installation of Threaded Bars - First Water Test

Well many many trips to Home Depot and Ace Hardware have provided me with TONS of 1 inch PVC parts. Of all "sections" of this project, the PLUMBING section has cost MORE then I could ever have imagined! I will have a "break down" of costs at a later date, but rest assured... I know I spent a minimum of $70 just on pvc stuff.
My goal was to get enough plumbing DONE to allow me to water test the tank. Which meant doing almost ALL the plumbing, but I thought I would NOT seal a few items and I learned that probably wasn't a very good idea.

I also installed what I call "bracer bars" in the tank. These "bars" are actually 32 inch long 1/2 thick threaded bolts with out an end. They are necessary to help eliviate the pressure that the water will create on the MID-TOP section of the aquarium. Without these bars, I risk the tank and the acrylic bowing extremely in the middle. So I drilled a few hold in front frame and the back of the aquarium (approximately 1/2 inch down) and insterted the bars. I added a few nuts on both the inside and the outside of the bars, and they were set.

When I felt comfortable with the plumbing, the epoxy paint, and everything else, I decided it was time to water test the aquarium. Thus the filling began. As I filled all 300 gallons, I walked around the tank and looked for leaks. And I found what I was looking for. True be told, virtually every bulkhead had a slow leak. This was something I was afraid of as I was connecting the PVC to the bulkhead under the tank. The 1 inch bulkheads used for draining the take were suppose to connect to 1 inch pvc parts. Well, 1 inch pvc fit into the bulkhead... but very loosely. I attempted to compinsate buy using LOTS of the pvc glue.... apparently it DIDN'T work. The only other leaks that I found were all due to incomplete plumbing AKA I did BOND/Teflon tape everything up yet.
The 2 sumps I have (the 55 gallon and the 30 gallon Rubbermaid containers) were drilled and a 1 1/2 inch bulkhead was installed in each. I put silicon on BOTH sides of these bulkheads, so I HOPE they hold and don't leak.

Pictures

Some of the plumbing I have under the tank.

55 Gallon Container

The BIG sump (55 Gallon) get a bulkhead.

The smaller sump also gets a bulk head. The PLAN is to connect them together via some vinyl hose.

stabilizing bars

Filled with water the stabilizer bars are hold great!

cracks starting appearing

Now after the water settled into the tank... I did begin to notice some small cracks in the areas that only received LIGHT coating of epoxy paing. I assume these cracks are from the pressure of the water.

06-15-03 : Water Test #2

Water Test #1 wasn't too bad, but I did discover a FEW leaks! (one of my methods for detecting leaks in my Overflow chambers was to add a few droped of food coloring to the water. The coloring went right to the leaks! Very handy tip!) The leaks seemed to occur mostly around bulkheads and my 2 Overflow boxes apparently aren't 100% sectioned off from the tank either (both seemed to have small leaks). So I drained the aquarium... all 300 gallons (I hope my TREES appreciated that!) utilizing the 4 bulkhead I installed on the bottom of the tank for "quick draining". It still took quite awhile to drain, but I was MUCH easier then siphoning water out! I used some shower towels to sop of the rest of the water on the bottom of the tank, then let the tank "air dry" for a few days.

Since I'm out of epoxy-paint, I have decided that SILICON will be my BEST bet in stopping these leaks. I basically put silicon on every seem and any area where I felt the epoxy paint "might" fail. I then let the tank sit for another couple of days for the silicon to cure. I also added additional silicon to the bottomside of most of the bulkheads again.

Today is the 14th and it's time to fill her up again! This time I filled up the overflows first to see if they were still leaking. The overflow on the left side of the tank seemed good, the one on the right side seemed to have a VERY very small leak still.
Then I put the hose on high, filled Tears for Fears "Everybody wants to Rule the World" on my CD player and I sat back and watch the water rise.
When the water hit the fill point, I turned on my Mag Supreme 2400 pump (with a make-shift spray bar that I made specifially to test out my water flow) and I watched my overflows, sumps, and that pump go at it.

06-21-03 : Arg, another LEAK!

The TOP lefthand corner of the tank has developed a leak! This is the FIRST leak I've had around the acrylic. It appears that water is getting between my silicon and the acrylic at the VERY top of the tank. Luckily this should be the easiest area to FIX a silicon problem. For good measures, I have turned off the pump and lowered the water level below this point to let the area dry out so I can initiate some repairs in the near future.

