Dom's Biocube 29 build (HQI).

[Dominat0r]

Well. I was going to hold off for a while on a new tank since I just switched over to my 20h. I got a killer deal on a Biocube 29 off craigslist's list. For the money it could not be passed up. I got the stand/tank/halide light $100. Spent 3-4 hours cleaning it and got it pretty clean. Will need to do some repair on the back wall as the silicon is coming off. No problem. Came with a HQI metal halide lighting. I also need to figure out how to get varnish off the aquarium rim. Looks like they tried to varnish the stand with the tank still on the stand. Oh well. One mans trash is another mans treasure. I'm going to make this something real nice. A little elbow grease and some time has already paid off.

Anyone know how to remove the varnish off the bottom plastic rim on the tank? Without damaging the plastic itself.

Stay tuned for more progress.

 

[Dominat0r]

Here is what it looked like when I bought it.

 

[Dominat0r]

Well. The varnish did not look nice to me, even after I touched it up. So I decided that it was just better to paint. I sanded it down with a sanding block with 120 grit and moved up to 220 to finished. Got the gloss off pretty much and flattened the wood nicely. I went with a matte finish and did it with a roller. Still need to paint the cracks and crevices, but the paint looks nice. Very happy with this. I took a pic of the rim and had it matched as best as we could.

 

[jrwoltman]

Well done! Welcome to the Biocube club.

 

[Dominat0r]

Going to do a couple more coats of paint on the stand. I need to wait for my silicon to fully cure, so I am going to give it a week or so. Has anyone noticed that coraline algae etched their back wall (Weir)? I cant really seem to get it fully removed off the wall.

 

[Dominat0r]

Here is where I am at now.

 

[Dominat0r]

Paint dry and comparing it to the rim of the biocube. I say it matches pretty well. I have to thank the Home Depot guy for mixing it.

 

[Dominat0r]

After checking out the fit of my light, I noticed that it was not going to work with the little ribs on the back of the HQI tank, these had to be removed. I used a hack saw without the handle. I could cut with the handle for only the first 2 ribs. After that the handle got in the way and I could not reach it. Sanded it down a bit afterwards to flatten it out and give the AI mount a flush wall to hold it.

 

[Dominat0r]

Had some leaking in the back, so did a quick silicon job on it to repair. Silicon looks like it has more bumps, but I have noticed it smoothed out already. I am worried it will leak into the display portion from chamber 2-3 and mess up my ATO. Better safe than sorry, but here comes another 2-3 days of wait for it to cure.

 

[Dominat0r]

Got to finally leak test. Had a drop leak from chamber 3 into display. I cut the silicon and reapplied. So another day or so and another leak test.

Got to put the tank on the stand for the first time since I painted. It matches perfectly. Very happy I went this router instead of trying to fix the varnish.

 

[Dominat0r]

Well. Did a water check. Still some water from the 3rd chamber. Was not really bad but I decided to just cut it again and reseal. I am not in a terrible hurry to get it done as I will probably wait till I am back from my trip to switch it over. Holds water though. I did notice the plastic was not fully flush. I am starting to get worried about the tank a bit cause of this. It's just the plastic it seems. It sags in the middle a bit.

 

[FlyinBryan]

Great build! Keep us posted and welcome to the 29 biocube club!

 

[Dominat0r]

Go to sanding the back wall a bit. Not too much, just trying to remove some of the pitting that coralline left on there. It's not fully gone, but it's getting better. Can't really notice it with water in it unless you look closely at it.

I am just trying to keep busy while my silicon dries. Will touch up my paint on my stand as well. Few things to come in the mail. Waiting for my skimmer and my new pump.

 

[Dominat0r]

Couldn't stop the leaking in back. So I stripped off the silicon and will be reapplying the whole side. I noticed there is a pretty large gap between the glass and wall. About 3 mm.

 

[Dominat0r]

Well, about a half a tube of silicon later...............

 

[xjiang7]

Going to do a couple more coats of paint on the stand. I need to wait for my silicon to fully cure, so I am going to give it a week or so. Has anyone noticed that coraline algae etched their back wall (Weir)? I cant really seem to get it fully removed off the wall.

Soak the whole tank with citric acid water (you can buy citric acid powder at Amazon). This way is cheaper than vinegar and smells way much better

 

[Dominat0r]

I was reading about that. Safe for fresh silicon? btw....

GO GATORS!!

 

[xjiang7]

I was reading about that. Safe for fresh silicon? btw....

GO GATORS!!

I used it to clean my old tank and it worked perfectly. It should be good as long as the silicon is fully cured. Go Gators! : )

 

[Dominat0r]

I just did the whole side of my tank, so I am going to give it a week or so to fully cure, maybe even more. I am going away next week, so I am going to hold off on using it till I get this squared away.

 

[xjiang7]

Sounds good!