goonch new home

[hooliganATV]

just figured i would start a thread to show my next project to upgrade my goonch tank.

this build is basically a 7x5ft wooden insulated shed (minimum required for the tank), stuck out in the garden in the great British weather (should help to control the lower temps and guaranteed never to hit the high end) with some simple strengthening, wiring and a few little bits like vents etc. finally a simple stand that will hold the next stage of tank (260G 6ft long 3ft wide 2ft deep) to cater for his ever expanding growth hahaha. all of this working under the principle of KISS (keep it simple stupid)

so far i have

the tank (needs cleaning and sorting) in storage
the shed, arrived today
the area , concrete base good to go
filters, 3 x 1800 internals and 3x 1200 internals (may not use them all and not sure if i will sump it yet.
play sand, drift wood, java ferns etc (all from tanks im currently closing and selling)

progress will be slow as i'm not in a major rush and want to take my time on it, also don't have a lot of free time at the moment. I need to play around with it some before i put my pride and joy into it to make sure temps will hold etc, i have done this with koi in a green house and reptiles in a shed but the koi were happy to take it as it comes and the reptiles liked it hot and the water in the air was minimal. the goonch on the other hand doesn't like it too hot or too cold and i don't want the shed to fall apart from excessive water on the inside through condensation so that will all need addressing.

anyway on a typical welsh British summer day the shed arrived in the poring rain so is now awaiting me going to get some extra support for the floor section and putting it all together over the weekend.

the floor which im not convinced will take the weight of the 260G


the rest of it


and the boss

 

[Nathan P]

Looks like a fun project! When your tank is in place on the floor, will it sit across the 2X4 floor joists or parallel to them? If it's sitting across them, there's no problem. If parallel, then reinforcement is definitely a good idea.

On a side note, that's a nice-looking shed! The pre-made ones here usually just have plywood or OSB floors and walls. If you want a nice one, you've got to make it yourself or get the Amish to do it.

 

[hooliganATV]

Looks like a fun project! When your tank is in place on the floor, will it sit across the 2X4 floor joists or parallel to them? If it's sitting across them, there's no problem. If parallel, then reinforcement is definitely a good idea.

On a side note, that's a nice-looking shed! The pre-made ones here usually just have plywood or OSB floors and walls. If you want a nice one, you've got to make it yourself or get the Amish to do it.

a lot of shed here are like that too i managed to pick this up on a sale still set me back £300.

well here's a bit of an update. and to answer the first part of your reply its going to sit parallel so i went out today and brought three post 3"x 3", it the largest i could put under the floor with out raising it too much as the floor is 2.5". these posts are set out in 1ft apart (there about) and will effectively form the first part of the stand and they will sit on the base.



these are 6ft long and i have marked there location on the inside of the shed so when i put the stand in it will sit directly on top of these on to the concrete base. I'm still mulling over the stand and how im going to build it but i think it will be 4 pillars (set 1.5 ft apart) out of posts, held together with threaded bar and with a sheet of 6x3 obs half way for a shelf and a sheet under the tank with polystyrene between the sheet and the tank.

the walls of the shed will be simple polystyrene held in with thin ply board that should do the trick.



until the stand is done i cant do much more as the tank needs to be in the shed before the front panel and roof can be fitted or i run the risk of not being able to get it through the 4ft door hahaha

 

[hooliganATV]

got some bit to start the stand hope to get that up this weekend but it will be weather dependant due to it being out side. also looking at running the electrics out to the shed, it shouldn't be to much of a drain in terms off what i'm running.

also got my lights which i found under one of my stands hahaha so plenty of stuff lying around i just need it all to come together now.

 

[hooliganATV]

been slow going, family life gets in the way some times but i finally got the wood together for the stand. most of it is salvage from old stands or projects, i like reusing what i can here and there, like doing my bit. here is a pic all the bits are cut and just needs screwing together. once thats done i can get the tank moved in finish the shed and get the insulation in. the list is still long but heading in the right direction at least.

 

[hooliganATV]

stand is just about there and all for the cost of nothing but time, made completely out of reclaimed wood from other projects and screws i had in my left overs buckets lol. still need to buy the top and a little bit more reinforcement. next on the list is to get the tank moved on the stand, clean up and ready. then i need to insulate it when its completely together.

still on the list is

ventilation
maybe a sunlight in the roof ??? still undecided if this a good idea or not.
insulate and board out
wiring
lights
then set the tank up

finally move him in hahaha. by then he will be over due as his current tank is beginning to make him look very big as he has just hit 13".

at least ill be well practices for his next one, a pool with a shed built around it lol. biggest job on that is working out a fine line between cold and hot, think a trip to a sturgeon forum may be the answer as its the closet in terms of requirements i can find.

 

[hooliganATV]

well finally got round to cleaning the tank. it was a old used tank i brought from a friend who owns a shop. its had a few knocks but holds water fine, and is the right size and was only £50 so cant complain also its not going in the house so doesn't have to be display quality. I wanting to see just how cheap i could set all this up for as its not a permanent solution to the goonch housing issue but will be perfect for a few trials in the shed ready for the next size.

anyway after a good clean up it looks good and cant wait to get it set up.

things done to the tank.

- cleaned
- painted the back black
- removed all the limescale
- removed the weir as i may go sump in the future but the weir was very badly positions rendering it useless to my needs.

still will need another clean when i move it to the shed to get to the bottom of it but most of the hard work is done

 

[hooliganATV]

well been slow going, but finally made progress.

the tank is in on the stand, ran into a few speed humps there and needed modifying cheers justarn for the heads up. that was a bit of an epic as there wasnt enough room to get four people round it but a little help form a trolley jack and it was soon in place.

still waiting on my poly to insulate the walls, also need to get some expanding foam for a few large gaps, also need to put a vent in the window panel, wire the shed, felt the roof, oh fill the hole in the tank after the parts i brought dont fit (yet) so still some work to do.

but here is a pic of a shed round a tank (rather than a tank in a shed hahaha)

 

[hooliganATV]

shed is complete, all roof done and vent fitted into the window. next i need expanding foam to do the gaps (forgot to grab it today) and a water test on the tank. then its electrical and see if i can get the insulation sorted.

 

[Jez1992]

Good job so far, am in uk so like the idea of this!

I'm about to buy a similar sized glass tank second hand and am worried about how to move it as also have confined space to move it. What sort of jack did you use and did you hire it from somewhere?

Good luck with rest of build!