60 Gal w/ 36 Gal Sump & Stand.

[project5k]

yea, i've read about duck taping the corners together but still..

so, when you have a butt joint like you will between the front and the side sheet, when you silicone that, and then tape it into place, how tight do you pull the tape, are you basically trying to squeze as much of the silicone out from between them so as to make then joint stonger, or whats the theory in proper jointery?

then after its all dry do you slice off any squeze out to the outside?

 

[daugherty]

i just ran a small bit on the edge then put them together with masking tape or duct tape then once it was all together i did the inside seams real thick prob more than i needed but oh well

 

[project5k]

silicone is cheap, cleaning up gallons and gallons of water up off the floor in the house, a PITA, i'm kinda known for going a little overboard with sealers too...

 

[Grassman]

looks like progress to me! oh, and any pictures are better than none..

Seems like no progress. LOL. Just a note to everyone. Use larger then double diamond glass for a 35 gallon sump. Double diamond cracks when water is added. Back to the cutting stage I go. Hope my grumpy boss isn't in the shop tomorrow night. We'll see if I remember to take my camera this time to get some better pictures.

so, i guess the carpet covered table is pretty standard for glass shops then huh, cause my glass guy has almost the exact same setup...

As far as I know it's either carpet for small operations and air tables with robots to do the cutting for large.

man, i wish i had the cojones to make myself a custom sump outta glass, that would be so trick...

i can get the glass, its just the design, and the siliconing together that scares the crap outta me..

I mean i've repaired tanks, but thats not dealing with multiple parts that all have to line up just right on the edges, i dont know if i could do it without breaking something or it leaking after i'm done..

I was in the same boat as you then I started thinking of the money I could save by taking the scrape glass and cutting and putting together my own breeder tanks. It was scary at first. My 35 I filled and left on the garage floor for a month cause I wasn't too sure of them but they are still holding. (wife was mad cause she couldn't put her car in there.) LOL

 

[Grassman]

just takes practice to cut the glass. i used tape to hold all the glass together while i siliconed the tank together. thats what worked for me

That is does, and don't forget to lube the cutter and the line you are going to cut before you but it. When I started there I was trying to act all cool and show them I knew how to cut glass. Yeah right, 6mm with no lube doesn't break after you score it. Boy did I look like a piece of :pooh:! LOL. I have 90 degree angle magnets that I use to hold everything square. Best thing I took home as severance from a welding job I had. ;) Just use 4 pre side with a little duct tape and away you go.

 

[Grassman]

i just ran a small bit on the edge then put them together with masking tape or duct tape then once it was all together i did the inside seams real thick prob more than i needed but oh well

Daugherty has it down pat. I've made over 40 tanks, the majority of them 10's and 20's with a coulpe 35's and that's the way I've always done it. Just don't use black silicone. It looks like :pooh: when you're done.

 

[Grassman]

silicone is cheap, cleaning up gallons and gallons of water up off the floor in the house, a PITA, i'm kinda known for going a little overboard with sealers too...

I use to until I started installing windows & doors, now I have the technic down to a science. It's all in the cut or the tip and keeping the gun at the same angle. (and don't use and cheap caulking gun. Mine was over $35, but it works like a dream, and I didn't have to pay for it. ;)

 

[Grassman]

silicone is cheap, cleaning up gallons and gallons of water up off the floor in the house, a PITA, i'm kinda known for going a little overboard with sealers too...

That's my fear on this build. Good thing the house sump is less then 5' away. When I go to fill the tank and the sump I'm going to check and make sure the other sump pump is working. LOL. Can't remember the last time it came on.

 

[project5k]

yea i'm waffeling back and forth about making a new sump... glass, or plastic, glass or plastic, glass would be cheaper, but i know what to expect from the plastic, and i know i can work it...

hmm

 

[Grassman]

yea i'm waffeling back and forth about making a new sump... glass, or plastic, glass or plastic, glass would be cheaper, but i know what to expect from the plastic, and i know i can work it...

hmm

I'd go glass, but then I have no idea how to bond plastic together. I ask my bosses and neither of them know either. Do you know?

 

[Bifferwine]

You can bond acrylic/plexiglass using Weld-On.

 

[Grassman]

You can bond acrylic/plexiglass using Weld-On.

