Start of my 130ish gallon corner setup

[tusk]

The thought of glass crossed my mind. You have to make sure you're Norm Abraham when you're cutting and assembling though. I have a rather healthy fudge factor with mine Too many angles and what not also made me not go that route.

I had the acrylic in there and instead of silicone I tried some fiberglass mat and resin. I was going to coat the 'glassed areas with silicone or something, as we all know about polyester resin. It did hold and I probabally could have gotten away with it, but that's my issue, I don't want to just get away with it. I didn't feel that there was really a good bond.

I'm really trying to build this for the longterm and overbuilt. When I did have water in the tank, there wasn't any strength issues anywhere so that's one issue out of the way

I really wish I would have just bucked up and ordered that epoxy from the start. I might have had the basic tank/stand portion done by now, but hey I learned things along the way (Getting a bunk tube of silicone in the middle of doing the actual sealing sucked).

Once I get the inside lined and holding water to my standards I'll take some more and better pics of the finer/interesting points to this.

I also have to give my wife some credit for making me not quit on this. After all of the long hours I've spent on this so far and MANY more to come and after looking at some tanks at the LFS she wants to see me finish this. I think she's just glad it's not my car or something to that nature

[tusk]

Ah ha! Finally an update that's positive!

After previous fail attempts, the epoxy paint I ordered from Eco-Complete worked wonderfully. That stuff is pretty neat. I managed to get 7 coats out of the 1 gallon kit. I wish I would have gotten this from the start. It's easy to work with, but the fumes are quite pungent; Fiberglass epoxy fumes really don't bother me and this stuff did.

After everything was dried out and ready to go, it was time to fill this again. So after spouting leaks again and again I was prepared for failure as this was going to be my last attempt with this tank. It was a bit surreal seeing the tank getting fuller and fuller and the floor staying dry. I filled it completely up, no leaks. I let it sit full for a week. No water loss. Schweet I think it finally time to move on to the canopy and the lighting.

I was going to try and order my 311W (55wx5 & 36Wx1, once again the shape of the tank is causing me grief with design) worth of power today from AH Supply seeing that I'm semi motivated today.

I went and got all the wood I need for trimming yesterday so that is my plan for this upcoming weekend as I almost have my canopy completed.

Well, onto the pics,

[Wasserpest]

Thanks for sharing again, great persistance.

Couple of questions... 7 coats?? Sounds like a lot of work. Not knowing much about epoxy, I'd rather do one thick coat (positioning the tank so the surface that is to be painted lays flat on the bottom).

What do you think of this stuff?

What did you pay for your front glass? How thick? Got it locally, I assume?

The blue color looks interesting, and I mean this in a positive way.

[tusk]

7 coats my be overkill, but that is the name of the tank (Wait until I start the pluming). I also wanted to use as much of the paint as I could due to the overall price which was almost $100. There was no real reason I went with that brand other than the fact they sell a lot of commercial grade stuff, and the fact it passes the potable water standards. It took two weekends to do. I mixed half of the paint, followed the mixing and drying directions, and did as many coats as I could per the directions (coats and drying time had all sorts of "if this"). I let it dry a week, then repeated. I'm glad I put on as many coats as I did. I inadvertanly dropped an angled piece of 2x4 directly onto the bottom from 3' up. After almost pissing myself I looked and saw that the corner of the 2x4 had chipped off and the bottom of the tank was totally fine... whew.

I did get the glass locally. It was a bit of a pain to get (there were only a few that would go thicker than .25") and prices varied a lot. I just ended going with the semi-cheapest just because the were the best to deal with on the phone. IIRC the measurements are .5 x 26 x 56". I was really on the fence about the .5 vs. .75" thick glass. After filling it, I feel TOTALLY safe going with that. The front/frame is HEAVILY braced all the way around which helps a great deal. I think it ended up costing $200-225 w/ polished edges (Well worth the extra $60).

[RobChuck]

The tank looks fantastic! I've always liked the idea of going DIY with plywood and hope to someday soon. And you're not the first person from whom I've heard glowing reviews of AES's aquatic epoxy (they're catalog is fun to browse!).

[JenThePlantGeek]

What an awesome project - I wish I would have caught it sooner! Great looking tank you have there, and it seems to be rock solid. I hope you never have to move it once you get it all set up and settled in. Thanks for sharing!

[tusk]

Thanks for the comments.

I have another set of pics after another weekend of work.

