My "Tanked" Tank

I'm growing tired of the project and was ready to quit but the bf insists I stick with it. I guess I can build doors anytime. I think I might use the same wood to redo the kitchen walls.
 
Thanks eyereef. My mood swings are wild! Bf likes the look of the stand without doors too so we will make one bid door with the whole wall!

Still recovering from elbow surgery and both arms (right one f'ed up too) hurt so much that I don't feel like setting up the plumbing. That's why this isn't done yet. It will take a long time for me to figure this out on my own as this is my first 'set up all the plumbing in the basement' tank. I've been waiting for a fish buddy of mine to help but he's been real busy.

Now it's football playoffs so the time with help is even more limited. I won't be gluing tubes together while greenbay gets their butts kicked by the giants!

There is so much equipment and to look at all of it in a pile is overwhelming!
 
It appears my fish buddy just doesn't want to help me set this up. I wanted to hire someone but the BF says 'do it yourself'. :-(

I like the picture window so much, so does the dog....

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that I moved the tank to the other side of the room...


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The floor bracing only covers about 1/2 of this room and now I moved the tank to the other half. More bracing?

Another question; I am so overwhelmed with all the equipment. These idiots cut the pipes and tubes so I have to replace everything but there is so much tubing and items that are unknown to me. A protein skimmer with 3 openings? Can you guys help me if I post pictures?

They even broke the drain and return pipes to get them out of tank instead of unscrewing the bulkheads. I have to replace those too....
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Ahh, the joys of buying used! Hang in there, bulkheads are pocket change in this build! And tank looks way better on that side of the room.
 
You can probably fix all the plumbing with couplings. Where are you located? I may be able to come help you out.
 
Asked around, because the original and secondary joists (?) joices? whatever, because they are 2 x 8, several people said even though I moved the tank to the other side of the room, the floor will still be okay with the extra 6 braces I installed in floor.

The seller cut all the piping, broke several and I had to rebuild the drain and return pipes. Of course, after I built them back up, the set up she had and the pieces I have all start to make sense. If I figured out how she had it I would have saved a few bucks and time.

Now I discover the handyman covered two drain holes with a 2x4 when he built the stand....that's what I get for $14 an hour......
 
Keep hope alive anicemess!! Just curious but when you have everything up and running how will you maintenence? Do you have large water storage containers ready?
 
The sump is glass(!) about 55 gallons that I will have R/O hooked up to it. That's all I need right? R/O is attached to tap water.
 
I'm just using a sump. I am one of those lazy non-water changers. Can always change my mind later.

But here is the latest. I'm struggling through physical therapy on my arm and it leaves me exhausted. Will try to post latest pictures asap....

Sawed piece of brace out of the way to make room for plumbing. That is all set up. Holes drilled in floor. My buddy came over and it took us three hours to figure out the mess from the other user of this tank. They used a lot of excess stuff and doubled the amount of hoses which wasn't necessary. I have one pump and four hoses left over.

Tank should have been filled with water for test today but too tired from physical therapy. The floater valve didn't work and by the time I remembered to check it, there was a good amount of water on the floor. It appeared to have been clogged. It's working now as long as I turn the water pressure going to the R/O unit down.

Got skimmer hooked up. One more hook up to return pump and I'm ready for Stage 3 (fill, test, fill).

Cost so far; just over $3000. When tank is filled and cycled, I won't even have any money to stock it!! Pictures coming soon!!
 
Found the cord to the skimmer, which has red plastic tape on it, burning and smoking. Removing the tape revealed 4 inches of bare wire. Unsure what to do now. I won't touch electrical.....this lady did not deserve to have a LFS.
 
You probably need a new circuit breaker. That should have tripped or burned the fuse. With as mich juice as you're going to need you'd better have someone look at everything. my sister's house burned down because of one of those stupid cat waterfalls
 
Is that a recent picture? how has the build been? I know somwhere in this thread I saw a picture of when you moved it across the room.
 
New here, so I just followed this build. Cool tank. I just finished my 180 build, I'm no pro but if you have any questions shout. Also if you are putting it across your room there I would recommend additional bracing in basement, if you haven't done so already. Good luck, can't wait.
 
I put in 6 additional 2 x 8s but then I moved the tank to the other side of the room. They guys at the hardware and home improvement stores say that it will still work. The feng shui had completely changed when I moved it away from the window. I love it in the corner.
 
@anicemess

Reading a couple of post above, it looks like you will need a reservoir for your RO water then from the reservoir to your sump. You will need a pump in your reservoir to pump RO water to sump, in the sump you should have a top off controller to active and deactivate the pump. Also, in your reservoir another controller to turn on and off RO unit. Therefore, with a tank your size get as big a reservoir as you have space for. I go through on average 2-3 gallons a day with my 180.
 
petert said:
@anicemess

Reading a couple of post above, it looks like you will need a reservoir for your RO water then from the reservoir to your sump. You will need a pump in your reservoir to pump RO water to sump, in the sump you should have a top off controller to active and deactivate the pump. Also, in your reservoir another controller to turn on and off RO unit. Therefore, with a tank your size get as big a reservoir as you have space for. I go through on average 2-3 gallons a day with my 180.
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Don't understand why I need reservoir and all that.
 
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