I buy mine off of ebay. The one I bought yesterday was $6.00 w/free shipping so you can't go wrong! Last one I bought I got 6 holes out of it so a $1.00 a hole. Drill a hole for only a $1.00!! LOL

Lockrookie's idea worked excellent and the overflow box top edge is 100% perfect down to the exact mm!


http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...1/IMG_2913.jpg


http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...1/IMG_2916.jpg

Overflow is now complete but still waiting for the 3rd bulkhead to arrive which should be anyday now and also still waiting for the drill bit for returns. Deciding also whether to use a gate valve or a ball valve on the siphon as they both have their pros and cons.



http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...1/IMG_2918.jpg


http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...1/IMG_2920.jpg

Besides some extra cost what disadvantage would a gate valve possibly have? I use them on my herbie and on each outlet on my manifold. Love the control they allow over a ball valve.

I totally agree that the adjustabilty of a gate valve is excellent unlike a ball valve which is terrible. Only problem with gate valves is their not as durable as ball valves from what more than one person has said. 1 yr to 1-1/2 yr sometimes I have heard which would suck to have to replace. It sounds like the salt gets in the stem seal which causes them to leak. I would much prefer a gate valve as the siphon adjustment can be touchy I've heard but 1yr-to 1-1/2 yr thing kind of shys me away from them. How long have you had yours for? Other opinions?

The gate valve on my 150g reef is coming up on 3 years. The one on my FOWLR is 2 years old. So far so good. And ya, it would really suck to have to replace them.

Do you open and close it on a regular basis or does is it just stay open? Bean animal and Uncleof6 from RC were 2 of the people that said not to go with a gate

On mixed reef with the 3 year old valve I open and close it fully maybe once a month. I like to do this to flush any crud that may have collected in there. I probably adjust the valve (minor adjustments), every couple of weeks to re-adjust the water level in the overflow. Although many times this just leads me to opening the valve fully to flush it anyway and then re-adjusting the water level.

As for the 2 year old valve on my FOWLR, that sucker gets opened weekly with every water change (or two weeks if I'm being lazy). It is part of my water change system so gets opened and closed quite a lot.

5 years between 2 of them sounds pretty convincing! A person could put in a ball valve also I guess for water changes but I wouldn't bother with that. Are yours sched 40 or 80? What brand are they? Do you know what your gasket type is on yours?

Well, I wouldn't suggest that my experience is the norm :-) Just my experience with them.

Sched 40 on both. No idea what brand. Just grabbed it out of a box of valves from my LFS <blatant_plug>Red Coral Calgary </blatant_plug>. I have no idea what gasket type, sorry.

All dark grey valves are sched 80 I believe. Darryl, I would definitely use gate valve over ball valve but just make sure you get the one with threaded ends so you can replace them if need to be.

Tanks is coming along nicely dude, I can't wait till you get some water in that mother. Tank is gonna look awesome with those radions.

Yes you are correct Rich usually the sched 80 is grey and sched 40 is white. Sched 40 can also be special ordered in grey from some places I've seen too. Usually I prefer the socket weld ends on fittings for less chance of a leak but the threaded ends on the gate valve for replacement is an excellent idea! I bet your tank looks awesome too with 9 friggin AI'S !!!

I just checked now and PVC sched 40 normally in white can be ordered in Black or Clear as well as Grey.

Decided to go with a gate valve and ordered a Spears Sched 80 which is a good brand to buy that have been around for years and repair parts should always be available one would think.

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...ate-Half-2.jpg

Thanks to all for steering me towards using a GATE VALVE instead of a ball valve. I found out today repair kits can be bought from Spears to fix leaking stem seals so thats a huge bonus. The gate valve can be fixed/repaired inline without even removing it from the system also.

I haven't had any system running for much longer than a year so I can't comment on their durability but looks like you chose already anyways! Mine have all been sch 80 and as you discovered if you purchase the deluxe models you can get at the insides to make repairs. I opted to save a few bucks this time but mine would be no big deal to replace entirely.

Drill bit finally arrrived today(3 weeks later) but for only $6, shipping included delivered to my door I will take it! I won't bother with showing more drill pics but will show pic when I am done drilling in next day or so.

Return holes are now drilled and vinyl background is on. I had to do it in 2 pieces as I didn't have a 6ft piece of vinyl. If I could do it again I would of spray painted back of tank in garage before I took it downstairs. No biggie though as the coraline will cover it in time anyhow. I still have to drill and tap the cap on the open channel standpipe and then it should be ready to fill with some RO reject water to clean and rinse tank out!

