Dngspots Tank and Stand Build.

I am working on a 210g tank setup. It will cover a wall that is 11 feet long. I have welded up a frame from tubing that will be the main support for the stand. The stand will be 43 inches high, man; I really hate those commercial stands that you find yourself looking down into a tank because it is so short. This is one of the curses of being taller than my dad. The stand will have two side cabinets with shelving and will be made from oak. The stand and cabinets will go from floor to ceiling.
I will post pics of progress, but it will take some time as I must finish the living room and kitchen remodel first.

There will be a bunch of DIY, including refigium, lights, concrete rock and electrical.

I would like to thank fisherman for his help so far and Sea Dreams for the tank.

I haven't had much time to work on the project lately. It is so connected to the rest of the house remodel and it has kept me busy. I will be bringing the tank in this weekend to fit the flooring around it. We are installing a floating floor and the weight of the tank would cause a problem with the expansion properties of the floor.
I ordered and received the 3 400watt metal halide ballast. I haven't got the bulbs yet. I have a diy vho setup on my 150g tank that I will be transferring to the new tank. It is 640 watts, 4 6 foot bulbs. The metal halide will set between the vhos, two on each side. I have a sheet of aluminum that I will be cutting to duplicate Lumeric reflectors, this is the thought today, lets see how the first one comes out. The metal halide ballast can be wired for 240 volt, I am thinking of mounting them in the garage and then running wire through the wall to the mogul sockets.
I just bought a used 75 gallon tank and I will be cutting baffles for it soon.
Pics will cover the lighting, reflectors and 75 gallon refigium.
Sorry that I do not have more,
David

The stand is finally in the house. You can look around and see that we have just started installing the flooring. The stand had to be in before we could continue. I used outdoor grade screws to fasten the plywood the top and bottom. I leveled the stand with plastic door shims and then ran 6 of the same screws into the sub floor. This tank is not going anywhere.
The stand with both pieces of plywood is 42" tall. The tank is 30" tall and the canopy will be 25" tall. I will leave about 1/2" space at the ceiling and install a restroom exhaust fan to remove the heat.

I will wire the fan to come on automatically with the lights and have a separate switch to shut them off in the winter. We keep the house pretty cool.

I will be adding a cluster of 6 outlets on the back wall. The other side of the wall is the garage. I installed a 80 amp service that is used to run my welder and compressor. Those 6 outlets will be supplied by a 30 amp breaker.

My tank is finally home. It is 71 inches tall. I am 75 inches tall; finally I do not need to bend over to see the bottom of my tank. It’s not a pretty sight anyway. The tank is the same height as the tanks at Rusty Eck Ford, for those who need reference.
That thing is heavy. 2 Big hairy guys lifted this thing into my house, yea, I was one of them.

I have decided to give a plenum a go. I have never used one of these things, but I guess that every little helps. This thing is so easy to make I am almost hesitant to mention but I said that I would post any progress.
The tools.

The PVC assembly.

The egg crate cut out for the overflows and screened.

The completed assembly in the tank.

The little guy in the fouth picture is my buddy Max.

I fitted the plenum back from the front glass to hide it all behind sand.

I have resealed a 75 gallon that is to be my new sump. It is holding water fine and I will be cutting glass for it next week.

David

This is some concrete rock that I made back in October. It was to be for my 50g tank but when we decided to set up a 210g tank I thought I would save it for the new tank. I did not spend allot of time making this stuff, so please forgive me for not having something special.
The recipe for this stuff is 1 part Portland cement, 2 parts Pavestone Pulverized Limestone and 2 parts crushed oyster shell. Fisherman uses rock salt in his mix. I have heard that this weakens the concrete, but his is stout. I may try this in the future.
I have used concrete rock for about 2 years and love the stuff. I have become bored with arches and tubes, and am looking for more interesting designs. How easy is it to find base rock in the shape of an arch or tube?
I have three cooler shape boxes that I use to setup the concrete. I fill each of the boxes about ½ full, with sand and make a trench. I then mix the concrete about the thickness of oat meal. With three fingers I pick up the concrete and dribble it in the trench. If I want the design to have a hole I add sand to that area. When the rock is finished I cover it with sand. 24 hours later I remove the rock from the sand and put it in a trash can that is full of water. My curing can is hooked to my RO/DI waste water. I let it set in there until the PH drops to my tap waters PH. I have done this on the porch with a water hose but going out there every day to change the water is a drag but the results where cool. In my curing can it takes about 1.5 months before it is ready. On the porch it took the same.
In the tank under water it turns bone white.

I spent 45 dollars on my supplies and have made 350+ lbs. rock from it. I have some more supplies left but I guess $.13 a pound would sound about right.

I will be using the 300+ rock from the 150g tank and this stuff. I still think I may be a little short. I have a few rocks that I will be making, these will be specific designs for the 210g tank. I think that the stuff in the pic is about 75 lbs.

[bricannia]

nice work!!

Thanks Bri