Sunshine Coast - 10ft 500G build

[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]

[Slyguy00]

That is some sweet rock you have. It's going to look awesome when it's all done!

[beauroy]

Originally Posted by thebrinc

mihaivapler, what thickness of glass did they quote?

For 4ft tall they're probably going with 1", maybe even 1" laminated?

30" tall is really the very upper limit for doing a tank in 1/2" glass if you brace the hell out of it. With my waterline 2" below I'm only supporting 28" of water pressure plus the bottom is euro-braced in 6" wide strips so there's 1" for the silicone to attach to the sides. With the bottom 1" and 2" waterline there's only 27" of unsupported glass.

Although I'm aware that I'm on the limit with 1/2" glass the cost would double for 3/4" glass and with a proper 2" steel frame I'm confident it'll work. I'm also basing my build off two other reefers with the same dimensions and glass thickness that have had long term (5yrs +) success with their tanks.

god that thing is nice! ive got to see this in person

[thebrinc]

We've made some good progress...

Got the stand's main cladding done: (admittedly I'm not the best at carpentry, but I sure as sh$t have enough clamps now!)





I also installed a dimmable 16 foot LED strip above the top euro-bracing, locked inside the steel frame... unexpectedly it lit up the clear silicone like a light-saber! It actually gets pretty bright and was thinking I could dim them for moonlights and fire them up at full strength in the daytime to eliminate some of the harder shadows that the Kessil pendants cast.

Really a cool effect, hope the fish don't freak out.

The area to the left of the stand was going to get a hinged wooden panel but the floating corner started growing on me... now we're thinking of putting a smoked acrylic panel on that end with the electronics behind it... it's really handy to be able to see the tank specs at a glance. Maybe a old phone or tablet linked to my Apex to display temperature charts and stuff.

Now for the fun part, aquascaping! It's amazing how cold 1" of water can be in early winter:



My facial expression changed rapidly after sitting down ;p







RO-DI unit's been working overtime the last 4 days and I'm happy to report we're halfway there! This is going to take some patience.
I feel bad about all the waste water, but we've been having a rainstorm the last couple of days and there's now a creek running in front of my driveway so I guess there's enough water for the time being. I'll definitely plumb the rejected RO water into the garden by summer though.

I'm getting the sneaking suspicion I will need some more LR although the cube tank's pretty well stocked...

@ Beauroy : You bet man, you should swing by when she's full of water!

[Zoaelite]

Looking good , will be staying tuned.

[beauroy]

where about in Sechelt did you move to?