Steve's big ol' tank Build! I went deep!

VelasCorals · Jul 24, 2011

Well here goes nothing. Picked up the tank today and now I have a ton of work ahead of me! My last tank was a smaller cube and I loved the dimensions. So, I went deep!

Display tank dimensions: 50x32x32 w/ euro bracing. Entire tank is made from 1" acrylic
Sump: 34x24x18 Acrylic with 15 gallon refugium section

Just got back to the house a few hours ago.

Here's me! It's like Christmas!

Here's everyone getting ready to break our backs...

I swear I measured. Only had to remove the railing and we had an 1/8th of an inch to play with.

My wife gave me this corner of the house. So I took full advantage and had the biggest tank I could built. Good thing I measured a few times. Tight fit!

revhtree · Jul 24, 2011

Dude that is going to be sweet!

Troylee · Jul 24, 2011

That tank is acrylic??? What's all the black around it like silicone?? Can't wait to see that beast Alive gonna be sweet...

VelasCorals · Jul 24, 2011

revhtree said:
Dude that is going to be sweet!

Thanks, I can't wait to drop off the steel stand at the powder coater tomorrow so I can actually get it on the stand this weekend. I have so much to do, it's a little overwhelming.

VelasCorals · Jul 24, 2011

Troylee said:
That tank is acrylic??? What's all the black around it like silicone?? Can't wait to see that beast Alive gonna be sweet...

Yes, it's acrylic. The black is simply thin black acrlic to frame everything. I like the look of a glass tank with black silicone but wanted a thick acrylic tank.

florida reef · Jul 24, 2011

Sweet looking tank bro.

nixer · Jul 25, 2011

forrealb50 said:
My wife gave me this corner of the house. So I took full advantage and had the biggest tank I could built. Good thing I measured a few times. Tight fit!

bah you could of got 3.5" bigger in in atleast 3 directions lol

kershak · Jul 25, 2011

nice tank bro i want to see full of life,more pics plase

VelasCorals · Jul 25, 2011

nixer said:
bah you could of got 3.5" bigger in in atleast 3 directions lol

I guess I could have made it taller

But I only had a 1/2 in to spare on the door frame and the stair in the basement.

kershak said:
nice tank bro i want to see full of life,more pics plase

I'll get some pics of the steel stand today. I'm dropping it off at the powder coater on my lunch break. I can't wait to get it on the stand and start the work on the sump and all the electonics.

Surf&turf · Jul 25, 2011

This should be awesome!! Tagging along.

iap · Jul 25, 2011

Awesome tank! Looking forward to this build

BigFeesh · Jul 25, 2011

Awesome!!!

VelasCorals · Jul 25, 2011

I picked up a used Sea Swirly to return the Eheim 1262 and also four Korila 4 powerheads. That should be enough flow right?

One K4 on the left, one of the right, two on the back with the Sea Swirly in the middle of the back wall.

VelasCorals · Jul 25, 2011

Just dropped the frame off and it was only $175 to powder coat it. Seems like a great deal. The stand is 50x32x28 and made out of 1.5" square tubing.

Boostable · Jul 25, 2011

Tank looks really nice.. Keep us posted.

VelasCorals · Jul 25, 2011

More pics of the progress! These are all taken with my iphone.

I had to cut the starboard in half to get it in the tank with the euro bracing.

Both parts in. I don't like the seem but it will eventually get covered with coraline. I started to silicone the starboard down but I ran out. More stuff to buy!

Also started the painting the edges and touching things up. I left the overflow open so I can see while I'm plumbing the tank. I think I'll also end up covering the entire right outside part of the tank with the same glossy black acrylic.

This light should be enough for the tank right? I think I could grow SPS with it. 60 total watts!

VelasCorals · Jul 26, 2011

Anyone have a good tutorial to remove scratches from acrylic? The tank was built with mostly used acrylic but I wanted to get some of the noticeable scratches out now so I don’t want to wait for the coralline to cover it.
From what I read online you can start with wet sanding 600 then 1000 then 1500. Then use a polishing compound.