 This
160 gallon plastic aquarium will become the concrete Sting Ray tank
filter. |
 Location
for Sting Ray tank
in basement, 18 feet by 8 feet
by 4 feet
high. |
 Starting
concrete forms, overall height of is tank 4.5'.
The flow is gravity into the sump with a pump return capacity of
4,000 gph from the sump through six 1" water return pipes. |
 The
concrete walls are 6" thick with 5/8" rebar on 12" centers. |
 There
are three 2" overflow pipes along the back side. |
 The
forms are nearly complete after 2 days. |
 Framing
in the 72 by 36" windows. |
 Showing
6" wide cement pour area with snap ties, 5/8" rebar and white PVC 1"
water return pipes in place. |
 Thank
you Home Depot Rentals, we will need two cement mixers. At 2
sacks per mix each mixer drum will produce one cubic foot of cement
every 5 minutes. |
 |
 White
Cap Contractors Supply delivered the cement right to our doorstep. |
. |
 With
200 60# bags of premixed cement we are ready to start |
 That
is 120 pounds he is carrying and not even working up a sweat. |
 Half
way there, is that Todd helping out? |
 Last
bag of cement up the hill. |
 The
crew takes a break after staging 200 bags of cement at the basement
door. |
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 Windows
are 3/4" Lucite plastic, 30" by 72", exposed area. The cement
flange is 1-1/2" all around for the windows to rest. GE
Silicone II was used to glaze the windows. The Silicone
adheres reasonably well to the plastic and the cement. Small 1/4"
Lucite shims were placed between the window and the cement frame. |
 A
very heavy bead of GE Silicone II glazing was placed all around the
cement frame as well as the Lucite window. We used about 12 to
14 tubes of Silicone per window. To the best of our combined
experience, the GE brand Silicone II, Kitchen and Bath, Outdoor and
Paint over all work equally well. |
 The
windows were raised and pressed gently in place. We blocked
the windows with cloth covered clamps and timbers to keep them
pressed into place until the Silicone setup, which takes about 1
hour in the 65 degree basement. As the Silicone II was very
thick in places, we allowed 5 days for it to cure before adding
water. |
 "It
will hold, won't it?" |
 Todd
had to wash 2,000 pounds of #3 Monterey aquarium sand. |
 |
 The
sump is a 160 gallon plastic aquarium modified to accept the bio
tower. The pump, a Performance Pro, 1/4 HP, 2.5 Amp model,
circulates close to 4,000 gallons per hour through the 2,000 gallon
aquarium. There are 3 each 2" overflow pipes feeding the sump
and 6 1" return pipes pushing water around. |
 Todd
has the largest Arowana I have ever seen. He was raised on
$6.00 a pound shrimp, the same food the Sting Rays get. |
The water was a little cloudy from the washed sand but cleared up
nicely within several days. |
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