275g Upgrade

Dave78 · Jan 16, 2018

So I have been working on my wife for several years now about upgrading to a larger tank. She finally gave in about a year ago, since then I have picked up a nice 275g acrylic tank. This tank has kind of unique dimensions and grabbed my attention. The tank is 8’ x 3’ x 18” . This is going to be built into the basement wall like I did with my 75g tank. The room that the tank will be in is 10’x13’ and will be strictly a fish room. I will have my mixing station, all my equipment and 1 or 2 separate frag tanks. To date I have gotten the tank and the room has been completely cleaned and repainted. The stand will most likely be built with 4x4 legs and 2x6 bracing. I will try to post a few pictures of the tank and room it will be going into. So far it has been a slow process and I hope to pick up the pace a little.

Dave78 · Jan 16, 2018

Here are some pictures when I picked up the tank. The tank will be going into the wall that the TV is on.

Dave78 · Jan 16, 2018

The door will be removed and The wall will be rebuilt around the tank. I will center the tank into the wall.

Dave78 · Jan 16, 2018

This fall before winter hit I had a chance to buff out a few scratches on the sides, and a few very minor scratches on the front of the tank. I used the following along with a variable speed orbital sander 600grit, 800grit, 1200grit, 2000grit, and ended with 3000grit wet/dry sandpaper. I then buffed out the tank using Novus 3,2,1 and it came out very nice.

Dave78 · Jan 16, 2018

End result...

sneub · Jan 16, 2018

Awesome start, Following

count krunk · Jan 16, 2018

18" high awesome! What are you going to light it with? I too love tanks that aren't very high. I love being able to have sps on the bottom of the tank without killer lights. I'm going to guess and say a combo or LED & t5 since it's so long.

Clayton Jessup · Jan 16, 2018

That’s a massive tank I am totally following this build !

Dave78 · Jan 16, 2018

My plan right now is to use (4) 30” Mars Aqua LEDs. I have been ruining Mars Aqua on my 75g and had great growth with them. They also won’t break the bank and they are a simple setup. I have a few more pictures to bring the build up to current date.

Dave78 · Jan 16, 2018

Over the past few days my son and I worked on the fish room. We sprayed the ceiling black, painted the walls a bright white and the floor a battleship Gray. Here we are in our space suits, well my sons was kinda homemade.

Dave78 · Jan 16, 2018

The end result turned out very well and it turns out my sons has a natural painting talent!!

Dave78 · Jan 16, 2018

First time using a paint sprayer, I guess I should have taped off the walls with plastic also, lesson learned.

6Bolt · Jan 16, 2018

This is going to be epic. I will be following along

Dave78 · Jan 16, 2018

That’s ok because the little man came to the rescue and did a great job fixing the problem....lol

Dave78 · Jan 16, 2018

This is the final touch on the room before we build the stand and close off the door to the room. So far the room turned out great, I will be installing a sanitary sink in the back corner by the grey shelf. I will have hot and cold water running to it for maintenance and equipment cleaning and it will feed my R/O system.

Dave78 · Jan 16, 2018

Once I build the stand and temporary put the tank in place, I will mark where the electrical outlets are going. I plan on running (2) 20 amp lines to the room for all the equipment. I plan on having (3) outlets down near the sump, (3) more along the top of the tank, and (4) outlets in the ceiling above the tank for the lights. After the electric is ran I will cut the wall out and the end result will look like my 75g on steroids.

Dave78 · Jan 17, 2018

Seeking advice on the fish room ceiling, do I leave the rafters open and exposed? Or should I insulate the ceiling and put up a plastic vapor barrier? Some say it is best to leave it alone for air circulation and others say seal it off. I plan on installing an exhaust fan to help control some of the humidity. Below are a few pictures.