Dbarnes 225 In-wall Tank Build

[Dbarnes]

OK so as some of you may know two days ago my DT poped a seam and made a mess so after a five hour clean up and a good hard look at why i should spend the money to rebuild the ultimate build i deiced i better just do it!!!! So i am going to go pickup a 225 starfire glass tank with dual overflows in the corners this evening. I have been blessed with a day off today to persue my plans and i have finally got them together and drafted to where i think they should work. In addition to the tank and stand builds i will have to make the hole in the wall larger in order to fit the new tank. I will also be building out the rest of my fish room so i can insulate the entire room in order to keep down the cost to heat the tank as it is in the basement. right now my equipment will stay the same with the exception of a new return pump wich will be 2000gph/ 1600gph @ 5' head. I will be running 4 AI sol blues and 3mp40's along with my DA controller (apex if i brake down and buy one) the whole system will be design so that the refuguim runs directly into the display tan kwithout passinng through any pumps or implellers, hopefully meaning that a bunch of copods and other small inverts can travel directly to the DT coral and fish. Thsi build is set on a 10day scheduel cuz thats the time i have before my company gets busy again. I plan on welding steel stands for both the DT and support system, they will be powder coated to prvent any rusting. Im also planing on using a compsite shelving for the racking, while using 1/2" foam and 3/4" ply under the DT. My ultimate goal is to make the systme care free and easy to maintain as i am out of town fairly often. I also am trying to make it run on a max of 8KW per day, This will only be achivable if i am able to keep the heaters down by insulating the room and keeping it heated. so stay tuned and ill post lots of pics.


heres the designs, im always open for ideas View attachment 8084 View attachment 8085 View attachment 8086

 

[Craigar]

Glad you got that tank following along cause this should be a good build!!!

 

[cdrewferd]

Can't wait. Glad you found the sized tank you wanted.


Drew

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[Haddonisreef]

Sounds like a very well planed build look foreward to seeing the out come in t minus 240 hrs!

 

[Haulin Oates]

Awesome!! Glad your set back didn't force you out of the hobby!! Following! If you need any help let me know!!

 

[Lowenbrau]

Sounds great. Good luck with the build.

 

[280g-reefman]

Would recomend some corner supports on the bottom of your metal stand too. I just built one and spent countless hours researching it.

 

[280g-reefman]

Also think a couple center vertical supports for the stand would be a good idea unless you are using 2" support beams horizontally.

 

[Dbarnes]

Can't wait. Glad you found the sized tank you wanted.


Drew

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It was the exact tank i want, guy kinda screwed me by selling some of the other equipment out from under me but the tank was nice and thats all i cared about

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[Dbarnes]

Also think a couple center vertical supports for the stand would be a good idea unless you are using 2" support beams horizontally.

Yes and yes on the additional supports, i kinda forgot the center braces in the plan.

Picked up all the metal tube and the tank yesterday so here we go! I hope i can clean the tank today or at least get it soaking in vinegar

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[Dbarnes]

Alright i got dome pics now.

Spent the whole weekend getting stands welded and just now got them primed and going to paint tomorrow morning just in time to move the tank in.

Cleaned up the tank with a hotsy and a bunch of vinigar, also got the fish room studded out and wall rebuilt to satify the larger tank.

Heres some pics

This is the old stand and current mess!!

Tank before cleaning, already rinsed and free of sand and **** that was in it.

And here we are after four hours of work! Bot a single scratch!

I will post up some more pics tomorrowas work continues, the moving party is tomorrow and should see it in the wall!

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[andynco]

What a great size tank! What the stocking ideas!:smile:

 

[daverf]

Wow! Following.

 

[Craigar]

Let's see some pics

 

[cdrewferd]

Did you get the tank moved last night?


Drew

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[tlsrcs]

looks good man sorry i couldnt help move it but maybe i can swing by and help with something else.

 

[Dbarnes]

Alright time for an update i suppose.. my deadline came and went and i haven't even added water yet however i have added quiet a few items to the build and insuring i don't have to redo anything i have been planning and replanning many things. I got all the walls up and the hole relocated along with trim work and insulation. I started plumbing overflows and return lines byt will continue that process tomorrow. I added two 30amp dedicated circuit's to the fish room just to make sure i have no future issues with not having adiquit power where and when i need it. We got the tank downstairs (thanks matt) and stands and walkabout added. The walkabout is a 28" high platform all the way around the tank allowing me much easier access and the ability to reach anywhere in the tank without tongs or scuba gear. I ordered two more AI sol blues with black body to match my current lights as well as tracked down a third mp40 and some awesome sand (thanks majicmike) at this point it looks to be another week of work prior to water being added and sump running. I hope to get alot of the plumbing done this weekend including my new R/O station that as u can see in the photos will house two 100gal per day units, just incase my town of 400 decides they also want purified water lol no really my plumber will be tieing in my main tap from my fridge and sink to R/O. At this rate im not sure tge stock list but tge Achilles is still doing great and will meet his new home soon enough. I plan on having firefish (wife likes um) blue lined rabbit, snowflake clowns, flasher wrasse, trio of athias, blue shoulder tang, white cheek tang, pipe fish, and many more but haven't started my order yet. I plan on having QT tanks set up and ready to go tomorrow so i can being receiving some of the fish in next week some time. I will post pics soon but please look past the monstrous mess!!!

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[Dbarnes]

Ok heres pics like i said look past the mess. Alot of the work so far has been walls, electrical, mechanical support.

New look from viewing side

New trim design, still needs sanded and painted but overall im happy with the design, did a similar design in a highend home and always thought i liked it

New door to new fish room

Back of DT on left is sump and reff stands.

Sump and reff stand. Reff is on top and will feed direct to DT.

Moved old overflow to new reff tank. Glass holes 2x 1 1/2"

QT tank outlets and switchs. I plan on four 30gal tanks

Looking end to end on DT

Begining of the R/O station


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[Haddonisreef]

Looks good man keep it up!

 

[WatercolorsGuy]

Awesome! Looks well thought out. Great job!