a long time coming
- Thread starter Acro
- Start date
cediss
New member
Awesome tank acro! You did what I have dreamed about many a restless nights. I hope someday I will be able to create a tank like that. Currently money and wifes tolerance for my hobby excess are the main barriers. My 180 will have to suffice for now. I too wonder how the glass was attached to the tank, if you would expand on this please? Keep us updated with your progress. Thanks, Chris
Acro
Premium Member
NIck, I don't beleive there was much die off from the aquascaping project. I did use a spray bottle and give the rock a good spray every so often usually around the time I took a sip of beer.
It was probably about 2-3 hours out of water. No visual signs of a cycle. I was suprised myself to be honest I was expecting at least some diatoms but nothing. I got the grey pvc from the local plumbing supply store.
The glass was ordered 2" oversized compared to the opening. This allowed a good surface area for a silicone bond and some addition strength. I used a scotchbrite pad to scuff up the area that would be siliconed. I understand that silicone bonds well to the finished epoxy but wanted a good rough surface. So here are a few pictures.
First off most important part was to invite a good friend to help. Remember the glass pane is 2 pieces of 3/8 starfire laminated which is about 167lbs.
WE wanted the glass in the tank before siliconing as it only has a short working time. So I biult a couple props to hold the glass high enough to reach under to silicone.
Then siliconing was done. Not pretty but once the glass was placed it spread out the silicone very nicely.
A bit of fill ins and clean up was done with a putty knife.
That was pretty much it. Other then some clean up after the silicone had cured.
It was probably about 2-3 hours out of water. No visual signs of a cycle. I was suprised myself to be honest I was expecting at least some diatoms but nothing. I got the grey pvc from the local plumbing supply store.The glass was ordered 2" oversized compared to the opening. This allowed a good surface area for a silicone bond and some addition strength. I used a scotchbrite pad to scuff up the area that would be siliconed. I understand that silicone bonds well to the finished epoxy but wanted a good rough surface. So here are a few pictures.
First off most important part was to invite a good friend to help. Remember the glass pane is 2 pieces of 3/8 starfire laminated which is about 167lbs.
WE wanted the glass in the tank before siliconing as it only has a short working time. So I biult a couple props to hold the glass high enough to reach under to silicone.
Then siliconing was done. Not pretty but once the glass was placed it spread out the silicone very nicely.
A bit of fill ins and clean up was done with a putty knife.
That was pretty much it. Other then some clean up after the silicone had cured.
nbd13
New member
Thanks, so you put your corals in rigth after you filled the tank up and were finshed aquascaping it?
did you use alot of old water? i plan on using about 100 gallons on new water and the rest will be from my 180 and sump....
the aquascaping will take about 1 hour i think so if i spray it every 15-20 mintues i should not have a die off right?
did you put fish in that same day too?
thanks!
Nick
did you use alot of old water? i plan on using about 100 gallons on new water and the rest will be from my 180 and sump....
the aquascaping will take about 1 hour i think so if i spray it every 15-20 mintues i should not have a die off right?
did you put fish in that same day too?
thanks!
Nick
Acro
Premium Member
Much appreciation for the kind words!! After going through alot of photo's for this thread it's amazing to me how far this journey has been. It's really a nice feeling to know others appreciate and enjoy it too.
For those that are intrested in such a project, I have to say do your research!! PLease do not take anything I say as the only answer. It by no means is a simple project, many times I had wondered what I was doing and contamplated stopping the project. It was truly a long journey with both highs and lows. Would I do it again? Now that it's running, Yes My buddy that did a very similiar thing at his home says no way. Though he doesn't have stock in it yet and I'd expect the answer to that question to change once he does.
I hope everyone understands me as one of the main reasons I say very little on the boards is the fear of leading someone down the wrong road. Anyways enough of that.
paulpp187,the ply is 3/4" all around except the front was doubled up. I used westsystems epoxy. There are many brands.That's the one I thought was the best for this application.
Nick, I had added 300gals of vats to the old system a month before. This gave me alot of the water for the new tank. I added new water to finish filling it. This got the new one running at bare minimum and kept the old one going. That may have been the best thing I'd done. So once the aquascaping was done I filled the tank with the vat water and the 200gal sump had new water. I then turned on the pump and I was still short about 40 gal to get the tank running. I simply went and bought some more to fill it up enough to run. I left it for that day and over night before I moved over corals and fish. I did put a couple duplicated corals in after the fill. They where polyped out the next day, so I felt I would be fine to do the transfer.
For those that are intrested in such a project, I have to say do your research!! PLease do not take anything I say as the only answer. It by no means is a simple project, many times I had wondered what I was doing and contamplated stopping the project. It was truly a long journey with both highs and lows. Would I do it again? Now that it's running, Yes My buddy that did a very similiar thing at his home says no way. Though he doesn't have stock in it yet and I'd expect the answer to that question to change once he does.
I hope everyone understands me as one of the main reasons I say very little on the boards is the fear of leading someone down the wrong road. Anyways enough of that. paulpp187,the ply is 3/4" all around except the front was doubled up. I used westsystems epoxy. There are many brands.That's the one I thought was the best for this application.
Nick, I had added 300gals of vats to the old system a month before. This gave me alot of the water for the new tank. I added new water to finish filling it. This got the new one running at bare minimum and kept the old one going. That may have been the best thing I'd done. So once the aquascaping was done I filled the tank with the vat water and the 200gal sump had new water. I then turned on the pump and I was still short about 40 gal to get the tank running. I simply went and bought some more to fill it up enough to run. I left it for that day and over night before I moved over corals and fish. I did put a couple duplicated corals in after the fill. They where polyped out the next day, so I felt I would be fine to do the transfer.
Acro
Premium Member
Nick, give me a minute that was a loaded pm
OK this is going to be to much typing for my liking. Shoot me your phone number via pm and best time to call I'll give you a shout. Much easier for me.
Paul, yeah glued and screwed. I can't remember for sure but I used 2 1/2 or 3" screws every 6"
OK this is going to be to much typing for my liking. Shoot me your phone number via pm and best time to call I'll give you a shout. Much easier for me.Paul, yeah glued and screwed. I can't remember for sure but I used 2 1/2 or 3" screws every 6"
Last edited:
sixxer
In Memoriam
Acro,
If you ever had the time, you should consider doing a write-up with photos and post it as a Sticky in DIY forum! I am sure many, many reefers would benefit greatly from your project. Just an idea.
I was just curious about one thing. Did you look into going 10 foot as opposed to 8 foot at any point, or was going above the standard 4x8 sheet of plywood going to be much to difficult?
How long did it take you to build the tank from start to finish?
Thanks
Again, Great Job on your tank.
If you ever had the time, you should consider doing a write-up with photos and post it as a Sticky in DIY forum! I am sure many, many reefers would benefit greatly from your project. Just an idea.
I was just curious about one thing. Did you look into going 10 foot as opposed to 8 foot at any point, or was going above the standard 4x8 sheet of plywood going to be much to difficult?
How long did it take you to build the tank from start to finish?
Thanks
Again, Great Job on your tank.
Karl K
New member
I forgot to ask, where did you buy the epoxy and how much did it cost? ($CAD)
I hope you don't mind if I steal your design. I was pricing out glass for doing a complete glass 240g (8x2x2), but that's more than I want to spend right now.
Thanks for the info on this tank. I love the canadian ingenuity
Karl
I hope you don't mind if I steal your design. I was pricing out glass for doing a complete glass 240g (8x2x2), but that's more than I want to spend right now.
Thanks for the info on this tank. I love the canadian ingenuity
Karl
