Ok, I'll be the first one to say, I hate it when people start threads without any photos yet. There are two reasons I have though! 1) my camera is a POS, and the flash doesn't work, so the photography in this thread will suck for a little while. 2) I've intended to get started on this for several weeks now, but I keep missing my window of opportunity. I figure if I tell you guys about it, there will be some pressure to actually do something!!
Anyways. The interesting stuff, specs so far:
Dims: 96"x48"x30" (has to fit through my stupid doorway.)
Materials:
2 sheets G1S Plywood, 2 sheets Exterior plywood. (About $150, home depot.)
A Bunch of 2x4's for bracing and so on (Call it another $50)
5gal of plyester resin I have left over from other projects (Free, depending how you look at it. Cost me around $110 to buy)
Several yards of Chopped Strand Fiberglass Mat (CSM) (Again free, or around $50)
Lots of screws, Brads, wood glue, etc. (I find it hard to account for this stuff. It really adds up if you have to buy it, but I have a lot lying around.)
2 panes of 24"x72" 1/2" float glass from a 135gal aquarium. (Technically I got the aquarium in a trade for another aquarium that cost me $100. So... say $100. It will cost me $20 or so to have the glass cut to size at the water jet place.)
So somewhere around $250 outlay will get me going. I'll need to buy things along the way as always. I'm also planning on selling the 120 and 50gal tanks with their filtration, stands and canopies that I built, which will completely offset the cost of the new tank.
Viewing windows: There will be two windows, joined at a corner. One window will be 72" long, the other 48" long. The tank is going to fit in the corner of a large room, so the two viewable sides will have windows.
Filtration: 18" of the tank will be partitioned off (in the non-viewable section) for filtration. I will use 2 800gph pumps in the bottom of the filtration chamber, in combination with 2 eductors to push the water out the bottom of the filter area, and allow it to overflow back into the top. In this area there will be several 7" filter socks, and about 50gallons of bio media. I may try to work in an algae screen on this tank, but I'm trying hard to eliminate plumbing, and keep the water inside the tank. This should help with heat loss, evaporation, and the all important wife approval factor (no evap minimizes the smell when I feed stinky food).
Stand: Dunno yet. I think it will be very basic, with mostly open space underneath. I don't want to create another cabinet for things to get shoved in. With no external filtration the only thing I'll need to hide is wires.
Stock: Well I have a 20" or so TSN and a similarly sized arowana that need to be moved out of their 4x2x2. I also have a 11" oscar who is in my 50gal in solitary confinement for his own protection right now. (he was getting harassed by my african knife.) I'm also being donated (read, I'm rescuing) several large oscars and a large pleco. My 200gal is filled with potential monsters right now as well, so as they grow out, they may get transferred to the 600. (2 tinfoils, black ghost knife, Black shark, some unidentified weird cichlids I have that seem to be growing fast.)
Lighting: Dunno yet. I think I'm going to go fairly dim, mainly because I don't want to spend a ton. I will likely hang a couple shop lights above the tank and overdrive some ADV850 bulbs. The real hard question is how I'm going to make a cost effective lid for this thing with enough windows to let in the light... or am I going to get stuck making a 4'x8' canopy (Bleugh, I hate making canopies.) I need something to keep my aro in the tank tho!
Anyways, I apologise again for the lack of pics. I will HOPEFULLY get the lumber today, if not, it will be in the next two weeks as $ allows.
Anyways. The interesting stuff, specs so far:
Dims: 96"x48"x30" (has to fit through my stupid doorway.)
Materials:
2 sheets G1S Plywood, 2 sheets Exterior plywood. (About $150, home depot.)
A Bunch of 2x4's for bracing and so on (Call it another $50)
5gal of plyester resin I have left over from other projects (Free, depending how you look at it. Cost me around $110 to buy)
Several yards of Chopped Strand Fiberglass Mat (CSM) (Again free, or around $50)
Lots of screws, Brads, wood glue, etc. (I find it hard to account for this stuff. It really adds up if you have to buy it, but I have a lot lying around.)
2 panes of 24"x72" 1/2" float glass from a 135gal aquarium. (Technically I got the aquarium in a trade for another aquarium that cost me $100. So... say $100. It will cost me $20 or so to have the glass cut to size at the water jet place.)
So somewhere around $250 outlay will get me going. I'll need to buy things along the way as always. I'm also planning on selling the 120 and 50gal tanks with their filtration, stands and canopies that I built, which will completely offset the cost of the new tank.
Viewing windows: There will be two windows, joined at a corner. One window will be 72" long, the other 48" long. The tank is going to fit in the corner of a large room, so the two viewable sides will have windows.
Filtration: 18" of the tank will be partitioned off (in the non-viewable section) for filtration. I will use 2 800gph pumps in the bottom of the filtration chamber, in combination with 2 eductors to push the water out the bottom of the filter area, and allow it to overflow back into the top. In this area there will be several 7" filter socks, and about 50gallons of bio media. I may try to work in an algae screen on this tank, but I'm trying hard to eliminate plumbing, and keep the water inside the tank. This should help with heat loss, evaporation, and the all important wife approval factor (no evap minimizes the smell when I feed stinky food).
Stand: Dunno yet. I think it will be very basic, with mostly open space underneath. I don't want to create another cabinet for things to get shoved in. With no external filtration the only thing I'll need to hide is wires.
Stock: Well I have a 20" or so TSN and a similarly sized arowana that need to be moved out of their 4x2x2. I also have a 11" oscar who is in my 50gal in solitary confinement for his own protection right now. (he was getting harassed by my african knife.) I'm also being donated (read, I'm rescuing) several large oscars and a large pleco. My 200gal is filled with potential monsters right now as well, so as they grow out, they may get transferred to the 600. (2 tinfoils, black ghost knife, Black shark, some unidentified weird cichlids I have that seem to be growing fast.)
Lighting: Dunno yet. I think I'm going to go fairly dim, mainly because I don't want to spend a ton. I will likely hang a couple shop lights above the tank and overdrive some ADV850 bulbs. The real hard question is how I'm going to make a cost effective lid for this thing with enough windows to let in the light... or am I going to get stuck making a 4'x8' canopy (Bleugh, I hate making canopies.) I need something to keep my aro in the tank tho!
Anyways, I apologise again for the lack of pics. I will HOPEFULLY get the lumber today, if not, it will be in the next two weeks as $ allows.
I might get together some tarps and try to go up there this evening anyway. The wife unit is going out of town tomorrow morning, so at the very least, I will get the wood home, and start fastening some things together tomorrow. I'll try to get some dim pictures up. I'll also try to get my design drawings scanned in tomorrow. 
