New Frag Tank (Cut down 90RR)

[ithk21620]

I have been using a plastic tub that I bought from HD for a frag tank for the last couple years. The tub is made to mix concrete in and looks like this

The tub worked good but when my tank crashed I took it offline because I didn't have anything to keep in it anymore and it was basically a giant algae farm since everything went to crap in a hurry after the crash.

Now 7 months later my system is back to where I want it and everything is growing good. I have a few large z/p colonies that survived the crash and a few others too that I want to frag to start building up my "Coral Fund" again. I didn't want to use the same black tub for a frag tank and I have looked around for one that is already build but they are not cheap by any means.

I then came up with the idea of cutting down a 40B tank because I didn't want my frag tank anymore than 12" tall. Then I was going to drill it for an overflow and such. Then I remembered that my friend had a 90RR sitting in has garage that he wouldn't use because it had some chips in the corner and he didn't trust it anymore. I talked to him about it and he agreed to give it to me for my "experiment"

I picked the tank up and went to work. I first removed the top trim piece.

Then I removed the overflow from the tank so I could cut it down to size later. I found this to be one of the hardest parts to remove.

I originally thought about taking a 4" grinder with a diamond blade to the tank but with the thick glass and the possibility of getting small glass chunks all over my basement I decided to try something different.

I removed the caulk from the tank as far down as I wanted to cut off and then carefully worked a thin blade between the sheets of glass to break the seal down to that point.

I did this one panel at a time starting with the end panels since they were the inside piece of glass. Then I took a glass cutter and from the inside scored the panels.

I found some scrap metal I had laying around to use for the breaking point on the outside of the tank

Then I gently held the tank while stepping on the piece I wanted to break off.

It worked! Now to just do the rest of the panels one at a time.

The second end panel went good as well, then came the first long panel. This one was very difficult to score since I couldn't get into the tank very good. Well it showed when I broke it. The panel didn't break along the score line the whole way.

I was not happy but I still went ahead and removed the last panel and would decide what to do with the broken one later.

After I had the sides done I had to make the decision to either cut it down some more (to the bottom of the bad break) which would make it 7" tall or try to replace the front panel with a piece I had removed from the tank.

I decided that if I can break the removed panel down to the correct size I would replace the bad one so I could still have the 12" tank I originally wanted.

That is where I ended last night.

 

[ithk21620]

Had some time today so I broke one of the panels I removed down to the correct size for the front panel. It did t come out the best because it's hard to break 1/2" off of a 3/8" thick piece of glass. The bad edge will be hidden by the top trim piece once it's installed so I'm not too worried. I will take my grinder and a sanding disk to the edge before hand to know down any sharp edges.

I then removed the front panel from the tank and scraped away all the silicone from the seam.

I figured if I had it this far apart I might as well re-seal the inside of the tank since some of the silicone was discolored. So I removed all the silicone from the inside of the tank while leaving the seams intact. I cleaned them with acetone and then taped them so I would have a nice clean finish.

After I had everything taped I went over everything again with acetone to make sure everything was nice and clean before I silicones it all back together. I started with the front panel. I reused the spacers that were previously installed in the joint so that the panels had the correct spacing and all the silicone wasn't pushed out. I taped the front panel in place tight since I didn't have large enough clamps. Then I did all the inside seams so all the silicone would bond together.

Once I had all the seams siliconed I removed the tape so there would be nice clean lines. I did notice a few areas that the silicone was really thick once I removed the tape so I carefully spread those areas out. It's by no means perfect but it will do for a frag tank.

Now I will let it dry and set up for a few days. In the mean time I can figure out where it is going to go in my fish room and build a stand for it.

 

[don_chuwish]

Fun! What kind of silicone?

 

[clownfish chris]

Be sure to use water on the glass when you grind it. Otherwise, the heat stress will likely cause more breakage possibly beyond repair. I'm not sure how you would achieve this affectivly though.

 

[ithk21620]

Fun! What kind of silicone?

GE 100% Silicone

 

[ithk21620]

Be sure to use water on the glass when you grind it. Otherwise, the heat stress will likely cause more breakage possibly beyond repair. I'm not sure how you would achieve this affectivly though.

I wont be grinding on it that long that I have to worry about the heat. Just a quick pass over the edges to knock down the sharp points since the trim will cover them anyways.

The piece I used to replace the front panel had some sharp edges that I knocked down quick and it worked well. The sharp edges were going to be in the joint but I figured it didn't hurt to chamfer the edges a bit.

 

[ithk21620]

Not much progress today since I didn't want to move the tank around a lot even though everything seems to be set up nicely.

I flipped the tank onto its back and cleaned the bottom glass off and painted it black. I plan to go bare bottom and I didn't want to see the trim piece and wood under the tank.

Also while it was on its back I cut down the overflow and gave it a good acid bath so it looks new again. Then I siliconed it back into place.

Tomorrow I plan to paint the back of the tank.

 

[clownfish chris]

This is a cool idea. I see large tanks on CL for cheep that Would make great frag tanks. I am following along. I'm glad that you aren't doing much with the grinder. I used to make glass eyeglass lenses. It is amazing how quickly things can go south with a diamond wheel and dry glass.

 

[ithk21620]

This is a cool idea. I see large tanks on CL for cheep that Would make great frag tanks. I am following along. I'm glad that you aren't doing much with the grinder. I used to make glass eyeglass lenses. It is amazing how quickly things can go south with a diamond wheel and dry glass.

I have been pondering this project for along time and it finally worked out to get a tank for free to try (Free kind of, giving him a bunch of frags once his new tank is ready)

It sucks that the front panel broke so I had to replace it but in the long run its kind of nice because I can do a few other things to it like paint the bottom black.

