Justin's 550 almost-cube

[ctenophore]

Hey everyone,

 

I was wondering if some of you might be interested in helping me set a pane of glass into the new tank I am building. I think I'll need about four people to make it easy. I'm hoping to do it mid to late this coming week.

 

Here is the tank:

 

The glass that needs to go in it is a 1" laminated starphire piece measuring 64"x46". It weighs about 300 pounds I am told. The glass company is providing suction cups for me to install it.

 

My plan is:

1) Put the tank up on about 2 levels of block, face down as shown.

2) Do one last wipedown/surface prep of inside frame

3) Install 1/8" spacers at corners and midpoints to prevent glass from squishing out all the silicone

4) Run the bead of silicone (planning to use black dow 795)

5) Put glass on a towel-covered wooden platform supported by a hydraulic car jack centered in the frame. This is where the extra hands will be very helpful- getting the glass carefully onto the jack since our leverage is reduced while leaning into the tank and setting the glass down.

6) Use the jack to slowly lower the glass into position, then let gravity do its thing

 

One minor problem with this plan is that I don't own a jack. Does anyone have one I can borrow?

 

I expect this process to take roughly 2 hours. I will probably try to do it in the evening but of course that depends on everyones' availability.

 

Thanks very much for any help!

 

Justin

Edited April 9, 2009 by ctenophore

[dandy7200]

Justin, I should be free Friday early afternoon or Sunday evening. Sunday we could probably get a few more people. 2 more would be perfect.

 

I don't think we need a jack. Put the tank on 1 set of cinderblocks and the glass on two furniture dolly's with 2x4's. Roll pick up one side of the glass and roll the glass inside the tank, pick up the other end and roll into tank. Gooey stuff, pull the 2x4's, pizza.

[davelin315]

Hey Justin, I am away for the weekend but good luck with finishing that off! That's a cool tank, can you give us details on the construction? Fiberglass? Plywood? Something else?

[jamesbuf]

I could help if its one the weekend. Dan gets to drive me up there though.

[lanman]

Justin, I should be free Friday early afternoon or Sunday evening. Sunday we could probably get a few more people. 2 more would be perfect.

 

I don't think we need a jack. Put the tank on 1 set of cinderblocks and the glass on two furniture dolly's with 2x4's. Roll pick up one side of the glass and roll the glass inside the tank, pick up the other end and roll into tank. Gooey stuff, pull the 2x4's, pizza.

 

Good place to buy furniture dolly's??

 

bob

[ctenophore]

Hey Justin, I am away for the weekend but good luck with finishing that off! That's a cool tank, can you give us details on the construction? Fiberglass? Plywood? Something else?

 

It is fiberglass with plywood and 2" foam core. I am going to put it in my garage so I wanted it to be as insulated as possible. It's built the same way as Dan's sump except I don't believe his has plywood in the core, just foam. I figured that since it is nearly 4' deep, I would need as much strength as possible on the sides.

 

I could help if its one the weekend. Dan gets to drive me up there though.

 

Excellent, thanks for the offer. It looks like Sunday evening is the best time. I should be able to round up at least one more person, but I wanted to ask WAMAS first since I figured everyone here would be more interested in this project than other non-aquarist friends.

 

Justin, I should be free Friday early afternoon or Sunday evening. Sunday we could probably get a few more people. 2 more would be perfect.

 

I don't think we need a jack. Put the tank on 1 set of cinderblocks and the glass on two furniture dolly's with 2x4's. Roll pick up one side of the glass and roll the glass inside the tank, pick up the other end and roll into tank. Gooey stuff, pull the 2x4's, pizza.

 

I'm not sure how to lower the glass evenly with the furniture dollies once it is centered, but maybe it won't be as much of an issue as I've been thinking. I know you're a smart guy so I'll take your word for it, especially if you have the dollies.

[dandy7200]

It's only 300#. James lifted that much of my tank by himself I got dollies.

[Anthworks]

Justin-

Count me in.

 

anthony

[rsaavedra]

Justin Raf here count me in.

 

Raf

[flowerseller]

What if you set the glass on something and raised the tank up to it?

[jason the filter freak]

this looks freaking awesome I wish I lived closer.

