Jump to content
Coral Vue Hydros

Mirya's Frag Tank Rehab - Mission Complete!


Mirya

Recommended Posts

Phishy Business was one of my LFS that recently went out of business. :( The strip mall they were located in was sold, and the cost of relocating was too high for them. I have lots of corals from them that I will remember them by... and a frag tank!

 

The tank is acrylic. 4' long by 2' deep by 1' tall. Yeah, roughly 60 gallons, or greater in volume than the three tanks I currently have set up! It was a deal that I couldn't pass up. I envision it one day tied into a big display system once I own a house. Which means, it will probably be awhile before it is set-up. ;)

 

However, the tank and its stand needs some elbow grease. I'm about to have a lot of free time on my hands (about to be in between jobs), so I thought I'd document the progress.

 

Here is the stand in all its rusty glory:

StandAuNaturel_zpsnlggurvj.jpg

 

I played around with a bunch of different wire brushes and sanding attachments on my Dremel today. I decided that flap wheels worked the best and have a bunch coming by Amazon in a few days. Next update will hopefully be a much shinier stand!

Link to comment

Cool, would like to see what you're doing. We need a close up dremel shot, video even so I can see what you're doing. I too love my Dremel, one of the best things in this hobby, from cutting frag plugs to making cutouts for plastic covers or shaving down glass on baffles when the glass cutter in town didn't make them square!!. A lady reefer's best friend!!!

Link to comment

This product called por15 would work wonders on that. :).

 

Oh, thanks for the tip! :D

 

This is exactly why I started this thread. While I know a little bit about restoration work, I figure the rest of the board's knowledge will fill in my gaps.

Link to comment

My dads street rod had chassis coated in the stuff. 25k miles later still looks like new and this car gets used lol.

Link to comment

Got my flap wheels from Amazon, but then it rained most of the afternoon today. :( However, I was really looking forward to using power tools, so I still got out to do some work on the stand this evening. :)

 

First, here is a close-up of the sad state of the stand:

RustCloseUp_zpslnoarkwj.jpg

 

These are some of the tools I've experimented with... The putty knife I've scraped some of the really loose paint off with. I experimented with the steel wool after reading some "how tos" on the internet regarding refurbishing cast iron patio furniture. It could have worked if I felt like putting a lot of elbow grease into things, but I don't so I'm not using it. The wire brush attachment for the drill I was hoping would be useful, and it is for the really pitted rusted areas, but it isn't as useful as I hoped. Overall the sandpaper flap wheels have gotten the most use.

Tools_zpsjqffimc2.jpg

 

Said flap wheel on the Dremel. Though I've also used one on the cordless drill as well. I've been alternating using the drill and the Dremel to prevent motor overheating. (The Dremel actually gets pretty hot to the touch after a lot of use.)

Tools2_zps9zonnri0.jpg

And yes, I'm pretty fairskinned, but those are actually latex gloves I have on making my hand that color!

 

Being safe! Though even with the mask, when I blew my nose afterwards there was a lot of dust. Gross...

Safety_zps67fp3oed.jpg

 

So I live in an apartment. It has a concrete slab that is like 8'x10' as my "patio." That is where I'm doing my work on this stand. There is a sliding patio door that overlooks the "patio." Ophelia was upset that I was outside without letting her out on her harness to supervise me.

Helper_zpssiznf8cn.jpg

 

I got a good first pass of two sides of the stand done before it got too dark outside to continue. There is obviously still some residual paint and rust, but I think this is good progress!

FirstPass_zpsgmvgt2vo.jpg

Link to comment
FlowerMama

Oh, my gosh. It would be cool to just leave it a brushed metal look, showing the swirlies and all. Very "in". Good God I sound my age.

Link to comment
HarryPotter

Oh, my gosh. It would be cool to just leave it a brushed metal look, showing the swirlies and all. Very "in". Good God I sound my age.

 

+1

 

That would look really modern, the brushed metal.

Link to comment

 

+1

 

That would look really modern, the brushed metal.

 

Maybe if this wasn't steel/iron! I know I will get salt water on the stand.

 

So 3 flap wheels worn to nubs and one mask clogged with dust and I'm about 2/3 of the way done.

Ick_zps399rmtwu.jpg

Link to comment
FlowerMama

Yuck, that mask! Have you done this before, or just worked with iron before? or just have the know-how? I'm impressed.

Link to comment

I've done some random DIY stuff and my dad is kinda a handyman and restored an old '40 Ford. I've probably seen a lot more restoring/refurbishing between my parents working on projects and watching TV than I've actually done personally though. My career, while it has technical aspects, is mostly cerebral. So, I'm really enjoying something that involves a lot of manual labor.

 

However, my husband told me today that he doesn't understand how I have the patience that I've had so far with this project. I'm probably 6 hrs of labor in and 2/3 of the way through the level of cleaning shown in the picture above. He took me to Home Depot today and told me to pick out an angle sander. LOL I didn't want to spend any money on equipment for this project, but he told me he knew we'd eventually have use for it again.

