The Birth of FrankenTank!!!

[leviburns89]

Hey there everyone,

I started a pretty popular thread a while back, then went dead online. I'm sure most who followed thought, "he must have crashed it, and gave up."

Haha, not so much.

I've been working, raising a kid, and building the next chapter in preserving the reef.

FrankenTank!!!

This is is a 300lb monster, built from scraps left over from work. I will go more into detail about the exact logistics of this build as this thread progresses, and questions arise.

But for now, here it is

And with some wet paint!!

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[captjab]

I'm liking it. Sump looks great also.

 

[leviburns89]

I'm liking it. Sump looks great also.

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[leviburns89]

Display tank is 120 gallons. Way overbuilt, acrylic scares me.
Sump is 40 gallons, but will only hold around 28

stand was built via GARF build guide, and boy was I not satisfied, so I reinforced with extra lumber.

Plumbing will be 2 Herbie style pipes 1.25" for the drain, and two .75" return lines.

Ordering my plumbing tomorrow, should have it by monday.

Hoping to have water in this thing by end of the month.

 

[DM and the Boys]

Looks great!

 

[spec33]

Looks awesome! Can't wait to see what it is going to turn into

 

[CrayolaViolence]

I've always preferred acrylic because the pieces are melted together, not glued. And it's less likely to break if a rock bumps it. But honestly, with all the tank failures people experience, I'm just about scared of any box of water. LOL

 

[leviburns89]

I've always preferred acrylic because the pieces are melted together, not glued. And it's less likely to break if a rock bumps it. But honestly, with all the tank failures people experience, I'm just about scared of any box of water. LOL

I agree.

When building this, my seams were about 85% overall.

So to remedy this, I used straps of 1" thick acrylic and overlapped all my seams and welded again.

Looks like a junkyard tank, hence the name!

Also, every single seam in the entire system was hit with weld on 16 after the fact. Holds water like a champ

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[CrayolaViolence]

I thought you needed weld on 24 or something like that??

 

[CrayolaViolence]

P.s. I get some sort of perverse pleasure from jerry rigging stuff. I love being able to build cool tanks out of other people's trash. My 150 acrylic was trash to someone else. It's one of my favorite tanks now.

 

[mrdss]

I was waiting for the post where the tank pops out.

 

[leviburns89]

I thought you needed weld on 24 or something like that??

Weld-on 16 is pretty thick stuff, I assume 24 to be almost the consistency of silicone. The 16 is nice because it leaves a surface layer, but also seeps into any cracks.

P.s. I get some sort of perverse pleasure from jerry rigging stuff. I love being able to build cool tanks out of other people's trash. My 150 acrylic was trash to someone else. It's one of my favorite tanks now.

Me too, if you notice in the first pic, the cube to the right of the big tank, that's a homemade 34g rimless cube built with 1" acrylic. Gonna be my puffer tank.

So far, I've only had to purchase the weld on for everything I've pictured so far. Not a bad savings.

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[leviburns89]

Finished up my room today.

Added carpet
Finished cabinet added door
Installed can-lights
Leveled stand.

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[leviburns89]

Ok, so I already ran into a pretty big hickup...

I am almost certain my overflow box is too small, and won't allow clearance for the bulkheads...

So basically I have to cut out the overflow, make a bigger one, and glue it back in...

Any tips?

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[leviburns89]

Alright, crisis averted! I was able to cut and patch, and made it work out.

And here she is, on the stand, leveled out.

And for the plumbing.

Runs super quiet. Took a bit to dial it in. The ball valves aren't optimum, but they work. Had a few leaks, but once I doubled up on Teflon tape on the threaded fittings, it worked out nicely.

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[leviburns89]

Got the livestock added.

And room just about done

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[CrayolaViolence]

what is that object stuck on the front panel?

 

[Tooboot]

what is that object stuck on the front panel?

i'm interested in that too, wondered the same thing. seems like a pump stuck to the front of the glass with a cup on the top part.

 

[leviburns89]

It is a maxi jet, with a bottle full of polyfill. Using it to Polish the water. 24 hrs, then switch out polyfill.

There is a bunch of detritus on the rocks from the sand bottom tank they just came from. This makes a very fast way of removing any floating debris for dirt cheap. It's ugly, but it works.

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[leviburns89]

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