375 gal Slow-build

[Poriferan]

While I am on equipment, it also came with these. Looks like they can push 6 VHO's. Does that mean they can do 6 T5's also?

If I make this a reef, which I want to, I would need a lot more light to more than softies I think. I guess I could go FOWLR to start and only put reef safe fish in it... That would certainly get it up an running faster.

 

[dahenley]

if you go to IceCap and look, it shows what they will run. and its not the quantity of bulbs, i think its the lenght. they can run 200in of T5's and 250in of VHO's???? (numbers are just guesses, but thats how they classify them) VHO's can grow Softies and LPS. some SPS at the top as well.

the pumps, the Iwaki 55 is for the skimmer.
i would go with one right off the overflow for the skimmer.
this will prevent so much water noise going to the sump and then getting picked back up for the skimmer pump. then, it will allow you to keep slow flow for a refugium.

EA stuff always looks different. i have no personal experience so i will leave it at that.

The WetDry, i can not say. it looks kind of small for a reef, and i would just go with a production glass tank and silicone some baffles in it for your liking.
it sucks to just waste something, but i dont see a need for that or trying to modify it to fit your application.

sell it to a FreshWater guy. and the Bio Balls

 

[Poriferan]

The sump is 57 gal. If I use it I will likely add another one for the refugium.

I made a bit of progress. I removed the doors on the stand and began sanding it all down. Inside is almost done and need to do 3 more doors and the sides.

 

[Poriferan]

A bit more progress. I removed the doors,sanded the inside of the stand, and painted it. I used Kilx2. Next I will finish sanding the outside and stain/polyurathane it.

I tried the novus polish #3 but most of the scratches are too deep for it to take them out. Next step is to pick up some 1000 -2000 sandpaper and sand inside of the tank. Outside looks like it wont need it.

 

[Poriferan]

My slow project has a bit of an update. I decided to switch to the tank and scratch removal. It came with a lot of scratches. Most are light but a few will have to stay as they are just too deep.

I have started on the inside with 800 wet sanding

At 2-4 hours a night of work I think this will take me another week to complete, that is if my arm can hang out that long.:fun5:
Then I used a 1500 grit. I have 2000 for the final sand. then Novus 3 followed by 2.

Here is a test spot that I just went from 800 to the Novus.

 

[Poriferan]

I think I am going to convert my 85 FOWLR tank and it's 40B sump to be the sumps for this tank when I get that far.

This is a recent shot of it.

and the sump (sorry for the mess, it is all cleaned up in there now :lol2

Sump pic was from it's 1st fill. It now has a an active refugium.


Will 125 total gallons be enough for a tank this size?

 

[Poriferan]

The 85 and sump are complete restorations also. I cleaned the calcium carbonate deposits off the glass, drilled the tank, painted the rim black, and rebuilt the stand on the 85. The 40B sump was a complete overhaul; took it all apart and redid all the caulking, got the baffels cut and installed them. Also all the plumbing was done by me and impressed me as it does not leak and was my 1st try at pvc:thumbsup:

 

[Poriferan]

I decided to speed things up a bit and put in about 6 more hours on scratch removal.

The inside has been completely sanded and I did another test spot of the exact same place as the last photo for comparison

 

[noobtothereef]

are you sanding all of that by hand? wow.... i would use a da, and also start with a heavier grit like 600, then 800,1000,1500, and then novice, polishing out 800 grit scratches is a pita. I just sanded and polished an acrylic 210 in about 4 hours using power tools. harbor freight sells cheap da sanders for about $30. But if you have the time have fun your a stronger man than i lol just curious how thick is the tank? looks to be 3/4"

 

[Poriferan]

Yes it is 3/4" and I have a nice DA and a jitter bug that I contemplated using. Truth is I chickend out for fear that I would end up digging a channel. I may still try it as I have 2 sides left and I'm not sure my arms will take many more days of doing it by hand. I should be OK though as this is the result of the last time I used it on a project. (My other addiction) Stripped this to the glass and repainted it. (along with just about every other thing I could think of doing to restore it)

 

[Poriferan]

The tank is finished and almost scratch free.

 

[Create]

That looks awesome. Great job on the scratch removal.

 

[TampaReefer79]

Is there any way you can detail the scratch removal a little better? I have a 8'x30"x30" 375 gallon tank that I'd like to sand. How exactly did you go about it?

Thanks!

 

[Poriferan]

That looks awesome. Great job on the scratch removal.

Thanks Create it was a lot of work.

 

[Poriferan]

Is there any way you can detail the scratch removal a little better? I have a 8'x30"x30" 375 gallon tank that I'd like to sand. How exactly did you go about it?

Thanks!

1) I started by cleaning the panel with water and a soft towel to remove any debris.
2) Next, I took a rubber block sander with a good quality 800 grit wet sandpaper and sanded the entire surface keeping the surface and sander clean by spraying water on it. I carefully looked at the panel while it was wet and drying to see if I could find any scratches that were missed and needed more attention.
3) Repeated last step with 1500 and then 2000 grit sandpaper.
4) Then I took a 6" buffing wheel and an adapter to attach it to my drill. I used Novus polish on about a 2'x1' section at a time being VERY careful to keep the area wet with either polish or by spritzing it with water as I buffed.
5) I used a Mcguires powerball for chrome polishing with the Novus #2
6) Washed it all down with water so far. (I am not sure if I need to use anything more to remove any residual polish so if anyone knows please tell me)

 

[Poriferan]

I flipped the stand over for the 1st time to look at the bottom and address a bit of a bow in the center of the stand.:thumbdown

 

[Poriferan]

The 4x4's were attached to the plywood floor with 1 rusty screw, the other plywood was rotten and the fasteners were rusted to the point that some of the supports fell off/apart with only a slight push:hmm1:

I fixed the bowing problem by removing the the center braces. It appears that all the "legs" were added after inital construction and were put in random places and not square:fun5:

This of course would not do! I almost started over and built one from scratch, but the restoration buff in me said "I can fix this" I think...

 

[Poriferan]

I moved all the 4x4 "legs" to the corners and replaced the plywood on the bottom with 2x4's

I will replace the 4x4 on the right of the picture and cut new correct size center "legs" once I get the stand flipped back over and can remove the top (it is a tight fit)

If anyone has any input or thoughts on this I am always open.

 

[Poriferan]

At the advise of many on this board I added some structural supports to the stand

And a bit closer.

 

[ctmgardea]

Very nice job on everything, keep up the great work and updates.