135 rimless DIY

[weaglereefer]

brianjfinn;530715 wrote: I bet you'd be ok removing the center brace if you added euro bracing. You could also set the euro bracing a quarter inch or so below the top edge, allowing for a place to lay the mesh top, making it look less like having trim.

Chris, you'd be the expert on this, so let me know if I'm wrong.

That sounds like the most reliable option, IMHO, but I'm no structural engineer.

 

[fish scales2]

brianjfinn;530715 wrote: I bet you'd be ok removing the center brace if you added euro bracing. You could also set the euro bracing a quarter inch or so below the top edge, allowing for a place to lay the mesh top, making it look less like having trim.

Chris, you'd be the expert on this, so let me know if I'm wrong.

Remove the top, add eurobracing and you will have a structurally sound tank.

Do yourself a favor and remove the water from the tank, place a piece of 1/2" insulation under it before filling it back up. I would trust it 0% without.

 

[texhorns98]

Fish Scales2;530757 wrote: Remove the top, add eurobracing and you will have a structurally sound tank.

Do yourself a favor and remove the water from the tank, <u>place a piece of 1/2" insulation under it before filling it back up. I would trust it 0% without.

</u>


He KNOWS of what he speaks, TRUST me!!!

 

[acroholic]

If your stand has a lip on the bottom that will cover the bottom trim, then you can leave it on and that would remove the need for any foam under it. Chris can correct me if I am wrong on that. The Oceanic Illuminata series has bottom trim, but no top trim, and that tank goes directly on the factory stand.

 

[misu]

Fish Scales2;530757 wrote: Remove the top, add eurobracing and you will have a structurally sound tank.

Do yourself a favor and remove the water from the tank, place a piece of 1/2" insulation under it before filling it back up. I would trust it 0% without.

Will do the foam part, but I think I like the center brace better than the eurobracing.

That calculation in my first post, is it accurate, do you use something like that? Because based on that I'm right at the safety limit _without_ the center brace.

no bottom trim on the stand but I get the idea on the vortechs. Maybe I'll try them now to see best placement/power

thanks all for the input, I should have more updates this weekend

 

[fish scales2]

misu;530846 wrote: Will do the foam part, but I think I like the center brace better than the eurobracing.

That calculation in my first post, is it accurate, do you use something like that? Because based on that I'm right at the safety limit _without_ the center brace.

no bottom trim on the stand but I get the idea on the vortechs. Maybe I'll try them now to see best placement/power

thanks all for the input, I should have more updates this weekend

The calculator is a great tool but there are other factors that come into play.

You could also replace the top glass with a piece that is flush or counter sunk by 3/8" and add a tab on both sides to hold mesh tops.

 

[misu]

The center brace is already flush so I think I'll leave it in place. Maybe when fish try to jump and hit their heads on it they'll change their mind

 

[fish scales2]

I put on my glasses now. Sorry:doh:

 

[misu]

that's cool, not the best angle pic either.

On the insulation now, go with the pink HD stuff, blue Lowes or black exercise mat?

 

[fish scales2]

Pink but either will do.

 

[misu]

Found a stand on craigslist that fits perfectly and this is how it looks inside the house after a coat of paint.

I should have the tank in place this week, thinking about removing a piece of the sides. Right now only the front of the tank would be visible.
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<legend> Attached files </legend>

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class="gc-images" title="Mobile Photo Jul 6, 2010 10 03 31 AM.jpg[/IMG] style="max-width:300px" /></a> </fieldset>

 

[misu]

another interesting thing I found is the sump is actually a full blown ecosytems aquarium mud filter. I thought it looked sort of funky so I researched a bit and it's an older version of their model Pro3616.

http://www.ecosystemaquarium.com/products/eco-marine/eco-filters/pro-series-filters.html">http://www.ecosystemaquarium.com/products/eco-marine/eco-filters/pro-series-filters.html</a>

Question is what to do with it
- use it as a normal sump and ignore the mud part?
- buy some mud and run it like they say?
- sale/trade it here to someone that's interested in going with the mud system?

 

[eric b]

Going to be a cool build and by the way I have the same Oceanic tank but it is 72x24x24 - 180 gallons and had the 18" wide center brace. Myself and Grouper Therapy tried to cut it down while in place but cracked part of it so I just took whole thing out and cut it down to 2" wide and siliconed it back in place with some GE RTV108 silicon. The center brace was really etched up and would have covered my entire center MH reflector and limited the par through it.

 

[misu]

I thought about making it narrower or maybe adding 2 smaller strips.
Based on the calculator I found I should not need the center brace at all but I'm not sure I have the balls to try it

 

[eric b]

misu;532165 wrote: I thought about making it narrower or maybe adding 2 smaller strips.
Based on the calculator I found I should not need the center brace at all but I'm not sure I have the balls to try it

Yep felt the same way but 18" was seriously overkill. 2" doesn't look bad and was also toying with 2 smaller strips.

 

[weaglereefer]

Man, that stand looks nice! I agree, it would look nicer if you could see down the sides a bit.

 

[misu]

au01st;532190 wrote: Man, that stand looks nice! I agree, it would look nicer if you could see down the sides a bit.

thanks, got from a guy that picked it up in Florida and never set it up, fairly cheap too. Needs some work on the doors but it's nice and solid.

I'm upset I didn't ask you to help me move the tank inside yesterday, we're both "right size" guys

 

[weaglereefer]

Yeah, I would have, I didn't even think about it (didn't know you had the new stand there).

 

[misu]

I have to drill the stand for the 2 corner drains/returns how much larger should I make the holes compared to the bulkheads?
Is it better to make two round 3" holes in each corner or can I just use the jigsaw and cut larger rectangles?

 

[weaglereefer]

Well, make them A LOT larger, or make them very precise; if you don't have wiggle room to adjust the bulkheads, the tank will look crooked by a little bit. I would personally just jigsaw out a triangle and be done with it.