So life kinda got in the way of this build. I was in a nasty car accident, wife laid off, kids, job etc. So let's bring everyone up to speed. I have learned that the epoxy is not as bullet proof as I had hoped. I was using a router table and the bit grabbed the wood and shot it at the back of the tank. No big deal right? Well as it turns out, the small dimple on the back outside of the tank translates into a 18" crack on the inside. I was pissed. Combined with not having fully recovered from the accident, I walked away and left 8t to sit and colleagues dust.
Late last year I got tired of moving it around and decided it was time to fix my mess. I ground the crack out, drilled a tiny hole at each end to keep it from running and poured more epoxy. Doesn't look at pretty as before but I'm going to do a rock wall anyway so it doesn't matter. Then I started thinking about all the holes I drilled for the closed loop. All on the bottom made me nervous. A sheet of 3/4" plywood and some more epoxy and she's all sealed up again. I became management around the same time so once again the tank was put on the shelf.
This weekend I moved it out onto the back patio and filled it up to the top for a leak test. It's been 2 days not, 0 deflection on the front and back, no creaking or leaking. My first shipment of pukani rock from BRS will be here today. I have heard the tend to leak phosphate so I will be soaking them for several weeks while I do the leak test on the tank. After that, rock wall construction will start. Lighting will still be a diy led setup. The skimmer however I will probably buy. If anyone has one rated for 300+ gallon preferably recirculating please let me know. More update will come as I progress.
And a bad shot of my current 55g