Well, finally getting into the homestretch with regards to the Aquaponic fish tank. I’ve got all the sides bolted together and am currently adding in the foam insulation.

This project is without a doubt the longest pet project I’ve ever taken on (besides the chicken coop build). I made an attempt to start the assembly over the hole that has been dug for it, but found issues with regards to everything lining up like it was supposed to (i.e. all the angles staying straight and true). So brought it back to the porch and had the assembly done there. I did note some issues with one side not lining up proper as I had originally hoped. Had to take some liberties with regards to the fastening of the bolts in a different fashion for that side. Thankfully this also proved to be considerably stronger since the bolts then went through three 2×4’s versus only two.

The foam insulation cutting has been going relatively easily. Only bad thing was that not all the recessed areas are of the same size, so have to custom cut each one for fit. Should have those completed by mid-week.

Now the big issue is gonna be moving this beast from the porch to the hole. As I had to modify my being able to build relatively close to the hole and instead build on the porch, there’s gonna be some extra grunting involved in getting it to its final destination. I know my buddies are not going to like me after whatever day I can get them all together to take on this task. I’m going to have to remove either one or two sections of PVC on the Greenhouse in order to provide enough space to two people on each side to get this over the hole.

At any rate, it has been fun in the building of the tank itself. Yes, hindsight is 20/20 and there are a few items I would’ve done differently in building the tank knowing what I know now. But thankfully that knowledge will carry over to version 2.0 of the AP say 3-6 years down the road.

For fun I thought I’d post a shot of myself in the tank to help people get a good reference on its size. I’m 5′ 11′ and I barely take up a corner of the tank!

As always, I’ll keep the updates coming as things progress 😉