Shop addition/Office Build

[riffleriversteelheadslayer 0]

I got first dibs on a run through shopping spree at Steve's house if the tank slides and crushes him

Mike I know Steve will have no problem grabbing that tank and setting it up on the stand he carried 450 lbs around everyday before the weightloss

[Steeldrifter 0]

Well after some huge issues, the fact that I'm not a young guy anymore, and I have a bad rotator cuff in my shoulder, plus the hassle of trying to arrange 3 friends, a cargo van, and all that stuff...I finally decided it was worth the money just to hire some aquarium movers to go out and pick it up for me 45mile trip and then come drop it off and bring it downstairs. Trust me after watching these guys haul this beast downstairs today I think it was money well spent lol.

 

Lots of work to do now because I am building the office around the tank so I couldn't start any building till the tank was in position. Now I plane to build a wall flush with the front of the tank so you won't see anything but the front glass flush with the wall (i.e- built in) then I will make a 7ft 3D background for this tank like I did on my other smaller tanks. I'll be putting in new flooring, new ceiling, drywall, painting, office desk, computer etc etc. Should be one hell of a cool home office when it is done.

Here is the monster sitting in place. It's 7ft long x 2ft wide x 31" tall. It takes up almost the whole width of the basement with just enough room to put a door next to it thankfully.

 

The following photoshop image will give you an idea of what I will be doing.

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[Piker20 0]

Wow, you're making the whole wall part of the tank too. Cool. I'm glad you didn't try to slide it down the steps yourself as I was just expecting the message to appear telling us all what injuries you'd suffered. Are you going with shoals of smaller species or fewer bigger ones?

[Steeldrifter 0]

Going with some pretty good sized Cichlids (Peacocks and Haps). The peacocks will be around 6" range but some of the Haps will get up to the 12"-14" range. With the tank being so big I can still have a good 20 or more fish in it even with some of them being bigger ones.

[Piker20 0]

Cant wait to see it develop.

[mikechell 0]

I am willing to give you some major time with this one, Steve. I'll patiently await further updates. But I do have one thing to say before you get too far into your project.

 

Please, please ... PLEASE tell me you actually have a different door planned for the real wall !!!

[Steeldrifter 0]

Please, please ... PLEASE tell me you actually have a different door planned for the real wall !!!

Yeah I plan to use a pink one lol. That's just to give an idea of the basic set up in mind. No idea yet what type of door I'll use but probably something like a dark wood bi-fold or something like that;)

[Gravytrain 0]

ok steve,

i have watched the other tanks and have been amazed, but i have got to say ( like my opinion counts ) us guys in the south would love to see a fresh water tank with

a couple of slab bream, some nice bass and even a few speckles and dont forget some cats to keep the bottom clean. but really, great work. i'll be watching.

craig

[Steeldrifter 0]

Craig I'll be honest with you, I actually spent a good deal of time a few weeks ago researching aquarium "chillers"....I'm sure you can guess why ...I was trying to see exactly what would be needed to keep Trout in it. It actually can be done, but the chiller itself (for a good quality one) would run between $700-$1000, and then running the chiller it sucks a ton of power so electric bills would be through the roof.

 

I actually did have some Sunfish in a tank years ago and they did pretty well.

[tmds3 0]

This is too cool , gonna have to watch this thread and see how this develops.

[Steeldrifter 0]

Been working on this project a bit now. Here's a couple pics before and then to the point I am at now today. Ended up scraping the floor to get all the nastiness off of it so I could lay the new floor on top of it. Couple before pics....
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The flooring I picked is somewhat of a slate/rustic look which should go nicely with the rest of the office once I get it done.



Still have some edge work and trim pieces to do but most the main floor is now done.

[riffleriversteelheadslayer 0]

that floor looks good bro

[mikechell 0]

Hurry up !!!

[Steeldrifter 0]

Doesn't look like much yet but have faith it will get there. Just started the first coats of paint on the walls yesterday. The upper and lower colors will be split with a 9" tall border I just ordered last night which is a leaping Rainbow trout. Celing is going to be 2x4's spaced 1/4" apart and stained for a rustic finish. Then the drain pipe I am going to build a wood cover for where the lower half will be DIY faux stacked rocks and wood varnished upper section.
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[mikechell 0]

I know, I know, you can't rush art ... but I am just sitting here, tapping my fingers ... whistling.