Not waiting specifically but yes most of that cash is in Strathmore now lol. Thanks again Greg hope that works for you.

Glad I could some what keep your build going along & I am more then sure the pump will be exactly what I need on the 250 :biggrin:

good on ya man....for taken one for the cause:wink:

ouch.. that's what you get for not calling me out to help lift :P

Ouch! but good save.

My hand and legs have been healing well from the sump ordeal and I have been tinkering with the build a little on weekends. Since I posted a bit of a spoiler in my other build thread I thought I better do a photo dump here as well.

First I laid 3 coats of Kilz on some plywood and then siliconed them to my stand. The stand needs to keep the moisture in the fishroom.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/404/skin1.jpg

Then I framed around the stand and popped insulation in there. The stand also needs to keep the noise and cool air in the fishroom.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/404/skin2.jpg

Framed the canopy which surrounds the tank but does not touch nor rest on it. You can see the 2x4 rail mounts across the floor joists for the plywood to connect to. I had to clear all the water pipes that pass through my condo unit into the adjacent units.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/404/skin3.jpg

Here's two shots after the 1/2" plywood went up.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/404/skin4.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/404/skin5.jpg

Walking in the doorway to the fishroom you can see where the laundry tub will be installed. Future frag tank is sitting on it for now.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/404/skin6.jpg

Here's the sump that nearly killed me. I smartly maneuvered this thing onto its stand alone thinking to myself 'you're a dumbass brett'. I redid all the inner silicone and removed the center brace and mounted it on-end to create my 40g water change area. I could not dry-fit the brace back into this tank after I took it out so obviously the previous owner braced the tank while full! This meant the baffle had to be installed at a slight angle but it is rock solid with tons of contact as that brace was 5/8". The tank itself is all 1/2" and won't be even close to full hence the choice to remove the brace. My frag tank will be shelf-mounted above the water change compartment.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/404/skin7.jpg

Going further in you can see my rear access corridor. It's about 18" wide and I'll make a moveable platform that I can move around to step up on for mounting corals etc.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/404/skin8.jpg

Here's two shots showing the skin after a few rounds of wood-filler. The first pic sorta shows the plywood ceiling I installed. You can't see in these pics but I have applied silicone between all the plywood and canopy 2x4s. The plywood seams will also be 'coned and then it will all be sealed with Kilz. Sealed room! I may even run some silicone in the 1/2" gap between the canopy and the tank itself to further seal the area and prevent water that splashes on the bracing from running down the glass.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/404/skin9.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/404/skin10.jpg

Nice :)

build is looking awesome dude

Nice looking work as always. I'm guessing the tank will be done before the drywall goes up :lol:

That looks killer dude, nicely done :thumb:

wow, really coming together. You're giving me some great ideas for my tank...so thank you. :)

Thanks guys.

Not sure of the order of everything but I do know there won't be livestock in it until the reno itself is done down here. Really don't want drywall dust etc getting into the running setup.

Next item I'll acquire for the build though is likely going to be my water ro/di storage which will be a 233g vertical container sitting under my stairs which are left of the laundry tub. The fishroom is going to extend far enough under the stairs to include that container, my new water mixing tank (just a 45g glass tank I think) and a bar fridge for my frozen food.

Nice looking build Brett. Very professional.

and beer:biggrin:

Very professional work. Nicely done!

Loving the dimensions and the stand. I like the unobstructed views of the two sides. Very clean build!

whats the status on your tank. Any other progress?

On the tank itself? No =(

The basement however is nearly dry-walled! I was down there working on it for the first time in ages this past weekend. Once the walls are painted it's tank-time. I've decided to do the drop ceiling and flooring later!

New skimmer is hopefully going to arrive in Sept. It's a Skimz 302. Flow will initially be handled by an MP60 and a pair of MP40s which I'll pickup when the skimmer lands. Big thanks to Concept Aquatics for pulling some strings to get this skimmer in for me. Aqua Digital had previously not imported one to my knowledge.

very nice work. cant wait to see more. slow and steady.

This one's actually moving a lot faster than I'm used to LOL.

Brett, the setup looks top notch as usual. I can't wait to see more :mrgreen:

Holy bajesus Brett that thing is GORGEOUS! Nice handy work there buddy, cant wait to see it full of livestock.

That looks awesome! What a monster! Are you going to drain the ocean? If so take the fish along with it, save you the trouble of deciding what to stock if you get a random surprise of whatever comes with the ocean!

Lol thanks guys.

