Doobiej's 220g Build

So this is the start of my 220 gallon build. I am having a custom made 96"L x 22"W x 24"H glass tank with starfire front being delivered on wednesday. I picked up the custom welded stand yesterday. I will face the stand with a nice stained maple once I finish the build and all is well.



The stand is 96" x 22" x 32"

This tank is going on my main floor in my office. It took some heavy duty bracing of the floor from the basement ( had structural enginer advice ) as this is a brand new house with I-Joists which which not hold up. luckily as the tank is 8 feet long and sitting perpinduclar across 5 joists so the weight dispersion is good. Im calculating close to 2800lbs when fully complete and stocked.

I'll take as many pictures as I can as this is a big build for me going from a 90 gallon corner bowfront.

I dont have much livestock, my 2 year daughter picked out 3 false percs and a blue tang after endless nights of watching finding nemo. I have a diamond goby, a sandsifting star, an african red knob sea star, and the usual cleanup crew.

My tank is over run with red mushrooms right now, they just showed up one day? I might transition to some soft corals one day but for now I'll stick with the FOWLR setup.

I'll be using 2 - 4foot Wave Point HO T5 fixtures with a mix of actinic/10K.

I will need to upgrade my skimmer ( recommendations ? ) and my sump at somepoint but will re-use what I have now.

Mt tank has a coast to coast internal overflow ( no room to put external ).

I'll post pics in a few days when the tank arrives.

should be fun.

 

oooooohhhh nice!

I agree - should be fun! I will be keeping an eye on this thread!

Just curious - was the welded stand expensive? was the frame painted or powder coated after fabrication?

definitely keep us posted on this project!

 

the stand was about 300.00CAN, made from 1.5" sqaure tubing and painted with the same industrial strength paint that they use on flat deck trailers. My custom tank came in around 850.00CAN. I paid more than that for my 90gallon bowfront kit from a retail box store. at least I have learned now.

 

Can you convert that to American dollars for us slow people out here? lol

 

Thank god you were wise enough to consult an engineer as far as the structural issues - i am an architectural designer and work in an architectural and structural engineering firm and cannot begin to tell you about the many structural predicaments that residential clients have gotten into with buying huge appliances (massive sub Zero freezers and other commercial kitchen equipment), hot tubs, bathroom remodels with huge whirlpool tubs and even custom made wrought iron bedframes and furniture items....we then get the call after the fact - when floor joists have sagged or worse.

The bottom line - water is HEAVY!

I plan to design a similar stand for my future tank and hope to have one made like yours. This should be a fun thread to follow! The folks on this site LOVE build threads - so you will hopefully gain a nice following on your thread.

what will you be doing for your sump and related equipment? We love details here!

Just a quick FYI: Luna is the site's "Pic Police" and he patrols all the time - so be sure to keep posting pics as you progress! ;D

Best of luck to you!

 

can to us conversion = $1 CAD = $0.9390 USD

for those of you interested here is how to "beef" up your ijoists.



original Ijoist



take 3/4" plywood and cut to fit inside the top/bottom plates and
screw and glue it on both sides. then take another 3/4" plywood and
cut to fit entire depth of joist and screw and glue it to both sides.




finished product looks like this



then I added 2 - 2x8's sandwhiched into a beam and ran it under the 5 joists with a double'd up 2x4 post at each end. this sits directly underneath the tank. the new beam is show on the left and to the right
where the wires are is the structural house beam supported by a 15 ton
post on one end and the foundation wall on the other end.

This process is directly from the beam manufacturer's structural engineer. this will support well in excess of the 2800lbs that spans the 5 joists.

 

That will be one sweet tank when done. Congrats on the up grade my friend.

 

wow. so is this how newer construction is? Osb glued into a channel in a couple of 2x2s?

 

cant wait to see it filled with water!!

 

kinda off topic but yes, these newer OSB Ijoists are straighter, lighter, and do not twist, warp, bow and allow for greater spans than traditional lumber (so im told). my 2 storey house is 32 feet wide and I only have 1 single support post in the basement. This allows for "open' concept homes, my main floor is 1200 sq feet of almost one big room.

I will running my plumbing straight down through the floor into the basement into my fish room directly below where my sump, make up water station will be located so that my tank will be super quiet in my office.
that way all my water changes, maintenance etc. are done in a seperate room.

Im looking for a 4 foot 100 gallon tank to convert into sump eventually but for now I will have to use my current smaller acrylic sump.

I will be using 2 mag 18 pumps ( due to 12 head I have to pump ) that should give me about 1800gph. the rest of the flow will be a couple of koralia 4's giving me an additional 2400gph flow.