Recycling a 300 DD
- Thread starter zab34
- Start date
SloppyWhenWet
New member
With attitude like this I wonder how America ever got built.
That's what I'm wondering a lot of negativity flowing through here. Where's the can do attitude. Haha
I'm fine with the work needed to be put in. I have no shortage of time besides work In the near future. If it takes a couple months to figure it out and prepare everything for the day it sees silicone that'll be fine by me. What u don't have is the cash to throw at a brand new 60x36x24 with custom overflow. I have all the support equipment, and enough time to see it through.
Bracing the bottom would involve more glass. Which is a bit pricy. I'd rather have the brace for extra security as well as the fact I think it's easier to put on a stand that way.
uncleof6
Active member
This should not be considered to be attitude, it is the considered and experienced truth, rather than palliative 'finesse.' This type of construction is not a job for amatuers, as the risk factor is high, and the cost of failure can be—and often is, catastophic: resulting in expenses that can exceed $100,000.
America was built by strong men. Men of thought, men of concern, men of wisdom; they were men far removed from foolishness, and recklessness. End of history 101.
uncleof6
Active member
No, it is not rocket science, however, with over 20 years experience building tanks, I can say with assurance, the information you will have access to is inaccurate and incomplete. Much of it is downright false. However, your assesment that it is not rocket science is not the same as my definition of rocket science: Tank building has sepcific requirements, and deviations result in water on the floor. Best of luck to you.
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So this is your contribution to this thread.:sad2: Trolling to "try" to discredit someone who has real experience.---------------------------------------
I have repaired some smaller tanks myself. And agree completely with Uncle ,its a major pain that isnt worth the time to 99.7% of people. And very likely will end badly [read $$$] Simply pass this one up.
callsign4223
Well-known member
I bought a tank from a buddy who had disassembled it because the seals were starting to fail. He gave up and bought another one on Craigslist and I bought this one from him completely disassembled already. It still took me a year just to get the tank reassembled and ready for a leak test. One of the major problems I ran into is that marineland changes their tank dimensions by a quarter inch every now and then. The marineland brace I bought (this is a marineland tank btw) was 1/4 inch too short on the short length. They didn't even make the correct size frame anymore. I debated for a month on what to do. Here are the options I found. Find a local plastic shop that could custom mold a frame, build a frame from wood, or cut the frame I had bought. I went for option three and cut my frame. I siliconed the bejeezus out of the sucker and filled in the 1/4 inch gap with silicone as well. Then I leak tested the thing for a month in my garage and marked the edges of the gap with a dry erase marker on the glass to see if it was spreading. After a month with no spreading I felt safe enough having it in my living room. I still leave it marked to this day so I can catch any spreading and hopefully drain the tank before I have a flood. Here are the caveats. Mine is only a 120 tall, so you have twice the water to worry about. Mine is also only 2x4 so the lengths are shorter.
This is definitely a try at your own risk, ymmv, please don't sue me for helping you kinda project though. Just because it worked for me doesn't necessarily mean you want have problems.
This is definitely a try at your own risk, ymmv, please don't sue me for helping you kinda project though. Just because it worked for me doesn't necessarily mean you want have problems.
Good to know at least someone had tried to cut trim down. I would think Weldon would seal it better than siliconeing it back together. Marineland contacted me and said they don't sell frames anymore for the large tank because each Frame is custom mitered to the tank at the time of manufacturing.
Zab34 - I think there has been some pretty solid suggestions here recommending a pass. Now your mileage may vary and to each his or her own. However, parting one tank to make another without prior experience is stacking the deck towards failure. I mean sure, maybe you will learn something but at what cost? Loss of carpet, flooring, electrical short, flooding, or fire if it is done in a garage or house.
There is a thread on this very forum similar to your request with someone taking a used tank, pulling it apart, and replacing a few pieces to make it like new. This person, however, was very experienced and had the tools and space. There are also some threads about people making 300 gallon tanks out of plywood. People do it.
Only you know what your level of comfort it...
There is a thread on this very forum similar to your request with someone taking a used tank, pulling it apart, and replacing a few pieces to make it like new. This person, however, was very experienced and had the tools and space. There are also some threads about people making 300 gallon tanks out of plywood. People do it.
Only you know what your level of comfort it...
callsign4223
Well-known member
The gap is too wide to use weld-on. You have to remember, mine wasn't big enough versus being too big.
