Our aquaculture building finally arrived!!!

**Amphibious** · 12-11-2007, 06:51 AM

Many of you know we moved to FL to do some coral aquaculture. Long story short - we ordered a building over a year ago, hired an excavator and concrete contractor, had that work completed by January of this year. Payed in full for the building and began waiting with high expectations of getting it erected and setting up the necessary aquariums and equipment to get fragging and growing. After five months and no building, and nothing but excuses from the sales company, I contacted an attorney. It seems the guy spent the money and lived too high on the hog. I found out he had sixteen orders at the factory in the same situation. This guy liked to sell buildings but not pay the factory for them. We threatened to take the case to the DA. The guy realized he was facing 3 to 5 years in the big house on just my case. If I proceeded it would have brought the rest of his sales to light and he would have been put away for a lengthier time. It took him three weeks but we got our money back. The factory sold us the building direct. It was delivered 12/3/07, the day before my 70th BD.

Here's what a 25' x 44' building looks like without air inside.

I found it difficult to believe that my building was just the three pallets in the center of this flatbed.

My son, Keith, came to FL from Montana for my BD and to help put the building together. We got a small start before he was scheduled to return home.

That's a bucket of 1500 1/2" nuts and bolts I'm sitting on, there are three of them. You can quickly do the math and come up with 4500 to install before the building is done. I guess there are a few extra. In any event, that's a lot of nuts and bolts.

Stay tuned, I'll keep this thread updated as progress warrants.

Dick

***lReef lKeeper*** · 12-11-2007, 10:22 AM

Dick ... that is SO freakin SWEET !! i gotta move to florida !!

**Phurst** · 12-11-2007, 10:51 AM

Oh man, that's SOOOO COOL! I can't wait to follow this build thread!

Sorry it was such a PITA to get the building, but man this is gonna be sweet!

**poppin_fresh** · 12-11-2007, 08:15 PM

Dang...it sure looks nice and warm there. I wont be able wear short sleeves outside for another 5 months! Do you need any help putting that thing up?

**Amphibious** · 12-11-2007, 08:37 PM

Absolutely, come on down. Today's temperature was 78 tomorrow their predicting 80.
Man I love FL.

**CarmieJo** · 12-11-2007, 08:45 PM

YIPPEE! I think that 4500 nuts & bolts sounds kind of intimidating. If you put about a dozen bolts a day on a nut you ought to be ready to host a TR frag sawp next Christmas.

**Amphibious** · 12-11-2007, 08:58 PM

Hahahahahaha, that figures about right, Carmie.

**rroselavy** · 12-12-2007, 06:34 PM

That's a bucket of 1500 1/2" nuts and bolts I'm sitting on, there are three of them. You can quickly do the math and come up with 4500 to install before the building is done. I guess there are a few extra. In any event, that's a lot of nuts and bolts.

Woah. I almost complained last night when it took me over 30 minutes to put together one of my kids Hanukkah presents. I'll keep your task in mind next time I feel challenged...

**rroselavy** · 12-12-2007, 06:36 PM

Oh, and happy 70th birthday Amph!

**CarmieJo** · 12-13-2007, 01:11 AM

Originally Posted by rroselavy

Woah. I almost complained last night when it took me over 30 minutes to put together one of my kids Hanukkah presents. I'll keep your task in mind next time I feel challenged...

LOL, I remember those nights. At 19 mine just wants money and gift cards.

So, I want to know if buildings are like toys, there is always a missing thingamajig or some holes that don't line up.

**Amphibious** · 12-13-2007, 01:42 AM

Originally Posted by rroselavy

Oh, and happy 70th birthday Amph!

Thank you! I really don't feel old most of the time. A little slow on the "Giddie-up-go" from time to time. Considering what my body has been through, I feel blessed.

Originally Posted by CarmieJo

So, I want to know if buildings are like toys, there is always a missing thingamajig or some holes that don't line up.

I hope nothing is missing, Carmie. As far as lining up the holes, that has been a little challenging. I bought three drift pins for that purpose. Once Keith and I got the hang of things it went pretty well. Unfortunately, he had a job to go back to in MT. So things have slowed down until I can get a crew out here to help lift the three arches we have bolted together vertical and get them anchored. I'll keep a running thread on progress.