06-29-03 : Draining the tank again / Cleaning the gravel

The tank has had water in it for quite sometime now and I felt it appropriate to drain it and fix all the few problems that I have noticed. I have 2 spot on the bottom outside of the tank where VERY very very slow leaks have occured over the past week. Both minor leak have either stopped or slowed to an incredibly slow rate. These 2 leaks worry me MORE then anothers. Since that have occured within the OUTSIDE wood itself, I have been unable to successfully track exactly where the leaks have originated from. My biggest concern is that even though the leaks seemed to have stopped, where was the water coming from and WHY did the leaks stop? My greatest FEAR was that the leaks were allowing water to go though the wood and that the water was EXPANDING the wood and slowing the leak down. Of course water IN the wood itself could also mean ROTTING and weaking the wood. I was going to have to do something to ensure that those leaks were stopped from INSIDE the tank.
Thus today became drain the tank day.... AGAIN! I decided that I wasn't just going to waste all that water this time. I have purchased 6 bags of landscaping gravel from Home Depot recently and it need to be cleaned. I had 4 bags of 1/2 inch "Coral Granite" and 2 bags of 3/8 inch "Coral Granite". There is NO actual "Coral" in the "Coral Granite"... that's just to describe the pinkish color of the stone. Since this is actual gravel and not that expensive stuff that the pet stores sell, I had to CLEAN the gravel. Let me tell you something, NOTHING stinks more then cleaning dirt off of bigger pieces of dirt! With the water draining from the aquarium, I rinsed my gravel... over and over and over again. 2 hours of rinsing and my back was killing me from being hunched over.

07-11-03 : Paint, we need MORE paint!

Well, I decided the BEST way to ensure that I won't have any leaks would be to add another coat of epoxy-paint. My source once again set me up with the stuff I needed, only he couldn't get me blue this time, so this shade is a grey-blue-white color. Not exactly what I had in mind... but beggars can't be choosers. Painting the interior of the aquarium was MUCH more difficult this time. I had to literally climb INTO the aquarium and in a hunched over position slap some paint down. It wasn't fun, and inspite of the fact that I had the garage open and 2 box fans blowing, my head was so close to the paint I was getting a nasty "high" from the paint fumes. This time around, I also noticed that when I managed to get paint on the rubber gloves I was wearing, I could feel the "hot" chemical reaction the epoxy was having. I was also told that the epoxy-paint wouldn't bond to silicon. Well, I have silicon almost everywhere in this aquarium and I wasn't about to pull it all up. I decided to paint over it, knowing that the silicon was already filling possible holes and that this coating of epoxy-paint will HOPEFULLY reinforce the silicon. Time will tell and I HOPE this doesn't come back to bit me on the butt. Since this new color isn't exactly what I had in mind for the aquarium, I'm now leaning to making my own background... more money, more money!

07-12-03 : Painting again...

Ok I had one section left to paint in the tank so I mixed up some more epoxy paint and I hopped in the aquarium. This time I placed a fan facing directly INTO the aquarium. I found this GREATLY helped with the smell! I touched up a few areas that I missed yesterday and painted the few areas I missed. I forgot to wear my hat which I later regretted. Apparently I began sweating (who would have thunk that in Arizona in mid July!) I did as I always do... pushing my hair back with my hand. 15 minutes later after I was done painting I happened to reach up to touch my hair. I was ROCK hard! ARG! Well to make a LONG story short after using soap, shampoo, and various other things... I decided to go with the solvent on a comb. This method worked pretty good (much to my happiness). So now the entire tank is painted... AGAIN. I'm quite confident in this paint job.

07-13-03 : Filler Up bud...

Ok back to the hose again. Fill fill fill. Everything SEEMED to be going well.. once again. Then a few of the damn bulkheads leaked a little. I never could get a GREAT seal with them. Not something I'm too worried about. So long as I have plenty of epoxy paint and silicon, I believe those can be "bartered" with.
I STILL have one leak coming from the bottom of the tank around the area where one of my overflow boxes is located. This leak GREATLY concerns me. I thought with the addition of ANOTHER layer of epoxy paint, that ALL strange, unexplainable leaks would disappear. This one has NOT! And to be quite truthful, I'm NOT sure where this one is originating. Best case scenario, it is SOMEHOW leaking from a bulkhead and just moving along the bottom of the tank to this point. Worst case scenario... I have a LEAK in the bottom of the tank from an epoxy painted area. Gonna HAVE to figure this one out. For the time being, I put a towel in the area of the leak so soak up the water.

