Vitaminz Posted November 22, 2010 Report Share Posted November 22, 2010 Ok, so Had great success with a 10, then a 30, now time to move up to a 50.... Picked up a tank and stand from Calgary, it was already drilled, so got to work masking off the back pane of glass. Ok, so here is the story, bought some metalic blue rust paint from home depot, followed the directions to the T, The paint would not stick to the glass, so to speak...No matter how slow I went or how little I put on, it started to to run....grrrr... So I decided to go for arylic black instead, some of the blue wouldn't come off, and I didn't want to wait to use a chemical stripper, so I just painted over the blue, some it it shows thru on the front, but oh well. So now that atleast hides the piping behind the tank. So got to work plumbing the thing out: Got a Small trickle filter that I am going to turn into a sump with refugium: Next step is to now modify the trickle filter to a sump.... and build in the overflow. Will update when I finish that project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishyFishy! Posted November 22, 2010 Report Share Posted November 22, 2010 (edited) Use a razorblade to take the paint off (very, very easy), and use Krylon fusion paint.. If you want blue they have blue. You have a nice project going on there, but if it were me.... that background would drive me insane the way it looks. Might as well spend the 30 minutes it would take to strip that paint and do it right before the tank is set up and in its final place. Is that electrical conduit your using instead of PVC? If so, its not food grade, and will not work long run in an aquarium. I would also turn that ball valve on your overflow away from the tank for ease of access. Nice start to a nice project! Keep on truckin... but remember... patience is key. Take it slow. Edited November 22, 2010 by FishyFishy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medhatnoobee Posted November 22, 2010 Report Share Posted November 22, 2010 Is that electrical conduit your using instead of PVC? If so, its not food grade, and will not work long run in an aquarium. Looks like pvc threaded sprinkler nipples, and abs elbows. expensive alternative to glue, but should be ok on the aquarium. I agree to spend the time to get the back looking good. it will drive you nuts. +1 on scrape and redo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveycoopa Posted December 2, 2010 Report Share Posted December 2, 2010 Is that electrical conduit your using instead of PVC? If so, its not food grade, and will not work long run in an aquarium. Looks like pvc threaded sprinkler nipples, and abs elbows. expensive alternative to glue, but should be ok on the aquarium. I agree to spend the time to get the back looking good. it will drive you nuts. +1 on scrape and redo + 2 redo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishkabod Posted December 2, 2010 Report Share Posted December 2, 2010 Maybe i'm crazy but i actually like the blue and black effect. Anyway Great job so far. I know what it's like to start from scratch and set something up. It takes patience to get it right and if you don't take the time to do it right you will regret it in the future especially if it's a larger tank that you can't change Have a great time building L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vitaminz Posted December 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 2, 2010 Ok so time for an update...I considered scraping it, but to be honest, now that it is all setup, I really like the blue comming thru with the black mixed it. Gives it that unique look. And yes that is pvc threaded sprinkler nipples, and abs elbows, and got it dirt cheap, somebody owed me a favor.... So I got to work on modifying the trickle filter into a sump. Got 2 pieces of glass cut, and put them in myself....Yes I know it isn't purdy, but it works, and it is a sump.... Then I got to work on my overflow bulkhead... Took a piece of Lexan that I had kicking around and made myself some teeth on the end of it... Also picked up 60lbs of sand for $50, and used my current tank to seed it. So after a few days of adding in the water and playing around with the sump level and the gate vales, here is what it looks like. Yes still a little bit cloudy, but what can you do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vitaminz Posted January 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 Tank Update 1/11/2010 Ok, got really busy with the holidays and work, first time I had a chance to update. Picked up about 35lb of live rock, and a bucket of live sand from a 2 year old tank. I thought, what a great way to seed a new tank eh??? Yeah think again, either the live sand or the live rock was infested with bristle worm....I mean infested...I probably took out atleast 1000 of those little buggers... And I wondered why I got an amonia spike.... So waited about a week, to make sure I siffted thru the sand to find a majority of them, and left a few so the arrow crab could have a snack. So now back on track after that little delay, I ended up redoing my sump, took out all the live sand and one of the chambers and put in live rubble in the one chamber with some chato on top. So then waited a week more, and threw in a couple of damsels along with some green star polyps and they survived the weekend. Waited about 2 more weeks, just to make sure, then started transfering all my other rock, corals and livestock from my other 25g. Here are a few pics from last night: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vitaminz Posted January 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 Tank Update 1/21/2011 So it has been a while.... Change out my light to a TEK T5HO light, thanks to saltynutz, Thanks buddy! Also ordered a Dual BRS GFO and Carbon Reactor from Bulk Reef Supplies, so excited for that to come in. And got the biggest score thanks for my good Friend Denny, got lots of frags from him and 2 new fish. One is a Snowflake Eel and a File fish. So was doing maintance on my tank tonight, so had to shut down the sump pump, no problem right??? I turn back on the whole system, and my 90 degree elbow on my emergency overflow cracked....So caught it in time before to much water spilled out. So replaced the fitting and we are off to the races again.... So now on with the pictures: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettaFishMommy Posted January 22, 2011 Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 lookin' good!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vitaminz Posted January 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 Thanks! It has been a long project, but so worth it! Just can't seem to keep people out of my office, especially when it comes to feeding time for the eel...lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vitaminz Posted July 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 Tank Update 7/8/2001 So after being busy with work stuff and a bad break out of hair algae finally able to have time to post some new pics. So what new, got rid of my T5 setup finally, traded for this one....Yes I know it is overkill, but I miss my MH so much, I couldn't say no. Plus this tank is getting replaced with a 90g soon, so this light will work out perfectly for this. Yes this 50g is soon to be history, and moving on up to a 90g....so excited... So without further a due, here are the pics: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vitaminz Posted July 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 Pictures Part II-Fish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vitaminz Posted July 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2011 Just as I was starting to turn the tides against my war on the hair algae, this Sunday I will be shutting down this tank......I will be transferring everything over to my new custom 90g tank that has finally finished it's cycle.... So this thread is now going to be closed....sad really, but you get to a point where you can't fit anything else in the tank, then what do you do, upgrade...lol It amazes me after 2 years on the salt side of things, I am still learning new things. Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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