200g Wetsuit Tank
- Thread starter earthstudent
- Start date
sashimimaster;4878945; said:
Well you would need to define "allot". I do not have the light system built for it yet, so it's not getting much light at the moment. It is just running so I know it works OK and I can determine the flow I will need. I would say algae scrubbers in general need a moderate amount of light. I am going to have 120 compact florescent equivalent watts (2 x 60 watt CFL bulbs) on each side of the screen. So I think each bulb is actually 15 watts. So a total of 60 actual watts for the entire algae filter.
dead wait;4881503; said:
Your waiting is no more. Here are some update pictures. Everything is running great. I still have some decorating to do, and I still may need to get another fish or 2 because I think these may all be male and this is a breeding project so I obviously need a female. Anyone in Iowa with a female tilapia they would be willing to part with? I got these from a grocery store, $5.50/lb.
I made some changes to the overflows. This setup works good and is very quite.
Wow, that's one sturdy looking tank! It'll be interesting to see how the Wetsuit brand holds up. G'luck with the breeding!
earthstudent;4594289; said:Well, here is the first ever (that I or the manufacturer are aware of) Wetsuit tank build. The distributor of Wetsuit has funded this build and I have volunteered my time and skills to build it. Mainly because they are going to be donating the tank to me when it is done.
It is a 6'x3'x2' tank. I know you are saying, wait that is not 200g it is about 270g. Well the interior dimensions of the tank are about 200g (actually a little less) so that is the realistic water capacity. I am limited on space and this is the biggest I could go for where the tank is going.
Filtration will be a bio-tower and algae scrubber/plants which I still have to design and build. This tank is going to be part of an aquaponic system.
Inhabitants will be tilapia as well as a large pleco that I have that is needing some more space.
Tank is a 2"x4" frame with 1/2" plywood on the inside. It is an all 2x4 stand that is 2' tall.
So far I have used
30 2x4's
2 sheets "premium grade" 1/2" plywood (some good scrap left)
Almost a whole 5lb box of 2.5" screw and about 2lb of 1" screws
Here is were I am at so far. I would say it is a little over built but that is the way I like it. I have a couple things yet to do before I put the Wetsuit on it. I am doing a sumped drain at the bottom of the tank (with 2" bulkhead) that will allow me to drain the tank down to almost no water when I need to. Once I am done with that I will post some pics which will give you a better idea of what I mean and how I do it. I am also going to router the top edge of the plywood so it is a nice round edge. More pics to come, enjoy.
2x4s cut for the stand
Stand Built (minus cross braces which I added later)
2x4s cut for tank
Frame built for tank. You can see the cross braces I added on the back of the stand.
Tank lined with plywood. Lily (my pit) walking in front of it.
Tank lined with plywood. With my 90lb Dogo Argentino inside it. He voluntarily jumped into the tank.
Inside view. I will be routering the top edge of the plywood to soften that corner as I am going up and over the rim of the tank with Wetsuit.
More to come. Let me know if you have any questions.
Hi there,
I have followed your build closely and really love your framing, I would like to know the details of how it all goes together.
It looks very solid and could be applied to my 12'x6'x4' with the addition of front to back braces.
Your help would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers.
Ramesh;4926439; said:
This tank is greatly over built at this size. But the main reason I built it this way is because I am going to be building a 2000g ray tank that I am going to use this same framing, but scaled up. This tank was basically a test of this frame design. This design is pretty simple and very strong. The vertical supports are screwed to the first board at the top and bottom rim and the additional rim layers are them applied. Not much to explain really. It is all crewed together with the appropriate length construction screws.