Tonight I went and picked up two 55g barrels for ro/di storage. I couldn't justify dropping $400+ on a larger vertical cylinder and figured 100 gallons was enough to handle my water changes and topoff. These barrels were used to store crushed tomatoes and apparently the mix itself was in giant bags within the barrels. Essentially these barrels are brand new =)

$45 ea. I'm going to pickup a third to use as a mixing tank after seeing them rather than buying a 55g glass tank.

http://www.thebarrelman.ca/our-products/

They are the blue open head barrels. I am not planning to drill these either. I want to minimize the chance for leaks down there. One barrel will simply have my osmolator in it. One will be ro/di storage which will feed into the third when it's time to mix. The feed barrel will be elevated and I am going to have hard pvc plumbed over the top with a full siphon and valve. So long as I leave a bit in the barrel it will maintain siphon and save me buying more pumps.

This will mean making some of the area under the stairs part of the fishroom rather than just having pipes from the barrels come thru the planned fishroom wall. I'll have to think more on this because the wall is load-bearing and it will mean tossing a header in there. The current 2x4s are all warped and sad looking so I imagine the effort will actually strengthen the wall!

</essay>

So Brett, one question...I notice on the site that only the grey barrels are listed as Food Safe...are you sure the blue open lid ones are safe?

Yes they are. They have a whole bunch of different ones in their garage (in Edgemont) and the white ones have threaded outlets but had a funky smell. She told me the blue ones are food safe and perfect for this application. She's sold them to other fish folk in the past as well. In the case of these particular ones the food product never even touched the plastic. They also send each barrel thru a washing process with high heat.

Brett - put some RO/DI water in there after you clean it and let it sit there for a couple weeks. then test it for phosphates/ammonia/tds just to be sure.

Oh for sure I still intended to test what I can after I bleach'em. Can't be any worse than my current topoff tank. It's open top and i find bugs fall in all the time...they actually start molding on the bottom of the tank lol.

haha. Thanks for that mental picture!

Brett well done man, I bet that you miss your BK 250 now dont ya

Rub it in Mike I love it! Lol.

I'm really stoked to try the Skimz actually =)

Wow dude! That is awesome! Your desk is positioned perfectly! ;) I forsee a lot of work getting done.

I'm actually working in my bedroom these days. My desk is setup in there and sure it's a little ghetto but I get natural sunlight up there. Being in the basement all winter was really crushing my spirits.

Where my desk used to be will be a couch and a tv across from it. That way the wife will be down there in the evenings and I can tinker and still be spending time with her.

Looks sharp! I like the dimensions, overflow location & framing. How are you finishing the plywood?

Thanks Shawn.

It will be simply rolled in a white/cream similar to this with similar trim applied to the doors and bottom:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/skinned1.jpg

Been slowly making some progress down in the basement. Both side are now drywalled and the fish-side is currently being mudded. Fishroom itself is now ready for paint which I hope to do this weekend...

I have been shifting my doser around to be able to drywall the stairs and mud as best I can. The chiller is still running in the other room of the basement and I will of course have some patching to do after I take the 97g down for good.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/404/reno1.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/404/reno2.jpg

The couch is going to go where my office previously was. Putting a tv on the wall where my buckets are.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/404/reno3.jpg

I really miss the 45g I had for topoff. That stand had to come down so I could drywall in there. Nothing like filling this 5g bucket every other day :twised: The jackpost will be removed once my current tank is taken down.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/404/reno4.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/404/reno5.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/404/reno6.jpg

Laundry tub has water to it but the drain is not yet connected. Since no drain existed anywhere near this room the drain (which is not visible here) goes all the way around 2 walls on the other side of the basement where it ties into the drain system behind the washing machine.

The 55 gallon drum is for mixing water changes. To the right of the drum (under the stairs and behind the drywall) are 2 more drums stacked. One will be for topoff and the other (elevated) will be a reservoir plumbed into the mix drum on the fishroom side.

The fresh-air vent can be seen as well. It's nice knowing when the neighbors are bbqing or smoking pot even when I'm doing tank maintenance down here lol.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/404/reno7.jpg

I love the lack of fear as far as putting random holes in the walls!

Actually most of those walls were built around wires and plumbing already in place lol. I have a serious hole behind my tank that will need fixing when she comes down. Tank was in place so I was literally jabbing a screwdriver from the stairwell side into my livingroom!

Looks awesome!!!

Looks really good Brett well done man

Awesome, it's coming along nicely :biggrin: