rldavisou's 120 Starphire Diary

rldavisou

rldavisou

Member
I took delivery of my new 120 rimless tank on Sunday. I'm totally stoked! I'm not sure if I can say where I ordered it from, so I won't, unless someone tells me it's ok. I'm really happy with it so far, with a few very minor exceptions, which I will address later.
The tank has Starphire glass on the front panel, and although I can see a difference, my wife thinks I'm crazy. Oh well.
This shows the full tank, and some seam detail. The seams are really nice, but some silicone leaked out and is evident on the outside of the tank. Do you think it'd be ok to scrape off this excess? It doesn't seem to be taking any weight. I didn't take a pic of it yet, I need to wait for morning and better light.

 
rldavisou

rldavisou

Member
I decided against building my own stand, and went with the one from the tank manufacturer. Although I have the woodworking skills to build one (I spent every summer from ages 13 to 20 working for my grandpa at his cabinetry shop), I don't have the tools or the time. The stand will be finished in an espresso color to match our ********.
The stand looks pretty good. I knew it would come unfinished, but it lacks quite a bit of attention to detail. The front trim piece isn't even cut to the right length, but I have a router, so that can be easily fixed. The wood has a few gouges that will need to be filled, but for the price I'd say I'm happy.
The front panels lift completely out and away, which is easier to build (translation: cheaper), and is really nice when doing work on the tank.
I had the side door added, which cost extra, because I'm not exactly sure how the sump would have gotten in without that door. The top of the stand, under the tank, is solid.

 
rldavisou

rldavisou

Member
The only plumbing the tank came with was the bulkheads, so I went to Home Depot today to get some overflow parts. Nothing is glued, just dry fitted.
 
rldavisou

rldavisou

Member
This is the manufacturer's stock sump setup. The eggcrate will be taken out, as I don't plan on using bioballs or anything. If I use any mechanical filtration, it will be a filter sock in this section. The center section will be a refugium. The skimmer will go in a walk-in closet on the other side of the wall to the right of the tank. Do you think my landlord will notice a huge hole right through the wall?
 
rldavisou

rldavisou

Member
The sump inside the stand. There's lots of room to spare. I plan on putting a calcium reactor, etc in here. I almost went with the next size larger sump, now I'm glad I didn't.

 
morval

morval

Member
nice tank and set up
that one dog looks like a demon. use ur red eye reduction next time its freakin me out man
 
rldavisou

rldavisou

Member
Originally Posted by morval
http:///forum/post/2651623
nice tank and set up
that one dog looks like a demon. use ur red eye reduction next time its freakin me out man
I used red eye reduction, but her eyes are actually red, so it doesn't do a very good job. You should see her without it, she looks like hellspawn!
 
rldavisou

rldavisou

Member
I realized today that I forgot to put the styrofoam under the tank. The bottom is a flat sheet of glass, so in order to ensure even weight distribution, it need a 1/2" foam sheet underneath. It took me and 3 friends to manhandle it up on the stand, so I'm not looking forward to doing that again. It has to come off the stand to do the woodworking anyway, so it's not a big deal.
Anyway, here is an example of the silicone that squeezed out between the panels. Do you think it's ok to take a razor and remove this?
 
wangotango

wangotango

Active Member
About the silicone:
I've heard a lot of things about Glasscages doing crappy siliconing. Haven't owned one of their tanks so I can't say anything about it first hand. It's weird that the silicone would have oozed out between the panels. Makes me wounder how tight they are. Do a leak test, and then scrape it off. You could always call them and see.
-Justin
 
rldavisou

rldavisou

Member
Originally Posted by GatorWPB
http:///forum/post/2653446
very VERY nice tank!!
Cant wait to see it setup. Whats you plans for lighting? SPS? mixed reef?

It'll be a sps/lps reef. For lighting I'm going with the 8-bulb Tek fixture, because I'm going to try not to run a chiller, which would be required for MH, especially since the tank is against an outside wall that gets direct sun.
 
rldavisou

rldavisou

Member
Originally Posted by WangoTango
http:///forum/post/2653525
About the silicone:
I've heard a lot of things about Glasscages doing crappy siliconing. Haven't owned one of their tanks so I can't say anything about it first hand. It's weird that the silicone would have oozed out between the panels. Makes me wounder how tight they are. Do a leak test, and then scrape it off. You could always call them and see.
Yeah, the silicone is the only complaint I've heard. I plan on doing a leak test in the next few days. The silicone looks solid, and it even looks like they attempted to scrape some off. I just don't know if it'll void any kind of warranty when I scrape it off.
 
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