730g In-Wall Display
- Thread starter tgreene
- Start date
tgreene
Reefer
For anyone that is still interested in this actually being a TANK THREAD, I finished drilling the back and sides today, have prepped the glass, and wil be paintingh it this evening... The inside of the tank still needs 4-6 holes drilled through the bottom, and I'l do those tomorrow.
I'll post a few pics later this evening.
-Tim
I'll post a few pics later this evening.
-Tim
For anyone that is still interested in this actually being a TANK THREAD, I finished drilling the back and sides today, have prepped the glass, and wil be paintingh it this evening... The inside of the tank still needs 4-6 holes drilled through the bottom, and I'l do those tomorrow.
I'll post a few pics later this evening.
-Tim
YeeHaw back on track. My coworker, who's a bike enthusiast, has become interested in the thread. He talks about me; saying I should be the game "Tap Fish" instead of getting a real tank.
tgreene
Reefer
Okay, so the tank is now painted and is ready to begin fitting the bulkheads... BUT ...it wasn't without a bizarre incident that damn near destroyed my brand new Nomad!!! :eek2:
Earlier this afternoon I had stuffed 3 U-Haul blankets around the top oif the garage door to seal it as much as possible so that the portable AC unit that I bought yesterday would be able to keep up better by not having extra hot air finding it's way back in. Well, while painting I obviously needed to open the garage door again to let the fumes out (6 cans of Krylon Fusion spray paint). Being rushed, hot, tired and with a very sore back from drilling 18 holes in 3/4" glass, I forgot to REMOVE the blankets before attempting to close the garage door tonight. Well, one of them got caught up in the cable spool, threw the cable, torqued the door & track, and threw one side of the door off the track and it began crashing down... I caught it literally inches before it crushed the Nomad!
After lots of cussing I grabbed a 2x4 and wedged it under the edge of he door while screaming like a schoolgirl for my wife to come help me. Eventually I was able to disconnect the winder spools and rewind them by hand making sure to keep full tension on the center spring at all times... My hands hurt like hell, but I managed to get it done.
The really bizarre thing is that it works a whole lot better now than it did before, thus, had I not "broken it" we wouldn't have know it was broken in the first place.
BTW: Fior anyone that may be wondering why 2 large sectiojns of the back of the tank were taped off and not painted, I never paint the overflow sections, because it's nice to be able to see inside to clean them.
-Tim
Earlier this afternoon I had stuffed 3 U-Haul blankets around the top oif the garage door to seal it as much as possible so that the portable AC unit that I bought yesterday would be able to keep up better by not having extra hot air finding it's way back in. Well, while painting I obviously needed to open the garage door again to let the fumes out (6 cans of Krylon Fusion spray paint). Being rushed, hot, tired and with a very sore back from drilling 18 holes in 3/4" glass, I forgot to REMOVE the blankets before attempting to close the garage door tonight. Well, one of them got caught up in the cable spool, threw the cable, torqued the door & track, and threw one side of the door off the track and it began crashing down... I caught it literally inches before it crushed the Nomad!
After lots of cussing I grabbed a 2x4 and wedged it under the edge of he door while screaming like a schoolgirl for my wife to come help me. Eventually I was able to disconnect the winder spools and rewind them by hand making sure to keep full tension on the center spring at all times... My hands hurt like hell, but I managed to get it done.
The really bizarre thing is that it works a whole lot better now than it did before, thus, had I not "broken it" we wouldn't have know it was broken in the first place.
BTW: Fior anyone that may be wondering why 2 large sectiojns of the back of the tank were taped off and not painted, I never paint the overflow sections, because it's nice to be able to see inside to clean them.
-Tim
dahenley
New member
can you give a semi explination on what all the holes go to? intakes, exhausts, ect.....
drains from other things, and returns from other things as well.
thats a whole lot of holes, and you said there were more to be drilled in the bottom??
i think i counted 15? is that right!
drains from other things, and returns from other things as well.
thats a whole lot of holes, and you said there were more to be drilled in the bottom??
i think i counted 15? is that right!
tgreene
Reefer
There are 18 as of now and 4-6 more to be drilled in the bottom tomorrow...
The BIG holes are for the CL intakes (3 per pump to reduce suction), and the remaining holes with the exception of the top right corner are all CL returns. The "exception hole" will have 2 ball valves connected to it for a double safety and then it will be plumbed to a remote 55g QT tank to be able to very quickly fill it with system water as needed. The QT will have a similar bottom drain with a double safety connected to a garden hose run to a sewer drain to quickly empty it as needed.
It will be far easier to actually see what's going on once it's plumbed, which wil hopefully be before the week is out.
-Tim
The BIG holes are for the CL intakes (3 per pump to reduce suction), and the remaining holes with the exception of the top right corner are all CL returns. The "exception hole" will have 2 ball valves connected to it for a double safety and then it will be plumbed to a remote 55g QT tank to be able to very quickly fill it with system water as needed. The QT will have a similar bottom drain with a double safety connected to a garden hose run to a sewer drain to quickly empty it as needed.
It will be far easier to actually see what's going on once it's plumbed, which wil hopefully be before the week is out.
