Keeping it Simple 600

[Xanthurum]

The time has come to start the build thread for my new tank. I have been in the hobby now for well over two decades and learned a thing or two about what I do and do NOT like when it comes to tanks. I have also learned that most people only want to see pictures so lets kick this bucket! I will do my best to provide details so feel free to ask any questions

The tank is 96" long x 48" wide and 30" tall, Acrylic peninsula built by Titan Aquatic Exhibits. It has a clear external overflow with 3 drains so I can run a bean animal setup. I chose clear instead of the typical black so I can easily see what’s going on. The height of the water in the tank can be controlled with an adjustable weir on the overflow and there are 2 holes in the corners for returns. Holes for a closed loop system will be added later.

Here are some pics

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along! What are your plans for stocking?

 

[Xanthurum]

@Gumbies R Us I have been collecting fish for this build for about a year. Some of the fish I have had for years in my other tanks and some have been acquired specifically for this tank.

I currently have the following fish quarantined and ready to transfer or already in the tank.
Purple Tang
Yellow Tang
Scopas Tang
Desjardini Sailfin Tang
Tomini Tang
Whitetail Bristletooth Tang
Convict Tang
Achilles Tang
Mustard Tang
Sohal Tang
Naso Tang
Emperor Angel
Goldflake Angel
Potters Angel
Flame Angel
Spotbreast Angel pair
Copperband Butterfly
Rhomboid wrasse
McCoskers Wrasse
Leopard Wrasse
Bimac Anthias x 5
Chalk Bass x 4
Royal Gramma x 4
Talbots Damsel x 3
4 stripe Damsel x 4
Yellow tail Damsel x 2
Black cap Basslet
Green Mandarin
Valentini Puffer
Flame Hawk
Starry Blenny

As for corals...that will be determined by whatever the angels decide not to eat.

 

[Extremeengineer]

I feel like maybe you should think about adding a Tang or 2 to your list

 

[Xanthurum]

I should probably explain why I decided to title this build thread a Simple 600. I'm sure most people would say there isn't anything simple about running such a large tank and I'd have to agree with you if you did. That being said I feel that for the last decade the hobby has been getting way to complicated. I wanted to let people know that you can have success without all the fluff so to speak. Don't get me wrong there have been a lot of great advances in the hobby but it also seems like the "keeping up with the Joneses" mentality has been spiraling out of control.

For my first area of simplifying the build I decided on building the stand out of wood! Wait...What??? You can't build a stand for a large tank out of 2 x 4's and plywood!!!

Yes you can.

There were a lot of reasons why I chose to go this route but the biggest reason was I didn't was to risk damaging the flooring I currently have. It's not like the flooring is anything fancy but I can't find replacement tiles anywhere and if I did damage any I'd have to replace my entire first floor with new tile when I sell the house. I plan on downsizing the house after my kids move out and I'd rather now replace it if I could avoid it. I was afraid that a steel or aluminum stand would have a greater chance of causing damage.
Furthermore every steel stand I have ever seen will eventually rust and this just increases the odds that my floor would be stained by said rust.
Cost was also a big factor because I'm not made of money and spending $3500 on an aluminum stand just did not sound appealing.

With the help of a friend we designed a stand using Solidworks and with some number crunching it looked like the design could easily support over 5 tons so we got to work. There were a few tweaks along the way to increase rigidity but overall the design is still basically the same as the first design.
The plan is to have everything under the tank which meant a dry storage area for all aquarium related supplies. In my many many years in the hobby I have always hated how supplies and trinkets seem to collect all over the house so I'm really hoping to stop that by having a dedicated space built into the stand. Obviously I still needed space for the sump and an ATO reservoir but I also wanted to incorporate a QT system. The QT system would prove to be the most challenging but we will touch on that at a later date. For now, PICTURES!

 

[Devaji]

nice! fallowing along.
I have the IM peninsula on the main floor so fellow pen. lover here too.
I have to fish the basement into a man cave/fish room with a large 500+ tank for a FOWLR

may i ask why you went acrylic over glass?
pall park cost of that bad boy?

 

[Xanthurum]

@Devaji there were a few reasons I chose acrylic over glass.

Weight of course was a big one, glass is much heavier

Longevity was a concern, seam splitting shouldn’t be an issue ever with acrylic

Clarity is better with acrylic than any glass especially given the fact that I didn’t want to get low iron glass due to how easily it scratches. I know what you’re thinking, doesn’t acrylic scratch easily??? Yes it does but I actually worked at Titan for several years and have the ability to fix any scratches.
The fact that I worked for Titan is another reason I went with acrylic, I was able to get a good deal and I didn’t have to pay for shipping since they are local to me.

 

[Devaji]

@Devaji there were a few reasons I chose acrylic over glass.

Weight of course was a big one, glass is much heavier

Longevity was a concern, seam splitting shouldn’t be an issue ever with acrylic

Clarity is better with acrylic than any glass especially given the fact that I didn’t want to get low iron glass due to how easily it scratches. I know what you’re thinking, doesn’t acrylic scratch easily??? Yes it does but I actually worked at Titan for several years and have the ability to fix any scratches.
The fact that I worked for Titan is another reason I went with acrylic, I was able to get a good deal and I didn’t have to pay for shipping since they are local to me.

Sounds great to me.
I had a 240 acrylic years ago..
my 200 glass peninsula was so heavy. So understand the weight issue .

So nice you got a deal on the tank and can fix any scratches.

Order me one I’ll be right over to pick it up…haha

Fallowing as I want to see this come together.

 

[Janci]

Interested to see where this is going. Following
We do like pictures, but mostly read the comments too.
Nice collection of tanks, bottle caps, beers,....