# My diy 300 gallon



## badlad53 (Nov 3, 2010)

Well I decided that since a bunch of cichlids would be happiest in a tank made just for them, I'd need a new tank... Heres what I came up with!

At 1/3 full today, gonna let it sit over night, and go another third tomorrow... so far so good!

The glass is from a free coffee table I found on craigslist


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## Dieselfool (Aug 11, 2010)

Linky no worky.


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## mel_cp6 (Feb 3, 2009)

here, fixed it for you.
it looks good btw.


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## badlad53 (Nov 3, 2010)

Cool thanks ill have to learn how to that!

Assuming no problems, ill be plumbing it Tuesday (and installing filters), decorating Wednesday, and whille its cycling build the hood and cabinet surround... 
Getting excited! Into it about $55 so far...


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## mel_cp6 (Feb 3, 2009)

are you sure that tank will hold without any support to the walls?
just curious, *** never seen one done like this before without outer supports.


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## badlad53 (Nov 3, 2010)

Not entirely sure what you mean "will it hold" but its on a concrete floor and the stand has absolutely no "wobble." But please let me know if I'm forgetting about something!


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## Teggy (Nov 5, 2010)

I think the concern was will the tank stay together once it has all the water in it, considering there isn't any external bracing to the corners of the tank and whatnot. Not doubting your woodworking though, considering how clean that looks you must know what your doing


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## Dieselfool (Aug 11, 2010)

Teggy said:


> I think the concern was will the tank stay together once it has all the water in it, considering there isn't any external bracing to the corners of the tank and whatnot. Not doubting your woodworking though, considering how clean that looks you must know what your doing


I've been checking the diy tanks on MFK, and there's lots of them without outside framing up and running. Thinking about doing this myself in the spring. Cool job Badlad. I may steal some of your designs too. LOL. Can't wait to see it all set up and running.


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## badlad53 (Nov 3, 2010)

Ahhh I see... yeah I build sea kayaks out of plywood, this tank was a breeze to throw together in comparison! 100% confident it will more than hold together, I'm testing my silicon/glass! Lol never done that before...


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## badlad53 (Nov 3, 2010)

Dieselfool: let me know if you want any tips... I used some boat building tricks on this, overall a stronger and easier design than some of the plywood tanks I've seen...


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## Dieselfool (Aug 11, 2010)

badlad53 said:


> Dieselfool: let me know if you want any tips... I used some boat building tricks on this, overall a stronger and easier design than some of the plywood tanks I've seen...


Very cool, I'll keep that in mind. Thanks. Did you do anything like fiberglass or something on the inside joints before waterprofing?


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## badlad53 (Nov 3, 2010)

No fiberglass at all. I used epoxy and wood flour "fillets" (pronounced fill-it in boat building) on all the seams. Unless you plan to drop a heavy rock from up high, fiberglass is completely overkill... but you wouldn't wanna do that in an all glass tank either lol... as far as using glass tape in the seams... seems like the area least likely to require abrasion/puncture resistance, when compared to the middle of the tank floor. I'm not sure why folks are doing that to be honest. It does add to the strength of the seam for sure but placing each screw properly is going to be more than strong enough (way more than strong enough!) especially for a depth of 30 inches or less. In montana I used to screw 4 4x8 sheets of plywood together every winter to overwinter my koi... hahaha they would bow! But never ever had one come apart...

Yikes I shoulda divided that into paragraphs sorry y'all!


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## Dieselfool (Aug 11, 2010)

How about some close up pics, inside and out?


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## badlad53 (Nov 3, 2010)

hmm still no good at the picture posting but copy and paste the link, itll take you to a different site...

a couple pics of the fillets and the little tool i cut out of a shredded cheese lid to help shape them...

















http://img441.imageshack.us/i/tank4u.jpg/[img]

[img][/ihttp://img441.imageshack.us/i/tank4u.jpg/mg]

now off to read about posting pics! bet i can find that somewhere...[/img]


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## badlad53 (Nov 3, 2010)

testing...










cool it works


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## Dieselfool (Aug 11, 2010)

Cool........now lets get them pics up. LOL.


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## mel_cp6 (Feb 3, 2009)

well after viewing some of those pics, i wouldnt be so confident with that tank.
even the stand doesnt look very sturdy. theres no lateral support on beams.
theres no bracing on the top of tank and not sure if inside of the tank is water proofed 
in any way. 300g is alot very heavy and theres a lot of pressure in there with that tanks height.


