lockrookie's 50g tank build

[lockrookie]

lol yes it will be a tough build i knew it would be from the start i dont have a picture of it but... picture in your mind glass box sitting infront of guy holding hammer. razorblades in hand pounding on glass box. pausing to make sure the cracking sound is the glass he wants to break. look of relief repeat

this build will most likely take awhile just on the basis that im in no hurry. i still have to re arrange our daycare to find a spot for it. and i want to try some ideas i have gotten from other reefers with my twist to it. like a flow tree. i want to have a closed loop hidden beneath the rocks flowing out of the rocks and holding up the rocks like a rock rack. its in the thought process. i just dont want any of the plumbing/returns to be showing if i can help it. on an upside so far there has been no blood sacrifices just my laptop which is under warranty...

[The Grizz]

I built mini sprayer bars for my closed loop and build islands over them so the flow could come out from the front of the rock. So far it seems to be working ok.

[lockrookie]

ok good then i havent been sniffing too much solvent.. just nervous of drilling the bottom pane of glass i have to plan it well measure 50 time drill once

[lockrookie]

well..... notching didnt work, i tried, the vibration from the dremel just popped the teeth off but i did successfully get the panel cut out without breaking the glass. go me. so i will have to find, purchase, and make a plastic background with notches in it. i dislike the eggcrate look.



then i took the dremel and smoothed it out with a sanding polishing bit to make sure there where no sharp edges.tonight i will re silicone the tankand then i have to build the overflow box. i took apart one 10g tank last night and cleaned off the glass. all i have to do is cut to size. im undecided if im going to make the overflow go all down the whole side of the tank or shorter but i am going to design it to have eggcrate inside (removable) to use carbon and filter floss. kind of a prefilter sytem before the sump.



one thing im having trouble finding is the piping parts for the overflow. i dont want to drill the holes for it and find that i made them too big to small. i may go to rona tonight and see what i can find but home dumpo has nothing.



will post pics later tonight sorry none of me working on it just end results

[lockrookie]

here are the pics so far with glass removed from inside tank (see previous picture) and the notch cut out of the panel



here is the overflow box not glued together but i did well in my cuts and will be sealed shortly i still have to cut the over flow holes but im unsure on the hardware for it as of yet.


and in position just to make sure it was wide enough

[DCDN]

Its looking good so far. Looking forward to seeing it finished

[lockrookie]

thank you its been fun so far and i did end up with my first blood sacrifice forgot to sweep the deck after i cut the tank walked out in socks stepped on a shard of glass. so now that thats over with it should be smooth sailing

btw this is the bit i used on my dremel: 36$ but i can use it for work.. locked out of your car?? i will drill a hole in your window easy open fresh air lol. yes i know tempered glass but its would be funny.

[ScubaSteve]

Originally Posted by lockrookie

here are the pics so far with glass removed from inside tank (see previous picture) and the notch cut out of the panel



here is the overflow box not glued together but i did well in my cuts and will be sealed shortly i still have to cut the over flow holes but im unsure on the hardware for it as of yet.


and in position just to make sure it was wide enough

Hey, how did you cut the notch? I'm planning on the same cut in my build in a month.

[lockrookie]

these are the things i used:\

a 50" clamp straight edge bought at home hardware
http://www.homehardware.ca/en/rec/in...tt=clamp+guide

a mastercraft router /dremmel but a bit bigger than a dremmel... some ppl use rotozips or dremmel as well.

i chose the router more so for the flat edge to keep cut straight... side note make sure glass not tempered... i was lucky i didnt check and should have

i used this bit on the router cut like butter. found it at home depot price range 36 to 40 bucks

i used thesame bit to cut the round holes for my drain pipes too worked well cut freehand... just a note dont use too thin of glass i had to rebuild the overflow cause i used 10g tank glass for it and broke it twice... durring the build...



best to cut outdoors and use garden hose to keep bit cool i had mine on mist
go slowly. you can polish the glass again with a dremel if you choose with a light sand paper bit. and i did the down cuts free hand marked on glass with marker

if you go too fast the glass may chip alot but if you cover with black acrilic it wont matter. after you have gone halfway tape the already cut side to help reduce vibrationas well as the glass falling on to opposite sideand cracking the glass. as an extra precaution lay some old rags under it to prevent as well. again things i didnt do but got lucky.


i hope i got it it all for you and this helps if you have more questions please ask and ill try to help.