New tank stand

[clownchick22]

Hi All,

Well, I have learned alot in the past two months while researching my new hobbie. I've been reading the two books that I have bought: "Natural Reef Aquariums" by John H. Tullock and "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist" by Robert M. Fenner. These are two amazing books. Also, all the help I've had with people on this site and others, thank you everyone for all of your advice :)
I have pretty much all of my equipment for now for my 66Gal reef, and will be ordering the rest next week. This week, we finished the tank stand. It's nice to see it finally comming together. I am going to go with the "Berlin" method for filtration with skimmer and a Sump setup will be added this summer. I want to get a more hands on feel for how all the other equipment works first.
All in all, I'm taking my time, and will definately have more "interesting" pics with LR and fish soon ! :)

Here is the stand upon completion yesterday. Made of 2x4 framing, oak plywood, painted satin black and opal finish fixtures for the doors.

http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/1494HPIM1117-med.JPG

And the stand with tank on it. Painted the back blue.

http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/1494Stand_w_sand-med.JPG

Any suggestions, please let me know !

...(sorry for the fuzzy pics, digital was set on max pic memory/low resolution)

[Nemo]

Very nice

[Murminator]

Very nice stand can we get a pic of the inside of it to see the craftsmanship :biggrin:

[Skimmerking]

Not bad there Randi, Looks really good it has the same look of color to my tank and stand, I went with a black back ground it rally makes the tank stand out and really has the finished look too.

mike :mrgreen:

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Nice :exclaim:

Smart way to go, by doing it slow and learning ahead of time. Should save you lots of $$ & headaches later on. :biggrin:

Welcome to CanReef.

Anthony

[chrisd]

That's a nice stand. I'm from Saint John as well....been living out in Calgary for the past 3 years now. I didn't realize until I moved out here that there was so much variety for saltwater. I used to buy my stuff from a place just over across the causeway on the east side but I think that place closed a number of years ago. Other than that I can only think of a place or two in Fredericton that overcharge for their livestock. I can remember a guy selling ocellaris clowns for $40.00 a piece ...and that was a good price. I don't have a lot in my tank right now but I do have a number of zoos that I got from fish and some other stuff that if I can frag at a later date I'll send out to you.

chris

[clownchick22]

The tank seems to be leaking! :evil:
We have had water and sand in it for a week and it seemed ok, but since adding the salt 2 days ago there was a bit of salt/water leakage on the side. I had bought the tank second hand from a guy that works at the pet store. I had even re-calked it myself over with 100% Silicone.
I've cleaned the tank where I spotted the possible leak... and put a paper towel there to be able to tell... so I am going to check again in the morning to see if there is anymore leakage...
I'm so frustrated! I was going to buy my live rock this week, but now it looks like I might be saving for a new tank and have to re-build another stand!
:frown:

[Reefhawk1]

Well that sucks you have a leak. Are you sure you can't seal that area with silicone? Or is it an actual crack in the glass.

[Willow]

silicone won't stick to silicone... bad news is either you pull the entire tank apart clean all the seams and reglue it or find a new tank. :cry: sorry i just went thru the same thing with a sump. turns out that it's way easier to build a new sump than repair an old one.

[G1GY]

silicone won't stick to silicone... bad news is either you pull the entire tank apart clean all the seams and reglue it or find a new tank.

You don't have to pull the whole tank apart! :rolleyes:

You can cut all the silicone off with a sharp razor, clean the glass realy well and just re-silicone it from the inside. DONE! :smile:

I know that someones going to tell me this is not a good way to fix it, but I've re-siliconed many tanks in the past with no problems.

When you return a brand new tank because it leaks, what do you think they do?

If you guessed that cut it apart to fix it you guessed wrong. :razz:

Small cheap ones go in the dumpster(They just save the plastic frame.), and the larger more expensive ones get fixed this way.

[Rikko]

Gary's right (sorta).
The real meat of the silicone that's holding your tank together is in between the glass plates. The little flaps you can see in the tank aren't doing too much. If you cut all that off, the tank would very likely still hold water (so goes the theory, lord knows I wouldn't tempt fate). But if you can cut away the visible stuff (don't dig the blade in between the glass plates!), prep it with some acetone or alcohol to remove skin oils, and reseal it with silicone, you're not really repairing the glass joins, but you're creating a perfect moisture seal for that small leak you currently have.

