Great work so far Mike, I would have not redrilled the hole. I would fear that I would have done more damage, but it is looking great!
375 gallon glass tank build
- Thread starter mdstark
- Start date
Egon- My tank is built with the sides around the bottom. I have read a lot of arguments for one method vs the other, but I am not convinced it really matters that much. There are large tank manufacturers that do it both ways. Here is a link to a discussion on this topic if you are interested. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1674078
I have a few more updates to report. I didn't post my progress last week, so I will do that now. I didn't get a whole lot of work done on the tank this weekend, as I attended the ACA in Cincinnati on Saturday.
I took off the front panel and one of the side panels after I was unhappy with the silicone job I did on them. What I discovered when taking off the panels was that the silicone in the middle of my thick seams was still pretty wet, enough that it was sticking to my hands. The silicone had been setting up for 6 days when I took off the panels. I am putting a pretty thick seam of silicone on the tank, and it is probably 1/2"-3/4" deep in some locations. This just reaffirms my plans to let the silicone cure for 4 weeks before filling it up. The silicone has been curing for 8 days as of the date of this post- so about 3 more weeks before it gets a test fill.
Once the panels were removed, I had the pleasure of scraping off the silicone from the panels. This is a real pain. I went through somewhere around 20 razor blades and spent 4-5 hours trying to get all the silicone residue off. I have read that silicone doesn't stick well to cured silicone, so I made every effort to get any trace of silicone off the glass. I want as strong a seal as possible on this tank. I think I managed to get it all off, but it sure took a while.
I re-siliconed the front and side panels, and they both came out really nice. Then I attached the eurobracing and cross bracing along the top. I still have to attach eurobracing to the front panel, but other than that the tank is completed. I also skinned my stand in 1/2" red oak plywood, as you can see in the picture.
Here is a picture from the back side of the tank, showing how the eurobracing along the back pane and the cross brace on the side panel come together.
Here is a shot from above looking down on the tank. I used 5 cross braces out of 1/2" glass, each brace 4" wide.
So now the tank is pretty much done. Just need to put the eurobrace along the front panel, and add a little silicone to the back panel. I have one problem area along the back pane. My plan is to pull the tank off the stand a couple of inches so that the back of the tank hangs off the stand, and squirt a little silicone from the bottom to fill this gap. I hope that takes care of this spot.
I took off the front panel and one of the side panels after I was unhappy with the silicone job I did on them. What I discovered when taking off the panels was that the silicone in the middle of my thick seams was still pretty wet, enough that it was sticking to my hands. The silicone had been setting up for 6 days when I took off the panels. I am putting a pretty thick seam of silicone on the tank, and it is probably 1/2"-3/4" deep in some locations. This just reaffirms my plans to let the silicone cure for 4 weeks before filling it up. The silicone has been curing for 8 days as of the date of this post- so about 3 more weeks before it gets a test fill.
Once the panels were removed, I had the pleasure of scraping off the silicone from the panels. This is a real pain. I went through somewhere around 20 razor blades and spent 4-5 hours trying to get all the silicone residue off. I have read that silicone doesn't stick well to cured silicone, so I made every effort to get any trace of silicone off the glass. I want as strong a seal as possible on this tank. I think I managed to get it all off, but it sure took a while.
I re-siliconed the front and side panels, and they both came out really nice. Then I attached the eurobracing and cross bracing along the top. I still have to attach eurobracing to the front panel, but other than that the tank is completed. I also skinned my stand in 1/2" red oak plywood, as you can see in the picture.
Here is a picture from the back side of the tank, showing how the eurobracing along the back pane and the cross brace on the side panel come together.
Here is a shot from above looking down on the tank. I used 5 cross braces out of 1/2" glass, each brace 4" wide.
So now the tank is pretty much done. Just need to put the eurobrace along the front panel, and add a little silicone to the back panel. I have one problem area along the back pane. My plan is to pull the tank off the stand a couple of inches so that the back of the tank hangs off the stand, and squirt a little silicone from the bottom to fill this gap. I hope that takes care of this spot.
I also got a little more work done on my stand this weekend. I am building columns on the ends, as it's probably hard to get much of a sense of what I am trying to do with these pictures. Hopefully it will all make sense once completed.
http://www.cabinetdoorsandhardware.com/default.asp
Here is a picture of one of the doors to my stand. I bought 4 doors from this website- http://www.cabinetdoorsandhardware.com/default.asp for a total price of $50, shipping included. I recommend buying from these guys. The quality is good, they shipped them immediately, and the price can't be beat. Doors this size run over $30 each at Menards.
So that is where I stand at the moment. I am taking my time with the trim. Oak lumber is expensive and I want to limit my mistakes. I also have 3 weeks before I can fill up the tank anyway, so there is no need to rush.
http://www.cabinetdoorsandhardware.com/default.asp
Here is a picture of one of the doors to my stand. I bought 4 doors from this website- http://www.cabinetdoorsandhardware.com/default.asp for a total price of $50, shipping included. I recommend buying from these guys. The quality is good, they shipped them immediately, and the price can't be beat. Doors this size run over $30 each at Menards.
So that is where I stand at the moment. I am taking my time with the trim. Oak lumber is expensive and I want to limit my mistakes. I also have 3 weeks before I can fill up the tank anyway, so there is no need to rush.