**rroselavy** · 12-13-2007, 03:03 AM

So things have slowed down until I can get a crew out here to help lift the three arches we have bolted together vertical and get them anchored. I'll keep a running thread on progress.

This building is like a Quanza Hut, correct? Does it come with insulation/ventilation/HVAC or do you have to retrofit all of that? I'm also interested in seeing how you plan to layout your tanks/equipment in this space...

**Amphibious** · 12-13-2007, 10:40 AM

Yes, sort of except with vertical sides. Here is a picture from the factory web site. This building is smaller than the one I bought but, you will get the idea.

You buy just the shell. Any accessories, such as insulation, heating, cooling and electrical are purchased locally.

As far as the aquaculture is concerned, I have scaled back considerably from my original plans. I have aquariums and tubs totaling about 1200 gallons. These will be housed at one end of the building. I also installed 525' of 3" thin wall PVC 60" under the concrete floor for geothermal cooling of the system water.

The excavator rough graded first and then leveled by hand the area for the geothermal loop. There are 25 loops, 20' lengths PVC and then the return run of about 25', so about 525' of cooling circuit.

Finishing the loop.

Bringing in the fill dirt to raise the building foundation 3' above the nearest blacktop road. A little insurance against flooding. Notice the height of the stand pipes.

Filling and spreading went on for days until...

It was nearly as tall as my wife.

**Mr. Tang** · 12-13-2007, 10:51 AM

Looks great!!! keep posting pics of your progress!!

**Phurst** · 12-13-2007, 10:53 AM

I'm not even involved in this project, and I'm excited. Pretty cool idea on the geothermal cooling. Any estimates on how much heat the system will be able to pull out?

Are you going to be using natural sunlight, or MH?

**Astrivian** · 12-13-2007, 10:58 AM

Oh my, this is serious

If you don't mind me asking, what market are you targeting for what looks like will be many frags? Did you hook up with a big distributor or are you going local and web?

***lReef lKeeper*** · 12-13-2007, 11:27 AM

i know where my frags and colonies will be coming from when the time comes !! looks like good progress Dick. if we make it down to Florida on vacation this year ... i will definately look you up and see if there is anyhting that i can do to help out with this.

**Amphibious** · 12-13-2007, 11:49 AM

When the earthen pad was finished it looked like this...

Rough graded above.

Finished grade ready for the concrete contractor to come in and do his thing. Compare the stand pipes here to the pic in the post above. That's a lot of fill dirt, about $10,000 worth.

The footing form boards.

More pics to follow on the preperation for the building.

Dick

**rroselavy** · 12-13-2007, 04:30 PM

You buy just the shell. Any accessories, such as insulation, heating, cooling and electrical are purchased locally.

It all looks fantastic so far. My father had two 10,000 sq ft buildings erected in a small "industrial park" (upstate NY) when I was growing up...one for his Polymer business and one for a Fishing Tackle store. I remember the construction vividly, and the businesses provided me with employment through the later half of my teenage years.

I like how the side walls are integrated with the roof. Will wear much better, and require much less maintenance than a more traditional roof. I remember painting the eves of my fathers buildings on a sweltering summer day. Pretty messy work...

Very cool Geo-thermal install. I'll be excited to hear how it works. Looking forward to updates...and for purchasing frags...

-Scott

**Amphibious** · 12-13-2007, 06:34 PM

Originally Posted by Phurst

I'm not even involved in this project, and I'm excited. Pretty cool idea on the geothermal cooling. Any estimates on how much heat the system will be able to pull out?

Are you going to be using natural sunlight, or MH?

I don't have a clue about how much heat transfer will occur. In FL the ground temperature is pretty warm all year with exception of a few weeks. I wanted the pipe buried as deep as possible. Our ground water is 12" under grade level during the wet season. I went 2' below grade. It was damp but not wet (dry season). Then 4' of fill compacted to 3', then the slab on top of that. I'm hoping for sufficient cooling, what ever that is.

No sunlight, it's a steel building. I have three skylights but the building,s code book won't allow me to group them together so, they are for general lighting. MHs are not for this Solaris lover.

