cerreta
Premium Member
We began Jeff’s SPS Reef project today. It is a cube, sort-of. The dimensions are 22x25x24 (WxLxH). The length of 25†will have a 3-4inch overflow area.
We purchased five panels of 3/8†glass from Tucson Glass. The overflow wall and Euro Brace pieces were made from some 3/8†glass that we recovered from an old tank.
My glass cutting skills are weak. If you recall, I could not cut the ½†glass so I used ¼†glass to build my 30 gallon nano. Well, after screwing up two cuts with deep scores (we would run the cutter over the glass several times to get a deep score), we were about to give up and go buy the other two pieces. But, then I told Jeff that all the pros make it look so easy because all they do is run one quick score and that is it. So, we took a scrap piece (we had lots of it by now) and made a freehand single score. Sure enough this was the trick. That piece snapped along the score. So, we turned to our last piece of glass and were able to cut out the overflow wall and Euro Brace.
Drilling the holes came next. This was easy. Jeff was reading a thread where some people used Olive oil in the hole as a lubricant. So we tried it. While it smelled good when heated up, it just proved to be messy and did not work any better than water.
This overflow glass looked like Swiss cheese when we finished drilling the four holes in it.
Here is the system design, from what I understand:
It will be a 55 gallon tank with a dedicated small refugium and separate sump. Skimming will be done by an ASM G2. The return pump will be a Panworld PXX50 1250gph which returns water through a single outlet in the center of the overflow wall. A Sequence pump will be used as the CL circuit pump. This pump pulls water from the main body via a 1 ½†drain in the overflow wall and returns it through 4 spigots via an Ocean Motions Super Squirt. Two of these holes will be in the Euro Brace and two will be in the overflow wall. The overflow wall will be covered in black foam. We will try using the black silicone for a clean appearance. The top and bottom trim will be made from 1†oak corner brace.
Here are the first day photos.
The Tucson Glass panels
Glass recovery from an old tank.
First attempt at cutting the 3/8†glass with a deep score.
It failed. The break was hard to start and once it began to run, the glass just snaps and runs awry.
Second attempt on the Euro Brace failed too.
We tried again using a single score line and this worked perfectly. When breaking, the line will start running with very gentle pressure and continues until the break is complete. This technique does not cause the glass to snap like it does with a deep score.
We tried this out on some scrap 1/3†glass and it worked. Woohoo, I have some ideas for all that ½†stuff lying around.
Olive oil was used for this hole. You can see it in the background.
Water used on this hole.
Here is Jeff holding the Swiss cheese overflow wall.
We ended today at this juncture. The plumbing parts were ordered today. The next task will be to setup the panels and get that CL drain installed. It will be a bear to get that thing in there. We plan to do it without installing the back plate.
Uh Oh, I just thought of something Jeff. If we install the bulkhead then that means it will be sticking out of the bottom and could get broken in the move. If we leave it out and put the back wall in place then it will be too hard to get a hand down there later on to secure the fitting. Hmm, I’m not sure what to do. I’ll talk to you tomorrow about it.
We purchased five panels of 3/8†glass from Tucson Glass. The overflow wall and Euro Brace pieces were made from some 3/8†glass that we recovered from an old tank.
My glass cutting skills are weak. If you recall, I could not cut the ½†glass so I used ¼†glass to build my 30 gallon nano. Well, after screwing up two cuts with deep scores (we would run the cutter over the glass several times to get a deep score), we were about to give up and go buy the other two pieces. But, then I told Jeff that all the pros make it look so easy because all they do is run one quick score and that is it. So, we took a scrap piece (we had lots of it by now) and made a freehand single score. Sure enough this was the trick. That piece snapped along the score. So, we turned to our last piece of glass and were able to cut out the overflow wall and Euro Brace.
Drilling the holes came next. This was easy. Jeff was reading a thread where some people used Olive oil in the hole as a lubricant. So we tried it. While it smelled good when heated up, it just proved to be messy and did not work any better than water.
This overflow glass looked like Swiss cheese when we finished drilling the four holes in it.
Here is the system design, from what I understand:
It will be a 55 gallon tank with a dedicated small refugium and separate sump. Skimming will be done by an ASM G2. The return pump will be a Panworld PXX50 1250gph which returns water through a single outlet in the center of the overflow wall. A Sequence pump will be used as the CL circuit pump. This pump pulls water from the main body via a 1 ½†drain in the overflow wall and returns it through 4 spigots via an Ocean Motions Super Squirt. Two of these holes will be in the Euro Brace and two will be in the overflow wall. The overflow wall will be covered in black foam. We will try using the black silicone for a clean appearance. The top and bottom trim will be made from 1†oak corner brace.
Here are the first day photos.
The Tucson Glass panels
Glass recovery from an old tank.
First attempt at cutting the 3/8†glass with a deep score.
It failed. The break was hard to start and once it began to run, the glass just snaps and runs awry.
Second attempt on the Euro Brace failed too.
We tried again using a single score line and this worked perfectly. When breaking, the line will start running with very gentle pressure and continues until the break is complete. This technique does not cause the glass to snap like it does with a deep score.
We tried this out on some scrap 1/3†glass and it worked. Woohoo, I have some ideas for all that ½†stuff lying around.
Olive oil was used for this hole. You can see it in the background.
Water used on this hole.
Here is Jeff holding the Swiss cheese overflow wall.
We ended today at this juncture. The plumbing parts were ordered today. The next task will be to setup the panels and get that CL drain installed. It will be a bear to get that thing in there. We plan to do it without installing the back plate.
Uh Oh, I just thought of something Jeff. If we install the bulkhead then that means it will be sticking out of the bottom and could get broken in the move. If we leave it out and put the back wall in place then it will be too hard to get a hand down there later on to secure the fitting. Hmm, I’m not sure what to do. I’ll talk to you tomorrow about it.
