Save a Reef, Drill a 10g

[Mr. Fosi]

Stand pics at last. Sorry I don't have progress pics.

 

I stuck to my plan with one exception: I made it higher. The height of the stand alone is 4', so it'll be 5' with the tank on it. I made it this tall to keep little hands out of my tank. This height should be high enough to keep our soon-to-be-born son out of the tank for several years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think it looks a little funny, but my wife likes it and says that she will paint a mural on it.

 

Origionally, I planned to have a door where the hole is, but I have changed my mind. I am going to do double doors:

 

 

 

 

With longer double doors, I will be able to have some shelves in there, which will give me some storage capacity and someplace to hang fuge lights.

 

I am going to try and get this mod done before this weekend is over, but I have a friend's bachelor party and another wedding to go to, so I think I am going to be jammed.

[distantfire]

Real nice picture's you have there of your stand Mr Fosi. It came out almost exactly how you drew it up. With the exception of the extra height. I will be taken some more picture's this week. I've just finished building another little stand today. But I still have to work on the sump/fuge. Did you find a apartment close to your new school?

[Mr. Fosi]

Thank you.

 

This is the first carpentry project that I have done w/o help and had it come out the way I planned. There is certainly something to be said for taking your time, even if it takes 10hrs or more to get 'er done.

 

We have not found a place close to the school. We almost had a place, but it got rented before we could sign a lease and send off a deposit. Yesterday, I called another place that we liked and dropped just over $300 to secure a 2 bedroom appt. It is about 7 miles from the campus, which is a little too far to be biking IMO, but it is spacious and relatively safe.

 

We still have a little more $$ to shell out before we can move in, but at least we know that we have a place to live when we get down there.

 

EDIT: I forgot to mention that the only $$ that I have had to put into this project so far was for the 1/2" (not 1/4" as called for in the plan) plywood and the paint. All the other wood, wood filler, screws, sand paper, as well as all the powertools came from various brother's-in-law. So this stand has only about $25 in it.

[distantfire]

I'm glad you and your wife found a place to rent. I had a major problem 2 years ago trying to rent a place when I was working in boise idaho. Because my co signer lived in Arkansaw. After 5 month's of staying with freinds. I quit my job and moved to Minnesota. They call Minnesota god's country. Because only god like's to be here in the winter. Everybody else move's south where it's warm. For 25 dollar's you sure got a nice stand. And just think how nice it will look when you get the door's on it.

[Mr. Fosi]

~-~ Update ~-~

 

I got the doors made and hung. I haven't painted them because my wife thinks that she may want to do a water/sky mural on them. I am content to let her do that, since it will help her own a part of this project and it will probably turn out quite nice.

 

The self-closing hinges were designed for cabinets, so it took a little shimming to get the doors to close flush w/o rubbing the the stand, but they work/look quite nice.

 

 

 

 

Also, I found both Dremel diamond bits that I need at Walmart for $5.85. That is a great price considering Lowes and HD were selling them for $8.50/piece. I also was able to bum my parent's Dremel off of them, so my plans are finally starting to come together. I will have a go at Dremeling glass tonight and if all goes well, I might have the tank and the overflow box cut and drilled.

 

One question to those who may be watching: how well does silicone stick to Krylon Fusion paint? When I built my 10g split several months ago, I painted an acrylic baffle with it and tried to silicone it into a glass tank. The silicone didn't stick to the painted acrylic very well and I am afraid of trying to silicone a large (2g) overflow box to the painted back of the aquarium.

 

I see that distantfire has glued boxes to the back of his smaller tanks, but I am worried about doing it on a larger scale.

[distantfire]

The stand and door's turned out great looking for your 10gal. How did your overflow box come out? Did you take any pictures of it?

[Mr. Fosi]

I haven't been able to do it yet.

 

Like all the other aspects of this project, the drilling of the tank has been bumped back in leu of other responsibilities.

 

This last weekend was my wife's baby shower and my diaper party. She got a lot of gifts and $$ and my friends and I drank a lot of beer and talked about the diapers they brought.

 

Here is something that I am more than a little ashamed to admit : The stand won't fit a 10g without looking really funny. I grabbed a 10g to see how it fit on the stand and the tank fits inside the hole in the top. I don't know where my head was, but the dimensions of the stand are way off for a 10g.

 

That is the bad news, but the good news is that they are almost right for a 20L. A 20L (which I bought at Petsmart) fits just right from front to back and is about 1.25" too long on each side. I am going to pick up some trim pieces and slap them on the sides to support the corners, but I think it'll look fine when I am done.

 

I don't know how I was so far off in my drawing, but I guess it turned out for the best.

 

You didn't address my questions, though . Can I paint the back of the tank and securely silicone the overflow box to it?

