RyanGSP's 80G Build

[Ryan]

Thank you for all the compliments guys. I think the next step now is a J&L order for some Loc-Line, heaters and a thermometer.

So this morning I did all the plumbing on the tank. I was a little worried at first when it finally noticed the 1.5" overflow line was right between my return and my pump.

Well a little work with a 90 degree mpt x barb and some 1" vinyl hose and we have all the plumbing done.

Bottom End



Top side



Full Shot

[lastlight]

I just used a pair of drawer slides per door.



They work pretty well so long as you have thick plywood for the doors. I first used 1/2" and it was not straight enough and when the doors met up it looked pretty ghetto. 3/4" worked well for me and the pics in the thread should show how I made the top lip of the doors. Again more ghetto action but it got hidden with the tiles so you'll need to take a bit more care!

Build's lookin' good =)

[bades]

Ryan, looking good so far. It's amazing how a little elbow grease and hard work can make a tank look good. Just a quick question for ya,..... when you were scraping off the paint from the back side of the tank, you said about half way through you found a better (and faster) way to remove the old paint. Just curious what you did and secondly, did you spray or roller(paint) the black paint on the back? I want to repaint my back side of tank as well, but not sure whether to spray or paint! Thanks.

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by bades

Ryan, looking good so far. It's amazing how a little elbow grease and hard work can make a tank look good. Just a quick question for ya,..... when you were scraping off the paint from the back side of the tank, you said about half way through you found a better (and faster) way to remove the old paint. Just curious what you did and secondly, did you spray or roller(paint) the black paint on the back? I want to repaint my back side of tank as well, but not sure whether to spray or paint! Thanks.

Sorry I took so long to reply to this. I totally missed it until I just reread the thread.

What I did was use an arch scrape pattern and only cut enough paint to fill half the razor vs the entire razor. I also made sure I always used a fresh razor blade as they cut much easier.

I picked up a little roller kit from walmart ($4) and used it to roll the paint onto the glass. Because of the overflow I used some masking top to make a nice line and rolled on the paint. This makes it look clean and covers the view of the overflow from that side.

[viperfish]

Those are some cool lookin' light fixtures you got there buddy!

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by medhatreefguy

Those are some cool lookin' light fixtures you got there buddy!

Thanks Rod.

I am still not too sure about them but they will do. Maybe next year I will order Hamilton Cayman Suns.

[viperfish]

I wish my fixture had as much light spread as these. My tank is 30" front to back and most combo fixtures just don't cover that area effectively. Are these SE or DE bulbs?