[discretekarma]

Count me in. I live right down the street. Just let me know the details when you figure it out.

[ctenophore]

What if you set the glass on something and raised the tank up to it?

The tank still weighs a lot more than the glass. Probably 400-450 lbs.

 

Glass arrived today; to my relief it was cut precisely to my specified dimensions. Silicone arrives tomorrow.

[Black Mammoth]

The tank still weighs a lot more than the glass. Probably 400-450 lbs.

 

Glass arrived today; to my relief it was cut precisely to my specified dimensions. Silicone arrives tomorrow.

 

 

If you need another, let me know. I would be interested in seeing this as I've been thinking about doing this as a cheaper alternative than buying a tank. BTW, why is the rest of the tank so heavy? How much wood did you use?

[ctenophore]

If you need another, let me know. I would be interested in seeing this as I've been thinking about doing this as a cheaper alternative than buying a tank. BTW, why is the rest of the tank so heavy? How much wood did you use?

Thanks for the offer.

The wood is 5/8" 7-ply I believe. It has several layers of woven mat and chopped glass, plus the foam. Add the resin and gel coat and it ends up being pretty heavy. It is still far lighter than an all glass tank or even an acrylic tank though. I did not build it; I had it done by a fiberglass shop in FL. It was still much cheaper than a glass or acrylic tank, probably 1/2 the cost including the starphire front. Saving money was certainly nice, but the real reason I went this route was durability and insulation.

[flowerseller]

Saving money was certainly nice, but the real reason I went this route was durability and insulation.

It looks as though it would be lighter.

What is the plan for this tank?

Cold water reef maybe?

 

My brother lives across from Seizerworld / Giant Food, how close to that are you?

[ctenophore]

It looks as though it would be lighter.

What is the plan for this tank?

Cold water reef maybe?

 

My brother lives across from Seizerworld / Giant Food, how close to that are you?

I was originally thinking low-light/nonphotosynthetic as in tubastrea, gorgonians, etc. I need to play with a few plankton dosing ideas first though. Can't be coldwater, as it will be tied into the greenhouse tanks. My plan is to use this tank as the introduction point of a lot of planktonic food, which can then disperse into the other tanks. I need to do a lot more reading on plankton reactors though. I may just chicken out and do zoas, gorgs, ricordeas on the bottom and sps near the top. Depends on how the aquascaping comes out.

 

I am walking distance to the shopping center there, just go north on Georgia and left on Norbeck.

[ctenophore]

The glass installation went pretty well this afternoon. A huge thank you to Dan and Anthony; we got it done in almost exactly 2 hours. I think that may be the first time ever that a tank project took precisely the estimated time to complete.

 

Here are Dan and Anthony doing the heavy lifting while I take pictures:

 

300 lb piece of glass:

 

Dan, looking like he sniffed too much silicone. Yes I am underneath a piece of glass in this picture:

 

11 tubes of silicone later:

 

Next report will be in about two weeks, after the silicone has a chance to fully cure. Hopefully this thing will hold water!

[Anthworks]

Did Dan get the black silicone off his hands?

[flowerseller]

I didn't notice anything different looking about Dan in the picture.

[YBeNormal]

I didn't notice anything different looking about Dan in the picture.

 

Look closer. He's all dressed up!

[flowerseller]

[ctenophore]

Thanks to Dan, my stand is done! Who knew masonry could be such fun?

 

 

Now I need to put the above pictured 700lb tank here:

 

 

Anyone that lives close by willing to help lift it up? I'd like to do it Wed. night if possible. I'm thinking 6 since the stand is 50" high.

 

Raf, remember that your pump is here and that Wed night would be an excellent time to swing by to get it

 

Thanks in advance everyone!

 

Justin

[zotzer]

Justin,

Are you sure you want to put a tank on there? It looks a little wobbly and unstable to me! ROFL

 

Can't wait to see this come together!!!!

Tracy

[jason the filter freak]

Sweet mother of awesome tank setup. I remember seeing this tank long ago, then it dissapearing off the boards. I just couldn't at the time think of a piece of glass weighing 300 lbs. I can't wait to see this thing finished. Is the "stand" going to be "skinned" or hidden by a room (inwall tank)?