KrazyKuch's & Michika's 180Gal Tank Build

[KrazyKuch]

well I went with another way of bracing the glass instead of 2X4's, I bought some corner clamps and put some stick on felt on them as to not damage the glass!!!

Here is the corner clamps I bought.


Here is the clamps with felt on them.


Bottom after it has been cleaned with vinegar.


After the edges have been taped.


Bottom with the back side by side.


Starting to apply silicone.


Another shot of me applying silicone.


Back pain in place.


One side in place and clamped with the corner clamp.


Both sides in place and clamped, and me removing excess silicone on the inside.


Shot of all 3 sides in place.


Shot of one of the seams.


And here is a pic of the silicone we used.


Basically once I had an end piece in place I clamped it to the back pain,and then made sure that the bottom of the side piece was flush to the bottom pain, and that the side pain was full pressed up against the back pain...Make sense or did I loose anyone!

[Delphinus]

Nice work so far! Where'd ya get the clamps?

[KrazyKuch]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Nice work so far! Where'd ya get the clamps?

I got them from Rona!

[ElGuappo]

Just a suggestion but you may want a small peice of wood or foam or carpet or somthing inbetween the clamp and the glass as it could scratch.

[KrazyKuch]

Originally Posted by ElGuappo

Just a suggestion but you may want a small peice of wood or foam or carpet or somthing inbetween the clamp and the glass as it could scratch.

Actually if you would re-read my recent post with the pic's, you will see that I put felt on the clamp so that it can't scratch the glass...(it's the second photo in the group)

[ElGuappo]

My bad. felt is a great idea. dont know how i missed it saw all the other pics?????

[brizzo]

We have these neat corner clamps at work .. We sell them for about $20.

One big caulking tip for readers: buy a half barrel, 'dripless' style caulking gun. You will notice huge improvement over a cheap skeleton frame gun!

Also GE Silicone 1 is considered 'aquarium safe' and submersible for those wondering. I've never seen the GE SCS1200 Silicone .. Is that what the professionals use?

[fishoholic]

Very impressive and brave! Good luck with your build.

[michika]

So how about a bit more on what kind of finished product we are trying to achieve. I've always liked the tank stand setup that Cprowler has going on his 120g system. We want to do a control box/storage on one side on our system.

A few things that I want have on this tank;
- filtersock holder
- Removable top off container
- Automatic feeder

I'll see if I can dig up some photos of what we are aiming for, or at least drawings for comments.

[michika]

Its a box!


The dilemma


So our dilemma now is the debate between going with eurobracing, or go with this non-eurobracing. My concern is that when we pop a 250w MH over this glass piece that it will hinder the light penetration in the tank. Anyone have any suggestion on this?

We are willing to buy the extra glass to do the eurobrace, we are just wondering how much of a benefit will it be to us in the long run, and in regards to using MH lighting.

Next up;
- Tank Bracing
- Floor reinforcement