Thanks Biff!! Hmmm...maybe I'll go bigger. We got a 8'x12' sheet of 5/8" in but it has a scratch in it. The supplier sent us a new one & told us to throw the other one out. Scratch in the back of a tank won't show. Now I be thinking really big!! LOL.

 

[Grassman]

UPDATE!!

Ok, I got all the new glass cut for my sump. It's all 4mm (roughly 3/16")except around my DSB which I went with 6mm (1/4"). I couldn't take new picture because I cut all the glass during work hours. (It's amazing what you can do in a glass shop & no one knows it's not work.) :bounce:
I did however forget in my last set to send a picture of me buffing the edges off the glass so I don't slice a finger or 2 off during the build or if I have to put my hand in the sump.

My silicone came in today so this weekend I should get it all built with pictures.

I changed my mind on using the oak trim since I can't seem to get my router to keep a constant height while I was routing the lip for the tank to sit on so I ordered some ugly black plastic trim from a FS in Kitchener. Going to pick it up Saturday morning if I can get out of bed early enough and build it on Sunday.

 

[KidJ57]

That picture reminds me of when I used to tune skis and snowboards :mrgreen:

 

[Grassman]

That picture reminds me of when I used to tune skis and snowboards :mrgreen:

Skis & snowboards in California? :sfish:

 

[KidJ57]

Definitely don't get powder as beautiful as the stuff you guys get up there, but we have our California Concrete (ice, slush, ice) :ugh: :lol:

Actually we get some pretty good snow up north in Lake Tahoe (8-9hour drive from me :sad: ) and in Mammoth (5-6 hours north :sad: ), and once every blue moon our local resorts (Mtn. High & Big Bear/Snow Summit) will get decent snow (for us anyway) which is in fact ski-able :lol:

I took a ski trip a few years ago to the eastern rockies at a private ranch two hours south of Calgery...3 full days of cat-boarding/skiing in untouched Canadien Powder...:shock: Gorgeous!

 

[Grassman]

Lots of pictures coming this weekend. I picked up the trim today Took my wife on a date to the fish store a hour away from our place. Clipped a 140 home to try them out. (km/h not mph) Almost ran Kim over to get in the house and out to the garage. Pick up the piece of 1/4" tempered 48" x 13" just like I ordered the trim, and yup, the trim is 48" x 12 3/4" So my bottom won't fit. (wasted $25 there, make that $50 cause I bought 2 so I could make a tank to sell). So now I have to cut a bottom, and 2 new sides since you can't cut 1/4" off 1/4" glass. I should still get to start putting it together after work tomorrow. There's a nice big table there I can work on. Build both fish and sump at the same time. Have to drill my holes in the back first. Maybe I'll make another date night of her hold glass while I silicone it. :mrgreen: Wow 2 dates in one week....she'll wonder what's up. lol.

 

[dcantucson]

We like them pictures! :lol:

 

[Grassman]

As promised, here's the pics. I'm hoping the Sump holds together as I did it quickly on my lunch half hour, then went back in with my beautiful, loving, always willing to help wife after supper to put the 'guts' in it. I think I have them labeled to what's happening in each. Some may have to be flipped, but I don't have a good photo editing program, only paint. (Sorry)

Enjoy!!

 

[Grassman]

Definitely don't get powder as beautiful as the stuff you guys get up there, but we have our California Concrete (ice, slush, ice) :ugh: :lol:

Actually we get some pretty good snow up north in Lake Tahoe (8-9hour drive from me :sad: ) and in Mammoth (5-6 hours north :sad: ), and once every blue moon our local resorts (Mtn. High & Big Bear/Snow Summit) will get decent snow (for us anyway) which is in fact ski-able :lol:

I took a ski trip a few years ago to the eastern rockies at a private ranch two hours south of Calgery...3 full days of cat-boarding/skiing in untouched Canadien Powder...:shock: Gorgeous!

Hmm... I learned something today. I didn't know there was snow in California. (hope I spell it right. I was never any good at spelling. :mrgreen:) As long as you're anywhere that it's a dry cold ( -10F and lower) is nice, but when it's a wet cold (anything about 0 F) it really sucks. Doesn't matter how many layers you have on you can't get warm. When we go moose hunting way up in northern Ontario, if the sun is shining we play foot ball in our boots and short which you could never do where I live cause it's just not cold enough.