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## badlad53 (Nov 3, 2010)

mel_cp6:

lol thanks for the concern... the stand does have 2 lateral stabilizers, one is clearly visible in the photo, hard to see the other (in the center of the stand). Trust me this stand is overbuilt...

the top of the tank has 2 braces, will try to post a photo of them today. they are recessed into the top frame of the tank, thats why they arent visible in the photo. I did this to make it easier for the hood to sit flush (if that makes any sense). The tank has actually been full of water since Monday because I had to order another 1" bulkhead, one of the others had a small crack in it... so I'll drain it when that gets here. Between the 2 braces and the epoxy fillets there is absolutely no bowing, at least none detectable by a very good straight edge or laser level...

thanks for pointing out that wood is not water proof... hahaha...

oh and perhaps the picture is deceiving, but actual interior dimensions of the tank are 81.75"Lx36.75"Wx24"H (only 24inches tall...)

I'll try to post some other pictures today, but snow in Seattle made for a very hectic week! Got some catching up to do...


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## badlad53 (Nov 3, 2010)

well I'll post some now or I'm gonna forget for several more days!

This is the little tool I quickly cut out to work the fillets









Before placing the frame for the glass to rest in









Starting to glue in the glass frame









The top braces









The lateral braces on the stand

















As it still sits...








For those who might be worried... that is not water on the top, it's some sloppy epoxy work... Wasnt too concerned though because the entire thing will be "wrapped" in a cabinet. The 2 wide pieces on both sides of the glass will have small doors with shelves, handy for fish food etc...

Sorry for the crappy photos I'm using my cell phone till my camera cable shows up...

Hopefully my bulkhead comes today, I wanna get this thing plumbed!!


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## badlad53 (Nov 3, 2010)

oh AND...

other reason for the recessed top braces is that part of my filtration will be 2 algae scrubbers sitting under the hood on opposite ends of the tank, and I wanted them to kinda sit down inside the tank, keeps the hood at a lower profile... (hahaha makes sense to me)


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## mel_cp6 (Feb 3, 2009)

oh good. those pics are better and now it looks ok.
yes, i did missed the lateral braces.
so what will you use to water proof the inside of the tank?


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## badlad53 (Nov 3, 2010)

Lol that was just a joke the inside is waterproofed with 3 coats of proglass epoxy... love that stuff! And yes it was done before I put any water in it...


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## mel_cp6 (Feb 3, 2009)

lol! oic


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## Dieselfool (Aug 11, 2010)

Any updates?


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## badlad53 (Nov 3, 2010)

Lol yep some ill try to post pics later today. But way off schedule I know! Emergency apendectomies tend to do that.... hahaha...
Also have run into 2 snags... first was the cracked bulkhead. Got a new one. Installed all the plumbing, and the only problem was with the 2" shower drain I decided to use for the overflow instead of an actual 2" bulk head. Tested and it leaked! Sealed with silicon and it leaked worse! So sealed with silicon like crazy and waiting for it to cure before I test again... that's where its at now. Wanna avoid getting a 2" bulkhead cuz I'm already at $72 for the whole thing and was hoping to keep the cost at $100 total (the remainder was gonna be for the cabinet surround). 
But aside from the goofy 2" drain, the bottom return (to "ugj's"), top return (to algae scrubbers), 115 gallon total sump/rapid sand filter/wet dry work perfectly. Once I have the drain fixed ill "decorate" and filler up again!


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## kinggreenterror (Dec 16, 2010)

hows the tank now anyup date? please tell me u didnt fail lol


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## badlad53 (Nov 3, 2010)

haha nope is coming along though much more slowly than I'd like!

again, sorry for the crummy pics from my phone...

this is it now. full and working great, no leaks, and didnt have to buy a 2" bulkhead, though in the future thats what I'll do. hard to see (no hood yet!) but its full and been running for a little over 1 week. its all decorated, too (more on that when I finish the hood...)









from the top... i know you can hardly see anything... I promise to do better when it has lights









this is the wet dry/rapid sand filter, the water overflows directly into it. maybe shoulda opened it, but all youd see is pretty pool filter sand and some baffles...









This is the sump. Contains the pumps and heaters, and more space for bio media should that ever be needed (though the first part contains enough sand to filter more like 5000 gallons... thinking O2 will be the limiting factor here!). One pump feeds the top of the tank (algae scrubbers) the other feeds UGJs "imbedded" into the 3d background (excited to show pics of that, but again, I need LIGHT!). UGJs work great by the way... 









so I'm hoping to finish the hood Wednesday, but I'm in charge of pies for christmas eve dinner and I'll have to do those that night too! but whenever it happens, I'll post some interior photos you can actually see....

later,


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## Cursor (Jan 4, 2005)

Can you go into a little more detail about your rapid pool sand filter?


