DIY Q-tank

[CarolinaGirl]

I work at a metal fabrication shop. One day I spotted this nice 48" deep 96" diam. stainless steel shell sitting in the scrap pile. I immediatly realized it's potential and bought it. I got 6 strong guys to set it in the yard for me and I dug all the dirt out of the center so only about 20" of the shell remained above the ground. Then I built a treated wood octagonal frame around it, insulated it, and covered it with rough-cut cedar boards.

It has a 4" bottom drain (reduced to a 3" pipe) and a 3" skimmer line. Both lines go to a filter made from 2 barrels. Right now there is bio-media and filter mats in the second barrel but I am going to change the filter to static and moving K1 beds soon. There is a UV and the pump is a W. Lim 1/15 hp pump that moves around 3000 gph. The pond volume is 1300 gallons.

It makes a wonderful QT tank for new fish or for fish returning from a show.

[mitten]

Maybe JNorth needs to put in another whole forum "Crazy Pipe Tricks."

I'm a carpenter and I just love working with PVC and water.

[CarolinaGirl]

I am not happy with the pipes. The darn 3" valves were just so big things had to curve around a bit. I am reworking that whole filter this spring and I think I will experiment with bending PVC using a weed torch. I like things to be neater than that. And I'm really messy with the blue glue too.

I'v had that cedar in my barn for years waiting for a project. We had a neighbor who had a saw mill and he cut them for us. They are a full inch thick!!

[keokoi]

Quote: Originally Posted by mitten Maybe JNorth needs to put in another whole forum "Crazy Pipe Tricks." I'm a carpenter and I just love working with PVC and water.

I LOVE FLEX PVC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jnorth]

Nice q tank! I'm with Joe for sure flex pvc rules.

[CarolinaGirl]

OK....maybe I'll look into 3" flex PVC. It sure would be easier to work with than this hard stuff. And it would look a whole lot nicer too.