 

Spent today running some errands and caught a movie with my husband so I didn't work on the stand at all other than the power tool shopping. Oh, and I did do a little reasearch about places in town that would powder coat. I thought that would be another option for painting it. My dad also suggested that I consider Plasti-Coat spray as an option as well.

Link to comment

I've done some random DIY stuff and my dad is kinda a handyman and restored an old '40 Ford. I've probably seen a lot more restoring/refurbishing between my parents working on projects and watching TV than I've actually done personally though. My career, while it has technical aspects, is mostly cerebral. So, I'm really enjoying something that involves a lot of manual labor.

 

However, my husband told me today that he doesn't understand how I have the patience that I've had so far with this project. I'm probably 6 hrs of labor in and 2/3 of the way through the level of cleaning shown in the picture above. He took me to Home Depot today and told me to pick out an angle sander. LOL I didn't want to spend any money on equipment for this project, but he told me he knew we'd eventually have use for it again.

 

Spent today running some errands and caught a movie with my husband so I didn't work on the stand at all other than the power tool shopping. Oh, and I did do a little reasearch about places in town that would powder coat. I thought that would be another option for painting it. My dad also suggested that I consider Plasti-Coat spray as an option as well.

I would do a good spray paint and then clear coat if you want it cheaper. The powder coating will look great but will cost a good amount more.

Link to comment

I would do a good spray paint and then clear coat if you want it cheaper. The powder coating will look great but will cost a good amount more.

I think I will get a few quotes and see how bad it will be. If it will be more durable than spray paint or spray plasti-dip, then the cost will be worth it.

 

It finally didn't rain today so I got to break out the angle grinder. It is awesome! (Note also the awesome LC shirt I'm sporting. :D)

LCshirt_zpsmqhnkoyl.jpg

 

LCgrinding_zpso0qihz26.gif

Link to comment
  • 4 weeks later...

I took a break from working on the stand cause its been hot and humid outside, and I wear long sleeves and pants when using the angle grinder. I figure the weather now is as good as it is going to get until fall though so I toughed it out the past two days. Here she is!

 

CleanedUp_zpsw3gogyqd.jpg

 

There are still some areas of pitting, but this is as good as I think I am going to take it myself. I priced out powder coating and it really isn't as bad as I thought it would be, so tomorrow I'm dropping it off at the powder coaters. They are going to lightly sandblast it prior to powder coating, so I figured I didn't need to get every last bit polished. (It's going to be $125ish for the sandblasting and powdercoating. I paid $40 for the stand initially

 

I only need to decide... what color? I'm thinking Coraline Purple, Tuna Blue, or Basic Black.

Link to comment

So today I rented a truck from Home Depot, took the stand to the powder coater I had selected, dropped off the stand, then went back to Home Depot to return the truck before I over my hour. I went back to the power coater to learn... Dun, dun, dunnn... that now that he saw the stand in person (I had sent him pictures) his initial estimate was not going to be enough. Rather than going back to Home Depot and renting the truck again to take the stand to another powder coater, I stuck with it. He apologized profusely, and offered me any color I wanted with a clear coat at the new estimated price.

 

Originally I had planned on getting a basic color/finish, ie whatever would be the least expensive tier of colors and finishes to choose from. But because he said I could pick anything... I'm going with a candy coat in purple! Candy coating is popular for hot rods. It involves a basecoat of metallic (he is going to do chrome), a middle coat of a translucent color, and a top coat of clear. This is going to be the raddest frag tank stand ever!

Link to comment

That sounds awesome! When will you get it back from the powder coater?

 

Why... today!

 

Stand1_zpsoczwgjlg.jpg

 

Stand2_zpszvyk5hoa.jpg

 

LICK IT: :P

Stand3_zpswmaelbb9.jpg

 

When it was sand blasted prior to the powder coating, some pitting was revealed. I'm not really surprised. There were some areas that I just couldn't grind clean. (Well, maybe could have if I didn't care how deep I went into the metal!) The powder coater was really apologetic for it. I showed him a picture of the stand before I ground the paint and majority of the rust off of it... and then he understood why the pitting showed up.

 

So, next steps for this rehab...

- I assume I'll need to get a sheet of plywood or something to put on the stand to then put the tank onto (since it is a rimless acrylic tank). I can go get that cut to size at Home Depot, then paint it. I'll stick some felt on the bottom so it doesn't scuff the stand and maybe some neoprene on the top.

- Cleaning the acrylic frag tank. I think I'll start out with a vinegar bath and then will need to buff the hell out of it.

- Fix the plumbing on the tank. There are two bulkhead holes cut into the tank. One doesn't have a bulkhead in it anymore and the other has a bulkhead with a broken seal.

Link to comment

That is a sick color!

 

Edit: you need to post a before and after picture.

 

 

:P:P:P

 

I shall call it Coraline Candy!

 

The before was not very lickable though!

 

BeforeAfter_zpstjdxr5lb.jpg

Link to comment

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recommended Discussions

×
×
  • Create New...