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cainechow
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Actually now that I think about it, the side panes are not tempered because the back one us actually cracked. You can see where I patched it in the top right corner of the FTS. Aaand, the more I think about it, the more I want to get some glass cut and drilled to do a custom setup. Thinking cost to coast overflow with external box... Glass can't be That expensive right, tanks are mostly labour?

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Check out Architectural Clearing House by the downtown airport. I pick up sheets of glass there for $15 or so.

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  • 3 weeks later...

The new plants are starting to fill out. I'm liking it so far, but I can tell that the stem plants are going to need frequent trimming.

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I also started building my external overflow box to replace that hang-on unit I have now. I have a couple of spots to fill in from the outside, but the silicone turned out pretty nice. Its always hard to work on the small pieces. Drilling glass with a diamond tipped hole saw isn't so bad. Lots of water and light pressure seemed to do the trick. The hardest part is starting the grind without wandering all over the place but it isn't that bad if you tilt the hole saw a bit to start off then level it out for the rest of the grind :)

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I think I'm going to silicone this guy in, then cut my tank :o. I'll even setup the phone cam just in case the whole thing cracks all to hell and I start to cry. ;)

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That is just the 18" sunblaster T5HO 6400k. I can't remember what wattage that sucker runs, but it is lots of light for the little 10 gallon. The only complaint I have for that bulb is that the spectrum has quite a bit of yellow even though it doesn't look it because it gets balanced out by the blue spectrum. Makes the plants look good though.

I'm working on a DIY LED fixture using Cree XTEs and see how that goes. It looks less bright for sure, but what we see does not necessarily equal how much the plants are eating.

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I got the external overflow box siliconed up to the tank and went through the drilling & cutting process of DOOM this weekend. I was lazy and didn't want to figure out how to setup the phone to record the drilling and cutting. It was pretty uneventful. I tempted fate but wasn't bitten this time.

I love masking tape and silicone.

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Yeah that's what I'm talkin' 'bout. Check out my silicone fillets.

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After letting the silicone cure, I drilled the corners for the almost coast-to-coast overflow with a 1/4" diamond bit. It took a bit of time because I didn't have any one to help me apply water so I had to stop every few seconds. The custom crap catcher was awesome until it almost fell in the tank.

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After upgrading the crap catcher with electrical tape, I cut the side of the tank using a Dremel equipped with diamond wheel. This could have also been much faster if I had a water spraying buddy working with me. The cut could have been straighter and met right at the edge of the drilled holes, but I'm okay with it for now. I doubt that I'll ever go back and "fix" it.

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There we go. Cleaned up with bulkheads installed.

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I'm pretty happy with how nicely this thing runs. It is so much more reliable than my old setup with the hang on crap.

Youtube is a bit slow. I'll post the video of the running overflow when it is uploaded and encoded.

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