Dez' Tank Journal

[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

[Dez]

Today I painted the plywood on my stand so that at least it'll be nicer to look at until there's a skirt around the stand and fish to look at. Here's the final product (sorry for poor quality pics, all pictures in this thread are taken with a cell phone camera):



Now that the tank is almost ready to go in, I decided to silicone the overflow box onto the tank. As usual, I cleaned the glass with newspaper and vinegar, masked off the area for a "clean" look and went at it. Here are the pictures:



I still have to razor blade off the excess silicone from when I built the box itself. But here is the picture freshly siliconed:



I was pleased with the bubble free joints:



And this is what the tank looks like with all the masking tape off. I'll let it cure for a day before even moving the tank.



Thanks for looking everyone. Sorry that this build is so slow and uneventful.

[Delphinus]

Don't apologize dude, this thread progresses just fine.