Recently I decided to start a new tank, So here it is.
I purchased a 29Gal Wide Tank
I already have a overflow box but i decided to go alittle more hands on and drill my own tank.. I tried to capture as much of it as possible and i will Show all my DIY and standard proceedures in setting up a new tank and sump. Hope everyone enjoys....
Cutting acrylic is pretty easy. I purchased the acrylic and the knife at a local lowes stores. If you can't find them localy im sure you can find them online. I took a few pictures to post on the forum to show how to cut acrylic, but i finaly decided on doing a video. this is my first so dont be alarmed
The quality of this video stinks.
Some things i didnt cover in the video.
Always leave the plastic covering on the acrylic when cutting the glass. The plastic covering protects the arcylic from getting scratched. Also the deeper you go with the knife the easier it is to break the acrylic where you made the cut. Always have a hard suface underneath the acrylic. It is also not uncommon to come in contact with the hard surface with the knife, so dont go cutting it on the kitchen table or something
This picture is a up close picture of a coral i purchased from a frag swap in columbus. I met Duane there and we learned alot and had a great time. The corals name is Pocillapora SP.
I am going to try and make videos for all my DIY jobs on this project. I have a video of me drilling my tank, however i cant edit .mov files without paying for the software and the video has me telling my girlfriend i cant edit videos lol and her saying well we are recording right now. but i am working on that
I guess I wasn't thinking exactly of DIY but "How to". Like this would be "How to cut acrylic" which borders on DIY but the category could also include things like the video podcast on the CA test. (I know that is not the best example because it is a podcast but I could think of it right now.)
When i was figureing out how to make the overflow box ( or catchbox as i like to call it.) i realized i didnt know the first thing about making something like this. Let me explain, i know how to make something simple like a overflow box but i was sure how i big the box needed to be and where the hole should line up inside of the box. What i figured out is this.
The Hole: I decided to put the hole low so when i insert the fitting the water level inside of the box would be alittle over half in the box.
The Width, Height and Depth: i wasnt for sure how big to make the box so i copied a overflow box i have thats rated for 300gph. that worked well except i needed to make my alittle more deeper than the overflow i purchased.
Here is a diagram of what i settled on.
When i put together my box i used 100% sylicone. I will be using Weld-on in some future projects but with this project sylicone works perfect..
After you finish glueing the three peaces of acrylic to the inside of the tank you want to let it sit for about 24 hours. After that 24 is up you want to put water into the tank. Fill the tank untill the water gets to the top of the overflow and turn off the water. This process is so you can see if the box leaks. Its not really a big deal if it does or not but you want to control the water going into the box with the return pump. The more water you have pumping into your DT the more water you have going out. and if there is water coming into the bottom of the box it might mess up the over flow volume. Like i said its not a terrible thing if it leaks alittle but i would make sure it doesnt to avoid any further openings and problems. I also let the tank sit for 24 hours to see if there was any water seepage. When i came home from work the next day there was no water inside of the box.
This is alittle off subject for the moment, but as i flipped over one of my crabs i figured out they really dont care that a long air line tubing is rolling them over. They use to go into there shell and hide, now they just stay out and await to be right side up. lol
I couldnt pass this one up. i saw it on the glass and thought it would be a really cool close up shot..
When i purchased this snail it was sold as a turbo snail. but after seeing this upclose shot, i dont think it is. It could be but the front of the body doesnt look like turbos i see on the net. Any ideas?
I think its (Turbo fluctuosa) but im not sure yet.
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