Blog Comments

I just looked at what you were seeing @ GC with the 96x24. Yes, the false removable panels are exactly what I was going for in my design.

Thanks for the reply, zlh23! It's actually the 240 Long that I'm looking at. The reason for the 2 center vertical braces, rather than evenly spaced, is because there will be 4 removable panels for easy access to plumbing, skimmer, 60-90g sump (sump still being designed), etc.

I want to be able to install and remove the sump easily while the stand is in place, for maintenance reasons. Evenly spacing gives me very little wiggle room for the sump.

Actually, I didn't look at any stands at GC for my inspiration. Just lots of googling.

Hey Neelix,

Why do you have the verticals unevenly spaced? is it for aesthetic purposes? If not, I would advise equally spacing them to distribute the load more evenly


[edit] knowing you are looking into getting a glass cages tank, i stopped by their site, I assume by your sketchup images that you are using the GC 96x24 stand as your inspiration. It does look pretty solid once it's all said and done.

If you have a basement I would put the sump there, I met a guy who had one and it was so cool he was running two tanks from it and he didn't have to make it fit inside a cabinet. If you do this you will need a pressure rated pump that will cost a little more.

If you need to use me as a scape goat with the Mrs, I'm cool with that.

Well, thanks to Robb, I'm going to call GlassCages and get some more info. Jessy was vocal enough to get me to confront my wife to extend my width ((talk about guts)).

This community is great! Good work, Marc!

Feel free to read through all of my blog entries for ideas. http://www.reefaddicts.com/blog.php/2-melev

You could have three pillars rising from the substrate. It's an usual configuration and not everyone's cup of tea, but it looks interesting to see the fish swimming around them. At the same time, it's tough for coral placement.

Yeah, I'm going to stop while I'm ahead, with the wife! ((grin)).

I know 18" or 24" was going to be tight with the substrate. So, I was going to make 3 islands of rock. Left, Right, and Center, leaving space in my substrate between the islands, but still giving enough space between the rock and glass for them to walk through (if they don't go over the rock).

Nothing has been purchased yet. I've got designs on paper (well, most as crinckled up disasters in the trash can), got a purchase list started, and now being challenged where to put my return. As mentioned before, the drains will be on both ends of the tank, so you can look through it, but be covered up by "fake wall", to make it look like an "in wall" tank, but easily removed to view the drains.

Being a network engineer by day, most of my time is in designing alarms and monitors (i.e. tracking water levels using reed switches, flow meters for supply and returns, etc). Granted, most probably will not find it's way into the production system, but I like "gold plating" everything, then remove what's not really needed due to time and money.

LOL - Robb you are such a trouble maker.

24" wide is nice. You'll have to do your rockwork in a narrow fashion (12 to 16" wide, if possible) so you have some sand along the viewing sides to enjoy invertebrate shenanigans.

I totally agree on getting someone else to make the display tank. Even with all my acrylic experience, I don't make display tanks.

Take your time and really think everything through and you'll end up with some good results. I took my time with my current tank, and it looks like it will be rock solid for years to come. Those 7.5 months were long, but rushing it seemed like a recipe for disappointment.

Now that you have her up to 24", might as well ask for 36". It's only another foot; 6" on each side! Just think of the aquascapeing possibilities! It'll look great!

Yes, this will be a divider, and I will be building both the bottom frame and the top hood. With Robb's comment, I may go with GlassCages, but will still build my sump. Need to call them for pre-drilling my drains.

Being a divider, I will have my overflows on both ends, which will allow the tank to be viewed from both sides. I did finally convince my wife to giving me a 24" divider, so that will make Jessy happy. ((grin))

If this is going to be a divider between two rooms, are you planning on designing and building a custom/decorative frame to go around the tank as well? Surely that would help secure the tank as well.

Oops, typo. Yes, Glasscages(GC).

I totally agree with jessy

PULEASE let someone who does this for a living make the tank at any cost. And also increase the depth from 18" to as deep as you possibly can make it. (You'll thank me later). Do you realize that a failing tank can cost SOOOOO much money? IT can ruin your house, cause fires, kill all your livestock. It never fails at a good time. It's always when you're on vacation.

It's not likely to fail during the water test...its 12 months down the road when the seam gives and you've got $$$ in the livestock already....

Robb, CG? Custom Glass? Are you speaking of the $800 glass tank from GlassCages?

Mccoy85, I've done a little. Which is what makes it both exciting and nerve racking at the same time. No where near the size I'm planning to do. But, the minute you don't push yourself, is the minute you become stagnant.

It's not without risk, I know....

Have you ever done any major acrylic work before?

FWIW, I've never seen a report of a CG tank leaking. Plenty of complaining about sloppy silicone work. All the threads I've read on them suggest they are built like a tank(no pun intended), just not super pretty.

Mccoy85,

No worries. No bubble bursted. I'm taken care of there. I'm not exactly starting from scratch. I'll be using some of my stuff from my 55g, but getting new in other things.

Again, still in the planning stages. Just because I don't want to spend $2300 on a tank, does not mean I don't want to spend it on other items. Is that common where you are? Not sure of the implication there.

I still think I'm gonna try and build my own. If it fails, it fails, and I will buy. But, I don't want to pass up the possible pride I could have, when it's all said and done.

I figured, I will water test in my garage, while I'm building the stand and sump. That will probably be around 2 weeks, and will know then, whether the build is good.

Think Marc did a recent cost per gallon and was around 90$ per gallon to start from scratch http://www.reefaddicts.com/content.p...ater-reef-tank