Suzanne May 180 Gallon Reef Build

[suzannemay]

Alrighty.. I had to go to 600 grit paper to start getting some of the deeper scratches out. Almost done with this first sanding grit. Then moving onto the micro mesh 1500 after that. Progress is happening slowwwwwwwwwly.

Santa was good to me this year...

I now have
2 MP40's
A media reactor and pump.
RO/DI unit
and 2 new titanium heaters.

Things left to aquire

my LED's and controler
Plumbing assistance
Basic accessories..buckets, trash bins to mix water etc..

 

[Red C Aquarium]

I find that buffing is much quicker using two different cotton bonnets and animal fat as a compound,no sanding involved .

I have buffed many old aquarium to new.

This looks like a great tank build, good luck with the whole process!

redc

 

[suzannemay]

Thanks for the tip.. did you use lard? Is that ok on the inside? I suppose it would harden..
So far I have the tank mostly done. I just have one large scratch that seems to not want to come out and it is right in the front. So I will spot sand and feather that one...hopefully it will come out. Animal fat probably won't hide that baby..

 

[pandora32]

I havent heard of a cotton bonnet and animal fat. Ive never had an acrylic tank though. Can one of you elaborate this method?

 

[Red C Aquarium]

TAP plastics sells this compound and the bonnets come from home depot(hd also has a ryobi compound thats redishand tap has bonnets)

Using a coarse cotton bonnent hooked to a corded drill(one with a handle is best ) apply a bit of compound to the spinning cotton (not alot) never over apply the compound .

Dig in with some pressure
there will be heat and it takes some skill to buff a whole tank with out a flaw (heat may create pot wholes and or grooves),the best advice is to apply pressure and always keep it moving add more compound when needed.

Attack the scratch against the grain , big ones are almost easyier than the little ones.

follow up with the softer bonnet to polish it up , and I use mesh batting and warm water to remove stray compound.

I like this more for spot work , but the whole tank can be done this way but your arms will hurt from the pressure ,

the owner of Tap told me about the animal fat thats in the compound- its not called animal fat by name nor should you use lard or fat from an animal because thats gross.

Red C

 

[suzannemay]

YEA! Tank refinished looking shiny.. Thanks Red C for the tip.. I did the sanding from P600 up to 12000 grit and it didn't polish I still had a subtle haze.. So I grabbed the polish and finished the job with a drill and buffing wheel with a homemade bonnet using some safety pins.. I still have a few minor scratches but not obvious when water is on it..so I think I will just leave em. Now on to painting the sump area to protect against salt creep..then figure out plumbing!

 

[pandora32]

Ok. Yea, i thought you actually meant animal fat...hahaha. Congrats on the tank being done and shiny!! Pictures!

 

[suzannemay]

Ok. Yea, i thought you actually meant animal fat...hahaha. Congrats on the tank being done and shiny!! Pictures!

Here are the shots..

Before:
WP_000332 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

After:
WP_000335 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

of course you can look at the photo stream and see the action shots..my son really loved to help me out on this one..the full tank picture looks cloudy but it is the debris on the back of the tank showing through.

 

[pandora32]

Looks great. A lil help never hurts, and also a good way for your son to have a sense of satisfaction, "i helped mom build this!"

 

[suzannemay]

Ahh man I am so lost on what to do with the plumbing..

I pulled out all the parts I have..but it looks like he cut some of them..so I will have to rework the whole thing.
I have to plumb the skimmer and media reactor and pump things back up.
I want little noise.
I also want to make sure water doesn't go everywhere when I try it out..

My sump/refugium has several compartments..not sure I know what all of these are for..

Any help on where to start?

 

[pandora32]

Got picx of your sump? Pix help alot with stuff like this. A little more info also helps. What kind of pump(s), size of reactors as well as hang on or in sump, and anything else your going to be hooking up. Also the size of the piping maybe. More info tje better.

 

[suzannemay]

Let see..

Here are pics. I labeled them hopefully that will be good. The pipe's I have look 1.5 inch and 1 inch mix..
WP_000379 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

I have the Reef Octopus NW-200 6540B in sump. I believe it will fit nice and snug in the right compartment.
Then PhosBan 550 reactor. with Rio 2100 pump(oldy I had lyin around).
The pump is Reef Flo DART 1550 RPM 14 HP that came with the tank.

Looking at the pipes from undeneath left to right..
Capped one goes to capped pipe in tank overflow
next is the right overflow
Followed by random hole used for something?? going out of the top of the tank?? Little grey pipe in middle.
Then left overflow pipe
Grey in pipe to tank.

I have various plumbing pieces..but not sure of best approach.

 

[pandora32]

Maybe its just me(probably) or the fact im on my phone(most likely) but i dont see a pic of your sump. Just 1a picture of some piping and 1 picture of your overflow pipe(top down). Is your sump homemade or prebuilt?

 

[blk822822]

You know we have child labor laws ????? .....LOL wish I could get one of my kids in a tank to polish. Nice gear, should be a good.

 

[suzannemay]

You know we have child labor laws ????? .....LOL wish I could get one of my kids in a tank to polish. Nice gear, should be a good.

haaa funny..Bill. It was tough he lasted about 2 minutes then said..done with this and left me with the rest of the work. Totally worth it though since I spent maybe 500 bucks for the tank, stand, sump, pump, and not so great light.

 

[suzannemay]

Maybe its just me(probably) or the fact im on my phone(most likely) but i dont see a pic of your sump. Just 1a picture of some piping and 1 picture of your overflow pipe(top down). Is your sump homemade or prebuilt?

Probably your phone.. I loaded 20 pics I believe the sump was pre-built but it is older so I can't find the brand or pics online.

 

[suzannemay]

Fun day today... bought my LED's and Apex controller. Oceans by Design folks are going to wire them up for me. Since plumbing is out of my ability..I have Oceans by D..coming to take a look and help me out. I think it is Eric who is coming by on Monday.

 

[sedrostyle]

Woot woot your in good hands.
Can't wait to see water in it

 

[NC2WA]

suzanne,

you are in good hands...eric did my plumbing for my 165gal water vat...

 

[suzannemay]

So Eric is going to work on my plumbing on Friday. YIPPY!

To prepare to test the plumbing.. I started filling the tank with RODI water since it is supposed to take several days.

I want to make sure the RO DI unit is working correctly..
I have it hooked up but it is only getting about 35 PSI. It seems to be making water faster than waste water...so something probably isn't right? I have a 100 GPD barrier reef model.... I probably got about 40 gallons or so in under 2 hours.
I looked at the TDS and it says going in my tap is at .45-.60 going out it started at 0 and as time went on it is now up to .07.

So is it me..or is that backwards..shouldn't it take longer especially at the lower PSI? Am I missing something?