Closeup tank shot:

Full tank shot with moonlights:

Big moment of truth, would my plumbing and sump design work? Was I going to have an angry wife with 600+ liters of water all over the floor? Only one way to find out.

Started by testing the workings of the sump, first the skimmer, then the baffles and the return pump plumping, and that there was enough pressure to make it to the top of the tank. Check!

Now lets add some more water and get this think really flowing. The picture shows a watering can, but this was just so I could make sure everything was working ok before I got the hose. Because filling up a 600L tank with an 8L watering can would be silly right? (shh – hopefully no one will notice).

Fingers crossed and wait……..

Success!!

Here is a shot with the tank full of fresh water, hard to tell that it is full but it is.

Finally a nice picture of the working sump, with pen marks in the return chamber for power out conditions, running max, minimums, etc.

Big day today – so as a reward, I went and bought myself a few new goodies online. Watch this space.

I have to thank a mate of mine ‘Matt’, who has kindly loaned me a return pump, lights and a vortech to get me going (I’m sure he was frustrated with how long this has taken).

Now I just have to get this water OUT of the tank now, in preperation for the good stuff.

When I cleaned it up, it looked a little small, so at a last minute panic, I re-checked my dimensions – phew.. its ok. It will fit (I’ve been checking every couple of days.. just to keep making sure).

Today, I took the day off work and waiting for the tank to arrive. Turns up after lunch, and after a quick shuffle around it is all setup. Big thanks to the guys at Wonderfish for coming around and giving me a hand with the setup.

Full frontal shot::

Exposure of the underbelly (empty, except for the glass lids – not sure if i’ll use them). Now I just need to work out what space I have for the sump, plumbing, wiring, etc…

Hood – I opted to go with an extra raised hood. I’m starting off with T5′s and I wanted the extended hood to allow for MH’s if I chose to go down that path. It also helps make the tank a little more cat proof.

Overflow setup – gives me options here for a silent durso/siphon setup.

A view from the top:

Underneath shot – Yes, there is no styrofoam here yet – I’m picking that up on Saturday. From left to right, they are 20,25,25mm pipes.

I know it is really bad to push fish in your tank without cycling it first, and I’m going against everything I’ve read, and have been told – BUT I really HAVE to have some fish in there, so I threw in my clown fish. I hope he survives  I don’t think it counts though.

Still Todo:

1. Styrofoam for the bottom.
2. Paint the back – I’m thinking black at this stage.
3. Go shopping for a skimmer and return pump, heaters, etc so I can work out how to config my sump.
4. Plumbing
5. Electricals (planing to put in about 2 powerboards for stuff – with a safety switch thingy of course) – the house also has a safety switch in the electric box outside – can never be too careful.
6. Some powerheads
7. Hmm.. this list is getting rather big

My wife bought me a really big bean bag (about 500 ltrs – almost as big as the tank) so the ultimate aim is to plonk down on that each night with a beer after work and watch the fish…..

The Adventure finally begins!

Looks like I will have to get my hands dirty and create a custom tank design.

Finally spent some time this week modelling what I wanted in a tank using blender, which not only helps me learn blender, but it also allowed me to visualise what I wanted and imagine it sitting in our main room:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3C3pBeTtP8

Tank will be 48″x24″30″ high, tank is 48″x24″x36″ high, and the hood is 48″x24″x18″. The whole think will be 7″ tall.

Right hand weir, with a durso/siphon setup, and the return pipe on the left. The only thing missing is the sump design, which I will do later on (after the tank arrives).

Can’t wait!

Why did I choose this tank over another? I didn’t want a complete all-in-one solution as I have used those in the past, and I find them very limiting after a while as you can’t change the way it works very easily. I also didn’t want a ‘build everything from scratch’ tank either as the tank was to be positioned as the centerpiece of the house, it had to look stylish (and match the rest of the decor of the room).

The BioLife sells the concept of an ‘open source’ tank, where they supply the basic tank and sump (with the wier and plumbing included) but doesn’t force you to use a particular brand skimmer or pumps.

That appealed to me, as I can get the best of both worlds of a nicely constructed and nice looking tank, while allowing me the freedom to ‘play’ with the design and layout.

Well, the deposit is now down, and it will be arriving soon. I just need to get off my butt and clear out the space in the room for where it is going to go.