2200 gal Ray tank build

[pagani]

Nice Super Red and Pearl stingray. Is that a parent of my rays?

Edited May 28, 2010 by pagani

[RD.]

Looking good! Glad that I could help you out in the aquascaping dept, Scott.

[Jayba]

WOW! In basement pool and tank in one step. Does your insurance company know what's going on down there? No really, do you have to modify your insurance?

From the looks of your mechanical room, you maybe are an electrician? liquid tight flex, omron timer, recyled JB etc. Looks awesome, very well thought out. Would love to have even a fraction of this tank size, thanks for taking the time to document it.

I showed my wife this and said "I want one", but she suggested I couldn't afford the water bill after the divorce.....

But I'd find a way!!!!lol

[skynoch]

:heart: :heart: :heart: :heart: :heart: :heart: :heart:

:smokey: Just waiting for yours now. :thumbs:

this is so wild!! How long did it take to complete this? I'm impressed. My 6 gal tank is absolutely nothing compared to yours LOL.

The build time was actually a little over a year but there would be times where nothing would get done for a few months. To actually do the whole thing non-stop would probably take one man/woman 2 weeks of 8 hour days depending on how handy you were.

lol it's not the size of the tank it's how you use it. I'm ure there is some planted and coral tank that have taken alot longer to get to there final stage.

[skynoch]

Nice Super Red and Pearl stingray. Is that a parent of my rays?

Thanks. You bet the pearl is the father of your rays and the pic is actually a bad pic of it. It has a very intense black base and gold pattern on it.

Looking good! Glad that I could help you out in the aquascaping dept, Scott.

Thanks Niel the driftwood in there will make alot of difference in they're activity level.

WOW! In basement pool and tank in one step. Does your insurance company know what's going on down there? No really, do you have to modify your insurance?

From the looks of your mechanical room, you maybe are an electrician? liquid tight flex, omron timer, recyled JB etc. Looks awesome, very well thought out. Would love to have even a fraction of this tank size, thanks for taking the time to document it.

I showed my wife this and said "I want one", but she suggested I couldn't afford the water bill after the divorce.....

But I'd find a way!!!!lol

lol, I'm not married so that may be the reason I could do this. The bills do add up a bit but it is alot cheaper than running a bunch of small tanks I'm finding and the time I'm saving on maintenance will eventually pay for it.

Haven't told my insurance company yet but my insurance broker in town is a friend of mine and he hasn't brought the wraith down on me yet.

Good eye about the electrician. I am an electrician that has been lucky enough to work in alot of areas of the trade one being the olfield and another is the maintenance at the local pool so all of this is a littl cheaper and quite similar to my job.

Thanks, I'm starting to feel sad that I didn't actully take the time to do a complete picture and walkthrough of the build.

[skynoch]

A little better explanation of the mechanical.

Very simple filtration. A reeflow hamerhead pump pushing through a 24" sta-rite sand filter with part of the return going to the brute garbage can which is actually a bioreactor. The electric water heater was only brought online for the initial heating as the drip system and pumps provide all the heat needed. The drip system is just a cold and hot water line valaved together and then ran through a sediment and 2 charcoal flters. There is a reeflow barracuda used for just circulation. The over flow and sand filter waste are tied diectly into the house drain lines. Added a new electrical panel for the tank equipment. The pvc junction box has controllers,timers and relays for the lighting,heater and pump. The lighting is 2- 8' 4 tube lamp fixtures with the lamps paired off turning 2 on/off at 4 different time intervals controlled by a timer designed for auto water systems. The heater controller is a johnsen controls model which allows me to set the on off temps very presicely. There is also a omron timer that when a feed pushbuttun is pressed it will shut the circulating pumps off for 10 minutes. The air pump is a podmaster ap-100 model which provides the bioreactor with air and part of the tank airstones also. Still have alot of things I want to do and try but that is what is making this whole project so fun.

And now for sme pics!

[letsgofishn]

Hey Scott, I was wonder if it was you that bought the driftwood from Niel, great deal. I really didn't need all those pieces for my little guppy tank! LOL I am sure they will look awesome in your indoor pond. Can hardly wait to see it!! :drool:

[skynoch]

Hey Scott, I was wonder if it was you that bought the driftwood from Niel, great deal. I really didn't need all those pieces for my little guppy tank! LOL I am sure they will look awesome in your indoor pond. Can hardly wait to see it!! :drool:

Ya I oouldn't really pass it up at that price. Still need to find a centerpiece.

[Funky_Fish14]

Wow superb job on this setup! The tank looks awesome!

