270g FOWLR and Fish Room Build (image heavy)

[revhtree]

Legit build going on here!

 

[Mjl714]

I finished taping and mudding over the weekend, so painting will begin today.

In the mean time, I thought I'd post up what my current stock list looks like and get some suggestions to flush it out.

Currently Have
Clownfish pair (from the 60g cube)

On Order from TSM
1x One Spot Foxface
1x Naso Tang
1x Desjardini Sailfin Tang
3x Blue Hippo Tangs

Other Big Fish I'd Like
1x Powder Brown Tang
1x Emperor Angel
1x Blue Face Angel
1x Clown Trigger or Niger Trigger (can't decide if I want to forgo possible inverts for these guys)

Smaller Fish
This is where I'm not 100% sure what I want to do. A group of Anthias would be cool, but they seem to be harder to keep. A verity of wrasse could work as well.

Since the trigger and wrasse are know to go after CUC, I'd need to figure out some other tank cleaners if I got those guys.

What do all of you think for smaller fishes for my tank?

Smaller fish, I love the wrasses and would definitely include them.

Build is really coming along very nicely, great detail, clear pictures, shame on Planet for such delays and especially poor communication. Enjoyed the strip painting tips, looks real good. Oh thanks for Scheels Tank pictures, my son lives in Colorado Springs so I get out there periodically.

 

[Mjl714]

I'm making progress on the dray wall. I've got all the joints taped and mudded with at least one coat of mud. The outside lower joints have two on them. I know now why I did not become a professional dry-waller.... cause I suck at it!

I'm not planning painting the outside as the rest of the garage is not painted. I am going to be painting the inside however. Also got my lights installed in the fish room. They are connected to a smart outlet and motion detector. No need to run wiring for a light switch (but I still have to wire a plug over on that wall to plug them and my room fan and RODI pumps into). It also means I don't have to turn a light on when I'm carrying something in there. I have it programed to turn off 15 minutes after it stops sensing motion. That way it does not turn off if I'm stationary in there while working on something.

I did drive up north to pick up my skimmer and temporary sump from Chris Brown over the weekend (Thanks for everything Chris, it was nice meeting you!). No pics of the sump, but here is the beat of a skimmer:

My plans are to finish mudding and sanding the walls this week and hopefully get the fish room painted this weekend. I need to start getting things inside of it so I can straighten up the garage some!

Love the protein skimmer picture, are you sure it doesn’t car seat?

 

[Oberst Hajj]

Smaller fish, I love the wrasses and would definitely include them.

Build is really coming along very nicely, great detail, clear pictures, shame on Planet for such delays and especially poor communication. Enjoyed the strip painting tips, looks real good. Oh thanks for Scheels Tank pictures, my son lives in Colorado Springs so I get out there periodically.

Thanks. I've been looking at several different wrasses and will probably have a few of those. The Planet delays and communication sucked, but the tank looks good. Even with the suckyness, they still make a nice tank for the price.

Each time I go back to Scheels, I find fish I did not see the last time I was there. One of these days I'm going to go at opening time on a weekday with my big camera and try to get some better pics of some of the fish. If you are ever in the Springs and want to talk tanks, let me know.

 

[Oberst Hajj]

Legit build going on here!

Thank you. I'm trying to pay attention to the details as that is what really makes a build stand out.

 

[Oberst Hajj]

This weekend turned out to be pretty productive.

I installed my temp/humidity controlled fan and ran the wiring for it. The big connector coming out of the head unit goes to the fan. It controls the fan as well as feeds power to the head unit. If you have a second fan (I have one sitting on the shelf to see if I'll need it), you can plug it into this same head unit and control them both from it if you are running the same settings. The smaller connector goes to the remote temp prob. The fan cable is super long, but the temp prob cable could have been longer. Better yet, they should have all been ran over Bluetooth so that no wires were needed at all. Otherwise, I really like the whole system and it works really well. The really test for the fan will be when I have the sump all setup and running in that small room.

I also did some other light cable management while I was messing with the fan.

I did not care of the exposed rough lumber on the stand, so I skinned it in some cabinet grade baltic birch plywood.

The top of the stand was also made from the same type of wood.

I left a lip on the stand top so that if there is a major spill, it should not work its way back under the stand. I'm going to be storing stuff, mainly boxes of salt, under there and did not want them getting wet.

I had hoped to just paint this stand white and put some caulking between the wood and walls, but the walls are slightly out of square and the left too big of gaps to do that.

Using the same plywood as the stand, I cut a few strips to width and then ran them though the router to make some trim pieces.

