Finally my turn, roughly 1,000 gal plywood build

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Friday night update for everyone. Not nearly as much of an update as I would like but I'm making progress. A lot of this week I spent cleaning up down there, cleaning out crap. To start, every time a new cable company came they ran a new line, which I get, but it made for 6 or 7 old cable lines across the basement ceiling that drove me crazy. So I spent one evening cleaning them up, pulled down probably 200' of old line, as well an old box for an in attic antenna and an old phone line-

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I also cleaned out under the basement stairs so I could store some stuff out of the way. I had already given one brand new bucket away, but I found another 8 buckets of paint. 5 of them empty, other three mostly empty. So glad they didn't throw them away
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At this point I had most of the wood panels down, except where one is supporting a light. It'll be coming down sometime soon
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I also found this children's book!
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Anyone want some ceiling tiles?
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I broke down all the panels so I could wedge them into my garbage. My garbage man is going to hate me the next few weeks
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Tonight I pulled down the first set of "studs". They were not very well attached, pulled down super easy. First wall took me less than ten mins
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So that is where I am now. I have to figure out how to start taking down the next wall, as conduit goes through the studs so that makes my life a bit harder. But I'm hoping to have all of the studs down and the bar removed by Monday or Tuesday evening at the latest. Studs go up after that. My dad is coming by to help me with electrical next weekend, so I need to be ready for him with lights, outlets, switches, all that good stuff. Any thoughts everyone has on that is appreciated! Someday I'll have an update where I'm starting the tank!
 
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Make sure you get a gfci protected outlet, and put in in the first box of the run. that way it protects all the plugs after it.
 
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You're doing a great job! You are lucky, my basement access is from my garage, which sucks in the winter. On the plus side, it was easy to get materials and a big tank down there!
 
Glossolepis incisus said:
Make sure you get a gfci protected outlet, and put in in the first box of the run. that way it protects all the plugs after it.
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Good call! I probably wont add one in the main basement area as none of the tank electronics will be plugged in on that side, however in the filter area I will be sure to add one in.

Brent419 said:
I love how one home project leads directly into 3 or 4 more!!
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Always seems to go that way doesn't it? Basement is something I wanted to do eventually, but not yet lol

monkeybike said:
You're doing a great job! You are lucky, my basement access is from my garage, which sucks in the winter. On the plus side, it was easy to get materials and a big tank down there!
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Thanks! Not making as quick of progress as I'd like but I'm getting there. Your situation sounds like a blessing and a curse. My biggest issue is that it is tough to get long materials down the stairs. It is tight at the top and then again at the bottom. I'm not sure I can even get a full sheet of plywood down the stairs.


I hope to have another decent update tonight. I got some good tools yesterday that should help me out. Borrowed a prybar to bring down the studs, got my compressor back, so now I can use my framing nailer which should speed up things a lot. I also borrowed a ramset for when it is time to mount the studs. I'd really like to see the basement framed by the weekend. I can dream! lol
 
Ive built a 250 gallon plywood turtle tank and it was awesome I have no regrets.I am rooting for you and hope all goes well.
 
Thanks, I appreciate the support! I'm looking forward to getting into the tank building. This part sucks to be honest. I've discovered some of the studs are much better attached than others. But two of fours walls are down. Taking on another tonight. Also starting to think I should have rented a dumpster.
 
So for those of you watching, a quick update and question. First off, next house I buy is going to have a walk out basement. Going up and down the stairs sucks.

Couple nights ago I finished tearing everything down including the crappy bar. All that is left is one of the ceiling lights. It is coming down this weekend. Last night I carried it all out to the garage. Took me about three and a half hours to get it all out. I'm guessing I made 100+ trips up and down the stairs. When everything is full of nails you cant carry much at once. But in any case, need to do some sweeping and we will be good to go.

This weekend recessed lighting is being installed since the ceiling is exposed. Early next week foam and then studs are going up. I'll update sometime this weekend with the pics I have so far, maybe Sunday after lights are in. Someday this will actually turn into a tank build!

That said, some tank questions and update. I'm going to be adding a circuit to the breaker just for the tank, so that is exciting. Wont be installed this weekend but hopefully in the next few weeks. Also upgraded my tank controller. I had a Reefkeeper lite, I picked up an elite version. Will be using it to monitor everything as well as control a bit of stuff. I will have it watching the pH in both the main tank and the quarantine tanks, temp in both, control heaters based off temp, controlling lights for both including sunrise and sunset, water sensors below the tank and in the filter room. Plus it will email and text me any alerts should something go wrong. If you can't tell I'm pretty excited for it.

Onto my question, how big of a sump would everyone do for this tank? I was thinking somewhere around 150 gal total. That said, I found a local store selling new 75 gal tanks for $125 each, or a discount if multiples are ordered. I'm considering picking up three or four of them. Two for sumps for the main tank that would be linked together, one for the quarantine tank, and maybe one for the QT sump. So the question is, are two 75 gal tanks big enough? I'm thinking media in the brute garbage cans above them, so it would just be extra water capacity. Thoughts?
 
I would say that 2 x 75 would be adequate. It's really about how effectively you use the space, and how much your main tank overflows into it with the power off.
 
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