A Reefaholic's 1000+ Gallon Mixed Reef System Build

[Dustin1300]

Just put the rest of the re-enforcement in with Weld-On #4. Bud is probably most knowledgeable about acrylic, should I go ahead and put Weld-On #16 on the seams of what I put in?

Bud earlier ask about the reason and here it is:

 

[Newbie Aquarist]

Yea if it were me I would follow up with the Weldon 16 for ease of mind.

 

[Dustin1300]

Yea if it were me I would follow up with the Weldon 16 for ease of mind.

Yeah, all the seams before had Weld-On #16 on them so I did not have a perfect 90 to work with and why you see bubbles in those seams. The bubbles drive me nuts those "bars" were mainly for reinforcement. I've got leftover #16 so will apply this afternoon when I go home for the holiday weekend:dance:

 

[paul89]

ALL I can say is WOW. I live in Indiana just below Lake Michigan, I would love to see your system, but I'm afraid i would not want to go back home to my 65g lol. I'm glade I found this thread just in time to follow your main display tank in real time! :spin1:

 

[Dustin1300]

ALL I can say is WOW. I live in Indiana just below Lake Michigan, I would love to see your system, but I'm afraid i would not want to go back home to my 65g lol. I'm glade I found this thread just in time to follow your main display tank in real time! :spin1:

Appreciate it. I'm ready to see it going to but every reef is great, big or small!

 

[MTH]

I wouldn't worry about buffing the tank. I did a 60 cube by hand starting with wet sanding, then moving on to 3 stage novus. This was a time consuming project but it turned out beautiful. The tank was a mess in the beginning with zig-zag scratches all over, inside and out. This was my first go at buffing acrylic. Just make sure you keep the surface clean as you work. Sand/buff, then wipe off the surface and start over again until you get the results you want.

 

[Dustin1300]

I wouldn't worry about buffing the tank. I did a 60 cube by hand starting with wet sanding, then moving on to 3 stage novus. This was a time consuming project but it turned out beautiful. The tank was a mess in the beginning with zig-zag scratches all over, inside and out. This was my first go at buffing acrylic. Just make sure you keep the surface clean as you work. Sand/buff, then wipe off the surface and start over again until you get the results you want.

I've been playing around with it today and got frag tank almost done. Probably will start on inside of DT today. It's turning out pretty good, just takes some elbow grease and time!

 

[Dustin1300]

Ok...Have had some solid time to practice buffing today on my frag tank. I also went ahead and practiced on my top of DT because it had some gouges from being moved around by myself/previous owner in storage. Figure I'd make it perfectly clear so I don't lose any light penetration from the LEDs. That being said, here's process I followed:

- Cleaned off surface with Novus 1 cleaner
- Any deep scratches, I wet sanded with 1000, 1500, and 2000 grit sandpaper with a block of acrylic
- Applied Novus 3 by hand and used some elbow grease, followed by hand buffing
- Applied Novus 3 with applicator wool pad on drill, buffed in, and then wiped any remaining off by hand
- Applied Novus 3 with applicactor wool pad (new one) on drill, buffed in, and then wiped remaining off by hand
- Last stage of process I wiped down with Novus 1 and brought out all of its beauty!

Sand papers:

Sand block and rinsed in water often:

Spot sanded deep scratches (Weld-On in this case from tank being built):

Wiped off and cloudy:

Applied Novus 3 by hand vertically/horizontally and wiped off:

Novus 3 an dapplicator, Drill with applicator wool:

Applied:

Wiped:

 

[Dustin1300]

Then same process on Novus 2, all as explained above.

Here's end result!

 

[Newbie Aquarist]

That looks good Dustin. How did the inside go?

 

[Newbie Aquarist]

I used the same 3M wet sand paper also when I attempted my tank.

 

[Dustin1300]

Did not do anything on wetside yet. I'll have to research that one and determine how I want to regularly keep scratches out and perfectly clear. Probably will have some sort of really fine wetsand paper on inside of aquarium with mag float and that'll do the job. Tomorrow hope to get more done and should have all the polishing done within the next week. Probably spent 8-10 hours today so it takes some time and my arms are sore!

 

[Newbie Aquarist]

Thats what I plan on doing on the wetside. Something like 5000 or higher grit.

 

[Dustin1300]

I need to look over the 1350 gallon build thread again as I know Mr Wilson outlines how he keeps the inside of Peters' tank clean. Not sure if you've seen it but is explained well in that thread.

 

[Newbie Aquarist]

I might have read it but going back to research it is a good idea.

 

[SPotter]

Dustin...the corals in your frag tank look awesome!!! Your display is going to be awesome!!!

 

[Dustin1300]

Dustin...the corals in your frag tank look awesome!!! Your display is going to be awesome!!!

Thanks Steve. Can't wait to have it going:inlove:

 

[Dustin1300]

Oh how I hate buffing....Got about 12 hours of buffing done and ready for final stage of buffing with the #2 and then ready for the next project. I'm be glad to check this one off...Have more time today but my arms have had it!

 

[Lubecky]

Incredible!! It took me three days to read this and it was worth every minute. Very exciting and inspirational. Reminded me when I built my sump in the basement to feed to the DT upstairs. Very cool and look forward to your progress.


I must say with the lighting you had me convinced to go with Apollo because its functioning with the apex and has a great par reading. I currently have two kessil 350w over a 33 gal sps tank. I love the kessils and would stand by them any day. I just wish they would work with auto and not manually. I heard they are working on one that does dim with a third party controller. Anyway I may still look into the new Apollo

Keep up the great work and keep those pics coming so you can feed our addiction

 

[Dustin1300]

Incredible!! It took me three days to read this and it was worth every minute. Very exciting and inspirational. Reminded me when I built my sump in the basement to feed to the DT upstairs. Very cool and look forward to your progress.


I must say with the lighting you had me convinced to go with Apollo because its functioning with the apex and has a great par reading. I currently have two kessil 350w over a 33 gal sps tank. I love the kessils and would stand by them any day. I just wish they would work with auto and not manually. I heard they are working on one that does dim with a third party controller. Anyway I may still look into the new Apollo

Keep up the great work and keep those pics coming so you can feed our addiction

Glad I was able to help give you a good reef fix for your addiction and glad to have you along!:spin2: