280 Gallon Planted Discus Aquarium Build

[Frankr409]

Tell me about your drilled holes for the overflow. Size? distance from the top /left /right? What are the panels like for the back ground? Can you show more pictures of them?

I am using two 2 inch overflow holes. Each one has a strainer. The middle one is submerged 6 inches from the top and is intended to remain under full suction. The second one is near the top, it will likely always be half overflowed.

The background is made of a composite of fiberglass and at least one other material. There are 4 two foot panels. They are completely rigid, but easy to drill overflow holes in. Now that everything is glued in, it is totally solid. When I get back in town, they should have the tank set on the cabinet, and I can take the protective film off and get some additional pictures.

[ericatdallas]

Man, we have to wait until Spring to see the final outcome

I'm so jealous, I can't even consider a tank over 120G because of having to move all the time for work. The house I live in right now has a perfect location for at least a 300G and it shares a wall with an unused bathroom. Of course, as your construction project has demonstrated, by the time it's setup and ready to go, it'll be time to move and tear down

[Chicago Discus]

What a great aquarium set-up you left nothing out i will be following this thread to see the finished product .....Josie

[musicmarn1]

What's amazing is I read this so full of awe, now I'm a million miles from a NEW set up but I'm working on my 280 with 55g sump, I'd use the 125 as a sump but I just can't make the room in the cabinet! Read this thread so much to get ideas it's all crinkly and worn!

[BODYDUB]

This is gonna be an awesome tank...........

[Frankr409]

The air is still thick with PVC glue but we pretty much have the external plumbing to and from the sump/Aquarium done. We also finished the electrical work. The only plumbing that remains is to connect the blue waste water barrel to the home sewer system and to drill an emergency overflow in the blue waste barrel to a secondary water sump. We still need to build a hanger for the sock filter in the sump, and make final connections to the return pump, but the sump side is done from a plumbing standpoint.

I was also happy to discover that we were able to remove about one and a half feet of pipe and a 45 degree elbow from the original plan for the return system, that will help reduce head loss a bit.

Sorry about the angle, but the one photo depicts the behind the tank view of the plumbing as it leaves/enters the bulkheads.

The cabinet might even be wrapped up by this weekend, at which point I can tear off the protective film and show you all some progress!!!

[Frankr409]

Almost all of the plumbing is now complete, and only the doors and trim need to go on the cabinet, so I felt like removing the protective film. My Branch came in yesterday from Ultimate Rocks LLC and some drift wood is coming early next week. This is what the background looks like with the positioning of the overflows, and the other photo is just a close up of the branch and some of the background.

[Nick Klimkowski]

that looks beautiful, wont be long till you have somr fish in there.

[kevins007]

Your tank is looking very nice. Can you please tell me where you ordered your background from?

[Frankr409]

Your tank is looking very nice. Can you please tell me where you ordered your background from?

First of all, thank you!

The Background insert is from a company called http://aqua-maniac.com/content/9-cus...lt-backgrounds

They can build the background to your dimensions. While this was an import from England, I found their prices to be very competitive, and the construction is much more solid than the extruded foam that some of the American companies offer.

I hope that helps.

[JNathanS512]

Very nice build and I really like the background. I would have liked a background on my tank but I had to place it sideways into the room since there wasn't enough room to place it along the wall. The one upside is its easy to do maintenance and get to the filters.

[Frankr409]

I wanted to show more of the build tonight. The sump, which is in place and plumbed, though not finished will eventually dispose into this waste barrel. I do drip changes in all of my tanks, so I take out a pre-calculated amount of water from the tank and dispose into this waste barrel. The barrel has a sump pump, and an emergency overflow (in case of power outage)

I am currently using it for the 110 tank in my office wall which is opposite my new discus tank. Once I am live on the discus tank, I will be using an auto-lifter to suck water from the sump, into the blue barrel, about 85 gallons per day. A float valve will return water from an R/O unit into the sump.

In my 110 tank, the water comes directly from the tank, and is return directly to the tank via a similar float valve system.

I had them drill an overflow line in the barrel that goes into the homes main sump. In case of power outage or main pump death, the water will flow harmlessly into the main sump, and failing that it will drain into the French drain around the house, and outside into the soil.

[dirtyplants]

French drain love to have this but illegal in this state, go figure!

[Frankr409]

I have been a little behind schedule due to the holidays, and an ERP project starting up, my contractors just yesterday though finished up the trim work for my cabinet. Today I got some touchup paint work done on the background to better conceal the seams between the four panels.

Next comes the water test. Since we are in the freezer at the moment, I will be slowly filling the tank up with waste water from my R/O unit that is feeding the other tank rather than attempting to bring in a hose from outside...brrrr. I need to make sure there are no leaks in the sump after the move(s) and that the plumbing is all tight. After that I can start building the sump, getting the laterite and sand down, and start some of the other activities.

Slow but sure!

[TheBigB]

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