07-14-03 : Darn it, ANOTHER leak!

Once again that leak from the upper righthand corner of the tank has emerged. I have decided that my BEST course of action is to get a syring and needle and literally PUMP some silicon in the area that apparently has some gaps. I'm not quite sure how the silicion will flow though a syring/needle, but I HOPE this will work. I've lowered the water level enough to STOP this leak for the time being.

07-19-03 : Attempt at fixing those leaks

Well, I managed to get a big syring and an nice size needle. I hoped to push this into the areas where the leaks are occuring within the silicon and to FILL my gaps up with fresh silicon. Instead, I QUICKLY learned that silicon will push VERY slowly out of the needle in normal air. However, silicon will NOT come out of the needle once it is inserted into my preexisting silicon, at least I don't THINK much is coming out. I've attempted to "fill" all my leaks.. now to let it dry and refill tomorrow.

07-20-03 : Filler back up ... test those leaks!

This routine is getting old... I once again, did NOT fix the leaks! In fact, I believe I made them WORSE. Well, I've come to the conclusion that there are ONLY 2 ways to stop a leak. 1) from the OUTSIDE where the leak is going to, or 2) from the INSIDE where the leak is coming from.
I've decided the best course of action is to drain the tank (again) and to remove as much OLD silicon as I can along the seam where the leak is occuring. Thus tonight I have once again watered most of the plants in my front yard with about 300 gallons of "aquarium water".

07-21-03 : Silicon removal

Well at about 10PM I headed to the garage to begin work again. With a "box cutter" (razor blade) and a flat head screwdriver, I cut out and pulled off as much silicon as I possible could along that seam. When I felt I had done enough and HOPED that I had finally fixed the problem, I applied NEW silicon along the seam. It was about 11:30 when I called it quits.

07-22-03 : Hood - working on the Hood

Once again, I got a LATE start, around 8PMish, and I decided NOT to fill up the tank. Instead I decided to work on the hood. From what I have so far, I'm NOT thrilled. My original thought on the hood included plans to basically have to major sections. The RIGHT 48" of the tank and the LEFT 48" of the tank. I didn't really want to have to open a FULL 8' section when I want to fed the fish. The hood has 3 different areas on the "top" section. The section furthest from the front is directly connected to the BACK section of the hood, which is also connect to the "SIDE" section. The MIDDLE top section is where the light fixture will be mounted. I put the section on a "piano hinge" so that I could "flip" it upright to intall bulbs and preform maintenence. The next section of the TOP of the hood closest to the front also was connected via "piano hinge" to the mid section. This enables me to OPEN a small section to feed the fish.
Well, I hadn't taken into account the weight of the wood (of the HOOD). The wood was ALL basically sagging from the BACK of the tank to the Front of the tank. Frankly it looked HORRIBLE! I was almost ready to throw out my orginal plans and start completely fresh. Then it hit me. What I needed to do was add a brace in the middle of the tank going from front to back that would support the entire hood. One problem, my light fixtures areeach 48" long. The 2 major section of the hood (aka the RIGHT side and the LEFT side) we designed to hold those fixtures perfectly, without any extra room. I now had the need for some room for the middle support brace. Ok, it's now be creative time!
I decided the best way to make it ALL work was to cut some hole in the "sides" of the hood and have my fixtures using some of the space that was once occupied by the wood. It was TOO late to make as much noise as I wanted to, so I did some other work on the hood.

07-23-03 : Center Brace devised

Well, I spend MOST of my day working on the aquarium.
First I filled it back up.
After a few hours I discovered a pinhole leak coming from the area that I thought I had fixed. I carefully watched it and determined that it was a very very minor problem. As a matter of fact, it was only dripping every 15-20 minutes and then it would stop leaking for quite sometime. I determined the BEST course of action would be to put a few drops of silicon where the water was dripping from.

Then I constructed a "center support brace" for the hood. Next, I worked on the hood. I had lots of holes to cut to accomadate the light fixture. My light fixture also stated "to be hung only, do not mount directy to ceiling", I decided to cut a BIG hole in my wood to allow the balast to cool off.
After much sawing I finally had all the holes where I needed them. I then layed down mylar on the internal parts of the hood to act as a reflecting material for the light. I installed the fixture and the bulbs.
Lastly, I turned the light on. I was a GREAT site and I was very proud that my aquarium had (at least 1/2) it's light up.