That leak you have *does* mean that your tank has a structural weakness, but I wouldn't think that a tiny separation of the silicone is something to be too worried about. Long term? Hmmm.

[G1GY]

If the silicone between the two peices of glass is in realy bad shape, you can also cut that one pane out and just repair that side of the tank.

No need to tear apart the entire tank like some people say you should unless the silicone is very old and detereated.

[Willow]

whats with the digs dude? thats the 3rd one tonite.

[muck]

You don't have to pull the whole tank apart! :rolleyes:

You can cut all the silicone off with a sharp razor, clean the glass realy well and just re-silicone it from the inside. DONE! :smile:
I have done many a tank this way as well. No leaks after the surgery!! :cool:

[clownchick22]

Thanks for all of your suggestions... :)

Well, first of all I am going to call the moron who sold me the leaky tank. See if he is willing to do anything about it.

And I looked at a 90gallon tank today at a friend's place, So I am going to take that one. I don't want to have to go thru this again, re-seal it ect... and it leak again.
I wanted a bigger one anyhow...just not to go about it this way.
It's going to be a pain transferring all the equipment and everything though! :mad: Water and sand...

But hopefully, it will be done right this time.
I'm still mad because I was excited on purchasing the Live Rock this week, and now it's going to have to wait a few more weeks :cry:

[G1GY]

whats with the digs dude? thats the 3rd one tonite.

Not a dig willow. :smile:

Just a clarification to let someone know that there some other options that don't include buying new or tearing apart.

[rusty]

I too agree that the whole tank does not have to come apart. I have made many custom tanks and every one that I have built using black silicone I glue the glass together first letting the silicone dry cut off the excess outside and inside the tank and than put a nice bead on the inside to seal it and to make it loook good

[clownchick22]

Well, in the attempt to avoid more frustration in setting this system up, I bought a new tank. Having it brought over to our house tonight. It's a 90 Gallon. I wanted to go bigger anyhow, but still.
Not sure what we'll do about the 66 Gallon... I'm going to call the guy I bought it from. If he won't take it back and give me the cash back, I'll figure out what to do then..

Anyone want to buy a 66 Gallon?.. :) Needs re-sealing inside one end.

[Skimmerking]

Randi just strip the silicone off the tank with a blade wipe it down with alcohol and fire in a bead of silicone. Its really easy to do.

some one already stated so that here i think.


mike

[clownchick22]

Well, I called the guy I bought it from.
He basically said "well it didn't leak when I had it..".. and that he wouldn't give me the money back because he didn't have it anymore. He said it was my fault that it leaked, and moving the tank would make the calking freeze by being in the cold for a few minutes?.. BS....

NICE to see we have such honest people out there! What a jerk. Especially since he works in a large pet store here.

[clownchick22]

I'm glad that I bought the bigger one !

Here is the 90 Gallon almost all set up.. still need more water and put the canopy back on. Built new stand..
http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/1494hpim1255-med.JPG


As for the 66gal, I had re-siliconed it and it does not leak anymore. Not sure if I am going to sell it or keep it and make another setup... we'll see.

[muck]

You can never have too many tanks setup... :cool: :mrgreen:

[Ryan]

Well the guy is right but i would have given your money back or would have had it fixed atleast. Hope this 90 dont leak. Good luck.

[rusty]

I totally agree with muck :biggrin:

[Skimmerking]

no the 90 she got from PLUFF , I was there when he bought it off a guy from a funeral home. Marcel took very good care if it it looks basically brand new.

.


mike

[Majestic_Aquariums]

Personally, I would hang onto the 66 gal, and attempt to re-seal. You may find you can use it later! Maybe try re-filling after the repair in a location where the possible leakage won't cause harm though, just in case.
The hobby is addictive, as you probably already know...
Freezing of the silicone sounds like B.S. to me as well, personally. And if you caused a leak by moving it, it may well have leaked in the near future anyway. IMO
Good luck, a larger size tank was the way to go probably-BTW, that's a great looking stand, too! :biggrin:

[ruck'n'reefer]

You could reseal the 66 and use it as a sump for the 90!!

[muck]

As for the 66gal, I had re-siliconed it and it does not leak anymore. Not sure if I am going to sell it or keep it and make another setup... we'll see.

Apparently it is re-siliconed already... :razz: