85 gal. aquarium remodel

[engelphotos]

I'm new to the forum and picked up a new to me aquarium. It's a little rough around the edges but I think it's doable. Couple questions;

• Is their a resource for replacing the trim.
• Does anyone have any experience removing the paint on the back of the tank ( I'm planning on re-doing it in black
• The over flow is straight across the top ? It looks like their was something else on top as their is caulking along the top
• Their are two different drain holes on the bottom ? one large one small ?

I paid 50.00 dollars for the tank and the top. I plan on building a stand and refinishing the top to match both. I also have a 29 gal. tank that i'm going to use as a sump. This will be a 85 gal. display tank and 29 gal. sump. This is as far as i've gotten in the planning stage. This will be a Fish Display Tank.

 

[revsgirl]

Awesome!! Good luck!


Chasing the Dream Giver, not the dream! Tonya

 

[engelphotos]

Well I found a U-tube video about painting the back of the tank and paint removal. I used a hand scraper with a razor blade. The blue paint came of fairly easy :angel: I'm on my way to Ace Hardware to pick-up some black Acrylic paint.

 

[cymonous]

Unless the trim is broken, I wouldn't replace it. You can just paint the trim with spray paint. The holes in the overflow are for drain and return. Larger is for drain, smaller for return. You can also use both as a drain and do a HOB return.

 

[engelphotos]

Cymonous,

That's what I'm going to do, it needs some glueing in one corner and then paint with black to match the back. Do you know of a good online store for the plumbing or should i just use standard off the shelf PVC ? Specifically the conection from the tank to the sump and the return back up and i assume across and thrue some sort of distubution set-up to mimic water flow in the tank?
Thanks,

 

[cymonous]

I would go to a local plumbing store or big box store if one is not available for most of the plumbing. For bulkheads, host systems, returns I would check out this site.
Aquarium Parts & Plumbing - Aquarium Valves, Bulkheads, Fittings, Tubing | Marine Depot

 

[engelphotos]

Here's some pictures of my progress so far. I'm still waiting on the local fish store to get the bulk head fittings in. I tried to use of the shelf 3/4" bulk head fitting for the reuturn. The fitting is 3/4" ID , the outside is bigger. A standard 3/4" male adapter fits fine. So i'm in a holding pattern as far as that goes. I'm also going to go the DIY route with the sump. A new 30 gallon tank is 59.00 dollars at local store and then i'll get local glass place to cut all the glass for me. I'm going to make a new top for the tank, that one in the picture came with the tank, I wonder if anyone has any opinion on how far from the water should the lights be, leaning toward flourescent's T5 HO ? and also theirs no cover over the top of the tank other than a piece of glass about 6 inches in the middle as a stabelizer of sorts ? Should i fashion something out of acrylic to cover the top ? Any suggestions are more than welcome.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Wow this is really looking good!

 

[cymonous]

Its hard to tell from the pictures, but how tall is the canopy? How much height would you have with the lights over the water with that current canopy?

 

[engelphotos]

The canopy in the picture is 6 3/8". It's made mostly of particle board. I want to make a new one made of oak. Considering the height now i would think the lights would be about 2-3" from the surface of the water.

 

[engelphotos]

I'm also going to "Harbor Freight" today to pick-up some tool box liner. Tool box liner comes in rolls and is rubber that is almost as thick as a mouse pad. I was thinking of lining the lower part of the cabinet with it and under the tank.

 

[AZDesertRat]

If you don't already have your bulkheads for the standpipe and return I would highly recommend the thread x thread variety. I have a good sticky post here on R2R on Bulkhead Installation Tips you may want to check out for ideas on the bulkheads and plumbing in general then check out sumps at www.melevsreef.com .

 

[engelphotos]

AZ,

Read the Bulkhead Installation tips you recommended Lot's of opinions and also good tip's!! I would agree with you regarding clean and dry and basically hand tighten and then 1/4 turn or untill snug. The only comment would be the thread lubricant, When tightning the nut onto the threaded side I think the lubricant would help the plastic from binding, sometimes plastic would bind and feel like it's tight when in fact it's not. I just got back from Harbor Freight and picked up the drawer liner and also a pack of anti fatique mat. The drawer liner is about a 1/4 of an inch and the anti-fatique mat is about 1/2". I was gonna place inside the cabinet for two reasons. First to deaden any vibration from anything that winds up inside the cabinet, and second as a second line defense from drips and splashes that might happen during maintenance or whatever. I read somewhere it's a good idea to place some sort of foam under display tank to even out the stress of the weight of the tank itself upon itself? for 6.00 why not ?

 

[AZDesertRat]

When you use lubricant on the jamb nut it also allows it to back off easily which is why it is not a good idea. Clean the threads out well using an Xacto knife or jewelers file and there is nothing to gall or bind when it is tightened properly and the chances of loosening up are reduced.

I seal, caulk and paint the inside of my stands and canopies using white epoxy or at least enamel paint and they hold water in case of a flood. The epoxy paint has held up well for 9 years on the present stand.

I never place anything under my glass tanks but do use a thin sheet of styrofoam under acrylic tanks to even out stresses. I do check my stands to make sure they are true end to end and side to side though using s long straightedge or 4 foot level and plane or shim it to level, flatness and plumb.

 

[engelphotos]

O.K. that's what I read somewhere, just not under glass tanks. The stand is dead on flat (level). Besides the fact that all my tools are perfectley square, I also have a assembly table that is level and flat. So when assembly time comes along I'm not putting things together on a un-even garage floor. As you can see my cabinet inside is black because I had it left over from redoing the back of the tank. I was planning on painting the interior of the canopy white though.