Neptunes 125 Reef Diary.

king_neptune

king_neptune

Active Member
Originally Posted by wattsupdoc
http:///forum/post/2955755
Weld on#16 is what your wanting IF the existing brace is acrylic. Myself, I wouldn't drill into the brace any. I would heat and bend a piece to fold over the brace. Glue it into place. Try to find out what the brace is made of. I don't think that a good epoxy would be a bad choice if its some other type of plastic, but if it is acrylic, then do definitely want the weld on #16.
weld 16 strong stuff eh?
heating acrylic to 500+ and properly molding it before it hardens isnt something I think I can do. I dont have that kind of skill or any glass blowing equipment.
 
king_neptune

king_neptune

Active Member

Originally Posted by Eric B 125
http:///forum/post/2955802
YES! LET THE DRILLING BEGIN! let me know what drilling glass is all about. God speed.
Success!!!
Its easy. Nothing to get worked up over.
I made a mold from laminate hard board. Plywood works as well. I cut it to height so it would put both holes in symmetric unison.
Then I cut 2x45 degree slices via my chop saw. this made the "V" to guide the bit.

Then I taped it to the tank...I didn't have clamps.
I taped underneath the hole as well to catch the glass and cut down on vibrations.
Put a towel underneath in case it fell.
Plumbers putty to make a water holder.

I put the bit in and pulled it in 3-5 second bursts till it began to make a groove. then I gradually began doing 10-15 second bursts. all the while 1/3-1/2 speed.
Dont put any presure. Just let the bit do the work. Took about 10 min to do the first hole.
Halfway through I put the drill in high gear and full speed for 20-30second bursts.
With 3-5 seconds in beetween to let it cool.
The last %5 was the most tense. But it went smoothly.
The other side took about 3 min to drill. I was a little bolder and started at high speed right away, still keeping the 3-5 second bursts.
I found that at high speeds there was less vibrations. The slower I went the more vibrations. Glass is no problem if you do it patiently.
 
posiden

posiden

Active Member
Agreed, once you cut that first hole, it is all over. Just don't get to overconfident.
Very nice tho glade to hear you got it all drilled out.
 
E

eric b 125

Guest
Word. thanks a lot for the tips and congrats on a job well done.
 
king_neptune

king_neptune

Active Member
I'm shopping around for sand. I'm a little dismayed that fiji sand is $100 a bag, and I need almost 3 bags. I wonder if there are any other solutions? Cheaper sand mabee that's still live and does a good job?
I would like to go a little cheaper than $300 bucks for sand.
 
veni vidi vici

veni vidi vici

Active Member
Originally Posted by King_Neptune
http:///forum/post/2956242
I'm shopping around for sand. I'm a little dismayed that fiji sand is $100 a bag, and I need almost 3 bags. I wonder if there are any other solutions? Cheaper sand mabee that's still live and does a good job?
I would like to go a little cheaper than $300 bucks for sand.
Check into Oldcastle sand in the paver section at Lowes.Ive never used it but some here have,maybe they can chime in and let you know what their experience with it is.
 
wattsupdoc

wattsupdoc

Active Member
This for the acrylic. Do some googling for methods.
You dont need all live sand. Actually the LS from here is from what I've been told better as it actually has critters in it, as opposed to just bacteria in most other products. Use at least 25% live. Are you doing DSB in DT? Tell me what your thinking as far as sand goes. Throughout your system.
 
king_neptune

king_neptune

Active Member
Originally Posted by Veni Vidi Vici
http:///forum/post/2956371
Check into Oldcastle sand in the paver section at Lowes.Ive never used it but some here have,maybe they can chime in and let you know what their experience with it is.
If that's the case, I found a LFS that sells regular aquarium sand for .27 cents lb, I would assume its fine, just not live.
Originally Posted by wattsupdoc
http:///forum/post/2956423
You dont need all live sand. Actually the LS from here is from what I've been told better as it actually has critters in it, as opposed to just bacteria in most other products. Use at least 25% live. Are you doing DSB in DT? Tell me what your thinking as far as sand goes. Throughout your system.
I am doing 1.5" in the DT. My goal is to have bottom feeders and keep them happy, therefore I want to choose the right kind of sand that they will feed on. No deep sand because of all its complications and potential disasters.
In the Sump I am pretty sure Ill do LR as well as DSB. But I wont commit till I get more input.
Originally Posted by rebelprettyboy
http:///forum/post/2957356
nice tank u got going
Thanks.
 
king_neptune

king_neptune

Active Member
Also the acrylic is not looking promising. I cant believe they want $90 bucks to have two 6x19 pieces. $40 for the plastic. $50 to ship it to me. I need to find something local.
 
king_neptune

king_neptune

Active Member
oh. that's evin closer. ill be heading there when they open
how many inches over lap would you suggest? if i do the fold over method.
 
bmkj02

bmkj02

Member
Lucky for me I found a LFS going out of business and they sould me all their live sand for like $0.35 a pound. Got almost 300lbs. Deep sand bed.
Coming alone good. I was scared on my first hole too but after that I felt like a pro
I wanted to drill any glass I could find
 
king_neptune

king_neptune

Active Member
Picked up the acrylic.
Also got 4 cans of pond foam...pricey. almost 50 bucks for the 4 cans, but I can always take em back if I have left over.
Pondmaster came in the mail today as well. Mag 1800GPH.

I got a question about the JB weld. Will it do good? The guy at lows said it was the strongest stuff they had. Next to guerrilla glue...but that stuff expands too much.
I bought some other stuff for plastics but left it in the shopping cart...oh well I lost $5 bucks. damn.
Found this in the garage:

Its a water filter of some kind. Heavy duty looking. Its the size of a shoebox. That filters the main water from our private well.
Then it goes to this unit under the sink:

These are the refills:

Is this an RO-DI system?
Dad bought it to take out the mineral content. I went to lows and checked for RO-DI. All I got was, "huh?"
They showed me the Reverse-Osmosis filtration. $150, but it didn't say anything about De-Ionizing. Does it really matter?
 
wattsupdoc

wattsupdoc

Active Member
The First large canister is just a whole home filter. /the second are simply more filtration. These are not reverse osmosis. I run simply an RO, no DI. The DI resins are good to use they will further filter your water so much that it is not recommended to drink.
However many do just run DI. It's your choice, but I would have to recommend the RO/DI.
I have no idea about the JB Weld. I go know whenever I have attempted using it in the past for other things it didn't do worth a flip. IMO you'd be better off using a 2 part epoxy over the JB weld. Whatever you do if you don't go with weld on scuff the material lightly with some sandpaper. BTW, Weld On is not a glue, it will chemically fuse acrylic. It works with some other acrylics, but not very as good as it does (it think it is closed cell????somebody correct me here please) acrylic.
 
posiden

posiden

Active Member
Mc lendons carries the Weld On # 16 in both the small and large tube. They also have acrylic sheet in 1/4" 2'x4' for $40. I also told you to go there for the pond foam it is cheaper there.
 
nickz24ninja

nickz24ninja

Member
Looks really nice Nep.
I just got a 125 all glass and i was looking for ideas I wanted to use my current 55 that I am upgrading to this 125 for my sump and now I see that I can. about how much did it cost you all together for the overflows, diy sump and all hardware, pump, glass, fittings etc etc etc.
What kind of lighting do you plan on using?
Thanks I cant wait to see it when it is done, looks real good now can't wait to see it full of life.
 
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