-Tim
SeaJayInSC
New member
Nicely done!
Garage doors are always a pain, aren't they? Mine's noisy, and it drives me crazy...
It looks like the tank's coming along nicely, despite your two-wheeled distractions.
How do you like the Fusion stuff as compared to other black enamels? I often wondered if it would work on glass like they claim it works on plastic... I usually put about four or five light coats of regular spray paint on glass. Never had a problem with it, but then again, it's on the backside of the aquarium and isn't subject to the abuse the front can take. Even so, the Fusion promises to set better. Comments?
Are you going to be able to fit yourself between the aquarium's top edge and the ceiling in order to work on the system? Are you going to be able to access the right side of the tank, as seen from the garage? Looks tight in there...
...A truly beautiful build, Tim. Show us pics from the livingroom with the glass painted. Are the lights working yet?
Garage doors are always a pain, aren't they? Mine's noisy, and it drives me crazy...
It looks like the tank's coming along nicely, despite your two-wheeled distractions.
How do you like the Fusion stuff as compared to other black enamels? I often wondered if it would work on glass like they claim it works on plastic... I usually put about four or five light coats of regular spray paint on glass. Never had a problem with it, but then again, it's on the backside of the aquarium and isn't subject to the abuse the front can take. Even so, the Fusion promises to set better. Comments?
Are you going to be able to fit yourself between the aquarium's top edge and the ceiling in order to work on the system? Are you going to be able to access the right side of the tank, as seen from the garage? Looks tight in there...
...A truly beautiful build, Tim. Show us pics from the livingroom with the glass painted. Are the lights working yet?
Last edited:
tgreene
Reefer
Thank you.
This too was super noisy before[/u] last evenings incident, but is now nearly silent... Go figure!
I had to find something to occupy my time, especially since I haven't had a chance to go diving since we returned from the Caymans a few days after you and Kym returned from the Bahamas. I've had 3 trips planned and all were cancelled due to one thing or another. This move and build is killing me, so I've had to use the bikes as a serious distraction and mental break from everything.It looks like the tank's coming along nicely, despite your two-wheeled distractions.
I've used several types in the past, but only the Fusion seems to bond completely without creating the potential for "sheeting" off.
Ther's a good 12" of space back there, so I don't have a problem, and I was inside the tank last nighgt to tape the inside of the holes, so while tight, no issues there either even with the lights in place. With the lights removed it's not an issue at all.
The lights all need to be wired into the ballasts, and that will be about the last thing that I'll do. I'll post more pics after I have the inside drilled and cleaned up. With no real light other tham the garages' ambient light, you can't see anything inside the tank at this point that would show up on camera, so when I take a pic I'll have to setup some lighting.
SeaJayInSC
New member
Awesome! 
tgreene
Reefer
With the help from a good friend who's also a biker and fellow reefkeeper, we got all the bulkheads secured today with the exception of the overflows... Those needed quite a bit of extra cutting and drilling under the stand and neither of us was up to doing it today. I'll see if I can't maybe get the drilling & cutting done in the morning so maybe we can get the drain bulkheads secured swometime tomorrow.
-Tim
-Tim
tgreene
Reefer
Drilling and trimming the wood below the overflow drains.
tgreene
Reefer
I only ever use the Sched-80 bulkheads with the drains, because that's what GlassCages uses and drills for. All other bulkheads are standard Nylon, which are O3 safe.
When I secure bulkheads, I always apply a good bead of silicone around the base of threads on the outside portion, then I very gently push/pull/twist the bulkhead through the opening to get some of that silicone up into the glass hole before tightening it down and giving it an extra twist with a wrench just enough to gently bulge the gasket. I've yet to ever have a leak when securing them in this manner, and I've drilled hundreds of holes!
Now, for the bottom bulkheads, I like to adda a very heavy and wide bead of silicone all around the in-tank portion to completely seal it, because sand can have a way of tearing and eating at the gaskets over time, thus creating the potential for pinhole leaks. By totally sealing it with a .75" to 1" wide bead, the chances of that are eliminated.
Again you bring forward some excellant questions, unfortunately however, you've exceeded your quota... What you need to do is jump in your car and drive NE to see this in person, then you'll have a real perspective of what I'm doing and why!
-Tim
dahenley
New member
Again you bring forward some excellant questions, unfortunately however, you've exceeded your quota... What you need to do is jump in your car and drive NE to see this in person, then you'll have a real perspective of what I'm doing and why!
-Tim
if only i wasn't taking Summer School at Tech........
still hoping on a trip in the 2nd part of summer though!
tgreene
Reefer
Don't forget to bring your dive gear!!!
-------------------------------
In addition to what can be seen (and mirrored on the ends), there are also (4) holes in the bottom front of the tank. They are positioned 4" out and back from each corner, and then 38" in from either edge. The (2) innermost bulkheads will be fitted with LocLine 'Y' fittings to cever the center... This keeps the very middle 4' of the tank uncluttered and free of anything.
SeaJayInSC
New member
Wow... Really impressive-looking now! As if it wasn't before...
"Exceeded your quota..." Funny. :lol:
"Exceeded your quota..." Funny. :lol:
