Firestarter's 2ft Standard tank

[tunicate]

Hi tunicate, first of all I must say you have a nice tank! I do agree with you that size is really restrictive especially the space for equipment. I've kept a 3ft tank before with a huge sump, so I know how the feeling is like having to 'shrink' to such a size. I want this tank to be really simple with minimal use of equipment, and keep any hassle low along the way. Space constraint is really the problem here, hence the size.

Thanks for the compliment

Wishing u all the best in this new tank of yours.

[Kalib]

I realised there maybe 1 possible problem with the design if your using the width of the tank as the overflow into the IOS. When the water overflows into the chamber, it might create bubbles which would get picked up by the wavemaker and sent back into the main tank as a stream of microbubbles.

You may have to stick with the original idea of using only a portion of the overflow instead of the entire width of the tank.

[Firestarter]

Haven't updated in a while. Because I was busy with other stuff. I finally got down to Dama a few days ago to buy the acrylic for my IOS. Its opaque black. Very good customer service. Price of the acrylic is less than 1 red note.

I got a friend to help me drill the 50mm hole. No pictures of the drilling process because I was at his house, never bring camera.

[Firestarter]

As you can see from the size of the hole, DIY is not always that precise. Better to always let a professional do it instead.

[Firestarter]

Time to silicon the acrylic to the tank.

[Firestarter]

But first, have to put tape along the sides of the acrylic and tank so that to make the silicon have a nice clean joint.

[Firestarter]

Time to play Uno Stacko! Haha, used the Uno Stacko blocks as support to make the acrylic straight while I silicon it to the tank.

[Firestarter]

I silicon the bottom of the acrylic first.

[Firestarter]

Letting the silicon to cure for 24hrs. Now it time to silicon the other side.

[Firestarter]

Well some updates on what happened.

After I silicone both sides of the partition, realised that the joint weren't as nice as I thought it would be. Ended up tearing the whole acrylic out and redid everything again.

Here is the tank being taken for a bath once the silicon has dried, to test if the silicon has any leaks, and to wash away all the deris.

[Firestarter]

Decided to make an overflow 'comb' after all. Sourced around supermarkets and DIY shop plastic containers with slots at the sides to use as the 'teeth'. However, although I found some really nice ones, they somehow do not have black plastic containers.

Luckily I still had the 2 containers that I bought from Taiwan. Decided to use it as the overflow 'comb'.

[Firestarter]

Cut out 2 rows of 'teeth' from the container.

[Firestarter]

Measuring the length of the overflow 'comb'. Just had to trim the sides a little to fit.

[Firestarter]

Silicon the 'comb' onto the partition. This is the finished state.

Next stage is to clean the tank out thoroughly, and improve its cosmetics.

Updates soon.

[peacemaker]

I've always loved DIYs, but never had the patience to follow through...

Yours is looking good.

[Firestarter]

I've always loved DIYs, but never had the patience to follow through...

Yours is looking good.

hey peacemaker, how's you tank going? Why no more updates? Thanks for the comments. I am kind of a perfectionist, so I try to do everything 'swee, swee'. Progress is kinda slow and I think I'm boring the guys here with my posts, haha.

More updates coming soon.

[peacemaker]

Nah... its good step by step updates.

Being a nano, there's nothing much once you've taken tons of photos of the same corals.

I'm still in the midst of planning for a small upgrade, so I'll leave the photos for later.

[Firestarter]

Nah... its good step by step updates.

Being a nano, there's nothing much once you've taken tons of photos of the same corals.

I'm still in the midst of planning for a small upgrade, so I'll leave the photos for later.

Looking forward to your updates! Will check your post every now and then.

[Firestarter]

Well, still lots of silicon debris stuck in the tank, so decided to give it a thorough clean, and fix up some 'cosmetics'.

[Firestarter]

Some leftover sticky tape from the tank background.

[Firestarter]

Back into the toilet again you go!

[Firestarter]

Brought out the weapon of choice. Turpentine!

[Firestarter]

Scrubbed ONLY THE OUTSIDE of the tank to remove all the stubborn stains. Don't know if turpentine will still leach into the tank so didn't use it on the inside.

[Firestarter]

The tank is all clean now.

Don't mind the water droplets.

[Firestarter]

Time to do up the tank with some cosmetics!

Got some tape. (I think its electrical tape)