My Old 4ft Reef Attempt Upgrade
- Thread starter Mario ArchTech
- Start date
Ok after the tank cracked I hooked the bucket up again.
Stand is finished, got it galvanized and powder coated.
Tapped the nut threads for the bolts. Also fixed the light rack to the stand.
This is the light rack being welded together.
Here is the stand finshed, just arrived after powder coating. Must say the galvanising and the powder coating is quite expensive, but it came out pretty good.
Tapping the thread of the nuts open due to the layer of galv.
M20 Tap.
Bought some stainless bolts and nut to fix the light rack to the stand. No Rust. As you can see the rack fits between to cleats I welded to the stand.
Finished. Please excuse the mess.
Stand is finished, got it galvanized and powder coated.
Tapped the nut threads for the bolts. Also fixed the light rack to the stand.
This is the light rack being welded together.
Here is the stand finshed, just arrived after powder coating. Must say the galvanising and the powder coating is quite expensive, but it came out pretty good.
Tapping the thread of the nuts open due to the layer of galv.
M20 Tap.
Bought some stainless bolts and nut to fix the light rack to the stand. No Rust. As you can see the rack fits between to cleats I welded to the stand.
Finished. Please excuse the mess.
Nice. Stand looks good.
Last edited by a moderator:
Your diy work is always good, well done!
EFJ
Moderator
Looking good bud 
Thanks
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks, I appreciate it.
Your stand is looking good. Will definitely be following your thread.
Your stand is looking good. Will definitely be following your thread.
Thanks man. Glad to have you tagging along.
Ok update time.
Just wanted to show you guys when the first RW-8 arrived.
There she is, used it for a week until I realized that the tank had cracked. I like the different functions on it. It produces a small wave but as soon as I switch the return pump on it dissapear. Will definitely need to get hold of another one.
So when the tank cracked I decided to take it down and strip it completely and build a new sump. the pros behind it is that I will have enough glass for a nice 10mm glass sump and large ATO.
This is me stripping the tank.
Front Panel is off.
One side panel is off.
Whoops.!!!! got to hasty.
Almost done.
The tools I used to strip the tanks was, Long razor blades, normal stanley knife razor blades, a hammer, guitar strings (Earney Ball 9 gauge), fishing rod gut, Car jack to put pressure between the glass panels in order to get through the seam with the wire.
The entire process took 2 week.
After I stripped the tank I drew up some designs for a new sump.
From left to right.
1. Sump inlet. 2. Heaters. 3. Skimmer. 4. Bubble trap. 5. Return pump. 6. DSB / Refugium.
Unfortunately the glass I have is allready drilled. Therefore I will feed the DSB direct from display overflow with a pipe branching out which will be controlled by a ball valve.
The refugium will drain through the drilled hole back to the return pump section via plumbing.
The pros are that I can at any time shut the refugium off for what ever reason.
Got the glass cut.
Here I started cleaning the old silicone off the cut glass.
Tools I used was razor blades and steel wool.
In my opinion steel wool works amazing. Just remove as much silicone as possible form all edges. Where silicone spots and residues remain, rub the crap out of it with steel wool followed with a cloth and some spirits.
The glass looks almost brand new and the steel wool did not produce any scratches.
Just wanted to show you guys when the first RW-8 arrived.
There she is, used it for a week until I realized that the tank had cracked. I like the different functions on it. It produces a small wave but as soon as I switch the return pump on it dissapear. Will definitely need to get hold of another one.
So when the tank cracked I decided to take it down and strip it completely and build a new sump. the pros behind it is that I will have enough glass for a nice 10mm glass sump and large ATO.
This is me stripping the tank.
Front Panel is off.
One side panel is off.
Whoops.!!!! got to hasty.
Almost done.
The tools I used to strip the tanks was, Long razor blades, normal stanley knife razor blades, a hammer, guitar strings (Earney Ball 9 gauge), fishing rod gut, Car jack to put pressure between the glass panels in order to get through the seam with the wire.
The entire process took 2 week.
After I stripped the tank I drew up some designs for a new sump.
From left to right.
1. Sump inlet. 2. Heaters. 3. Skimmer. 4. Bubble trap. 5. Return pump. 6. DSB / Refugium.
Unfortunately the glass I have is allready drilled. Therefore I will feed the DSB direct from display overflow with a pipe branching out which will be controlled by a ball valve.
The refugium will drain through the drilled hole back to the return pump section via plumbing.
The pros are that I can at any time shut the refugium off for what ever reason.
Got the glass cut.
Here I started cleaning the old silicone off the cut glass.
Tools I used was razor blades and steel wool.
In my opinion steel wool works amazing. Just remove as much silicone as possible form all edges. Where silicone spots and residues remain, rub the crap out of it with steel wool followed with a cloth and some spirits.
The glass looks almost brand new and the steel wool did not produce any scratches.
Goed om jou weer aan die gang te sien. Hoop die tenk hou die keer
Ja wat, Hoop ook so maar mens leer elke keer uit jou foute uit.
Quick update.
Glass for the display was ordered last week so should arrive this week.
Will keep you guys posted.
Glass for the display was ordered last week so should arrive this week.
Will keep you guys posted.
OK I have a question. I am completely stuck on the overflow design.
Plan is to do a skinny over flow.
Indicated in the pictures is 20 x 50mm overflow pipes with durso breather pipes at the back of the tank and no 90 degree elbow facing down into the water inside the overflow box, due to it bin skinny and there will be no space.
The top picture indicates the inside of the overflow box.
Both overflow pipes are at the same height. Will this design produce noise?
Options of silencing is:
1. to add reverse durso pipes at the sump.
2. Make one outlet higher than the other one and restrict the lower one with a gate valve so that it completely covers the opening with water and just have a small drizzle down the higher outlet pipe.
3. build partition inside the overflowbox so that the water only enters the second outlet pipe when it reaches a certain height.
Please advise me. I would like to keep it cimetrical .
Plan is to do a skinny over flow.
Indicated in the pictures is 20 x 50mm overflow pipes with durso breather pipes at the back of the tank and no 90 degree elbow facing down into the water inside the overflow box, due to it bin skinny and there will be no space.
The top picture indicates the inside of the overflow box.
Both overflow pipes are at the same height. Will this design produce noise?
Options of silencing is:
1. to add reverse durso pipes at the sump.
2. Make one outlet higher than the other one and restrict the lower one with a gate valve so that it completely covers the opening with water and just have a small drizzle down the higher outlet pipe.
3. build partition inside the overflowbox so that the water only enters the second outlet pipe when it reaches a certain height.
Please advise me. I would like to keep it cimetrical .
Also which bubble trap will work the best.
Option 1
Option 2
Option 1
Option 2
Option one make a more sense to me
Very nice DIY skillz. So much more rewarding. Tagging along for this one
Thanks, Glad to have you on my thread.
Yes I see most sump manufacturers also use option 1, Problem I see is that sludge and detritus will eventually build up at the bottom and will be quite hard to clean.