These did the trick to close up the gaps.

Instead of just white paint, I decided to coat the stand in white Flex Seal. Even though the can says it will cover 37 square feet, I needed slightly more than one can to cover my 29 square foot stand (I guess the trim and skirt pushed me over the coverage amount).

I had to do more taping and "painting". I'm still not exactly sure how I feel about the Flex Seal. It was a real pain to paint on as it is super thick. I used a brush to do the trim and it would either not go on with enough coverage or it was too heavy and wanted to run. Using a roller for the stand top and skirt was much better, but still a pain compared to regular paint.

The other draw back to Flex Seal is the drying time. It takes 24-48 hours for it to dry, a fact that my son tested out for me. Doh!

 

[helmsreef]

Following! This is turning out to be a great build thread

 

[Oberst Hajj]

Following! This is turning out to be a great build thread

Thank you sir!

 

[Oberst Hajj]

The other big step this weekend was actually getting the tank!

The U-Haul truck worked out really well and the lift table that Chris at Reef Koi let me barrow made things super easy.

Several of my buddies from work helped me get it unloaded an into my garage where it will sit until I get the sand built. Below are some quick phone pics of it. I'll try and break out the big camera and get some better shots of some of the details this week.

 

[Janci]

Wow, that is huge.
Looks like a quality piece

 

[Mjl714]

Tank looks fantastic!

 

[Oberst Hajj]

Wow, that is huge.
Looks like a quality piece

Thanks. Some of my co-workers helped me move it into the garage and they could not believe how big it was. Most people don't have a clue how big of an aquarium you can get.

Tank looks fantastic!

Thank you, I'm pretty happy with it.

 

[rds85]

Thanks. Some of my co-workers helped me move it into the garage and they could not believe how big it was. Most people don't have a clue how big of an aquarium you can get.



Thank you, I'm pretty happy with it.

Pretty happy with it.....? What do you not like about it?

 

[Oberst Hajj]

Pretty happy with it.....? What do you not like about it?

Sorry, that was probably not worded very well. I am happy with it. I inspected it for scratches in the glass and obvious seam issues, but I have not really inspected how clean of lines the silicon has. I was pleasantly surprised with how the euro bracing on the top was done.

I'll be able to give better feedback once I have it filled with water and the overflow plumbed in.

 

[Mjl714]

Sorry, that was probably not worded very well. I am happy with it. I inspected it for scratches in the glass and obvious seam issues, but I have not really inspected how clean of lines the silicon has. I was pleasantly surprised with how the euro bracing on the top was done.

I'll be able to give better feedback once I have it filled with water and the overflow plumbed in.

Based on the pictures, I agree and really liked how the euro bracing turned out. Will make for an awesome DT.

 

[Oberst Hajj]

Lots of work going on for the build the last couple of days.

I made up the forms for the footers that will be used to reinforce the floor the tank will be sitting on.

I then made up some plumb lines to help figure out where the forms needed to be placed.

Then it was just a matter of mixing up some concrete and filling the forms.

There was quite a bit of work going on for some the fish room stuff, but I'm going to hold off on posting pics of that until it is all done. I hope to get that wrapped up tomorrow and to get started on building the stand for the tank.

 

[Oberst Hajj]

I also trimmed out the door, baseboards, and fan opening.

And more cable management stuff was done.. including turning the white power cords into black ones.

 

[DcoarM]

This is great!

 

[Oberst Hajj]

Last weekend I was able to get the stand frame done.

I setup my miter saw station to cut each of the legs. This ensured that each leg was exactly the same length.

Having all the legs the exact same length made it much easier to get everything squared up.

With everything squared up, I then clamped it all together so that they would not move when I glued and screwed them.

Using wood glue makes the joints much stronger.

Three sides down, one to go.

Counter sunk and pocket screws keep the face of the frame nice and clean so skinning it later will be easier. It will also give a better looking finish.

Not all 2x4s are created equal. The bottom side support was a little taller then the front and back supports, so I had to notch a little out to get it to fit in correctly.

And the frame is all assembled with help of Maximus

And finally, a quick coat of white paint in the $50 paint booth to help seal the wood from possible spills.

 

[400BA]

Oberst,

I'm new to this forum and came across your build today. I am LOVING your build and appreciate the woodworking skills you have as well. I'm seeing some great quality tools in your arsenal AND a Weimeraner (correct?)! You are bringing together three of my most favorite things: woodworking, dogs, and fish/corals!

Thank you for sharing!