My Slice of Nature (Part 3)

[SubzeroLT]

Starting a new thread to document the progress of a new set up.

Tank was given by a nice reefer (thanks!!). In return, I bought over his equipment.

 

Its a nice sized tank - 5 x 2.5 x 2, 15mm glass, chengal wood stand. The physical condition of the tank wasn't great and took it as part of the fun to fix it during free time on the weekends. Some pictures :

 

Upon closer inspection, there are several large patches of scratches in the middle (viewing area)

 

Ordered some Cerium Oxide - a compound commonly used in the industry to polish glass

 

Mix into a paste

 

Marked the areas with bad scratches with masking tape

 

Climbed into the tank & polished out the scratches. I'd say 90% of the bad scratches are gone. I didn't bother to remove the scratches from areas which were not easily seen.

 

 

[SubzeroLT]

Did the usual process of cleaning the rocks

Bleach, soak, scrub the rocks for a day or so :

 

Then rinse with tap water / anti chlorine a couple of time. Having a large open bucket like this 120L one from ikea is great

 

Having some water movement should improve the efficiency to remove the bleach. Soaked the rocks in tap water for a few days.

 

Let the rocks dry, then vinegar soak for 15min. 

 

 

[SubzeroLT]

Original plumbing was the 'traditional' overflow with one drain & 1 return. These type of plumbing is known to be noisy. Hence it was converted into a Herbie overflow instead.

 

Noticed that the original fittings used had a potential issue.

Only 1-2 threads were engaged when this was fit through the bottom of the tank. High risk of loosening -> risks of leaks.

 

This was a 3/4" pipe and I could not find fittings with longer threads. Got a external threaded pipe & made a bulkhead with longer threads.

 

Cut out a gasket from a sheet of EPDM rubber. To be used between the bulkhead & glass (instead of using silicon sealant)

 

Drainage piping done

[Admiraltian]

Nice setup!! Camping here.

[Sherilyn91]

Swee.. Looking forward to see the end product..


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[Darren Sim]

It's about to go down!!! Excited to see more updates


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[SimonLSB]

Camping here for more updates.. Is gonna be another big ocean in the west..


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[Kelvin Ang]

Do tank bo jio loh .

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[SubzeroLT]

6 minutes ago, Kelvin Ang said:

Do tank bo jio loh .

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Its a 2nd hand tank lei.

[SubzeroLT]

Someone commented separately that the tank looked so new. In actual fact, this was what it was like initially when tank was moved on 7th July

 

 

[Kelvin Ang]

Also can jio ma . I off day can come find u ma

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[Kelvin Ang]

Its a 2nd hand tank lei.

Don't forget I'm also a src reefer

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[SubzeroLT]

The gate valve is quite heavy & not located directly underneath the bulkhead. I was worried it'll compress the gasket unevenly over time. Hence the pipes were secured with a scrap piece of aluminum profile

 

 

 

 

[dsam]

Dun mind the questions,

Can share the specs of the gate valve, slip on x NPT thread?

From Hai Cheong?

Is the dark grey pipe sch 80 type?

[Harlequinmania]

Omg. Can Really can see alot of effort and hard work go into the restoration of the tank and setup.

Thanks for sharing, alot of reefer will benefit from your share here as always.

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[Jason Ng]

Yes. Great info. Thanks for sharing. Can tell where u get the piping stuff. Thanks

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[SubzeroLT]

23 hours ago, Sherilyn91 said:

Swee.. Looking forward to see the end product..


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Tank progress quite slow. I will make it to your place one of these days. 

 

[SubzeroLT]

15 hours ago, dsam said:

Dun mind the questions,

Can share the specs of the gate valve, slip on x NPT thread?

From Hai Cheong?

Is the dark grey pipe sch 80 type?

That's a Spears gate valve. 1" slip fitment. Yes, I got Hai Cheong to order for me but they applied a very high mark up

Nevermind...just 1 piece.

 

The dark gray pipe is some leftover schedule 80 1.5" pipe i had left from my previous tank project. Hence, everything upstream is upsized to minimize losses.

Schedule 80 is absolutely unnecessary for our tanks. It was a newbie error made the last time.

 

[Sherilyn91]

Tank progress quite slow. I will make it to your place one of these days. 

When ur project is done I would like to make a visit too! Haha


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[SubzeroLT]

On 9/6/2016 at 8:10 AM, Jason Ng said:

Yes. Great info. Thanks for sharing. Can tell where u get the piping stuff. Thanks

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Most of my piping stuff are from Hai Cheong Plastic (Located at 11 Kallang Place).

 

Alternatively, you can get a good selection at Madpetz or good neighbourhood hardware shops.

[Jason Ng]

Thank you vm

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[dsam]

Thanks for the reply. Wonder if you compare the cost with BRS? Yea, Sch 80 is always a pain to construct with compatibility issue. But their Sch 80 bulkhead is very solid.

Watching your Part 3 closely. Your tank thread always gives lots of inspiration and ideas to us. Great job!

[oceanviper]

On 9/4/2016 at 11:47 PM, SubzeroLT said:

Original plumbing was the 'traditional' overflow with one drain & 1 return. These type of plumbing is known to be noisy. Hence it was converted into a Herbie overflow instead.

 

Noticed that the original fittings used had a potential issue.

 

Only 1-2 threads were engaged when this was fit through the bottom of the tank. High risk of loosening -> risks of leaks.

This was a 3/4" pipe and I could not find fittings with longer threads. Got a external threaded pipe & made a bulkhead with longer threads.

 

Cut out a gasket from a sheet of EPDM rubber. To be used between the bulkhead & glass (instead of using silicon sealant)

 

Drainage piping done

Hi bro.

I have the longer version which is 1" type.

You can get it from malaysia or a HW shop at AMK industrial park.

[Zoaslover]

Looking forward to yr new setup

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[yschua]

Nice. Seldom see reefers whom post the process of starting a tank as compared to 4-5 years ago. Will be following for sure.