Justin's New Baby

jleoni · Jun 27, 2013

And finally the final product!

So for any of you who would like to know how to sand acrylic and remove scratches treat it like automotive clear coat! Wet sand wet sand and then sand some more!

Hopefully after dinner I can fill the crack with weld. Then apply my band-aids.

jleoni · Jun 27, 2013

So I the crack sealed up and got the band-aid on it … now I wait 24 hours

jleoni · Jun 28, 2013

Okay the tank is clean, rebuffed and I covered the outlet holes in the Weir overflows and filled er up now that she is patched up. Been full and running for about 5 hours now, so I'll leave it now just below in the outlet holes for several weeks to give it a full out stress test ... word of wise never set up a tank over 100 gallons without first stress testing it for leaks and what not. Especially if it's used and has been sitting empty for some time. I've got a few feeder gold fish I had bought for my green wolf eel running around testing to make sure there isn't something extremely toxic still on the acrylic.

jleoni · Jun 28, 2013

3D Model

I finally got my 3D model completed to within 1/8" with all holes and radiuses.

jleoni · Jun 29, 2013

Yay! I still have water in the tank and NOT in my floor this morning. The feeders feel like they are in a river system this morning. And today is the day I get to see what is left from the pet store! More on that later. Late last night I also added the crack, it's 3/16" patches and the outlet holes to the overflow weirs in the 3D model. So it's fully ready to be plumbed ... virtually.

Scoly · Jun 29, 2013

Very nice score! Congrats! That would be enough to get me fired up on a new build!

ohio reefer · Jun 29, 2013

You should do a clam and shark only tank! Haha

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El Chavito · Jun 29, 2013

Very nice tank and a great buy. Buffing it out takes a lot of work, but the finished product is awesome.

jleoni · Jun 29, 2013

LisaD sorry, but his dad threw almost everything away ... I was sad, he had a 6' tall red sea skimmer that ran the reef section of the store, several sumps, pumps and stuff ... all that was left was a sump and few bulkheads [mood:ho-hum]

jleoni · Jun 29, 2013

Ohio, I can't begin to tell you how much I've thought about doing a small shark, but when it comes down to it, a huge reef will provide me with so much more enjoyment.

ohio reefer · Jun 29, 2013

jleoni said:
Ohio, I can't begin to tell you how much I've thought about doing a small shark, but when it comes down to it, a huge reef will provide me with so much more enjoyment.

Why not a coral cat? 27 inches max. I've seen them do amazing in reefs. He will have plenty of swim room.

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jleoni · Jun 30, 2013

ohio reefer said:
Why not a coral cat? 27 inches max. I've seen them do amazing in reefs. He will have plenty of swim room.

They like most "reef" critters over about 15 inches eat bottom dwelling inverts. So no more crabs, starfish, snails etc etc. He would be the ONLY thing on the reef, except for a few larger fish. And thus the mess would be huge and without a proper cleanup crew since he would eat them it would just be super messy and stress my corals more than I would want to. I'd rather not do 20% water changes weekly to clean out shark crap and some larger fishes.

But trust me I did give it some serious thought.

jleoni · Jun 30, 2013

Still holding water this morning and feeders are still alive so my initial clean up and repair work seems to be holding up and I cleaned up the tank fairly well I suppose. Got about 1.5 weeks to go on this stress test.

ohio reefer · Jun 30, 2013

jleoni said:
They like most "reef" critters over about 15 inches eat bottom dwelling inverts. So no more crabs, starfish, snails etc etc. He would be the ONLY thing on the reef, except for a few larger fish. And thus the mess would be huge and without a proper cleanup crew since he would eat them it would just be super messy and stress my corals more than I would want to. I'd rather not do 20% water changes weekly to clean out shark crap and some larger fishes.

But trust me I did give it some serious thought.

Makes sense. I used to care for one in a 900 at my lfs. Only thing in there fed once a week nitrates at 20 ppm. Replaced him with nasos, blues, a gem, a yellow, a black tang, and a cross hatch. With all of these nearly full grown tangs and a trigger our nitrates stay at 5 or lower with daily feeding.

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jleoni · Jun 30, 2013

Just placed a major order for pieces parts pumps, a new GFO that is big enough ... this is going to be costly but well worth it. Does anyone have some good instructions on making your own rock? I really could use a break on some money now after today's order and my skimmer and stuff that should be here in few days.

ingtar_shinowa · Jul 1, 2013

Making your own rock can take MONTHS to cure. I got dry marco rock for pretty cheap and their E-Marco-400 is amazing to build structures with:

brandon85 · Jul 1, 2013

Awesome pick up!

jleoni · Jul 2, 2013

I figure I got MONTHS to go before I can really get this bad boy running which is why I thought about just making my own. There is a great section on reefscaping in the Book of Coral Propagation that I wanted to try because I think a big beautiful arch in-between the two overflow weirs would be just dramatic looking. Ingtar where did you get the rock from?

Jlobes · Jul 2, 2013

If say get dry Rick and build your structures. Too many variables with DIY rock and its so dense. Check out Marco Rock and their cement. You can get the cement elsewhere for a much better price if you plan on using a bunch.

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