Sunshine Coast - 10ft 500G build

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by thebrinc

Hey Guys... so 3 days into my perfect silicone seams curing, still clamped, these bubbles / tears started forming in the center of the seams.
Anyone seen this before? Almost lost control of my bowels when I saw this last night and have been up googling ever since to no avail.



The darker portion in the photo is the structural seam, then the corner bead to the left and the blue painters tape...

Any chance that this is normal? That the black silicone does it too but you just can't see it?
I'm close to the end of my rope here

Could it be slight imperfections in the glass edge that is being filled in by the bubbles? I am no expert at tank building, but just a thought.

There are vendors (ie Dave at Concept) that are experts on this forum, and would be nice to hear from them.

[mihaivapler]

Originally Posted by thebrinc

Hey Guys... so 3 days into my perfect silicone seams curing, still clamped, these bubbles / tears started forming in the center of the seams.
Anyone seen this before? Almost lost control of my bowels when I saw this last night and have been up googling ever since to no avail.



The darker portion in the photo is the structural seam, then the corner bead to the left and the blue painters tape...

Any chance that this is normal? That the black silicone does it too but you just can't see it?
I'm close to the end of my rope here

If is not between the glass panels(the structural part) the you can cut out that portion and clean very well and reapply the silicon. It might be even from the fast reaction of the silicon, you sad the silicon start to skin in few minutes..

[byee]

Originally Posted by thebrinc

On the topic of silicone, when you google GE SCS 1200 silicone and open the official spec sheet, the logo on the top of the document says "Momentive". GE has been licensed and trading under Momentive since 2006, so it's either the same or close to the same stuff I've been using... just cheaper and more readily available!

Great looking tank!!

My buddy at Oceans by Design in Seattle, WA builds all his custom tanks using Momentive SCS1200. It's an adhesive silicone and not just silicone.

[thebrinc]

Hey Guys, some updates!

I've got another shipment of plumbing supplies:



They finally got the stainless angles cut, and I have the vertical braces on:





Some really awesome large Pukani pieces arrived, thanks Eli! :
Check my foot for scale...





Overflow box is glued and drying:



I'm getting really anxious to see if this thing holds water... I woke up dreaming about triggerfish! I'm thinking of giving the braces a week to dry and then figuring out how to get the foam in under the tank. lol. Any ideas?

I'm thinking of pushing the tank forward a bit so it overhangs, and then jacking the sucker up with the car jack & a 4x4 under the glass for support?

[sphelps]

A few comments on your seams

1. Silicone shrinks when it dries, so cracks and bubbles typically form with thick glass tanks due to the extra silicone in the seams. Some silicone brands shrink less than others and the effect is amplified if the edges are not machined flat and if spacers are used (more silicone = more shrinkage). Overall pretty normal and it's certainly not enough to cause a seam to fail.

2. To do large seams properly you should actually silicone panels together first and just let excess silicone be pushed out both sides. Once dry you cut out excess silicone inside and outside and let cure longer. Then you silicone your inside bead. Otherwise a good portion of that silicone in the seam will never cure. Its rare to see this done now a days, most builders won't bother but I've cut tanks apart finding uncured silicone in the seam before and I was also told this trick by people in the know.

3. Those steel "braces" are pointless unless you plan on welding them to cross bracing at top and bottom so all corners are connected. As it stands now they are just decorative trim covering your seams.

[thebrinc]

@ sphelps, thanks for the insight!

I hear you on the shrinking issues with silicone. I'm actually using the new "stretchmarks" as a sign of curing in the lower 1" seams. They're all over all the seams now after 3 weeks.

I'll paint the braces to fight corrosion. Although not perfect, the options are limited and these are a lot stronger than aluminum / plastic trim. Structurally speaking, the vertical braces help prevent bowing of the 1/2" glass and should help avoid any shearing. However, if it only serves to hide the visual imperfections in the seams, that's fine by me too

I am still adding a 1.5" stainless trim on the top as well to support the side braces.

All & all I'll sleep better with the braces on I hope...

[thebrinc]

It's full of WATER!

...but first things first. It was a real mind bender figuring out how to get the foam in under the tank. With 10 foot in length and no real way to lift this thing up I spent a couple of sleepless nights devising my master plan. I was going to tip the tank up from the front, slip some foam in there and then do the other side. The forces working in on it would be way less, although I would be point loading the bottom edge a LOT. That being said I only needed to lift this thing by 1/2". As always there were some issues but we figured them out and, long story short, it worked like a charm!

All you need is two heavy duty suction cups, two 4x4's and two cheap hydraulic car jacks.

A couple of creaks and groans later and the front was up. Had to synchronise the two jacks but all in all it was pretty painless.



With the foam underneath I put in a 2" floor drain into the crawlspace, just in case



To be honest, the stress of filling this thing right in the house was more then I was comfortable with... but there comes a time when you have to suck it up and just do it! After sticking a hose pipe in there and running it for a couple of hours it seems to have been worth it! No leaks!





I'm thinking of keeping the tap water in there for a week to see what happens. Really impressed with how it settled, didn't even hear the floor creak once!
Fingers crossed...

The seams are mostly covered by the steel angles so it's hard to see how they're holding up to the pressure. I'll try and get some photos up close though.

So far so good!!

[Myka]

I didn't see your update about the Ich!!! yeesh! I'm glad you made it out alive! Got any new pics?

[thebrinc]

No pics yet but I just glued the last frag down and there's potential for some cool growth areas!

I'm a little worried about Chloroquinne leaching out of the rocks... the corals are taking a long time to acclimate. Might just be my imagination.

[duncangweller]

Any more updates on this tank?

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