Originally Posted by Astrivian

Oh my, this is serious

If you don't mind me asking, what market are you targeting for what looks like will be many frags? Did you hook up with a big distributor or are you going local and web?

This project originated in my feeble brain 5 years ago as a full blown aquaculture greenhouse 36' x 40' until three aquaculture friends had their GHs destroyed by hurricanes. I'm too old to recover from that kind of disaster and start over so, we scaled back and beefed up the building to this. I have changed plans so much that I'm not sure just what my market will be. This building has taken a year and one half just to get here. The sales company scammed me out f the money and we had to threaten lawsuit and jail time for the AH!!! However, there will always be frags for TR members. You guys have been the best!

Originally Posted by lReef lKeeper

i know where my frags and colonies will be coming from when the time comes !! looks like good progress Dick. if we make it down to Florida on vacation this year ... i will definitely look you up and see if there is anything that i can do to help out with this.

Anytime any of you are in FL, I would welcome you to visit. If you got kids, we'll through them in the pool!

Dick

**Amphibious** · 12-13-2007, 09:09 PM

Keep in mind as you go through this thread, the excavation began in August of '06, then we hit a rainy period for four months and didn't start the concrete work until late January '07 finishing the concrete in February. I paid for the building in full on February 26 and six months later still didn't have a building. This project is a good year behind schedule.

Ok, let's get ready for a concrete pour. The footing forms are in and the steel set. Call for concrete...

David, my concrete man, and I confer on something.

By evening the concrete is set, some of the form boards have been removed and my wife approves.

Preperations for the BIG pour begin.

The specs for the building called for footings going from side to side with steel reinforcing rods tied together.

We are ready for the big pour. Vapor barrier, steel mesh and cross footings ready to go. Of course every step along the way had to be inspected by the county building inspector.

Let's pour some concrete. The big pour was 25' x 44' x 4" thick with those cross footings dropping down 12". They started at 7am and David was floating the slab around 2pm.

Things are looking real good at this point. To be continued....

Dick

**CarmieJo** · 12-14-2007, 01:31 AM

Pearson's right, this is exciting!

**Danamck** · 12-14-2007, 10:43 AM

Awesome thread. I can't wait to follow the progress.

**Amphibious** · 12-14-2007, 12:16 PM

Originally Posted by CarmieJo

Pearson's right, this is exciting!

Originally Posted by Danamck

Awesome thread. I can't wait to follow the progress.

Thanks you guys.

I too am getting excited again. The wind had been taken out of my sails for a long time over this incident. Now, I can see it begin to take shape. I had David, my concrete guy, over yesterday. He's been in construction for a long time and is a great asset to me. He knows a guy with a small crane which will help tremendously in erecting the arches from horizontal to vertical. The manual shows 4 guys lifting them vertical with ropes. We could do that but a crane, at a reasonable price, will make short work of it.

Back to the project. Sue is developing a green thumb and does a lot of potting, rooting and generally making a mess right in front of our garage door. That's been OK for now because the garage is stuffed full of boxes we haven't unpacked yet (mostly her treasures). The building will house her treasures which frees the garage up for our vehicles. What a novel idea, a garage for vehicle storage.

But, there is all this gardening stuff in front of the door. It looks like this...

Not conducive to getting car and truck into garage. So, I asked David to pour a 5' strip the length of the building on one side, like this...

This worked out so well, I'm going to do it on the other side, too. When I saw it I immediately claimed the far end 10' for LR curing. Sue gets the rest for her green thumb thing.

She

sauntered over and gave me a big

and said, "You are such a clever man. I'm glad you're mine". Ha ha ha.

Man, this has been a long time coming. Look at the dates on these pictures.

**Marc** · 12-14-2007, 01:35 PM

Awesome project Dick!

Nothing like a dedicated reef building to show what a psycho hobbiest one can really be.

I went with a more traditional NewEngland look for mine

Green house section
https://017e1c5.netsolstores.com/ima...%208-13-06.jpg
hybrid post & Beam
https://017e1c5.netsolstores.com/ima...n%207-1-06.jpg
5 geo loops at 125' each
https://017e1c5.netsolstores.com/ima...ugh%20Geo2.jpg

Man would I love to come down get warm and do some work with you.
we just got ~8"of snow last night and more expected this weekend.