Woot really cool to see someone else using zavlar! I have 4 gallons of it myself (4x1gal pails, couldnt order individually so I'll have to sell some) but was just waiting to try it out on a tank! Only a few people have done it so far but it looks awesome! Did you cover with the tiles so that you wouldn't get the brown zavlar look after sitting under water? haha. And I assume you just slapped the tiles right on to the wet zavlar?

How did you seal the front panel with it? I was thinking on my tank that I would put zavlar around the window opening, and then put the glass(or acrylic, dont know yet?) against it and then zavlar up and over the edge onto he glass as well (to have like a 'double-seal', if that makes any sense?).

Cheers, And thanks for sharing!

Chris

[Funky_Fish14]

*Double post sorry*

Edited May 30, 2010 by Funky_Fish14

[pagani]

Hey Scott, I was wonder if it was you that bought the driftwood from Niel, great deal. I really didn't need all those pieces for my little guppy tank! LOL I am sure they will look awesome in your indoor pond. Can hardly wait to see it!! :drool:

Ya I oouldn't really pass it up at that price. Still need to find a centerpiece.

I think we'll need to do a group buy for the driftwood from spencer so we don't have to pay a ton for shipping. I've been looking for a show peice for my 210 for awhile now and spencer is the only place ive seen with the right size.

[skynoch]

Wow superb job on this setup! The tank looks awesome!

Woot really cool to see someone else using zavlar! I have 4 gallons of it myself (4x1gal pails, couldnt order individually so I'll have to sell some) but was just waiting to try it out on a tank! Only a few people have done it so far but it looks awesome! Did you cover with the tiles so that you wouldn't get the brown zavlar look after sitting under water? haha. And I assume you just slapped the tiles right on to the wet zavlar?

How did you seal the front panel with it? I was thinking on my tank that I would put zavlar around the window opening, and then put the glass(or acrylic, dont know yet?) against it and then zavlar up and over the edge onto he glass as well (to have like a 'double-seal', if that makes any sense?).

Cheers, And thanks for sharing!

Chris

I went with the tiles for really 2 reasons, one being I like he looks of tile and also too add more durability. Between the rays and the sand it might be like sandpaper rubbing on the bottom all the time.

You can also purchase a paint that will go over the Zavlar so you can have any color you want.

With the tank I first put on 3 coats of zavlar on the entire inside and then used a 1/8 trowel and put on the tiles. The acrylic window I also used zavlar an spread it on the edges with a 1/8 trowel and then bolted on, but I would not use this method again as the zavlar wasn't thick enough to fill all the imperfections, if the tank can be laid front down this method would work great and no bolting would be required. I then did zavlar around the seams like you are going to do. The zavlar takes a little while to get use to it so maybe do some practice pieces first, also make sure your humidity isn't very high and if you can expose it to sunlight it will cure better. oh ya any cloths you have that get zavlar on do not put in the washing machine and dryer as it will heat up in the dryer and come of on the walls....time to get a new dryer.

pm me if you have specifics you would like to know

and thanks for the kind words :smokey:

[skynoch]

Hey Scott, I was wonder if it was you that bought the driftwood from Niel, great deal. I really didn't need all those pieces for my little guppy tank! LOL I am sure they will look awesome in your indoor pond. Can hardly wait to see it!! :drool:

Ya I oouldn't really pass it up at that price. Still need to find a centerpiece.

I think we'll need to do a group buy for the driftwood from spencer so we don't have to pay a ton for shipping. I've been looking for a show peice for my 210 for awhile now and spencer is the only place ive seen with the right size.

Might be a good idea.

[RDFISHGUY]

Nice job on the mechanical and filtration. Very neat work. If the companies I work for saw what mine looks like I'd be outta work. My new set-up will be much neater. Thanks for raising the bar.

I can't wait to see it aquascaped. Its so big it looks bare even with all the monsters you have in it.

[skynoch]

Nice job on the mechanical and filtration. Very neat work. If the companies I work for saw what mine looks like I'd be outta work. My new set-up will be much neater. Thanks for raising the bar.

I can't wait to see it aquascaped. Its so big it looks bare even with all the monsters you have in it.

lol, it's still not as neat as it should be but a guy gets a little impatient and does a few shortcuts, the rest of my you house can still tell I'm an electrician because all the electrical is half finished.

Thanks again for the huge piece of driftwood I went for a swim last night with the rays and started to do a little aquascaping but really needed someone on the outside to tell me how it looked, so it's not exactly what I wanted yet. Spent almost an hour in there moving stuff around and playing with the rays, quite a cool experience. Also put in the air stones but need to find some suction cups to hold them in place.

I definitely owe you a couple favours now.