Spikes "6P Reef" 40B build

[Sm51498]

Clean work! I ended up not doing it this way on my tank because there is no good way to black out this type of overflow. I know it's efficient though.

I think you could probably put a layer of black abs or acrylic in to black out the overflows if you ended up wanting that look. This looks great though.

 

[SpikesReef]

thats exactly what I did actually. it helped a lot. I siliconed it around all the edges inside of the external overflow and I also clamped it through the holes and siliconed the inside of the holes so no water would get in-between the plastic and glass.

 

[SpikesReef]

In the last photo the center hole was siliconed and the outside 2 were not so you could see the difference. I decided to paint the back with plastidip so I could peel it off if I ever wanted to (don't really forsee that happening). I taped off everything that I didn't want paint on- including the bottom of the overflow. I also left a strip on the side of the external overflow so I could see what was going on inside if needed.

 

[SpikesReef]

I have to admit, I started off documenting this build really well, but after a two years I just wanted to get moving on it. I will gradually post steps I took, but there is no where near as many pictures. The one thing I have detail pics of is the sump build. I cut heavy cardboard and taped it in place to make sure the glass was going to fit before I cut it. It worked great, especially since the baffle work was pretty intricate. This was also a great way to make sure all of my equipment would fit. I made it so everything fit perfectly, a benefit of working with the cardboard instead of cutting the glass and possibly having to change things a bit.

 

[SpikesReef]

I used the cardboard to get exact measurements, cut and polished them at work and I got busy with the momentive silicone. I used the 90 degree jigs from the overflow construction to keep everything in place while the silicone dried. I didn't think ahead of being able to tool the silicone in the 1 inch gap where the bubble trap is. Momentive silicone drys QUICK so I made a bit of a mess. I never got it totally clean but it looks good enough and it shouldn't be noticeable once there is water in the tank.

 

[SpikesReef]

This is how the sump sits today in the stand. I didn't take photos of the stand process, plumbing, or electronics box. I will post more pics soon and explain what I did as best as I can.