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...1/IMG_2934.jpg

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...1/IMG_2935.jpg


http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...1/IMG_2936.jpg


http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...1/IMG_2937.jpg

looks good man

Thanks Mike, it would look good if it wasn't so blotchy like as seen in pic by left return outlet. It actually looked better with the vinyl just taped on as I think I used too much water applying it. Deciding now on whether to be picky and replace it or just leave it be and let it get coralined up. Next up also is a decision on the widely debated, tank - styrofoam - plywood issue. So many different opinions on that one.

personally for the tiny bit of cost go styrofoam.. the tank i picked up had the plastic trim and they didn't use styrofoam one part of thier basement shifted while the other stayed inplace droping a corner thus the cracked payne i have to replace before i can truly start building. in my opinion over kill is better than a cracked tank.

Yes styrofoam is cheap but some say it does more harm than good and some say its a must! My tank is a flat bottom with trim around the bottom and the bottom pane is flush with the side panes. The stand is the AGA pine stand with the open top where the tank sits on top around the perimeter only. No middle supports whatsoever. Styrofoam still you think?

p.s. If you are replacing your bottom pane I would go thicker than your side panes. Also maybe check into getting it tempered because as ridiculous as this sounds some tempered glass was cheaper to buy than regular glass when I was checking around for my overflow glass.

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...1/IMG_2942.jpg

the bottom pane is good its the front diplay pane that broke i could get tempered for that i suppose i have to go down to my glass shop and see what they can do for me hopefully at the end of this month.

but as i said it was just my thoughts and beliefs..my tank is identical to yours in the way its built. as well your basement is newer and most likely wont shift like the guys i got the tank from he lived in an older neighbourhood. and your floor is fairly solid no major cracks.so in your case either ay should work fine.

Looking good bud. The tank is drilled super clean, love it.

You are laughing then as the front pane is way easier to change then the bottom pane! Too bad you didn't see the guy in Regina selling the tank with a broken front pane for only $50. I went and looked at it but the very corner on bottom pane had a chip so I passed on it. Might of been a good deal for constructing something with the 2 ends and side pane depending on how old and brittle the glass was.

Thanks Rich but I am not sure if I like my blotchy background yet! I wish I would of just taped the vinyl on. Spray painting wasn't an option being only a few feet away from my 120.

I think my next step might be to take the stand out to the garage for a splash of fresh paint.

i cant complain i got this tank for 150 :biggrin:

No you can't complain for that price. And for $200 total you would of had a 180g!!! Too bad I didn't buy it because it would still probably be sitting in my basement unused and I could of sold the pane to you cheap!

new pane is 150 with my discounts so ill still have a 180 for 300bucks cept im making changes doing euro brace.. still i love the pricing sttill need to make a few extra bucks and room in house to work lol. im Aiming for wet works by sept.

and will reuse the broken pane for the overflow...im eco friendly im recycling glass lol

Update: The blotchy background has now disappeared, which was moisture still underneath the vinyl which had to evaporate. The background now looks awesome and much nicer than any paint does. Never again will I ever paint a tank!

Update: My gate valve arrived yesterday and I ordered my 5 bags(150lbs) of Tropic Eden substrate today. I decided to go with the Reef Flakes(on the right) over the Mini-Flakes as they are the most popular and Reef Flakes won't get blown around by MP-40's. Also I asked about the Vertex Cerebra controller and when its being released and they had no idea whatsoever. It doesn't sound like it will be out on Feb 16th like I heard but I am in no hurry anyhow for it.

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...comparison.jpg

Are you doing a deep sand bed? I bought 135lbs of sand but only ended up putting in 95 lbs as it gave me the 1 1/2 inches I was looking for. I bought the CaribSea Aragonite Special Grade sand.

When is this beast going to be up and running, Darryl?

My plan is to go with a shallow bed approx 1-1/2 inches also. I probably only needed 3 or 4 bags but thought I would buy extra as you can't find it in Canada. Also I wanted to have extra onhand and maybe for a possible frag tank later down the road. I orginally was going to go with the Caribsea but decided to go with the brighter+whiter Tropic Eden. Everyone who buys the Tropic Eden seems to really like it too from what I've read so.....

I am guessing in the next few weeks or possibly even after my Cuba trip as I am not sure I wanna set up a tank then take off right away on holidays. For sure I will let you when it is done so you can stop by and check it out!

Thats a no brainer Daryll ...i've never been anywhere...well no place worth mentioning.I go to cuba..you get that tank fired up. Deal ?? i'll even frag some of my most treasured acropora.

I think I will have to pass on your offer but thanks anyhow! lol I haven't been anywhere either so I can hardly wait. Could of went to Bahamas last winter with wife but I passed and told her "you go with your friends and I will stay home and buy a skimmer instead" A good skimmer is more important than a trip to Bahamas if you ask me. :biggrin:

your on crack.. i had a chance to live in turcas y caicos for a year while my father did renovations on a relatives home.. all expence paid whilei was in high school. my father turned it down..i was not happy like really live on a beach for a year vs sask winters...i will never forgive him lol

The original trip that I refused was to Mexico then they ended up going to Bahamas- I got scammed lol
Turks and Caicos is on my "trip list" one year. It looks beautiful there.