Fillory's 55

[Reef of Fillory]

This tank started as a 12.5 gallon Fluval EVO at my last apartment. My new apartment allows fish tanks, so we decided to upgrade.

Livestock:
Two ocelaris clownfish
Bubbles the bubble tip anemone
Royal Gramma
Randall's goby and white pistol shrimp pair
Barnacle Blenny
Tomini Tang


Tank:
36" x 18" x 20" 55 gallon acrylic aquarium with blue stand and hood
15 gallon sump with Skimmer [drain compartment], refugium [Chaeto] and return
Overflow with Herbie style 3/4" siphon with gate valve and 1" emergency drain
Stand lined with rubber shower liner

Equipment:
2 16" sbreeflight basics on ends of tank
150W Metal Halide in center of hood
Simplicity 120 DC skimmer
2 MP10's
Hydrofill Titanium ATO
2 BRS 1.1ml dosers (Alk and Calcium)
2 BRS slim 1 gallon dosing containers with BRS 2 part additives
Overflow with Herbie style 3/4" siphon with gate valve and 1" emergency drain
No name 450gph return pump through 3/4" tubing with check valve

Neptune Apex Classic with 2x EB8's mounted in the hood [Temp/pH]

Food grade water container modified for ATO reservoir

 

[Velcro]

Another west Michiganer. I feel like I saw that tank on facebook recently

 

[Reef of Fillory]

Another west Michiganer. I feel like I saw that tank on facebook recently

Yeah I picked it up from muskegon. If you've got any cool corals that you need to frag out in the future, let me know! I might be interested in buying or trading. I'll have a lot more space in a couple of months!

On that same note, if you see something in my tank that you like in the future let me know and I'll frag something for you if I can!

 

[Velcro]

Yeah I picked it up from muskegon. If you've got any cool corals that you need to frag out in the future, let me know! I might be interested in buying or trading. I'll have a lot more space in a couple of months!

On that same note, if you see something in my tank that you like in the future let me know and I'll frag something for you if I can!

Ah yes. I think it was something Tom was selling which means you got a great deal! I post acros for sale now and then on the West Michigan group.

 

[Reef of Fillory]

Ah yes. I think it was something Tom was selling which means you got a great deal! I post acros for sale now and then on the West Michigan group.

That's right, it was Tom! I'm not on Facebook, my wife joined the group I think but she's doesn't get so excited about spending more $$ on corals. =)

This is currently my favorite coral that I have

 

[Velcro]

That's right, it was Tom! I'm not on Facebook, my wife joined the group I think but she's doesn't get so excited about spending more $$ on corals. =)

This is currently my favorite coral that I have

Nice! Looks like you are already into acros. I'll try to remember to shoot you a message when I have frags available.

 

[Reef of Fillory]

Just paid for two MP10's used on the forum, so i'll be sending back those giant Jebao RW15's

 

[Reef of Fillory]

I will be sanding/buffing the tank this weekend. It's not extremely scratched up or anything, but it has a overall haze from what I assume is years of use. There are a few places with some scratches that might not be visible with the tank being filled with water, but I've got around 2 months to get it all cleaned up, so I might as well do it!

I picked up some wet/dry sandpaper and a set of Novus polish [1,2 and 3].

I also added a bottom to the stand since the previous owner(s) ran it on the stand with no bottom support [only perimeter support + a center stand brace]

With that said, i'm likely going to need to re-trim the top of the tank to compensate for the tank sitting up 1/2" higher

 

[Velcro]

I've done some acrylic restoration. I tried my dual action polisher that I use to buff my car and it was OKAY, but what reallllllly worked for acrylic was one of those foam balls that you attach to a drill for buffing wheels.

 

[Reef of Fillory]

I've done some acrylic restoration. I tried my dual action polisher that I use to buff my car and it was OKAY, but what reallllllly worked for acrylic was one of those foam balls that you attach to a drill for buffing wheels.

Did you also sand it?

I'm planning to do something like 800-1000-1200/1500-2000 with my palm sander, and then take the Novus 3 either by hand or with my cheapo buffer similar to this and then switch out pads to Novus 2, and then hit the outside with Novus 1.

