Hey everybody! A quick update for those who may remember me from a while back-- I quit my job, moved from Maryland to California, and went back to school. The DIY asian themed aquarium stand in my signature is unfortunately no longer with us. I have also been fishless for over a year. That is, with the exception of the tank I set up in my son's classroom.
Now... it's winter break. I have three weeks before winter semester starts, in which time I need to build a three foot tall stand for a 175 gallon tank. The height is so it will be seen over the top of the couch, and so I'll be able to fit my 75 gallon tank underneath it as a sump (sort of).
I also need to clean 20+ years of calcium off of the tank. I tried cleaning it with vinegar about a year ago, but it barely touched the calcium. This time, I'm going for the tactical nuke approach. C-L-R baby! I'm going to be spending a good deal of time cleaning all the CLR residue off the tank after I get the calcium off, but I don't see any other way to get all this junk off my tank.
I also need to set up a light system for it. I'm planning on using an array of LED flood lights. I've used the floods for my 75 gallon tank, as well as my son's class room's 20 gallon high, with great success. I'm thinking I'll use two 20W floods, four 10W floods, and ten 30W floods. I've used a 1W per gallon rule with these for the two tanks I mentioned above, and have kept low light plants very well. I'll have a great deal more than that, set up on separate switches, so if [read: when] I decide to go with high light requirement plants, and injected CO2, then I'll just flip a switch and have the lights ready.
ON TO THE COOL STUFF!
As mentioned, this is a 175 gallon tank. It's six feet long, two feet wide, and two feet tall. I think it will look really cool if there isn't any kind of center brace whatsoever. Just four legs, and that's it. So I picked up some 6x6's, and 4x4's. The 6x6's will be what the tank actually sits on, and the four by fours will be used as legs. I want to have a slight arts and crafts feel to the stand, but I also need to keep it minimal, as my time requirements are very stringent. To see what I have planned, just check out the pictures.
Questions:
1. My 175G has three holes drilled in the bottom. I'm having issues figuring out how I can use my 75G as a sump, since there's no overflow box. Also, the 175 will be visible from all sides (not against a wall or anything) so I don't want to hang a DIY overflow on the side or back, as long as I can avoid it. I was thinking about using a solenoid valve, as well as a relay and a float switch. If the water gets too high in the 75G, then power would be shut off (through a normally closed relay) to the canister filter, and power would also be shut off to a normally open solenoid valve, going from the 175G tank to the canister filter.
2. I don't want to have any upright pieces in the stand other than the four legs. So what I am planning is using four by fours for legs, and a six by six for the edges of the stand. Does anyone see any problems with this? Also, I think I could get away with using 4x4s, but I think the look of a big honkin 6x6 will be much cooler.
More pics to come as I work on the stand. I've spent all day sanding. The only four by fours around which were straight, were rough hewn redwood (for outdoor use). Which means I'm in the process of sanding everything down to smooth. What... a... pain!
Regardless, let me know what your thoughts are. Positive, negative, neutral, whatever. I value everyone's opinion, whether I end up using it or not.
Now... it's winter break. I have three weeks before winter semester starts, in which time I need to build a three foot tall stand for a 175 gallon tank. The height is so it will be seen over the top of the couch, and so I'll be able to fit my 75 gallon tank underneath it as a sump (sort of).
I also need to clean 20+ years of calcium off of the tank. I tried cleaning it with vinegar about a year ago, but it barely touched the calcium. This time, I'm going for the tactical nuke approach. C-L-R baby! I'm going to be spending a good deal of time cleaning all the CLR residue off the tank after I get the calcium off, but I don't see any other way to get all this junk off my tank.
I also need to set up a light system for it. I'm planning on using an array of LED flood lights. I've used the floods for my 75 gallon tank, as well as my son's class room's 20 gallon high, with great success. I'm thinking I'll use two 20W floods, four 10W floods, and ten 30W floods. I've used a 1W per gallon rule with these for the two tanks I mentioned above, and have kept low light plants very well. I'll have a great deal more than that, set up on separate switches, so if [read: when] I decide to go with high light requirement plants, and injected CO2, then I'll just flip a switch and have the lights ready.
ON TO THE COOL STUFF!
As mentioned, this is a 175 gallon tank. It's six feet long, two feet wide, and two feet tall. I think it will look really cool if there isn't any kind of center brace whatsoever. Just four legs, and that's it. So I picked up some 6x6's, and 4x4's. The 6x6's will be what the tank actually sits on, and the four by fours will be used as legs. I want to have a slight arts and crafts feel to the stand, but I also need to keep it minimal, as my time requirements are very stringent. To see what I have planned, just check out the pictures.
Questions:
1. My 175G has three holes drilled in the bottom. I'm having issues figuring out how I can use my 75G as a sump, since there's no overflow box. Also, the 175 will be visible from all sides (not against a wall or anything) so I don't want to hang a DIY overflow on the side or back, as long as I can avoid it. I was thinking about using a solenoid valve, as well as a relay and a float switch. If the water gets too high in the 75G, then power would be shut off (through a normally closed relay) to the canister filter, and power would also be shut off to a normally open solenoid valve, going from the 175G tank to the canister filter.
2. I don't want to have any upright pieces in the stand other than the four legs. So what I am planning is using four by fours for legs, and a six by six for the edges of the stand. Does anyone see any problems with this? Also, I think I could get away with using 4x4s, but I think the look of a big honkin 6x6 will be much cooler.
More pics to come as I work on the stand. I've spent all day sanding. The only four by fours around which were straight, were rough hewn redwood (for outdoor use). Which means I'm in the process of sanding everything down to smooth. What... a... pain!
Regardless, let me know what your thoughts are. Positive, negative, neutral, whatever. I value everyone's opinion, whether I end up using it or not.