Dez' Tank Journal

[BlueAbyss]

Wow looks amazing! I hope my stand looks as good as yours when I'm done. I also hope my siliconing job looks something like yours when it's done

[Dez]

Well, more progress today. I painted the stand last night. Looking at it today though it'll need another coat. I cut a hole in my wall today. In the picture you'll see a rectangular hole in the floor already. I cut that hole in the floor 4 years ago when the house was being built in anticipation of setting this tank up. If we ever move, I'll just put a cold air return vent to cover this hole and there will be no patching of drywall needed. This hole is where my drains/return will be going to the basement sump directly underneath.



In that picture you'll also see a GFCI plug. I put that plug in tonight. There was never a plug there before. Originally when we were building this house, we were planning for the tank to stick out into the other room(living room) instead of the den. We were going to use the den as an office, but after we had kids, we realized that with an office on the main floor, you can't get any work done unless you ignore your kids. So now we had to add a plug. Wish some fishing of wires, I managed to get a new plug on there (on a separate breaker) without damaging the drywall.

Here is a picture of the plug and hole with the stand in place. Notice the green light on the plug .....it works!!!! I didn't even electrocute myself.

[BlueAbyss]

Lookin good! No electrocution? How can you call yourself an amateur electrician

[banditpowdercoat]

You wired the plug backwards, supposed to light up blue HAHAHA

[Delphinus]

Looking good. Yeah it's amazing how much bare wood will suck up paint. <paint paint paint> Looking good! Hey what the? Where'd the paint go? <paint paint paint> Looking good! Hey, where'd the paint go .. again? <paint paint paint> Looking good!! Hey, what the... ?? .... etc.

[Dez]

Found some time today to continue on the project. I cut holes in the plywood to match the holes in my tank. I went to Canadian tire to buy a hole saw but couldn't bring myself to pay $40 for a 4 1/2" hole saw/mandrel. Then I'd have to buy a 3" hole saw for the other holes. So I ended up using a jigsaw. Here's the result. I screwed the plywood on and I also screwed the stand into the wall after ensuring everything was level.



This piece of plywood came with the tank when I bought it, so I figured that I might as well use it. That's why it's black. I had to trim it to the exact dimension of the tank because it was overall 1/4" bigger than the tank. I proceeded to prime the inside of the holes so that I can paint it later with that moisture resistant paint.

I also took most of the black plastic trim off of my tank today. The reason for doing this is so that my stand and moulding can be flush to the tank itself when it is all said and done. Then I'll silicone the molding right to the glass so that moisture can't get behind it. I left the 2 pieces of black trim on so that when it is sitting on end as shown, nothing gets scratched. I'm getting excited to get this tank out of my garage. After it's lifted onto the stand, then I'll take the last 2 trim pieces off quickly and clean up the edge before sliding it into position. I'll have to silicone my external overflow box on soon.



I got enough energy to prime the stand and some of the wall in the basement sump room. I ran out of primer though. Tony is completely correct, that darn wood just keeps soaking up the paint. One thing I found when I went downstairs to the sump room is a marble , I guess my kids threw a marble down the hole from upstairs.

[Dez]

Just a side question here....does it matter what thickness of foam that goes under the tank? I have some 3/8" stuff that's supposed to be used on the outside of houses before siding. It's got a reflective foil on one side and green on the other. It's pretty soft. Does it matter? Thanks.

Des