Siege's 50Br

[Siege]

Current FTS:

Yup, the tank is on backwards.

2011-02-27

The tank is a Starphire 50 breeder from Glasscages. It measures 36x18x19, although the actual water volume is exactly 40 gallons. It is sitting on a custom red oak stand (also from Glasscages) which measures 36" tall.

[Siege]

I picked this up on Saturday and only barely managed to tuck the entire thing in my car. Got it home, unpacked it, and went over the entire rig with a fine toothed comb. Some initial thoughts:

 

* The tank is well made, solid, and very heavy. A lot of people have criticized GC of over-liberal use of silicone, but I don't see it. It's a standard glass tank, and not rimless, so maybe that's the difference.

* The starphire panels (I have them installed on the front and sides), make a BIG difference. Glad I went with them.

* The overflow is enormous. It's 10"x6", or a total of 22 linear inches. The drain pipe is, I think, 2". According to RC's overflow calculator, that will accommodate 1450 gph, more than 3x what I actually need.

* They don't want you to actually fill it for 3 weeks after the manufacturing date. Probably has something to do with letting the silicone cure, but that seems like a long time to me.

* The stand is not that well made. It's solid and sturdy, but the craftsmanship isn't there. It's mostly red oak plywood, but the back panel and top of the canopy are a cheaper grade, probably pine. The oak plywood is chipped in a number of spots.

* The roof of the canopy is hollow. I'll have to install some kind of cross brace to suspend lights from.

* The mitres on the decorative edges of the lift-off front and side doors are very poorly done. They don't line up at all.

* The front of the canopy slides up and off, but that piece is not cut straight and there is a large gap when it is slid into place.

 

All in all, I'm happy with the tank, but I do wish I'd built my own stand. I did what I could to clean it up, and it looks better now. I've added some veneer edging to the exposed plywood sides and covered the gap in the canopy's front panel by adding some quarter-round trim. After going over it with some 450 grit sandpaper and a couple of coats of varnish, it does look a lot nicer, but it's not the pristine and beautiful piece of furniture I'd have liked it to be. Of course, the goal is for people to eventually pay attention to the contents of the tank and not what it's sitting on, but still.

 

Plans:

* LR and LS will come in the form of "The Package" from TBS once the tank has been tested and installed.

* Lighting will be a DIY LED array. I'm assembling parts now.

 

Equipment on hand:

* I have an acrylic 29 sump, baffled into three chambers.

* I have an RKL to use as the brains of the tank.

* I have two Fluval E-Series heaters, one 200W and one 300W to keep it warm.

* I have a Rio 1400+ to at least get things started in the flow department, but I'm sure I'll need a much bigger pump and a decent powerhead before long.

* I have an Eshopps PSK-75 to help keep things clean.

Edited February 28, 2011 by Siege

[gmubeach]

Wow I love these tanks:) I've always wanted one. Looks good.