Anyway, out with the old and in with the new. I neglegted to get a pic of the new tank before I started work on it, but I’m sure we all know what an empty 90 gal tank looks like. (48’x24”x18” by the way)
Here it is on the floor waiting to be painted. I used ‘marine blue’ spray paint I got at home depot. I was going to go with black but the name won me over.
And here she is painted. Took about 4 quotes, and there were still a few lighter spots, but I though it looked more natural that way (or was I just being lazy again?…yes).
I decided to put some egg crate on the bottom of the tank. this will protect the bottom from rocks should an avalanche occur, and it will also help my anchor the rockwork and plumbing. Ignore the pvc pipe, its just there so I don’t forget about the internal overflow.
Here’s a pic of the internal overflow baffle I made out of smoke grey acrylic (I think it looks brown personally). The idea of an internal overflow was one I didn’t arrive at easily. I’m a stickler for tank realistate, and I didn’t want to take up much room with the overflow baffle, but after much consideration, and a threat from my girlfriend who does not want another leaky tank, I opted for the much simpler to make and less risky internal overflow. The baffle itself wasn’t too hard to make. This is the first time I’ve ever attempted to cut out teeth and I think they turned out pretty well. I used a ban saw for the teeth and molded the corner by clamping the acrylic sheet to a 2x4 and molding a 90 º curve with the blow torch. I is a pretty easy method as long as you measure carefully. It is a little risky if you haven’t tried it before because if you don’t get a perfect 90º curve the baffle won’t fit. Somehow I managed to get it right my first try.
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