DIY - Projects & Ideas • 220 gal. build

[Malawi_Junkie]

It all started when a friend of mine knowing I'm an aquarium GEEK called me and asked if I wanted another tank so of course I asked how big and he said huge, BE RIGHT OVER I told him.
Well anyway it was this tank that some guy had stored in his moms garage for the past 10yrs because it sprung a leak and she finally got fed up and wanted it outta there. Being so old my expectations were not very high but to my surprise it was a 8ft 220 gal. reef ready Oceanic. Very pleased that I had made the trip I asked how much? I was floored when I heard $150.00 sooooo about 2 minutes later I was loading it in my truck with a very big grin!!! Well it took me a little longer do to the fact that it weighs about 600lbs or so, I needed reinforcements quick!!! go-go cell phone and here comes my brother-in-law and we were outta there.

200 gal Oceanic reef ready tank

Time for some serious scrubbing, 10 yr old salt residue n yuk...Actually came off pretty easily, it was so dried out after 10yrs it fell right off in alot of places/ vinegar solution took care of the rest

I couldn't believe this monster the largest I've had has been 55 gal. even though I've had tanks set up for 11 or 12 yrs.
Now my wife, well, we'll just say she wasn't quite as thrilled as I was

[jimmie]

hahahaha go head man handle up handle up

[Malawi_Junkie]

So the build begins. Luckily my brother-in-law Casey is pretty darn handy a more than just a little help. #%$& I think he was as excited as I was. He caught the cichlid bug from me about a yr or so ago and now has 150 gal. of his own, so I was a little green to say the least. Can't wait to see what he comes up with next to one up me. HAHAHA
Anyways a very good buddy of mine is a contractor and donated almost all the wood we would need for the build, Kendrick you the SH_T!!! saved me some serious dough but it was all left overs from different jobs, We had Oak,Maple Poplar,Pine and all the 2x4's we needed.


Upper and Lower frames are 8ft+ with 24" 2x4's every 12 inchs apart for support



Casey my kickass brother-in-law squaring up the frame before we tack it together



Cabinet frame squared and secured ready for some reinforcment



For the center supports we notched out our 2x4's so top frame and center cross support would rest on top of the legs for added support. I'm starting to think it's a little overkill



cabinet corner supports, each leg actually consists of 3 2x4's notched to allow upper frame to rest on top for support and the legs run all the way to the floor



Time for the cabinet front



Solid 1 peice Oak front, not too bad!



My brother-in-law sanding the cabinet. Git-R-Dun Casey



cabinet finished. ah time for some trim!



Will post more later

[jimmie]

thank u for showing me that because I'm about to buy me another tank a 180 or a 200 don't know and I'm going to build me a stand and a canopy like on aquariumdesign.com check those tanks out

[Malawi_Junkie]

OK so time for some doors

Door step 1 we ripped boards on the tablesaw and routed grooves to hold door inserts



Door Panels I decided to make my own doors because I'm just a little thrifty or if you ask my wife just plain cheap. Anyways decided to router horizontal grooves every 3" in the front of the panels for some style



Door panels I ran a plunge router over the panels in order to create horizontal grooves every 3 inches



Finished 1st door panel,Cut to size and routed



1st door complete ready for sanding



Canopy frame



Canopy doors



Finished stand and canopy, Finally got the stand inside and put tank in place.



More to come

[Liam_Doherty]

Stunning! That looks great. Be sure to post some pics when it's up and running.

[cholile]

Excellent. Thanks for the great step by step description + photos.

[scrubjay]

oh boy oh boy oh boy! That is exciting! Won't deciding what goes into it be fun?

[Mcdaphnia]

How's the leak?

[daowner]

nice setup VERY big change since the 1st pic cant wait to see more and when its stocked what are you planning?

[Malawi_Junkie]

Thank you all for the positive feedback.
The leak was at the front right corner, so I stripped all the old silicone from the tank and resealed it with GE silicone 1. First attempt was a failure (still leaked) I figured out the problem was that I didn't remove the famed Oceanic black background and tried to silicone in front of it to the glass. I just got lazy because the background was held on by a bunch of old silicone and I didn't want to mess with it, Big mistake!! So I started over stripping out all new silicon and removed background, it actually came out pretty easy after I broke it, woops, notice first picture has background still attached. I wasn't too concerned about breaking it seeing how I have already started a DIY styrofoam background. Round two very successful water tested for 3 days to be sure but no problems sh is now watertight. Sorry I should of taken some pictures of this step to share with everyone. Pretty simple, just strip out old silicone with a razorblade making sure you first cut against the glass as to not dig into the silicon between the glass at the joint. Clean,clean,clean the glass, silicone will not adhere to itself. Then tape it off and apply silicon, when you run your finger along to smooth out the joint dont press too hard as to remove any of the silicone. Have a shot glass full of alcohol handy to dip your finger in it really helps to keep it from sticking to your skin.

[jimmie]

that's cool man;nice work

[caseyof99]

The coolest part was the trim and the canopy doors but we forgot to take pics as we were goin. It was a little intimidating at first knowing that whatever we build will have to support thousands of pounds. Turned out real nice tho.

[jimmie]

o yeah if u look at the stands u buy it's light as a feather you know,sooo the stands we build is much better and stronger I think.

[Malawi_Junkie]

Light as a feather it is not.....cabinet is around 250lbs, canopy is around 40lbs. I think we built this thing to with stand an F-5. Overkill is just my nature. it's not like I plan on moving this beast around very often. I took some pictures of the canopy doors since we forgot to take them as we were building






They open up nice and wide, they actually work better than I had hoped, makes for easy access.