Rhodes19 180 Build
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Rhodes19
New member
My 180 was brutilly attacked last night and graffiti was plastered all over it. All in the name of a surprise 50th birthday party. Oh the insanity!!! The things they did to me and made me do was embarassing, but I did get a 6 line wrasse out of it. 
Beautiful red and blue stripes with a green tail. Hey, how are we going to get dad out of the house? Oh, yea, take him to the lfs. That will keep him busy for hours!!! Well, the damage was done. Poor tank. I'm surprized that they didn't try to put me in it. My wife tells who ever comes over that when I die, she is going to bury me in my tank!!! LOL :worried:
Beautiful red and blue stripes with a green tail. Hey, how are we going to get dad out of the house? Oh, yea, take him to the lfs. That will keep him busy for hours!!! Well, the damage was done. Poor tank. I'm surprized that they didn't try to put me in it. My wife tells who ever comes over that when I die, she is going to bury me in my tank!!! LOL :worried:
Rhodes19
New member
Wow, what a day. Frankie came over to the house yesterday and took a look at were I was having the leak in the overflow and within a minute he found were it was. Amazing! He then crawled into the tank, removed and cleaned out the old silicone in the area (I did a bad job) and then he re siliconed the corner overflow. The word professional jumps to mind. He did an awesome job. Here are some of the pictures of his work.
Frank in the tank
Here are the pictures of Frankie removing the old silicone.
After Frankie removed the old silicone, he scraped what was left over and cleaned of the film left over.
I think the fumes where starting to get to to him.
Frank in the tank
Here are the pictures of Frankie removing the old silicone.
After Frankie removed the old silicone, he scraped what was left over and cleaned of the film left over.
I think the fumes where starting to get to to him.
Rhodes19
New member
Frankie next taped the area he was going to silicone. I wish had thought of that.
Frankie brough over some of his silicone for the job and did an excellent job of putting it down. I wish I could cauk my bathroom that well. Oh, and now I have a new source for aquarium silicone. No, not from Frankie. He told me where I could get it locally without paying a high price.
Frankie was a great help and a wealth of knowledge. Once the silicone cures, I should be able to put water into it and start the cylcing.
Oh, and here's Frankie trying to escape.
Thanks Frankie, I really appreciate all of your help. :thumbsup:
Frankie brough over some of his silicone for the job and did an excellent job of putting it down. I wish I could cauk my bathroom that well. Oh, and now I have a new source for aquarium silicone.
No, not from Frankie. He told me where I could get it locally without paying a high price.
Frankie was a great help and a wealth of knowledge. Once the silicone cures, I should be able to put water into it and start the cylcing.
Oh, and here's Frankie trying to escape.
Thanks Frankie, I really appreciate all of your help. :thumbsup:
MarineGirl411
New member
Was that a brand new tank? I would have taken it back. =( Why did you need to fix the leak? I feel really dumb asking, but wouldn't that all be filled with water anyway? He did an excellent job though.
Rhodes19
New member
Hi MarineGirl,
No, it was a used tank I picked up in FL from a RC member. I thought it was only a few years old but I accidently found a small tag yesterday that said DAN, AGA 97, so I guess the tank was older than I expected, but for the price you still couldn't bet it. When I started to fill up the tank, water would leak under the plastic overflow. I stripped it and resealed it twice and it still leaked. After watching Frankie do it, I realized I wasn't even coming close to how to seal/reseal with silicone. I leaned a lot watching him.
Your question is a good one.
My biggest concern was if I ever lost power and the overflow leaked into my sump (which it did while I was leak testing [loose Durso pipe]) that the tank would continue to leak into the overflow and then into my sump and then eventually onto the floor. If my stand pipes don't leak then it would not be a problem, but, sometimes I can be anal about back ups and safety. :crazy1:
MarineGirl411
New member
That is a good reason. I completely understand now! =) Thank you. I never thought of that before. It's always good to be anal in this hobby. It's not really anal, though. It is being very responsible!
Rhodes19
New member
The workmanship in the stand is absolutley incredible!
Glad the overflow is taken care of, this is a great thread for the DIY guy that might not know how to finish a project... kinda like me with my 125 stand.
Keep up the good work.
Thanks Crazy One,
I like making things with my hands so diy projects are fun for me. Not having enough $$$ to buy things also makes diy neccessary!!
LOL
Rhodes19
New member
Thanks Frankie, Good seeing you too. And thanks again for the help.
We didn't get a chance to put water into the tank over the weekend but I did get some more work done thanks to Frankie. My tank came with Durso stand pipes and because of the cramped overflow space they lean backwards and allow water to leak in between the pipe and bulkhead and into the sump (flooding potential). Frankie gave me some modified caps to fit on the end of 1" pipe that he had made to take the place of the Dursos.
