New Tank Build!!

Okay, what a stressful afternoon! Finally got to start pressure testing my tank, which is my biggest build. I started with mounting 4 clothes peg halves on each end of the long panels mounted at a set height from the base. I marked out 1/3, 1/2 and 3/4 markings on the panel where I would take glass deflection readings at each level mark. The maximum permissible deflection along the long panels is 3mm each side. In the end after tank filled to running level, my final deflection measured and average of 1.2mm which is way within tolerance! I think it must of been the chill pills I took before I started that help me get through this, and having my 8500l/h pump on standby in the tank to quickly drain if something goes wrong. Below are photos of the progress.I will leave the tank in this state till Sunday and drain to be placed in final installation place.

The Start:


Half Way:



Finally Full:

 

Congrats man, awesome build...

 

O I forgot to show my sump filter which I did an upgrade on as I was not getting water going through all the media. Some calculations and drawings in bed and finally sorted. Have filter cycling with my old media from broken tank so overall cycle time for tank will be shorter.



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Well done @Blade, looks good.
I like the sump too

Good luck, hope all goes well now!

 

Thought I would share my youtube video upload of my sump filter cycling in the meantime till tank is setup.



regards

 

Your flow will will be better if you stack that sump better bud , Throw out that scrubbies & green spunges & rather replace with batting , reduce the amount of media also , your chambers is to full

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For those of you comparing different brands of silicone, if you look at the manufacturers websites, you should be able to find technical spec sheets with things like tensile strength etc specified.
I would he surprised if there are huge differences between different brands...

 

Tank finally setup in its place where we wanted to place it. Got sump filter set up, stand and tank 100% level, gravel which is a mixture of pool filter sand and gravel in and filled up. 2 x 4w 4000k led lights temporary placed. I used my old filter media and gravel which should speed up the cycle time. Below is the latest photo of tank running.



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Made a change to the lighting by adding another led down light. Made lampshades from plant holders which I sprayed black and made frame to hold lights. Tonight will maybe place plants and rocks in tank.




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looking good
like the way the filter is laid out

 

Okay, I have decided I am going to try salvage my 406L tank which caused me to build my 1.65m. I found a product called silicone stripper which I will try out and see if I can get the back panel loose which broke and take it from there. Waiting for my glass supplier for price on the 1220mm x 700mm x 10mm back panel.

 

Not a big sump person, but I like the layout of the sump, maybe less so for the filtration but more for the added water volume, not that you need it with a BIG tank.

Looking real good.

Later Ferdie

 

Plants and some rock added. Want to get a piece of spider wood from LFS for centre and add led lights on controller and then should be done.



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Fish moved over from 3ft tonight and already fish seem much more active and all about their new home. Lowered the led downlights which are now 50mm from the top glass covering the top of the tank.




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Impressive build.

 

great build... well done

 

Here is a pamorama photo of some of our tanks in dining room (aka fish tank room). Still one 2ft to set up and missus tank to high to get into photo.



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Looking great man!!

 

I did not think it was possible to have TOO MUCH MEDIA ???

GREAT BUILD !!!
My only suggestion is with your first chamber.
What I have done with mine is I placed the filter foam at the bottom half , and I cut the pieces to fit very tightly ( wall to wall) so my first chamber has half and half wool and foam. The wool traps all the fine floating bits first and is easy to wash out. This way nothing gets past that first chamber. I rinse the wool weekly, and the sponges maybe once a month. I think your system really could do with more wool as it really does trap the floating bits very well.
The other thing I did with great success, is that inside each 'up' and 'down' flow chamber, I have an air stone. Bacteria need masses and masses of dissolved oxygen to function well, not sure if you have enough water turbulence or exposed to the air between each chamber flow -

 

@eros111 I have change first chamber to wool only and yes, big difference in water clarity and wool is picking up all the finer bits in the water. I am super chuffed how this has came out and slowly but surely add as I go along. My next thread will be repairs to my 406L with an overhead sump filter(scaled down version of this sump).

Kind regards