[distantfire]

"Bumped back in leu of other responsibilities". I know exactly how that feel's. You take one step forward and get bumped back two. As far as painting the back of the tanks. The only paint I use is Krylon fusion. And aquarium silicone hold's the boxes on very very securely. 5 month's ago I tryed to remove a box from the back of a tank that got chiped by accident and leaked down the front. I wanted to save the 6 dollar double threaded bulkhead and all the pvc part's. I thought that I cut enough of the silicone around the box with my razor blade that I could just pull the box off. But the box broke when I pulled on it. And a piece of the glass cut the inside of my right thumb. I look forward to seeing your 20L on your new stand. I tried to buy a new tank sunday but I didn't find one nice enough for seahorses.

[Mr. Fosi]

I got the slot cut in the 20L, sorry I don't have any pics. When I quit my job, I lost access to the camera I have been using.

 

One very important question: The slot that I cut is 14" long and less than 1/4" thick. Is that enough to drain up to 350gph, or should I widen the slot?

[Travis]

Hmm..not sure, but it sounds like it should be big enough.

 

Why not just test it with tapwater first?

[winterparkmg]

Or do the math, figure out the surface area of such a sized slot, then convert that to the appropriate diameter for a circle, and input that information into ReefCentral's overflow rate calculator!

 

L x W = SA = pi x (D/2)^2

2[(L x W)^(1/2)] / pi = Diameter of circle with equal surface area. Put that into the calcuator and find out!

 

~Wm

 

 

 

Edit: Okay, I admit, I was curious, so I just did the math. Reef Central suggested a diameter of .77 inches for 350 gph. The math I provided above yielded 1.065 inches diameter equivalent, that was assuming when you said "less than 1/4 inch" that is was .20 inches instead of .25". You get the picture. Seems like as long as tank-funk doesn't clog it up, you'll be golden.

[Mr. Fosi]

I would love to, but I would have to completely construct the external overflow box, wouldn't I?

 

I guess I could test it with a couple 5g buckets, but I am afraid that I might not see what it will do with only 15 gallons.

 

EDIT: Interesting math. I guess mass flow is mass flow regardless of what shape the outlflow is.

[Travis]

Just get a realy big Rubermade tub and place the tank in it. fill the tank up to the overflow and fill the Tub up with water untill it reaches about half way up the side of the tank. then take the pump and attatch it to a hose that will be about as long as the distance from the pump and tank once it is all in opperation. Then pump water from the Tub into the Tank.

 

If the water only overflows through the overflow, then it can handle the pump. If the water overflows the sides of the tank, the overflow can't handle the pump if you where to set it up with the current overflow slot size.

 

Make sence?

[Mr. Fosi]

The rubbermade thing is a great idea, but if distantfire says it'll work, it'll work.

 

One more question: what would you make the other two dimensions? 14x4x11? 14x5x8? The tank's dimensions are 30x12x12.

 

I plan to use 1/8" glass to build the box and I plan to silicone it to the painted back of my tank. I am going to use a 1" bulkhead for the drain, but I may use two if I can dig a 2nd one up.

 

Wat'dya'll think?

[distantfire]

Because your slot is 14" long and you are using 1/8" glass. You would need 1 piece of glass 14 1/2" x 4" for your bulkheads. 2 pieces 11 1/2" X 4" for the sides. And 1 piece 15" x 11 1/2" for the back. I would start on the left side and notch the bottom trim to keep the side piece level with the glass on the tank. And I would put the bulkhead glass piece 10 3/4" down from the top of the tank. And just for fun because the slot is 14" long. I would take a short piece of glass 5" x 4" and silicone it just below the middle of your slot. That way it would look like you have 2 overflow boxes on the the tank. And it would support the back of the box even more. Even though the back will never come off without it. Enjoy

[PhatSOB]

digging this one up b/c I want to do the same thing.

 

Fosi did you every get this tank up and running? You were talking about 10+10 earlier then in the last few posts you mentioned 20L, did you change your mind about the 10+10? Did you replace the bottom of a 10g with 1/4" and how difficult was that?

 

Anyone know if adding an extra small piece of drilled glass or acrylic around the hole will help reinforce the pane to prevent it from cracking?

[Mr. Fosi]

Strange, I was just thinking about this thread yesterday...

 

I changed to a 20L because my stupid self measured way wrong when I made my stand. It fit a 20L better than a 10g.

 

I did not change out the bottom for 1/4" glass, but I have rebuilt tanks before and it is not very difficult as long as the bottom pane is cut to the correct size (determined by taking the original piece with you to the glass shop).

 

Reinforcing the hole would help it from cracking due to stress applied via the plumbing, but not always from stress applied by the water+sand+rock.

[mybuickskill6979]

dude i need to re read this thread cause my head is spinning right now lol. but from what i got it sounds nice. any pics? of the tank i mean!! im a visual person haha!!

[Mr. Fosi]

I drilled the 20L and I have the glass for the external overflow, but I never put it together.

 

Soon after I started this project I found out that my wife and I would be moving 700+ miles out of state, so I never got it all assembled. I would love to put it together, but I don't have a place to put it right at the moment.