I just used a sanding disk on the grinder and not a diamond wheel so it didn't produce a lot of heat. I knocked down the sharp edges on the entire tank in about a minute so it didn't have much time to heat up plus the glass is 3/8" thick so it well insulated.

 

[ithk21620]

Made some progress on the tank and stand this morning. I reinstalled the top and bottom trim.

I also built the stand in the fish room.

The picture above is when I realized I screwed up the locations of the center supports so I had to remove it and relocate the supports. I didn't want to just flip it over because the back 2x had 1/4" removed from it for some reason.

Here is the finished stand

Now that my frag tank will be moved I think I am going to make a nice cabinet for my apex / electrical and hang it on the wall where my frag tank use to be. Note the apex is currently below the old frag stand.

 

[hybridazn]

The tank came out really nice! Great job with that

 

[cilyjr]

Interesting. When adhering new glass (as opposed to resealing) it is best to use a silicone adhesive rather than a sealant. I hope you did that. Silicone adhesive cannot usually be bought at the big box home improvement stores. It can sometimes be found at auto part stores but often in small tubes and black.

That said, with all that was cut off and still using the top rim it is probably fine.

 

[ithk21620]

Interesting. When adhering new glass (as opposed to resealing) it is best to use a silicone adhesive rather than a sealant. I hope you did that. Silicone adhesive cannot usually be bought at the big box home improvement stores. It can sometimes be found at auto part stores but often in small tubes and black.

That said, with all that was cut off and still using the top rim it is probably fine.

I have found many threads where people have used the same silicone for making sumps and such so I figured it would be fine. If the tank was much taller I would be more concerned but since it will only have about 11" of water in it plus the frame installed around the top and bottom I am less concerned. I also put a heavy bead of silicone in the corners for added strength.

 

[Perched Urchin]

I would second what cilyjr said. People use the GE big-box stuff to build the inside of sumps (baffles, etc.), but not that often to hold the tank itself together, I would say. Additionally, the silicone bead on the inside of the tank is a sacrificial seal. What holds the tank together is the silicon between the glass panels. Using the rim on the top and bottom is smart though, as it will add support even if the new seal isn't perfect. And the low profile reduces pressure on those seals as well.
The question is how bad is having 45+/- gallons of water on the floor and the tank contents in air?;) May never be an issue.
I basically did this same thing for my previous frag tank except I took the entire tank apart, cut the glass, completely cleaned all the old silicone off and re-assembled. It's was definitely a fun project.

 

[ithk21620]

Progress has been slow on the frag tank but I managed to get a few things done.

A friend came over and helped me move the tank into place

I built the return line that will feed the tank and painted it black (Still need to install the loc-line)

And I build the drain line to the sump. I decided to use both holes that were drilled in the tank for returns even though it is overkill.

Also since I received so many comments / concerns regarding the silicon I used I have set up a test to see how strong my tank seam is. I took some pieces of glass that I originally cut off the tank and created a corner seam just like the tank. It won't have the bottom glass like the tank but I will be able to see how strong the new corner seam is. I will post results and hopefully a video showing the test once it is complete. I want to give the silicone a few days to dry.

 

[hybridazn]

Build is looking great!

I've used ge 1 to build multiple frag tanks (ranging from 15 to 40 gallons) and they are all still in use (one has been in use for 6+years) with no signs of wear or leaks. It's all in how you apply and build.

 

[ithk21620]

Build is looking great!

I've used ge 1 to build multiple frag tanks (ranging from 15 to 40 gallons) and they are all still in use (one has been in use for 6+years) with no signs of wear or leaks. It's all in how you apply and build.

I know there are a lot of people that have used GE1 and never had an issue. I just figured I had extra glass laying around and some silicone so why not test it for everyone. I actually used a GE silicone that is sold by the glass and acrylic sheets at HD that I have read good things about. It's actually made to bond plastic and glass.

I looked at the MSDS before using it to make sure it didn't have anything harmful in it since its marketed for "plastic" and it doesn't have anything bad that I could see. I have found other threads where people use it will no ill effect either. There is actually a YouTube video out there that has a guy trying GE I / II and this stuff on plastic to see what works best and it's amazing how strong the bond is with this compared to the standard GE I / II

 

[cilyjr]

Build is looking great!

I've used ge 1 to build multiple frag tanks (ranging from 15 to 40 gallons) and they are all still in use (one has been in use for 6+years) with no signs of wear or leaks. It's all in how you apply and build.

I'm sure many have. That does not negate the fact that the cheap silicone I stuff is not an adhesive silicone. It is made to seal cracks to keep water from getting in not be structural. That said it does have adhesive properties and can hold a tank together (potentially indefinitely ). I still would not build a tank out of it that was rimless and required the silicone to be the sole structural element.

As far as the red stuff goes, I emailed momentive (the company that makes all ge silicones) they said that is not an adhesive silicone. And is a neutral cure silicone. So make sure you give 7 days or so before filling it with water.

 

[ithk21620]

I'm sure many have. That does not negate the fact that the cheap silicone I stuff is not an adhesive silicone. It is made to seal cracks to keep water from getting in not be structural. That said it does have adhesive properties and can hold a tank together (potentially indefinitely ). I still would not build a tank out of it that was rimless and required the silicone to be the sole structural element.

As far as the red stuff goes, I emailed momentive (the company that makes all ge silicones) they said that is not an adhesive silicone. And is a neutral cure silicone. So make sure you give 7 days or so before filling it with water.

Its been over two weeks since I resealed the tank so I am good as far as cure time.

 

[cilyjr]

I agree. 2 weeks is fine