PEPPIE's ODD-BALL BUILD

[peppie]

I decided to run this thread here. I will be building a new acrylic tank. This tank build is a direct result of this.

I had a seam going bad on this tank. I was growing 1/2'' every 24 hrs. I thought about repairing it,but there were seams I could not see or get to for reinforcement. So $400 and 45 hrs of labor was reduced to some bowed 1/2'' pieces I will use on the fuge section in this new tank.
Call me stupid if you will but I am going to try this acrylic welding again.
Here is a drawing of what I am planning to put together. There has been a couple of small changes due to so advice from "Kgross" I will not use the 1/2'' bulkheads for the overflow out of the fuge. I have decides to build a better over flow.

I will use 3/4'' plexiglass-G for the DT and the recycled 1/2'' for the fuge. DT size is 32'' x 24 '' x 22'' high

 

[muttley000]

Nice drawings!

 

[peppie]

Cool, someone else is able to understand what is in my head

Thanks Muttley

 

[CLisPRO]

I'm kinda confused is this kind of a aio or is it something else

 

[RotaryGeek]

Was this the AIO that i was watching in reef keeping? That really sucks. When did that happen? And how long was it set up before it happened?

 

[peppie]

Something else, Thats why I called it ODD-BALL. I like to think out side of the box. The acrylic I have on hand will dictate most of this build. The fuge section will be enclosed in the hood/cabinet. It will never be seen.

 

[CLisPRO]

I really don't get it now haha. Definitly gonna sub wann see more of this.

 

[peppie]

Rotarygeek,
The AiO I cut up had been running for 4mo. I seen a white section in the front seam about a week ago. I marked it, then measured it the next day. It grew 1/2'' in 24hrs. 3 hours later I was tearing down the tank and transferring everything into a 40 breeder.
Alot of thought went into that 90gal AIO design. It worked very well. I did something wrong when I welded the seams. Shame on me.

 

[peppie]

Some pics of the panels getting some router prep.

Started out with a sheet of 3/4'' ply as my straight edge

I didnt like the end result, so I switched jigs

That jig produced a much better edge

 

[peppie]

Moved the router back to the table to dress some smaller pieces

I glued a strip of P-Lam to the out board side of the fence to keep the cut depth to about 1/32".

Modified 2 framing squares for jigs to keep the edges at 90degs

I cut some wedges and used this X-desktop to do the gluing on, it is nice and flat.

A few supplies for the build

This clamp and square will keep my edges lined up for the bottom

These jigs will keep the piece placed while I glue the joint.

The recycled acrylic has some bows in it. It has posed some problems. It isnt bad when you are gluing to a flat piece,but adds an extra couple of steps of prep if I glue a piece to a bowed piece.

Here is one seam done with alittle weight to keep things snug. I got a good fillet on both sides of the seam. I'll post pics of the seam when it dries.

 

[peppie]

I was back in the shop today. I finished the fuge compartment, main body. Some my roll your eyes at my idea of reinforcing all the corners with 1/2'' strips of acrylic at all inside corners, but I dont want any leaks or seam problems in this build. No one will see this part of the tank and I will sleep better. It will take extra time an alittle material, but it is worth it to me.
I also built am overflow for my HOB skimmer. The stock overflow that came with the skimmer is way to small IMO, It is not your typical coast to coast. It will work better than the stock unit.

Thin spring sticks are great clamps

This is part of the skimmer overflow. The HOB skimmer in-take tube will fit down in this section

I cut the teeth on the table saw

You can see were the overflow will dump into the inlet chamber

I didnt like to gloss on the black acrylic so I sanded it with 600 grit

 

[peppie]

I didnnt like the idea of gluing the overflow for the skimmer to the back of the tank. Never know when you might want to move something. I made a couple of brackets to glue to the overflow and just hang off the back of the tank.
I will be using 1/4'' hardboard to give color to the back wall. Maybe black at the bottom,dark blue in the mid, to light blueat the top. The 1/4'' board will be removable to change colors if I like.
That is what you see in this pic of the overflow brackets

The original design has changed a little in the fuge chamber.
The water will flow into the large chamber you see on the left, the eggc. will separate the macro alg. from the live rock that sits on the bott eggc. this section is elev. for easy cleaning.

The pump will draw water from the fuge to the return witch will hold media on top the eggc. and exit the chamber into the DT.

This whole unit will be welded to the right side of the DT.
I made a friction fit strainer for the powerhead. Using an old strainer from a different pump

I will start the DT Monday

 

[Db366]

Love it. Keep the pictures coming!

 

[peppie]

More progress today. I started by cutting the overflow slots in the right panel.

The I peeled back the paper on all the edges

Then it was time to weld the sides to the front

I am going to add corner pieces to all inside corners of the DT

I used a cabinet scraper to dress all three sides

You can see two small voids in this seam, It should hold just fine. You will not see any of the corners in the end result of the build.

This seam looked good

 

[peppie]

This tank will be a bare bottom. I want to keep the rocks up off the bottom so the flow will be better, and easier to clean. I bought some 3/4'' and 5/16'' acrylic rod. I made a bunch of triangles out of 1/8'' plastic and glued them up.

 

[peppie]

OOpps hit the wrong button

I also got the bottom glued up today. Hoping to do a water test this week

 

[dainiusiva]

Looks good. I always like acrylic fabrication. Keep up the good work, I cant wait to see progress

 

[muttley000]

Thanks for documenting this so well. I have a fully equipped wood shop and am really wanting to try to make a tank!

 

[RotaryGeek]

Wow can't wait to see how this one comes out. Hopefully everything works out with this tank. Looks like thick enough acrylic that it would never give out lol.

 

[peppie]

Muttly, Thanks, I grew up 60mi south of Cleveland. What is keeping you from working acrylic? I started with small things I could use, and bought the acrylic from the scrap bin at the local store. It is good to practice before going big. As you seen in the begining of the thread. That was a $400 mistake.

Rotory, I hope the thickness will help in the integrity of the tank. I got a good deal from a local reefer. I think this tank cost me about $125 in acrylic.

So I need to keep a good amount of flow to the bottom of this barebottom tank. I had a QuiteOne 1200 pump @ 300gph from an old tank and decided to use it for a closed loop. The return will be about 4'' off the bottom and centered on the back wall

I started to glue the inside corners to the tank

I also needed to add some height to the fuge chamber so I just glued a platform to the bottom