melev

I've been absent from the site to focus on my tank that is now ready for livestock. It's been a busy week, that's for sure. Last Sunday was my birthday, and I couldn't think of a better thing to do than stay home and work on my project. It probably seems like it is going on forever, but it reminds me of an experience a friend told me about a pilot for American Airlines that would come to a private hanger each weekend to work on installing wiring in his personal two-seater prop plane. He ran and re-ran wires over and over until he was fully satisfied, dragging the process out. it was his hobby, and he enjoyed it. I think I'm a little bit like this man, in that I want it a certain way and prefer not to rush things only to have regrets later.

If you follow me on Facebook, you've seen a few teaser pictures. The iPhone app is very convenient that way, and if it would let me share images easily on Reef Addicts, I'd prefer it. For now, that's not an option, so it has to wait until I can sit down to process all my Nikon pictures in Lightroom, upload them to my site, and then blog about it.

During the past week, the sump was finished, the concrete patch was completed, the rubber liner installed, the ATO installed, the sump installed, the plumbing plumbed, a frag tank stand built... it's been fun. So let's begin with the nefarious concrete project. I still have to paint the floor, but may hold off a tad longer on that task.

Here's the patch material I've been using. All told, I used 8 or 9 bags of this stuff to get the flooring sloped perfectly.



The last 6" that needed to be filled was wetted first, then the patch mix was troweled into place and smoothed out.






At Home Depot, I found shower pan liner for sale by the foot, and purchased enough to line the inside of the stand. They also sold a can of glue, which helps create corners to keep the water from exiting.



It's very easy to work with. Press it into place, fold the corners like you were wrapping a present in reverse, apply the glue to both sides that are about to touch, let dry for 60 seconds, press into place, and trim away any excess material with a utility knife.



The clamps held the seams for a brief period to assure the bond held.





A small area was tucked under the stand so water would have somewhere to flow, if the issue arose.