Sunshine Coast - 10ft 500G build

[thebrinc]

mihaivapler, what thickness of glass did they quote?

For 4ft tall they're probably going with 1", maybe even 1" laminated?

30" tall is really the very upper limit for doing a tank in 1/2" glass if you brace the hell out of it. With my waterline 2" below I'm only supporting 28" of water pressure plus the bottom is euro-braced in 6" wide strips so there's 1" for the silicone to attach to the sides. With the bottom 1" and 2" waterline there's only 27" of unsupported glass.

Although I'm aware that I'm on the limit with 1/2" glass the cost would double for 3/4" glass and with a proper 2" steel frame I'm confident it'll work. I'm also basing my build off two other reefers with the same dimensions and glass thickness that have had long term (5yrs +) success with their tanks.

[DAVE]

Originally Posted by thebrinc

mihaivapler, what thickness of glass did they quote?

For 4ft tall they're probably going with 1", maybe even 1" laminated?

30" tall is really the very upper limit for doing a tank in 1/2" glass if you brace the hell out of it. With my waterline 2" below I'm only supporting 28" of water pressure plus the bottom is euro-braced in 6" wide strips so there's 1" for the silicone to attach to the sides. With the bottom 1" and 2" waterline there's only 27" of unsupported glass.

Although I'm aware that I'm on the limit with 1/2" glass the cost would double for 3/4" glass and with a proper 2" steel frame I'm confident it'll work. I'm also basing my build off two other reefers with the same dimensions and glass thickness that have had long term (5yrs +) success with their tanks.

Basically the same dimensions as my recent build. Shocked you went with 1/2". I braced the hell out of mine and I still went with 3/4". Coming close to limits with a 10' box of water is scary.

Nice work on the stand...looks very nice.

[mihaivapler]

Originally Posted by thebrinc

mihaivapler, what thickness of glass did they quote?

For 4ft tall they're probably going with 1", maybe even 1" laminated?

30" tall is really the very upper limit for doing a tank in 1/2" glass if you brace the hell out of it. With my waterline 2" below I'm only supporting 28" of water pressure plus the bottom is euro-braced in 6" wide strips so there's 1" for the silicone to attach to the sides. With the bottom 1" and 2" waterline there's only 27" of unsupported glass.

Although I'm aware that I'm on the limit with 1/2" glass the cost would double for 3/4" glass and with a proper 2" steel frame I'm confident it'll work. I'm also basing my build off two other reefers with the same dimensions and glass thickness that have had long term (5yrs +) success with their tanks.

The quote is for 3/4" glass. 2 panels for 4x10 by 3/4" shapfire for viewing panels,as will be a room divider tank one panel of 4x10 for the bottom that is 2 3/4" panels laminated and 2 side pieces of 4x4 by 3/4"..and will be in the wall so does the have to be pretty so for that the tank will be framed with steel L profiles and lots of cross braces.its a bit scary so i think I will drop the hight to only 40"..another option was acrylic 1 1/2" for the same cost but I'm afraid of the acrylic bowing because of the 4 feet high and will be easier to scratch and in case that I want to change the house it will have to be cut in pieces and waisted so with the glass just cut the silicone and reassemble it..will research some more until then as this will happen next summer..

[mihaivapler]

And off course after the foundation will be built))))) will require a good one as it will be around 1200 gallon,so that gives about 12000 pounds including the tank the water and rock.....

[thebrinc]

Nice one! Sounds like an epic build. I'm a fan of glass myself... although acrylic is clearer, I wonder if 1.5" acrylic is clearer than 3/4" starfire...

UPS just dropped my silicone off and I have a friend coming over for the weekend to help with the build tomorrow.

Fingers crossed!!

[mihaivapler]

Originally Posted by thebrinc

Nice one! Sounds like an epic build. I'm a fan of glass myself... although acrylic is clearer, I wonder if 1.5" acrylic is clearer than 3/4" starfire...

UPS just dropped my silicone off and I have a friend coming over for the weekend to help with the build tomorrow.

Fingers crossed!!

Yes it will be.can't wait to start it.not to mention my wife , she want a bigger tank for her blue tangs,she loves this guy's so much that after buying one we went over to another reefer and rescue another one that was sitting in his sump and few month later she went to the store and bought another 2 without telling me so I just ended up with 4 of them.poor fish don't know how they made it because she just dump them in the tank without acclimate them)

[beauroy]

Originally Posted by thebrinc

mihaivapler, what thickness of glass did they quote?

For 4ft tall they're probably going with 1", maybe even 1" laminated?

30" tall is really the very upper limit for doing a tank in 1/2" glass if you brace the hell out of it. With my waterline 2" below I'm only supporting 28" of water pressure plus the bottom is euro-braced in 6" wide strips so there's 1" for the silicone to attach to the sides. With the bottom 1" and 2" waterline there's only 27" of unsupported glass.

Although I'm aware that I'm on the limit with 1/2" glass the cost would double for 3/4" glass and with a proper 2" steel frame I'm confident it'll work. I'm also basing my build off two other reefers with the same dimensions and glass thickness that have had long term (5yrs +) success with their tanks.

god that thing is nice! ive got to see this in person

[thebrinc]

We've made some good progress...

Got the stand's main cladding done: (admittedly I'm not the best at carpentry, but I sure as sh$t have enough clamps now!)





I also installed a dimmable 16 foot LED strip above the top euro-bracing, locked inside the steel frame... unexpectedly it lit up the clear silicone like a light-saber! It actually gets pretty bright and was thinking I could dim them for moonlights and fire them up at full strength in the daytime to eliminate some of the harder shadows that the Kessil pendants cast.

Really a cool effect, hope the fish don't freak out.

The area to the left of the stand was going to get a hinged wooden panel but the floating corner started growing on me... now we're thinking of putting a smoked acrylic panel on that end with the electronics behind it... it's really handy to be able to see the tank specs at a glance. Maybe a old phone or tablet linked to my Apex to display temperature charts and stuff.

Now for the fun part, aquascaping! It's amazing how cold 1" of water can be in early winter:



My facial expression changed rapidly after sitting down ;p







RO-DI unit's been working overtime the last 4 days and I'm happy to report we're halfway there! This is going to take some patience.
I feel bad about all the waste water, but we've been having a rainstorm the last couple of days and there's now a creek running in front of my driveway so I guess there's enough water for the time being. I'll definitely plumb the rejected RO water into the garden by summer though.

I'm getting the sneaking suspicion I will need some more LR although the cube tank's pretty well stocked...

@ Beauroy : You bet man, you should swing by when she's full of water!

[Zoaelite]

Looking good , will be staying tuned.

[beauroy]

where about in Sechelt did you move to?