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## badlad53 (Nov 3, 2010)

Sure. The water flows first onto a horizontal drip plate sitting above a 4" deep layer of fine filter sand (that's the wet/dry part... its not submerged). It flows through the sand, into the rest of the container, where 3 vertical columns of sand sit in about 14 inches of water. It has no where to go but through the sand (but there is space for water to flow over if the sand in one column becomes clogged). The three vertical columns of sand are each made from 2 pieces of egg crate spaced about 4.5 inches apart (glued at that spacing) and trimmed to fit pretty perfectly inside the container. Each one sits in its own set of brackets, making it easy to lift out the entire column for cleaning. Oh and the sand is contained in mesh bags I sewed to be a bit larger than the egg crate container so the sand will "bulge" out of the spaces on the edges, helping to guarantee that all the water contacts the sand.

Hahaha hope that makes sense!


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## badlad53 (Nov 3, 2010)

Oh and actually first the water flows through a prefilter attached on the end of the overflow, then to the drip plate, etc etc.
The prefilter is one of those reusable coffee filters I had lying around... not sure I'm gonna like it though... well see how often it needs cleaning. Thinking about buying some actual filter socks instead...


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## Shawn Stone (Mar 28, 2011)

bumping this one.. Necro bump.. What happend to the tank??!!!


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## badlad53 (Nov 3, 2010)

Oh its up and running and gorgeous! Even if I do say so myself... been spending the last couple months propagating plants for it and slowly adding stock (2 weeks min in quaranteen, longer if I find problems!). Right now I have 2 heros somethings that will be added tomorrow... and I promise ill post pics tomorrow!


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## juststayinthecave (Dec 23, 2010)

badlad53 said:


> Oh its up and running and gorgeous! Even if I do say so myself... been spending the last couple months propagating plants for it and slowly adding stock (2 weeks min in quaranteen, longer if I find problems!). Right now I have 2 heros somethings that will be added tomorrow... and I promise ill post pics tomorrow!


 opcorn:


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## Coln (Dec 17, 2007)

opcorn:


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## Shawn Stone (Mar 28, 2011)

annnnnnnddddddd??????


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## badlad53 (Nov 3, 2010)

Hey now its been less than 24 hours! Haha...


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## Shawn Stone (Mar 28, 2011)

Oh you never said 24hrs, you said today


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## badlad53 (Nov 3, 2010)

Haha my bad it'll be about 3pm my time... that's when I get home. Yesterday the lights were already off, that's why no pics then this morning I noticed a little algae on the glass. Scrubbed it off and the water was a bit cloudy (still tuning the algae scrubber with the plants... tough to leave enough NO3 for the plants without leaving excess for the algae, but I've almost got it! And the best part is I haven't done a water change once, and everything sits at 0, I just fill a bucket with water once a week to top off the sump!)


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## bearwithfish (Dec 20, 2010)

opcorn:


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

opcorn:


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## badlad53 (Nov 3, 2010)

ok well heres some... I actually took more, but they are loading onto photobucket half greyed out...

the little beggers were hording the camera lense so dropped in some shrimp to get them to spread out... thats the "stuff" in the water... oh and bubbles...

























(thats one of the heros somethins...)









That white angel is especially bold... and it came out of the LFS's "adoption" tank... the top and bottom fins and tail were almost completely gone, but it was interesting to finally hit on the thing that would make them grow back... and they did in about 1 week! Have some others "rescues" too...

So there ya go... If you have any questions let me know. I love this thing, and cant wait till everything is large enough to add my O's!

Up next is a 2000 gallon pond for some cats and other monsters...

later,


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## badlad53 (Nov 3, 2010)

Sheesh posted more than one hour ago and still no comments? Were my photos that bad?


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## Rigo (Aug 7, 2009)

I just read this thread all at once and would like to say I love that tank. Wasn't the most detailed tank build thread but u did a very good job on the build and the aqua scaping


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## badlad53 (Nov 3, 2010)

Rigo said:


> I just read this thread all at once and would like to say I love that tank. Wasn't the most detailed tank build thread but u did a very good job on the build and the aqua scaping


Thanks. Yeah I figured id let folks ask questions cuz a lot of this stuff would be repeat info...


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## juststayinthecave (Dec 23, 2010)

Tank looks great, the plants and rockwork are impressive :thumb: . So free glass, free fish, :fish: budget of $100 great DIY :thumb: . Interested to know how you attach the glass to the wood and keep it sealed. , Good luck with your pond, how would you winter the monster fish in Seattle? Reason I'm asking is I,m on Vancouver Island, same climate and have been thinking about a pond.


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## badlad53 (Nov 3, 2010)

juststayinthecave said:


> Tank looks great, the plants and rockwork are impressive :thumb: . So free glass, free fish, :fish: budget of $100 great DIY :thumb: . Interested to know how you attach the glass to the wood and keep it sealed. , Good luck with your pond, how would you winter the monster fish in Seattle? Reason I'm asking is I,m on Vancouver Island, same climate and have been thinking about a pond.


