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6x2x2 Tank - Now up and running - 56k warning


Mr.Tang

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Hy Guys,

Another update. I had a pretty productive day today and have some more pics for ya. I can't beleive I have spent 6 days on this already and only have another 5 days of holidays.

I went to St George Landscapes (very friendly mob - thanks for the tip Craig) and got all of my plumbing parts sorted.

Next was yet another trip to bunnings to get more goodies. After that I decided to reseal the bottom of the tank so I spent around two hours with a blade in hand clearing off all of the old silicon from the entire bottom seam.

1 and half tubes of silicon later and I am pretty happy with the results. First seem I did really sucked but I got better and ended up with a really clean seam for the front. Pics below.

I was planning on installing the background but needed to let all the silicon dry and of course sort out the plumbing so I assembled the durso and the intakes for the canisters. Probably a good idea to let the silicon cure for 48 hours then see if the tank is now leak-proof and then install the background.

Anyway here are the pics....

The weir Wayne put in for me:

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First seem I did:

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Last seem I did:

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The durso:

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The cannister intakes:

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Cheers,

Marc

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Coming along nice Marc....

One thing you might like to check is the diameter of your durso...as it looks pretty small going by the pic it looks like it is only 1" pvc pipe....use the 1.25" pvc pipe then using a reducer to the bulkhead.

The first one I made was only using 1" and was too restrictive with the flow....and very hard to keep the level stable

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Coming along nice Marc....

One thing you might like to check is the diameter of your durso...as it looks pretty small going by the pic it looks like it is only 1" pvc pipe....use the 1.25" pvc pipe then using a reducer to the bulkhead.

The first one I made was only using 1" and was too restrictive with the flow....and very hard to keep the level stable

Yeah, my bulkhead has a 32mm hole and I tried to source a 40mm to 32mm reducer/step-down converter but the guys at St George landscape said they don't exist or maybe they just don't stock them...

So yes, the durso is made of 32mm pipe if anyone can tell me where to find a 40-32mm reducer I'll take your advice and build a new durso.

Free to good home one newly built never used 32mm durso if anyone wants it haha.....

Marc

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Looks like I'm off to bunnings again in the morning then...I'm starting to like that place but I go in with one thing on the shopping list and come out with ten :lol2: At least it only takes 5 minutes to make the dursos. Might modify the new one slightly.

Thanks again,

Marc

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Hi Guys,

I filled the tank 3/4 full yesterday to check for leaks before proceeding to install the plumbing and background. I checked it at various stages throughout the night and all was looking good so I cut my olgas background in prep for install. I went in to the garage this morning to check the water level and found an empty tank :cryblow: but not only was it empty, all the lids and center braces were in the bottom of the tank so it must have flexed pretty hard.

When I resealed it I was careful not remove any of the silicon between the glass - only the inner seal itself. I'm really not sure where I went wrong :dntknw:

All in all I'm glad it happened it he garage and not inside the house but now I am back to the drawing board....

Marc

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Man, that sux :(.

Does that mean you'll now buy a newy or will you try to rebuild this one?

Good luck with it,

Jamie.

Yeah it sux BIG time, but I have come to far to quit now. I refilled the tank to spot the leak and with only an inch of water I found it on the front seam - the one I thought I did the best. Ce la vi. I have just finished removing all of the seams - every one. I have to go pick up a mate and when I return I will clean up all of the dreggs of silicone and start again.

Anyway, thought I should show you a pic of me in my current state - I am the frog.... :lol1:

IPB Image

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Good to see you are persevering, I'm sure you'll be very proud when it's all done and dusted.

Most of the aquarium silicone that I've seen says to let it cure for 7 days before water testing it, maybe it just wasen't quite cured?

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Mr Tang,

can u PM me the details of the dude you got to make you a weir and tank drilling, i have a few tanks i need drilled :thumbup:

cheers

Rob

so a durso is essentially a silencer and a flood stop

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Durso wont stop a flood but it will quieten the water fall noise in a tank.

But luck with the tank bud. So close to getting it finished too.

When the tank was re-sealed by the previous owner was it stripped right down or was it just re-sealed?

Josh

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Well it can definately reduce the amount of water that goes into the sump, as the water in the weir itself will only empty down to the level of the durso, wich can be a fair amount on a big tank....so in a way it can save a flood by reducing the amount of water that goes into the sump ;)

Bummer about the tank mate....hope it all works out!

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Durso wont stop a flood but it will quieten the water fall noise in a tank.

But luck with the tank bud. So close to getting it finished too.

When the tank was re-sealed by the previous owner was it stripped right down or was it just re-sealed?

Josh

Not sure but I doubt it - pretty messy job he'd done and when I removed all of the seams, two of the originals just pealed away with way too much ease....

When I redid them all (the second time) I cleaned away everything with a blade then metho then taped everything off then metho again then four whole tubes of silicone. Probably overkill but I don't want to have to do it again.

I should also note that there was next to no silicone holding the braces on and by the way the braces were laying in the tank, the front came away first and then the back. I am getting new braces made by Wayne and also took the opportunity to organize sliding lids :) so there was a positive to take from it.

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  • 2 months later...

Hi Everyone,

Thought I'd give you all an update.

I bit the bullet and got a new tank from Wayne and am glad I did. I have had the tank up and running for about 5 weeks now and have had fish in there for the last 3 weeks and all is good.

Here are a couple of pics for you:

This is the tank with the background installed. Used two tubes of silicon here. There is a gap of about 1.5 inches between the bg and the weir as I had already cut the background before getting this new tank. I have filled the gap with some rolled up gutter guard and it is hardly noticeable with the rocks piled up in that corner.

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The plumbing behind the background. Connected to this I have two canister filters.

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The sliding lids. Really, really glad I went for these.

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The left hand side of the tank. River ("Lucky") stones from Bexley Caringbah Sands. Cost me $40 for 100kg of stones and 60kgs of washed sand.

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The right hand side of the tank.

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I think Santa might be getting me a new cam for Christmas so I will post some more pics of the occupants , current landscape and show you whats under the bonnet.

Hope you all have a merry Christmas.

Marc

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