Here is the underside.
Side view.
On top of a 1" pvc stand pipe.
Top view
Frankie also fixed my wimpy, limpy loc lines and replaced the segments from his stock pile. He even gave me some nossles to go on the end for better surface aggitation. Sweet!
The last touch to the tank was siliconing in a piece of egg crate on the last baffle after the fuge before the return to catch macro algae.
I was going to get a tap water filter from a lfs but they didn't have it in stock. That acctually worked out better for me. For the $40-60 I would have spent on it, I could use that same money to buy a decent RO/DI unit. After looking at our last water bill and doing some calculations, I figure it would take about $30 (for about 1000 gallons) to fill the tank with RO/DI water. Frankie said he could let me use his filter to fill the tank until I can get my own. I am hoping my next posting with pictures will be of some water and DIY rock in the tank.
We didn't get a chance to put water into the tank over the weekend but I did get some more work done thanks to Frankie. My tank came with Durso stand pipes and because of the cramped overflow space they lean backwards and allow water to leak in between the pipe and bulkhead and into the sump (flooding potential). Frankie gave me some modified caps to fit on the end of 1" pipe that he had made to take the place of the Dursos.
Here is the underside.
Side view.
On top of a 1" pvc stand pipe.
Top view
Frankie also fixed my wimpy, limpy loc lines and replaced the segments from his stock pile. He even gave me some nossles to go on the end for better surface aggitation. Sweet!
The last touch to the tank was siliconing in a piece of egg crate on the last baffle after the fuge before the return to catch macro algae.
I was going to get a tap water filter from a lfs but they didn't have it in stock. That acctually worked out better for me. For the $40-60 I would have spent on it, I could use that same money to buy a decent RO/DI unit. After looking at our last water bill and doing some calculations, I figure it would take about $30 (for about 1000 gallons) to fill the tank with RO/DI water. Frankie said he could let me use his filter to fill the tank until I can get my own.
I am hoping my next posting with pictures will be of some water and DIY rock in the tank.
Rhodes19
New member
I picked up about 100 lbs of sand last night for $50. The sand was from the tanks of a lfs that had closed but is now reopened. I was expecting a variable grain aragonite but for $50 I figure sand would work as well.
Here is what it looks like.
This stuff came from a guy in the area that was closing down his tank. I got it and about 12 lbs of live rock/rubble.
Here is the stuff I was looking for. This came from one of Frankie's old tanks and is about 40 lbs.
I'll wash all of it really well before adding it to the tank. Some of the folks I got the sand from said I could toss it right in and quicken the cycling but I think I will wash out all the detritus and start as clean as possible.
Here is what it looks like.
This stuff came from a guy in the area that was closing down his tank. I got it and about 12 lbs of live rock/rubble.
Here is the stuff I was looking for. This came from one of Frankie's old tanks and is about 40 lbs.
I'll wash all of it really well before adding it to the tank. Some of the folks I got the sand from said I could toss it right in and quicken the cycling but I think I will wash out all the detritus and start as clean as possible.
Last Version
New member
great job..!!
tagging along.
tagging along.
Rhodes19
New member
Happy New Year every one!!!
I started to fill the tank yesterday afternoon and its about half full!!! I'll start adding my diy rock shortly and then the substrate. Once its topped of and running I'll add some live rock I picked up, throw in a deli shrimp and let it cycle. :bounce1:
Here is a picture of Frankie's RO/DI filter that he is letting me use until I get my own. We put a new prefilter in and its working like a champ. It mounted on the wall in the garage and tapped into the cold water line going to the hot water heater. The drain line is going to my green house and the clean water line is going under the kitchen door and to the tank.
1/4" tube clamped to the side of the tank for filling.
Tank about 1/4 filled.
Tank about 1/2 full!!!
I'll get more pictures after I get the rockscape set up.
I started to fill the tank yesterday afternoon and its about half full!!! I'll start adding my diy rock shortly and then the substrate. Once its topped of and running I'll add some live rock I picked up, throw in a deli shrimp and let it cycle. :bounce1:
Here is a picture of Frankie's RO/DI filter that he is letting me use until I get my own. We put a new prefilter in and its working like a champ. It mounted on the wall in the garage and tapped into the cold water line going to the hot water heater. The drain line is going to my green house and the clean water line is going under the kitchen door and to the tank.
1/4" tube clamped to the side of the tank for filling.
Tank about 1/4 filled.
Tank about 1/2 full!!!
I'll get more pictures after I get the rockscape set up.
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