Fry Tank Build out of Electrical Panels

[astrocreep]

I acquired some free material from work, we build industrial control panels for all kinds of stuff. I have two unused panels that are missing the doors. These are fully welded panels that are painted inside and out, the bigger one measuring 48x36x11 and the smaller measuring 36x30x11. Due to the shallow depth of 10" max water level, obviously larger fish wouldn't work, but I've been letting my Rivulatus pair spawn and thought these would make cool fry tanks, and allow me to use all my tanks in the house for larger fish.

I also took home a huge heavy pallet measuring just over 8 feet long by 4 feet wide. You could park a tank on this thing. I threw the enclosures down and took some pictures just so you could get a visual image of my plan.

At this point I really don't know exactly what I will wind up with and I'm open to ideas to deck this thing out. But my main goal is to spend as little money as possible and so far its been free. These are the things I need to figure out first.

How high I want the table to stand, how to build some legs or stand to support it, and whether I want to cut the pallet down.

Should I keep the enclosures separate, or connect them with two runs of pvc pipe or metal conduit?

Could I do waterproof LED lighting and attach it underneath the lip where it would not be seen?

I roughly calculated the total volume of both tanks combined to be 120 gallons. Or 75 gallons on the bigger one and 45 gallons on the smaller one.

Still need ideas for filtration, I think the lip is the perfect width for an Aquaclear 110 to fit over it, plus I have seeded sponge filters all over.

Let me know if you guys have any cool ideas to help this build!

 

[astrocreep]

I have tools at work to pop holes for conduit(metal piping), I thought it would be cool to keep space between the tanks, but have them connected with two pipes allowing the fry to move between the tanks.

Im pretty sure I could get it all watertight pretty easily, between the gaskets on the hubs and some silicon.

I also thought about cutting out a large portion of what would be the front panel and seal in some glass or acrylic but I don't know if its worth the trouble to see in from the side.

I need to figure out a cool way to raise and lower some lids down onto it as well, maybe build a bracket behind it and mount the lids on hinges that could be raised when needed

Im going to remove the mounting lugs on the inside of these enclosures and grind them down flat, and touch up the paint.

 

[TheWolfman]

Well I’ve never seen anyone make a fish tank out of a Hoffman box, it could be interesting. I would cut the studs off the bottom and seal them off so they don’t rust, maybe evem seal the whole inside for good measure. If you do decide to connect the two boxes, I would use some bulkheads and schedule 40 pvc. Throw a sump on it!! They sell light bars that go under water so you could definitely tuck it under the ledge. I would make the stand so that you can easily view the tanks from above. There’s plenty of designs out there. Keep us updated on your project best of luck!

 

[astrocreep]

Well I’ve never seen anyone make a fish tank out of a Hoffman box, it could be interesting. I would cut the studs off the bottom and seal them off so they don’t rust, maybe evem seal the whole inside for good measure. If you do decide to connect the two boxes, I would use some bulkheads and schedule 40 pvc. Throw a sump on it!! They sell light bars that go under water so you could definitely tuck it under the ledge. I would make the stand so that you can easily view the tanks from above. There’s plenty of designs out there. Keep us updated on your project best of luck!

Thanks man, Yeah I will definitely cut the studs out of the boxes, that would make catching fry even harder with those in the way.

These style of boxes don't have any external holes drilled like some do so I'm confident they will hold water forever unless I start drilling holes haha

I'm still not decided on the connecting the two boxes, would be cool but unless I used some sort of clear pipe I will never see them swimming through there. But on the other hand it does up the water volume to 120 gallons roughly.

I agree I would like to just view from above though, cutting a huge viewing window in front of both tanks will just increase the cost as well as cause leaks if I dont seal it substantially somehow.

I'm leaning towards getting a roll of the LED light strips that are IP68 waterproof for submersion, still havent found a set that does all colors though, only white or green.

 

[astrocreep]

This will be a slow process but hopefully will have something built by summer. I will update this thread with pics the further I get into it.

In the meantime any ideas or suggestions along the way helps so let me know.

 

[esoxlucius]

What material are those boxes made of and is that grey the materials natural colour or are they spray painted?

 

[astrocreep]

What material are those boxes made of and is that grey the materials natural colour or are they spray painted?

I'm not sure of the grade, but its steel with an industrial grey paint.

The coating is from the factory, its pretty tough, definitely able to withstand scratches from gravel and rocks. Its takes a few seconds to grind down to bare metal with a grinder. These panels aren't cheap. But they would've sat at my shop collecting dust or getting cut up for who knows what.

I will however be cutting the mounting lugs off the inside, so I will need to seal up the bare metal again....any suggestions?

I could do epoxy resin, silicon, primer/paint

 

[esoxlucius]

I'm not sure of the grade, but its steel with an industrial grey paint.

The coating is from the factory, its pretty tough, definitely able to withstand scratches from gravel and rocks. Its takes a few seconds to grind down to bare metal with a grinder. These panels aren't cheap. But they would've sat at my shop collecting dust or getting cut up for who knows what.

I will however be cutting the mounting lugs off the inside, so I will need to seal up the bare metal again....any suggestions?

I could do epoxy resin, silicon, primer/paint

Ok, the only reason I ask about materials involved is that they are going to be underwater 100% of the time and so need to be safe, especially bearing in mind this set up is for fry where your water quality needs to be better than perfect.

It seems the steel part won't be an issue as water will never get to it due to the heavy duty coating. But what about the barrier, the paint? If you have this paint on site i'd do a thorough check on it. You need to be absolutely certain that it's not going to slowly degrade under water and then start leaching chemicals into your system, killing your fry.

 

[astrocreep]

Ok, the only reason I ask about materials involved is that they are going to be underwater 100% of the time and so need to be safe, especially bearing in mind this set up is for fry where your water quality needs to be better than perfect.

It seems the steel part won't be an issue as water will never get to it due to the heavy duty coating. But what about the barrier, the paint? If you have this paint on site i'd do a thorough check on it. You need to be absolutely certain that it's not going to slowly degrade under water and then start leaching chemicals into your system, killing your fry.

The only paint I have on site is the touch up paint (made by same company) we use to spray bare metal after we cut holes or whatever. I dont think I will use that to touch up where the mounting holes will be cut off due to the reasons you stated above. I dont feel the touch up paint would hold up and could break down over time.

The factory coating however is a thick layer of primer and then a thick layer of paint. As far as the chemical make-up of the paint I have no idea, but surely it is tough enough to stand up to tap water. Some caustic or acidic chemical may be another story. These panels are designed to sustain exposure to sunlight as well as weather outside. We have some scraps that have been sitting outside for quite some time, 2 years if not longer. Other than being a little oxidized from the sun, the paint is as nice as it is on a new one.

I totally understand your point though, and trust me I have thought about that. I'm pretty confident though that it will not be an issue.

 

[astrocreep]

I need suggestions on what to use to seal the bare metal after I cut the mounting lugs off.

It will not be visible so I don't need to use paint on it.

Would some regular tank RTV silicon do the job? I could also pickup some Gorilla Glue two-part epoxy if thats a better route