If that doesn't clear everything up as expected. I might go out and buy one of those headlight restoration kits with the buffing wheel [except my drill battery charger was left at family's house 2 hours away] so I'm trying to do this without a drill lol

 

[Velcro]

I have sanded but it adds a lot of work. I'd try just novus first and see how you like it

 

[Reef of Fillory]

I have sanded but it adds a lot of work. I'd try just novus first and see how you like it

I thought about trying that [buffing only] but I am not able to fill it with water to check the clarity of it until I move in November. I got 8oz bottles of the Novus, and i'm not sure how far that'll go so i'm not sure about buffing twice [preliminary + sanding and buffing again if it doesn't turn out]

 

[Reef of Fillory]

I've done some acrylic restoration. I tried my dual action polisher that I use to buff my car and it was OKAY, but what reallllllly worked for acrylic was one of those foam balls that you attach to a drill for buffing wheels.

You used one of these? https://www.autozone.com/wash-mitts...all-mini-polishing-tool-with-extension/852499


How did you clean it between polish solutions?

 

[count krunk]

the angel and eel i think would be poor choices for this tank.

The angel due to its 6" size, and the eel for its 1' 6" max size and the fact it has a pretty good chance of eating up your current 12g fish. Esp the goby.

 

[Velcro]

You used one of these? https://www.autozone.com/wash-mitts...all-mini-polishing-tool-with-extension/852499


How did you clean it between polish solutions?

That's the one. Honestly didn't clean it between each. I did the final novus step by hand

 

[Reef of Fillory]

I buffed out the tank yesterday, got the plumbing hooked up and put a new baffle in the sump

I should have my new lights Wednesday.

I was planning to mount the apex in the hood, but it won't fit with the lights centered.

Hopefully the tank won't look weird being pushed out from the wall enough to allow access to the outlets.

Note that the marks you see in this picture are on the back painted panel.
There are scratches int he acrylic still, but they are pretty hard to make out and will probably not be visible with water in the tank.

I braced the return to the back of the canopy to keep it out of the way from the lights. I am going over the back for the return so that I can use both pre-drilled holes for drains.

 

[Velcro]

I buffed out the tank yesterday, got the plumbing hooked up and put a new baffle in the sump

I should have my new lights Wednesday.

I was planning to mount the apex in the hood, but it won't fit with the lights centered.

Hopefully the tank won't look weird being pushed out from the wall enough to allow access to the outlets.

Great work. Looks crystal clear. What steps did you take

 

[Reef of Fillory]

Great work. Looks crystal clear. What steps did you take

I did just as you suggested. I bought a powerball mini and used a corded drill. I did end up sanding a couple of spots by hand with a sanding sponge [didn't want to mess with wet sanding with different grits].

I hit it with Novus 3, and then Novus 2 spending extra time on the areas where I sanded with a sanding block. You can still see the scratches in these areas if you look really hard, but i'm going to bet it'd be very, very hard to see the scratches once it's filled with water.

Thanks for the suggestion to buff first! Otherwise I was planning on sanding the entire tank with multiple grits!

Took ~4 hours just to buff with Novus 3 and 2 using the powerball... the arms are definitely sore today!

 

[Velcro]

I did just as you suggested. I bought a powerball mini and used a corded drill. I did end up sanding a couple of spots by hand with a sanding sponge [didn't want to mess with wet sanding with different grits].

I hit it with Novus 3, and then Novus 2 spending extra time on the areas where I sanded with a sanding block. You can still see the scratches in these areas if you look really hard, but i'm going to bet it'd be very, very hard to see the scratches once it's filled with water.

Thanks for the suggestion to buff first! Otherwise I was planning on sanding the entire tank with multiple grits!

Took ~4 hours just to buff with Novus 3 and 2 using the powerball... the arms are definitely sore today!

Great job. I think it's definitely best to only use sandpaper where needed haha. Water does a great job of hiding most scratches

 

[Reef of Fillory]

Doesn't look as good with lights on, lol... got the lights today and got them into the hood. It's looking like 7" off the top of the tank, and 9" from the expected waterline.


This is with everything at 100%