It's offical with this thread! 260 gallon build begins!

iplumbsome · Mar 4, 2018

I did accomplish getting the fish room cleaned out. I will be replacing that temp sink with a double sink. I have RO water throughout my house so I put an outlet over by the tank and plan on adding a dual DI canister for the aquarium only. You can also see where I roughed a drain in my floor. I am hoping this makes water changes easier and I was planning on putting an emergency bulkhead up high in my sump in case of some type of failure water will just overflow to the drain.

Also when it comes to sanding acrylic can you use an orbital sander? I thought I read someplace that says you shouldn't.

iplumbsome · Mar 4, 2018

Fudsey said:
Funny you mention getting your pool table re- felted. Just had mine done 3 weeks ago and couldn't be more happy about it.

Bar top looks GREAT ! ! !

Thanks! We didn't want is super smooth since we are going with the industry look.

Am I going to get sticker shock on the re-felt? Haven't even priced it out yet. The table isn't all that nice, but was my wives grandpa's so it has value to her.

rigo07 · Mar 4, 2018

Following

Fudsey · Mar 4, 2018

Well the place that did it also re-leveled the table and redid the wax on the slate. I watched a lot of the install just because I love that stuff and forewarned them when they got here that I wanted to. Installers were great guys and said no problem. Talked about it as they went along too.

Felt was $180 alone and with install was another $295 for a total of $475. This was for standard felt and not the heavier stuff as my table is not worth the heavier felt.

Fudsey · Mar 4, 2018

Just don't let them talk you into new bumpers unless the play is real bad. That will give you serious sticker shock. I think the installer told me it was like a grand more for that.....

iplumbsome · Mar 4, 2018

Fudsey said:
Just don't let them talk you into new bumpers unless the play is real bad. That will give you serious sticker shock. I think the installer told me it was like a grand more for that.....

Ha...I don't play well enough to know the difference between a good and bad bumper, but thanks for the heads up!

Fudsey · Mar 4, 2018

What I was told if you roll a ball across the table hard it should bounce at least 4 times. If not you MIGHT want to consider new bumpers.

Kzguns · Mar 10, 2018

You can use an air orbital with wet paper. I wet sanded my tbird that way. Use trizac 2000-3500 grit. You’ll have to buff after. Test a spot like the brace on top.

iplumbsome · Mar 20, 2018

I know these aren't the latest and greatest but I got a great deal on these on craigslist from a guy getting out of the hobby. My plan is to build a rack out of aluminum angle and put it on some sort of lift system. I have 6 lights. Hopefully that will be plenty for what I am starting with.

View attachment 2018-03-20 20.38.18.jpg

iplumbsome · Mar 20, 2018

I also started to sand the scratches out of the tank. It wasn't horrible, but I thought now is the time. There are a couple deep scratches up front. Apparently the guy before me had a big clam that got up against the front panel.

iplumbsome · Mar 20, 2018

I also made my wife a light for above the pool table in my spare time.

iplumbsome · Mar 20, 2018

I don't think I posted this on my build thread, but I have been agonizing about cutting the overflow boxes out of the inside of my tank and going with a single exterior overflow. Well tonight I finally made a decision and took the plunge. I am cutting them out. Wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Probably about 45 mins to an hour into it and I have the first one mostly removed. The multi tool worked great. I figured now is the time to make this kind of modification. I can sand and buff the whole back panel while I am at it.

View attachment 2018-03-20 19.17.44.jpg

View attachment 2018-03-20 20.10.42.jpg

afuel · Mar 20, 2018

You don’t have to paint the side panels of a tank built into the wall once water is in it you can’t see through the sides from the front

iplumbsome · Mar 20, 2018

iplumbsome said:
I don't think I posted this on my build thread, but I have been agonizing about cutting the overflow boxes out of the inside of my tank and going with a single exterior overflow. Well tonight I finally made a decision and took the plunge. I am cutting them out. Wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Probably about 45 mins to an hour into it and I have the first one mostly removed. The multi tool worked great. I figured now is the time to make this kind of modification. I can sand and buff the whole back panel while I am at it.

View attachment 2018-03-20 19.17.44.jpg

View attachment 2018-03-20 20.10.42.jpg

iplumbsome · Mar 21, 2018

Anyone have any opinions on sealing the 4 holes in the bottom of my tank? I was thinking welding acrylic over top of them. It will be covered with sand anyways.

Kzguns · Mar 21, 2018

iplumbsome said:
Anyone have any opinions on sealing the 4 holes in the bottom of my tank? I was thinking welding acrylic over top of them. It will be covered with sand anyways.

That will work

rushbattle · Mar 21, 2018

I would like to lodge a vote for an unpainted back, but with a diffusing material applied. Then you can do a background set back to add depth to the visual. Like one of those old timey chalk boards with wheels that flip around. But paint it a gradient of dark blue, or do a shadowbox, etc. You will be able to play around with it until you come up with a perfect solution for you instead of just a boring and dirty black background.

iplumbsome · Mar 21, 2018

They gone! Both overflows completely cut out and sanded down. I contacted the manufacturer of my tank and he thought I might always see those lines where the boxes were. I actually took a damp cloth after these pics were taken and after getting the dust off they were real faint. Really glad I decided to cut them out. I have about 2 hours into it and was probably going sand and buff the back anyways. Just a couple more step downs in grit to get the heavy stuff off.

iplumbsome · Apr 8, 2018

Man! After tons of sanding, buffing, and waiting 2 weeks to get my weld-on 4 delivered. I was finally able to fill the tank. I just filled it with fresh water as I wanted to test out the holes I patched in the bottom from where the overflows were.

I really wanted this in place for the weekend as we had a house warming party.

I added a Betta and billed it as the world's largest Betta tank.

iplumbsome · Apr 8, 2018

Finally getting some equipment in. Got the lights off of Craigslist for a song and will be fine for what I am starting out with.

Some of the fittings and valves for piping up my new overflow and mixing station. Still waiting on a bunch of valves and bulkheads that I sourced from a different supplier.

Got a DI canister from BRS. I already have RO water run throughout the house for drinking water. Just need to change the membrane to a 100 gpd and add the DI cartridge at my tank.

I also picked up a sweet Apex from one of the members and another EB8 from another member.