I have all the trim work done except for the canopy. The trim for the glass section was a PITA. If you can tell from the pic it has a slight lip to it. Each side is notched (To cover imperfections from cutting the area for the glass). I should have gotten a dato blade..... but I managed to do it and still have all my fingers I have to wait until I get my lights before I can get that done. After a couple of emails back and fourth from AH Supply they told me what I should get, so this weekend I'll place my order. I filled it up again, to double check things, and well, just because I wanted to see water in it

Now I'm trying to figure out what I want to do for a pump; Fluval FX5 or an Eheim 1260 hobby pump and go my DIY route...

[fshfanatic]

I have an FX5 and I highly recommend it.

[tusk]

Uh oh.......

I got a little ticked off last week on Monday. Normally, I would have gone outside and had a smoke, but seeing that's bad for ya, and I'm 9 weeks into being quitter that option was no good. In the past I've had a problem with hitting inatimate objects to vent my anger and never had a problem besides sore and scraped knuckles. Well, for some reason I snapped and slugged the padded portion of my weight bench. *SNAP* "Uh oh...."

I broke the base of my right hand's "pinky" metacarpal into 3 pieces. Surgery this past Monday.

The thing that wiggs me out is that I'm an OR Tech. So yeah, I knew better. I have first-hand information on what happens in an OR (I've scrubbed a few of these specific hand cases). It's no biggie, just that sometimes it's better off not knowing some things

Well I survived. It wasn't as weird as I thought it was going to be(Being in the know and all....)The surgery was a little more difficult than expected. Knowing that, I'm glad I got it fixed rather than just having a closed reduction and a cast as I had the choice of what I wanted to do. So some K-Wires and some bovine bone graft and I'm all good.

I have the next 2 months off, which stinks, sort of

****Would rather be working on my tank than watching TV

[JenThePlantGeek]

Ahhh, I can relate. I haven't broken bones but I have bruised a wrist pretty bad where it has swollen up and looked nasty. I hope whatever it is that ticked you off is no longer a problem. As I was reading this I was horrified that the *SNAP* was going to be the tank cracking and subsequent flooding of your house. I'm both glad that the tank is ok and very sorry about your poor pinky. I hope you feel better!

[fshfanatic]

Been there.. I feel for you.. I hope it heals fast.

[Hoppy]

That is a beautiful DIY project! I wish I had noticed this thread sooner.

[tusk]

Well, I finally started thinking about this again My hand, for the most part, is all better (Though there are still some lingering issues) and it's finally starting to warm up here in Wisconsin. It's SO close to being done enough to bring it inside...... it just needs to stay above 40 degrees so I can do the wood filling and staining.

What's left:
Staining
AH Lights
SoilMaster Substrate
Fluval FX5
Plumbing

Mmmmmmmm............ now I just need some free time

[tusk]

Things to check off my list:

Staining: DONE
In-line heaters x2: DONE
UV Filter: DONE
Plumbing: Bought (That was hard enough. The look on the checkout girls face was priceless when she saw my cart full of litte PVC connectors )
Filter: DONE (I LOVE my FX5 Beastly is all I can really say and needs to be said about it)

I plan on drilling the bulkheads, plumbing, and some electrical this weekend.

[tropicalfish]

The tank looks nice! Remember to show pictures after you get the stuff all set up with fish and stuff!!

Originally Posted by tusk

Uh oh.......

I got a little ticked off last week on Monday. Normally, I would have gone outside and had a smoke, but seeing that's bad for ya, and I'm 9 weeks into being quitter that option was no good. In the past I've had a problem with hitting inatimate objects to vent my anger and never had a problem besides sore and scraped knuckles. Well, for some reason I snapped and slugged the padded portion of my weight bench. *SNAP* "Uh oh...."

I broke the base of my right hand's "pinky" metacarpal into 3 pieces. Surgery this past Monday.

The thing that wiggs me out is that I'm an OR Tech. So yeah, I knew better. I have first-hand information on what happens in an OR (I've scrubbed a few of these specific hand cases). It's no biggie, just that sometimes it's better off not knowing some things

Well I survived. It wasn't as weird as I thought it was going to be(Being in the know and all....)The surgery was a little more difficult than expected. Knowing that, I'm glad I got it fixed rather than just having a closed reduction and a cast as I had the choice of what I wanted to do. So some K-Wires and some bovine bone graft and I'm all good.

I have the next 2 months off, which stinks, sort of

****Would rather be working on my tank than watching TV

For me, looking at my fish tank is a good way to relieve stress....