07-24-03 : Lights, Stain, and Good Times

Lots done today!
I installed my 2nd light fixture. This time it only took 1/2 the time... helps when you know what your doing! After testing the lights, I then broke out the "stain". Mohagany stain/polyurathane finish in ONE product. I did some light touch up sanding before applying the stain. The aquarium is REALLY looking good now!
For the longest time I have wanted to get a LIGHT for my sump section (aka under the tank within the "stand area"). My original though was a standard fixture with a standard incadecent bulb. I wasn't too keen on the idea though. Water, Glass, Heat... not a really good combo. My next thought was of a halogene accent fixture... then I realized even THOUGHS little accent lights get incredibly hot. Then I considered a flourecent fixture.... still big and clunky and MIGHT not put light where I need it. Finally the answer emerged. Rope light! I found an 18' strand of WHITE rope light at Home Depot. I wasn't sure how much light it would put out, but it was CHEAP (about $12), it was waterproff, it doesn't put out much heat, and it seemed easy to install. So that's what I went with. I installed it tonight and turn it on HOPING thet it would give me enough light to see the bowels of my system. To my delight, it works GREAT!

All and all, I think the tank is ALMOST ready! I do have a FEW jobs left on it though... such as: need to add doors and a finish to the stand, need to do the electrical section, need to add MORE flow hole to one of my overflows, need to finish installing mylar, and lastly need to complete a background for the tanks.

Pictures
July 24, 2003 - Hood basically finished and stained, light fixtures installed.

07-27-03 : Hood completed!

Well, with my wife's help we managed to take OFF the canopy hood and put it in the back of my truck. From here I was able to add the rest of the MYLAR. I had purched a 50 foot roll off of ebay for about $15.00. From what I understand, this stuff is used in hydroponic gardening and it is HIGHLY reflective. I decided that THIS was the BEST route to go for the inside of my hood. Now I had already added the mylar to the midsection of the hood, under the light fixtures, and I had added it to one of the two front sections. So basically I had ONE big 8 foot by about 16 inch section to do and one small section about 10 inches by 4 feet. I used silicon to "glue" the mylar down. I had anticipated using 1, maybe 2 tubes of silicon. When all was said and done, I had used over 3 tubes! In retrospect, I probably should have epoxypainted the inner hood and then just layed the mylar in the "wet" epoxy paint. OHH well, next time!
I had been planning to make my OWN background for the aquarium out of stryofoam and epoxy paint coated in sand, but after using three tubes of silicon on this relatively small area for the mylar, I decided that I couldn't afford to put up my background with silicon. Heck, I would probably have to use 20+ tubes! So the background is on hold for now

Another task I completed today was to drill some larger holes for one of my overflow sections. Apparently I was out of my mind when I first drilled some of the holes. I drilled 2 of the "higher" then all the rest. These 2 holes are SO high in fact, that water never has the opportunity to flow do them! Since I've been throttling BACK my pump I figured that an increased water flow through the overflows would be an improvement.

I mixed up a small batch of epoxy paint and painted my center brace and the new holes in the overflows.

08-02-03 : Doors, filteration, and sectioning off the electric area

What a day... a very very very LONG day of working on the aquarium.
I believe I wandered out to the garage at about 10:30AM or so. I had lots of work planned and I was hoping to bring the bohemeth inside tonight. So here is what was on my agenda:

1. to place 6 hinged doors on the front of the stand. Remember, I have a ONE year old daughter, the last thing I need in my life is her wandering into my SUMPS! Not to mention that without a covering of some sort, the front of the stand looks pretty bad.
This task involved my CUTTING plywood to the correct sizes, putting the hinges on, and making sure everything lined up correctly. Tools needed to do all of this: Drill to piolet holes, and screw in the screws. Skill Saw to cut the plywood. Sander to make things look nice and to even some edges, and of course Mr. Tape Measure.

2. Next I had to section off ONE of my pvc plumbing sections. I decided that the far RIGHT side of the stand would house all my electrical outlets. This is a grand idea, except for the fact that I have a bulkhead and pvc coming out partially in that section. I decided my best bet was to basically BOX everything off. I added some 2x4s and some plywood to the interior of the stand and I had my section.
Tools need to do this task: Skill saw to cut the wood, Drill to piolet and the screw in the deck screws, and of course my handy measuring tape.