There's a 1 inch recess all the way around the inside of the window. Its coated with epoxy, then the glass is sealed with silicon. Took about 1.5 tubes of silicon. It sticks very well to cured epoxy and glass, so its a good seal. 
The pond is actually going in the same room as this tank on an opposite wall... so the room is heated instead of the water. Though that makes me wonder about an outdoor pond... if it was well insulated.... hmmm bet its been done before, ill have to look into that!


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## Shawn Stone (Mar 28, 2011)

by 1 inch recess to you basicly mean the front is doubled plywood, and you cut the hole for th einside one bigger? Or are you using 2 inch plywood?

Looks great btw!


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## badlad53 (Nov 3, 2010)

> by 1 inch recess to you basicly mean the front is doubled plywood, and you cut the hole for th einside one bigger?


Yes that's exactly right


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## Shawn Stone (Mar 28, 2011)

Figured as much. haha
did you actually cut out a hole in a complete sheet? or did you picture frame it, over lapping the two separate layers?

simply glued together?

And did you double the ?3/4? ply wood on all sides?


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## badlad53 (Nov 3, 2010)

Picture frame, but butt joints. And the back pieces to overlap the joints of the front.

Epoxied together other than screws used to clamp the pieces together (wide pieces and difficult to get a clamp in). Oh actually screws were removed.

No only the front frame is double, the 3/4 is more than sufficient for 24" depth, actually even at 48" depth all that will happen is some bowing Jpossibly a lot lol...


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## Shawn Stone (Mar 28, 2011)

very cool. I like the idea, I would probably do 3/4 on the outside and a 1/4 on the inside to lay my glass into. or what ever the glass thickness is.


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## badlad53 (Nov 3, 2010)

That'll probably work ok. Keep in mind though that the first silicon bead will add "thickness" to the glass, at least 1/8, so with 3/8 glass yur looking at 1/2.... or more... heck already have scrap 3/4 may as well ehh?


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## badlad53 (Nov 3, 2010)

That'll probably work ok. Keep in mind though that the first silicon bead will add "thickness" to the glass, at least 1/8, so with 3/8 glass yur looking at 1/2.... or more... heck already have scrap 3/4 may as well ehh?


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## Chunkanese (Feb 4, 2011)

Wow I wish I could do that! Very impressive


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## Coln (Dec 17, 2007)

Chunkanese said:


> Wow I wish I could do that! Very impressive


 You can, just do it we will be there for you :fish:


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## badlad53 (Nov 3, 2010)

Chunkanese said:


> Wow I wish I could do that! Very impressive


Thanks! Probably not nearly as impressive as it looks though. You really do just need to jump in and do it! Seriously very very easy... and the most fun I've ever had "in the water"


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## Norm66 (Mar 3, 2005)

That tank looks great. Very inspiring. Thanks for sharing.


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## badlad53 (Nov 3, 2010)

Norm66 said:


> That tank looks great. Very inspiring. Thanks for sharing.


Thanks!
I'll be updating pics soon. Plants are doing GREAT with atmospheric air injection (via modified power head), growing like mad! Was getting pretty tired of messing with CO2, and best part is it doesn't drop my ph at all!


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## hbbyhorse (Oct 15, 2010)

badlad53 said:


> Plants are doing GREAT with atmospheric air injection (via modified power head), growing like mad! Was getting pretty tired of messing with CO2, and best part is it doesn't drop my ph at all!


WOW! great tank! I just finished my 110g, nuthin that fancy tho 
what is atmospheric air injection? I want my plants to do well also but not quite sure how to make that happen, thx


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## badlad53 (Nov 3, 2010)

hbbyhorse said:


> badlad53 said:
> 
> 
> > Plants are doing GREAT with atmospheric air injection (via modified power head), growing like mad! Was getting pretty tired of messing with CO2, and best part is it doesn't drop my ph at all!
> ...


Well one of the best things you can do for your plants is increase the disolved CO2. Injecting pure CO2 makes the waters ph drop... stopping the CO2 makes it go back up. Its a pain to keep levels at the desirable 30ppm... so someone somewhere started misting with CO2. Basically the CO2 is injected through the impeller of a powerhead and chaopped into a fine spray. Some of it disolves, but most of it accumulates on the undersides of the leaves and the plants grow great. Eventually the gas bubble under the leaf gets large enough and it burps itself out of the tank. So ph drops but not as much....
Now folks just mist in atmospheric air (the stuff you and your ficus breath) and it works because CO2 levels are higher in air than water. No more messing with drop checkers, additional buffers, "careful not to splash the water" (you can have as much movement as you want with this system)... if when you look at your plants you see little bubbles under the leaves, you know its working. Probably only up to 3wpg or so though... higher lighting you still need CO2 injection...


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## mel_cp6 (Feb 3, 2009)

nice job.
how about a full tank shot?


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