dhogan

I wish it was my shop, it's my dads, he has been helping me with some of the woodworking. The shop is pretty nice, as you can see it is a real mess right now. My dad has at least 4 routers, you can see the other plunge router in another picture, not sure why he needs all of them.... As for the crack, oh well! The only thing that sucked was having to spend another ~$50 for the tank. Right now I am leaning for a real drawer, it will be a nice place to hold some items such as food and other stuff. I just need to make sure I have room for my ACJr. and electrical! -Dale

Edit: Fixed one of the img URLs above. Well first off, I did not have a small glass cutting bit. The other big reason is because the dremel tool is extremely slow to cut! It took probably at least an hour, if not more to just cut out what I did. I never really thought about drilling holes, just thought this was the best way to do it. Small holes might restrict the flow too much.

Tank Cracks! So the tank cracked after the second coat of paint, I went back out for the third and there was a big line in it. A guy on RC mentioned that but cutting out a square overflow I created a stress point and it woudl probably crack, well sure enough, it did. So I had to start over... New Overflow Cutout Design I also decided to buidl my overflow piping. Created this using my table saw: And this too: Many of you have asked how I was going to keep things out of my overflow box. Easy... using some black acrylic and this jig for making drawers And this router with bit: Finished Product Stand Building Today I started the stand, great progress pictures or step-by-step since I want to get this thing built and have water in it. Here are the two sides drying: And here's the front frame drying: Your thoughts? As of right now the doors are going to be a little too long, it will probably look weird. So I have two options, (1) a fake drawer or (2) a real drawer. What do you think? Opinions? Thanks!

Leak Test and Paint Prep I've been really busy lately, and I just got my wisdom teetho out, so that's why I haven't updated in a while. Hope you guys aren't too upset about that. Today I leak tested the overflow box, everything looks good. No leaks from the overflow box, it is very strong, I don't expect to have any problems with it down the road. I'm very happy how it came out. Then I taped up the tank to prepare to paint the back black. Here is the paint I'll be using: I wasn't able to paint it, because the weather wasn't vey good. I initially started outside, but then some clouds came so I decided to put it off until tomorrow. I made a good decision since it started raining.

Well I ordered my T5s earlier today.

I can't decide on my lighting. MH or T5. What are your guys thoughts? Originally i was going to go with two of these: http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp?PageA...amp;strCompare= But now I'm wondering if I should go with MH.

I don't really have anything to compare the speed to so I'm not sure. My understanding is that glass should be drilled with a slower speed, especially since faster speeds increase heat. The cut was not competely clean, but good enough for the bulkhead. The glass cost $20, great price in my opinion. Thanks again for the bit, I'll have to get it back to you soon.

Gluing the Overflow box on the Tank Okay, now that I've let the overflow box sit for a couple days, it is dry. This thing is very strong, I have no worries about it falling apart, even with the weight of pipe hanging from it. Next step is to glue it on, I do worry about the overflow box hanging on the tank, I will have to test its strength once it fully dries. And of course some pictures of the process... In the first post I showed a part that I cracked when attempting to remove some silicone... So the first thing I did was fix this issue, I decided that I would post some pictures of this since I didn't post them of the original overflow cut out. The tools used: Removing more of the plastic edge to allow the overflow box to fit flushly: All cut, came out very nicely: And finally, after cleaning off the tank I placed the overflow box on top. Put a clamp on very gently, just enough to make sure it didn't move. Then I glued it, and now it's drying.

Moved pics to a different server, since imagesocket was slow. Also will have minor updates later today.

I'm going to change the host when I get a chance, just been busy. I just got back from a trip, and will continue tank work tomorrow. I am just using the silicone, it will be strong enough. The bond between silicone and glass is very strong, so there shouldn't be any other issues. As far as the mildew inhibitor, from what I've read that is when using GE Silicone II, I am using silicone I. I haven't come up with concrete plans, just some stuff in my head right now. The stand will probably be maple with a very dark stain. It will be a full stand, and even hide the overflow box, pipes in the back. At least that's how I have invisioned it so far. I will post updates as they come in.

Intro I am building a 29 gal with a sump, and I plan to focus on SPS. Basically I will be maintaining this thread with updates whenever possible, and I'll have a similar thread at ReefCentral too. Drilling Overflow I did not take pictures of my tank before I drilled it for an overflow, and I didn't take pictures of that process either. Basically I used a dremel bit and plenty of water to get a nice cut. Here is the first picture of the overflow cut You may notice that part of the corner is chipped, that was my fault when trying to remove some silicon using a razor blade. I will fix this before I silicone the overflow box on. Drilling the Overflow Box I ordered custom cut glass from a glass shop (Circle Glass in Fairfax - no complaints) they didn't have the right drill size for the bulkhead I'd be using, so I figured I'd use the dremel. Well when buying rock from a club member (Thanks David), he let me borrow his bit. I then hooked it up to my drill press... Used some plumber's putty, filled it up with water: I set the drill press to a very low speed, and then I slowly lowered the bit. Rinse and repeat Testing and it all fit Gluing the Overflow Box I got all my pieces together and grabbed a scrap piece of pergo for a work surface (since it's flat and smooth) Tape it all together The silicone I used (except in clear) \ And finally I glued it together I am now waiting for it to dry, and then glue it on to the tank.

What kind of price are you looking for?

I want to get a 120 gal (4'x2'x'2) but I don't know where to get a tank like this that I can drill. I'm not sure if Oceanic or Top Fin are tempered and do not want to test it. Both warranties say do not drill the tank but that doesn't mean much. I have looked in regular petstores but again I have not found any tanks this size nor have I found any acrylic tanks in petstores. I know acrylic would be fine to drill but I'm not so sure about these glass tanks. Your advice would be appreciated guys.

Could you give me access too? Paid up the other day.