Big tank on a small budget

Hi @MarcHawke I went and read your entire thread.. Very nice build there..... Tank looks stunning too..... In regards to the warping are you sure its the heat and not moisture that got in somwere??? It just feels to me there is not enough light to warp but add moisture to that heat and you could bend a u with wood... Haha. In anycase I hope your plan to sort it works and I hope I don't have to deal with something like that in the not too distant futre...... As for the gas lifters I think its only the shaft that's stainless steal the body is metal. I use to drive a old golf at varsity and the lifter was rusted bad.... Well the whole car was crap too. But I loved it.... I'm getting off topic here. I will give them a go in anycase. If it works it will be a pleasure to open and look cool at the same time.... And if they do rust I can just remove them. If you want me to be the test subject I'm more than willing....haha

 

Oh crap my spelling is getting worse.............Sooo the first coat of paint is on. Starting to look like a canopy and not some random wooden box. If all goes to plan my tank will have n canopy on by Monday..... And then I can start with the all the cabling and control box.... I think you guys will enjoy that also....

 

As promised. A pic of the canopy with first layer of paint on…. It's getting there slowly.

 

wow thats a nice finish! complete overhaul

 

Dude! That finish is freakin awesome. Very very nice :congrats:

 

Hi @KennyG and @MarcHawke Thanks so much guys. I also think it came out good. But I ran out of paint....:banghead: Now I can only finish tomorrow.... Arrrrggggg.... Stupid me.


So after my fail me and a friend went wood hunting at the Modder river and found some very nice pieces. I also almost killed myself trying to cut a very nice piece from an uprooted tree but had to give it up.... Dam I'm unfit. But we promised to go back with a propar saw... Some still need to be dried and then soaked. I should have started with this sooner. I got so lost in the setup that i forgot about the scape.... haha. I also decided that the 350l will definitely get a overhaul once the 720l is done ( will start a new thread on that project.I'm already excited...) Its starting to look very plastic to me. Maybe even try a live plant or 2... Will have to talk to some of the planted guru's on the site... Haha.


So here is some of the pieces. I even arranged some of them and the soaking prosess..




What do you guys think?

 

quality pieces of wood! im desperate myself to find some wood!

 

Dude @KennyG this is a family site......... HaHaHaHaHaHaHa

 

But thanks allot..... I barely survived the trip.... Wish I took a pic of the piece we left behind. It was stunning.........

 

Nice pieces of wood. Be careful you don't poke a hole in your pool :amuse:

 

@MarcHawke it was the only thing big enough to fit everything into..... But will keep an eye on it. Also got more paint this morning so the second coat is on. So fingers crossed I will have a canopy on my tank by tonight.....

 

Cool dude. Lots of pics....

 

Bja bja mooi stukke hout... I enjoyed the wood hunting part a lot when I did my tank.Cool thread

 

Thanks again everyone who has been following my journey. Its truly amazing how sharing this has inspired me. It has slowed a bit since the new year but I'm trying to keep momentum on the project...

In any case. I finally completed my canopy... And I will be keeping a close eye on it. I hope @MarcHawke and @Zoom that all your advice and lessons learned will help it work great. Now i must start adding light as my original 2 x T5 38watt 6500k Opple units need some more help and there is some dark spots i would like to sort out.


But before I show you guys my canopy here is a recap of the build.( For those of you that like pics...:bigsmile




The tank as I got it....


New stand and Clark....



New 4ft 2 chamber sump....


Sump with media basket in stand....



Tank on new stand...

 

Diy filter socks for machanical filtration



Diy 50mm pvc overflow



And the tank up and running...



If anyone was wondering the diy felt filter socks has not clogged after 3 weeks. I know its early days and not much of a bioload yet but the results so far seems positive. Also my diy overflow is still going strong with no problems......Fingers crossed.....

 

Great diy imo.

 

Congrats. I hope this brings you a lot of joy and try not to lose that momentum :congrats:

 

And last but not least my brand new canopy.... I really hope its better than the one on my 350l tank....:stickyman:

 

@Ryno and @MarcHawke Thanks sooooo much guys..... I will be bugging you guys in the not too distant future for some planted advice..

Ps: sorry for the crap quality pics will post some better ones later tonight...

 

Hi @a3aan, i have just read this whole thread and am in awe of all the work you have done on your tank, your DIY is freaking awesome, well done!!! Please keep posting.....