3. Step 3, adding panels to the 2 sides of the stand. I want both of these to be removable just in case I ever need to pull out my sumps (oohhh I dread that thought). I basically just cut some plywood to fit and I was done.

4. Next item on the list. Prepare filteration section. My 2 filters are EACH comprised of a 2 drawer plasic storage cabinet, and my sumps. All water from my overflows will go though ONE of the 2 plasic drawer sets. In the TOP drawer of each set I have placed bedding foam to catch all the nasties floating in the water. Below the foam is a thin layer of Red Lava Rock, which I'm using as a "bio-ball" material. The bottom of the top draw is drilled with a "gerbillion" holes (lemme tell ya, drilling all those holes is SOOO much fun... ARG!). Basically the holes act as a drip plate. Water runs though them and areates along the way. In my lower drawer I have lots more Red Lava Rock, and once again the bottom of that drawer is loaded with holes. With a system of this design, I could easily add in another sold materials to help in filteration.

5. The drainage system. I have designed 4 pvc loops to be connected to each of my 4 drainage bulkheads. These sets will lay on the bottom of the aquarium and they are drilled with holes. My HOPE is that when I open a bulkhead, that the pvc loop attached to it will help CLEAN the bottom of the aquarium. IF I did this correctly, I WON'T have to gravel vaccume, instead the water and refuse will be sucked right out though my "holy" pvc loop. Today I drilled the snot out of those pvc sections. Ohhh more drilling... FUN!

6. Next I need to clean out the standing water in my sumps. I pulled both of them out and washed them out with a garden hose.

7. It was now time to rinse the inside of the aquarium out. I had managed to get LOTS of saw dust in there and the tiny bit of water resting at the bottom of the tank made it into a sludge. So I turned on the hose and opened the drainage bulkhead and cleared MOST of that garbage out.

8. At this time my good friends, Neal and Tom, came over and we decided it was TIME to MOVE THE MONSTER!!!
I quickly made a board with wheels to put under one side of the tank to make our lives easier. This worked very nicely! Now originally I had measure and planned this aquarium to fit through my FRONT door. When we got the aquarium to the door, it looked close. REAL close. We decided that we HAD to remove my front door. No big deal! After that, it was pretty smooth sailing. Now picture this... 3 guys, a funky homemade skateboard, and a 300 gallon aquarium and stand moving from garage to front door... I guess I'm lucky that NONE of the neighbors where outside. They were probably all INSIDE gawking at me!
So we managed to put the tank inside the house. I had HOPED to drain my 55 gallon and begin the procedure of transfering all my fish and water from the little tank to the big tank.... but that dream came to a screeching halt when my work crew deserted me! Well actually they were headed out to play Pool or something, and they promised to come back tomorrow. Which I guess works out, I was dog-tired. My body aches from all the cutting and drilling. It doesn't seem like I did much, but I was working on that aquarium from 10:30AM until about 8PM!

I HOPE to have some pictures up tomorrow night... time will tell. I STILL have to stain the stand and get the sump/filteration set up.

A PICTURE OF A 325 GALLON PLYWOOD/GLASS AQUARIUM

This is NOT my aquarium, but this is such a gorgeous aquarium, I HAD to throw a picture of it up. My aquarium should look something like this, but NOT this elaborate.
Here is what the builder had to say in his post on the rec.aquria.freshwater.misc newsgroup on 7-10-2002:
"It is 325 gallons, 8 feet long and a little over two feet tall. I built it following some plans on the internet. I know that there are probably a few others out there who have researched doing this and I wanted to say that it can be done. But unless you enjoy working with tools and with wood and tons of glue and silicon it is better to buy one outright. I started this in February and now it is mid July and it is cycling. I used 1/2 inch glass and 3/4 inch plywood. I do not know the exact cost (I am glad of this) but the glass alone was around $400. I almost gave up on it as the first time I filled it it started a slow leak after around 10 days. I took it down and redid the epoxy paint and this time also used fiberglass to line the bottom and sides. Having a tank this big is awsome. It is like being at the zoo. If you are thinking about doing this feel free to ask any questions you would like."
---Forte Agent (bob@hotmail.com)

Plywood/Glass Aquarium : 325 Gallon Aquarium