560 Build, Gina's worst nightmare...

[Dave McReeferson]

Well, I don't know how I managed to do it, but somehow I talked Gina into thinking that building a new 560 gallon reef was a good idea. I know, I know, I still can't believe it myself , but somehow I did it, and it was off to the races (a very slow lumbering sort of race, that's the way I work ).

Ok, so first things first...

Pick the location...

This looks like a good spot...

 

[smcnally]

You're nuts! I'll be following this one.

 

[Dave McReeferson]

That wall has to come down...

Zzz, zzz, zzz, zzz...

Tiiiiiiiiiiiimber!!!

All gone...

 

[wrassefan]

helps to know where the tank is going...good start

 

[Dave McReeferson]

Before you plop down a tank you need something to plop it on, I needed a stand, I decided on a steel stand that I would skin with wood, and I figured I would build it in sections so it would fit through a standard doorway...

The stock (1/8" wall 2" x 3" rectangular tubing, way overkill, but that's how I roll ;-) )...

The saw...

Me and the saw, choppy choppy...

All choppy choppied up...

 

[TurboVinny]

wow cant wait till see the tank in the room

 

[Dave McReeferson]

Me and ole' sparky gettin' er' done...

Sparky sparky...

Did I mention the sparks?

All sparked up...

 

[Behrmon]

So what will the over all dims be?

 

[Dave McReeferson]

A note about welding, it is HOT, use caution, allow to cool before lounging on freshly welded materials...

Closer...

Not close enough for you? Try this...

 

[Dave McReeferson]

You're nuts!

True, but the doctors say I am not dangerous. What do they know?

helps to know where the tank is going...good start

Very true, once it is full, ain't no one budging this thing. I'd say total weight on the floor is probably on the order of ~6000 pounds.

wow cant wait till see the tank in the room

Patience my good man, patience...

So what will the over all dims be?

103.5" x 48" x 27" overall outside dimensions.

 

[Kevin McG]

Whoo Hoo! just pulled up a large glass of milk and some girl scout peanut butter tagalongs.... keep the pix coming

 

[Dave McReeferson]

We dont want all my hard work just rusting away right? She needed several coats of primer and paint, I went with white as I think it gives a nice clean look, and I wanted it to be nice and bright under the stand when I needed to go down there for maintenance.

Priming and painting away...

Remember I said it needed to fit through a standard door? Here is where we carried it in...

Both pieces in place, ready for shimming. You can see in this pic that I had prepped the area pretty well prior to moving in the stand...

Starting to come together a bit here...

 

[Dave McReeferson]

Here I am prepping the stand for closed loop and return plumbing. This tank was to have 16 holes up through the bottom, I wanted a minimum of visible equipment, and being a peninsula, there is really no easy way to hide this stuff other than through the bottom.

Remember "Whack a' Mole"??? Look familiar...

I had to kick one of the stand halves off at an angle to sneak the sump in there (I built that too, it is all glass), here it is being snaked in...

Gotta thank my buddy Brian, he helped a lot in the heavy work, thank God for good friends.

Almost there...

Ahhhh...

 

[Dave McReeferson]

Whoo, it has been a long day, time for a break. Tune in tomorrow for some more fun...

 

[Jeff.:P]

Rofl, and wow. Can't wait....looks like a totm coming up.

 

[pillowfish]

OMG completely insane and I love it! Just out of curiosity what was the time period when you started this project to you starting the thread?? (Hoping it's not in real time.....) BTW-NICE!

 

[zax_papa]

Youre not tired, its just that can of PVC glue bringing you to your "happy place"
Keep the pics coming, looks great!

 

[Miller]

Love the comments with the photos, cracked me up.

Don't you guys already have one massive reef tank?

No nappy nap Dave...buildy build build!

 

[Kevin McG]

I thought I was in a time warp when I saw this thread unless you are putting up ANOTHER 560.

 

[Dave McReeferson]

Rofl, and wow. Can't wait....looks like a totm coming up.

Ha, it will be some time before we get anywhere near that, all of the "colonies" that filled out the old system look like little more than frags in this thing.

OMG completely insane and I love it! Just out of curiosity what was the time period when you started this project to you starting the thread?? (Hoping it's not in real time.....) BTW-NICE!

The tank has been up and running for a little while now, what I have posted so far took place over about a month to a month and a half.

Youre not tired, its just that can of PVC glue bringing you to your "happy place"
Keep the pics coming, looks great!

There sure was a lot of glue, your theory is not entirely implausible.

Love the comments with the photos, cracked me up.

I do what I can.

Don't you guys already have one massive reef tank?

No nappy nap Dave...buildy build build!

The current 560 is a jump up from our first reef, a 240. This is kind of a belated build thread.

I thought I was in a time warp when I saw this thread unless you are putting up ANOTHER 560.

No, no time warp, just me being lazy about getting this stuff posted.