My First Setup

Bossi

Bossi

Joined
8 Jul 2009
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Location
Cape town, Gordon's bay
Hi Guys

I finally got most of the bits and bobs together and started on my first tank.

Im busy rebuilding the tank and have taken it apart already. It was pretty difficult because the silicone joints were almost non existent and I battled to get any sort of thing through there. Eventually thin fishing braid turned out to work the best and this struggled to go through the joints of less than 0.25mm and some places its glas to glass. ( good thing i decided to strip it)

I have one big problem now. Alot of the silicone is still sticking to the glass after i scraped it off with a carpet blade. There is still a very fine layer of silicone stuck on the glass and acetone nor spirits wanna get rid of it.

Does someone maybe know how to get this last little bit of silicone of the glass, cause it will make that the new silicone wont bond nicely with the glass.

I will post some pics next week of the build and how Im planning my tank.
 
Bossie - I know that you can get commercial silicone stripper. This should definitely work.... but, you must clean the glass with white vinegar or some pool acid at least, before filling it with water......
 
Thanks Jacques - I was a bit scared to use it but if you can just wash the tank with vinegar or acid afterward then im gonna use it. EKS MOEG GESUKKEL!!!!!!:biggrin:
 
Hi MASA

I finally got around to start planning my tank. Its a 2000mm x 600mm x 600mm tank from 10mm glass and I'm going to double up the bottom with 2 x 10mm glass sheets to make it more robust. The tank will also be braced all roung the top and on the front and back bottom with 10mm glass strips.

Im still undecided about how I should do the overflow from the DT to the sump and any suggestion would be appreciated.

I have 2 options I'm considering for the sump.

1) A small basic sump consisting of a 1200mm x 450mm x 450mm tank slip up as in drawing below.
20814b79b1632b2c5.jpg


And below is how it wil sit in the stand under the tank.
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So I thought there is a lot of space below in the stand and I have lots of 6mm glass why don't i make a extra tank/chamber for the skimmer, heaters and macro alge which overflows into the main sump. This will also help me to have a greater DSB lenght. See below
20814b79b25987ccd.jpg

It does however make the space in the stand a little cramped though, but I think this is the better option of the 2.

20814b79b2acc5f39.jpg


I Would appreciate any comments and advise please. This is my first try at this and i wanna do it properly.

I will put some pics of the painstaking process of the progress i have made so far with stripping of the tanks of all silicone for rebuilding tomorrow.
 
This was the tank!
20814b79b574c0ecc.jpg


Apply lots and lots and lots of elbow grease .........

20814b79b5baa261a.jpg


And then you end up with very sore arms and cursing all night(and the 3 sundays afterwards with it still took to clean the glass from all silicone)because I didn't wanna listen and just let someone who knows what they are doing do it!!:cursing::dft004:
 
Make your sump a little shorter and keep some of that shelf space for storing bits-n-pieces, my sump fills all of my stand and I have to store the fish food, net, test kit etc. somewhere else - not lekka.
Also, think of your top-up, you have no RO water resevoir and on a 2meter tank you'r going to have to topup more than once a day and doing it by hand - yuk.
 
Nice pics thanks. Keep it coming as you progress.
 
So after alot of elbow grease, sore arms and back pain here is my:

20814b7adb063d4ff.jpg

display tank

20814b7adb2a25952.jpg

my sump

20814b7adb72a83eb.jpg

And my stand which my friend build me for a coupla Diachii 10/0 hooks and slider sinkers!:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin: (excluding materials off coarse!)

Everything is now ready to be put together and then to do the plumbing. I still need to consult with Mr Leslie Hemple for the tricks of trade regarding siliconing everything together, seeing that he is the DIY guru and he looks like he is gonna open a tank building business soon with amount of tanks he is building! :thumbup:

I have not heard anything from anyone regarding the sump options so I will be doing the 2 compartments, but a little smaller first compartment for skimmer and macro algaes. And somewhere in there will be a RO water reservoir for the auto top up as Neo advised me. I completely forgot about that!
Thanks Neo!!:peroni:
 
Bossi said:
So after alot of elbow grease, sore arms and back pain here is my:

http://www.marineaquariumsa.com/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=23042
display tank

20814b7adb2a25952.jpg

my sump

http://www.marineaquariumsa.com/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=23044
Click to expand...
im veryu glad you can now read the newpaper through the tank glass, that looks like it was one hell of a job! oh and i am glad to see you buy your potatoes and onions in bulk! :)

I really dont knw anything about tank building so its best to wait for some of the guys who've done it :)

it is a lovely size tank though:slayer:
 
crispin said:
i am glad to see you buy your potatoes and onions in bulk! :)
Click to expand...

LOL, but that's my parents side of the house! I live in the back in a granny flat and after all the money that this hobby is swallowing I need to borrow onions and patatos from mom!:rofl:

I just wanna get the water in now!!! hehehe

It has taken 4 moths to get to this stage! OOOH marines gives a new meaning to patience to me!
 
Last edited:
UPdate!

I just siliconed my sump's carcass. It turn out to be much more messy and a little trickier as I thought.:cursing: Cutting the glass for the baffles was the easiest part. I just wanna mention and say thanks to Leslie Hemple for guiding me through the process in great detail! I appreciate your help Les!!

20814b7fa30fc6912.jpg

First I put the back pane on the base, then the 2 sides.

20814b7fa36650cb7.jpg

Then I inserted the front, and squared it up with those claps and moved the glass into correct position and taped it up! The glass panes moved/slipped alot on the silicone joints but after a little bit patience I eventually got them all sort off in line and square.

Now the wait for it to dry for the sealing of it!:(
 
coming along quickly,just throw in some tap water and drop 15 tangs in at the same time...:razz:

then get ur ass handed to u by evryone,:slayer:

just kidding
 
awsome buddy , really cool to chat to you on the phone.. and you are welcome to phone me anytime.. i am only happy to help and it beats my day job :)

this is going to be a monsta.. any more info or a pic of something you are trying to recreate?

Info in equipment to be used etc etc? always interested to see another persons fresh approach..
 
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