T.I.B.E.T (The Incredibly Big Expensive Tank)

The wall we intend to place Tibet in. This was us lining everything up to make sure both myself and my other half could enjoy a good view of the tank. I'm short, he's tall, but we found somewhere to meet in the middle.



After much demo this is what we had left. We appropriated the basement bathroom to be our fishroom, and have opted to move the bathroom to a more appropriate space.



Then we got organized with our stand builder and I asked for him to surprise me with the colour. This was in between paint jobs. The true colour is fire engine red (verified by my brother the fireman). I love it, and am looking for ways to allow some of the colour to show through into our entertainment room, but still remain classy and tasteful.


I'm a visual person and wanted to see the stand in (tentative) place so we could get a good feel for everything.





I started planning out the flow and holes we'd need to drill. We have the basics sorted out; overflow placement, bracing, etc. but keep changing our plans on the holes for returns, etc.


The March 2010 version. I'm working on reducing the number of holes now, but am struggling with creating good flow pattern with less.


Next up was sourcing out a skimmer that would work with a) our space, b) my intended bioload, and c) my budget. A good friend was upgrading to a Bubble King and offered us his current skimmer for a more then reasonable price. Unfortunately Greyhound can't read the million fragile stickers and caused extensive damage. It had to be rebuilt and it took forever to get it done right. We're still tweaking it as its running on our 180g holding tank. The thing is taller then I am, makes NASTY skimmate, and is almost 5 1/2 feet tall.

Old damaged skimmer box


New box


Before the box was drilled. Just to give you an idea Kevin is 6.4".



Then we got hung up with our tank. We wanted someone to come build on site and warrenty their work. The tank MUST be assembled on site because our house is old, and not very accomodating when it comes to 10.5ft glass boxes. We looked into acrylic, but couldn't make it work for a reasonable price. I found someone to build the tank, and then we started the process to formalize the design. I'm a visual person so I "convinced" my other half to buy me a replacement hotwater tank and a new TV so I could use the cardboard.




Right now we're waiting to get the cash to purchase new water mixing containters. We have plans to install a 10g/day water change system in the near future. I have 90% of my lighting which for now will be 250w MH and T5s. I want to move to LEDs but don't feel like the technology is there yet to run such a big SPS/Clam tank completely. I do watch DIY threads, and my other half has been experimenting with building our own.

Bottom line is that our house is old, and we knew this in 2008 when we purchased it. It requires a lot of love and every project takes twice as long as you would expect. There are surprises behind every wall from razor blades, to adult entertainment on Beta tape! I'm in no great rush to complete this tank, while I'd love to be able to get it running by the end of this year, the amount of remaining work is staggering. Tibet is essentially the centerpiece in our basement renovation.