140 Gallon RBP tank project

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Neesmo

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 24, 2010
31
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Alberta, Canada
I have picked up a 140 gallon tank recently from Kijiji. Got it for a good deal and hope to move my Red bellied Piranhas into it within a couple weeks. Right now I have 6 RBPs ranging from 4-12" in a 80 gallon which is too small and it requires mass water changes.

Tank is 72L x 19W x 24H
Glass is 12MM 1/2" thick

Tank is rimless top and bottom. Bottom being 3/4" inset on bottom
This is how the tank sat when I came to look at it.
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When we decided to purchase the tank we knew that we would need to do some bracing to the top and make sure to support the bottom considering there is no trim to hold the bottom pane securely in place. Last thing we need is silicone giving way.
I started the project by having 4 pieces of glass cut to 18" x 6" to use as braces in the the top. Braces in inset 1/4" so the lids will sit nicely in the top.
Glass is 10mm as I couldnt find 12mm locally, but should hold nicely.
Took me about 1-2 hours to clean the tank up as it was used as a salt water tank previously and had some minor deposits around the top. Also had to remove a lot of silicone from the top and bottom where the trims were previously held on
I held all the braces in place with celfort and 2x4s to keep them from moving while the silicone set up. First I only siliconed the top of each piece and then after 24 hours I removed the supports and siliconed the bottom portions of the braces. I used tape at ~5/16-3/8" down from the brace to make a clean edge of silicone. I pulled the tape after doing all the siliconing and had a straight edge, as you will be able to clearly see it when tank is complete.
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After all the silicone was on it looks almost ready for a stand
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The stand is already started as you can see in some of the pictures. I will continue to work on the stand over the next week or so as I really dont know what I want to do with the inside of it yet. I know I will have the power bar and some shelves setup inside. Along with building in a stand for the filter I will be running on this tank. Im looking for a good deal on an FX5 but will likely end up running a Fluval internal and a Rena XP4 as I think it would be a better setup for Piranhas and their messy foods.
Also might mount the 10 Gallon hospital tank into the face of the stand and only have 1 good sized door instead of 2 doors. I only need access to the filter as I store all my foods and filter media in another tanks stand
Will keep posting updates as I gain progress
Let me know any ideas or thoughts

Kyle
 
the tank didnt need extra bracing. alot of older tanks have no center braces or trim holding them together it's because they have much thicker glass (yours has 1/2' on the sides most modern ones have 3/8)


my tank is also an older tank and didn't have any bracing or trim


but good start
 
I runa rena xp4 on my 150 anf its amazing, iv had it setup on my 150 for about 2 weeks, and im really surprised it does so well and the flow is way underrated , i have a 13"jag, a 12"Oscar , 8"RBP,8"Venustus, 7.5"REDDEVIL, and 2 plecs and my tank is currently only running the XP4, until i build my sump or mod my fluval 404
 
Zander_The_RBP;3922264; said:
the tank didnt need extra bracing. alot of older tanks have no center braces or trim holding them together it's because they have much thicker glass (yours has 1/2' on the sides most modern ones have 3/8)


my tank is also an older tank and didn't have any bracing or trim


but good start

I hear that but the glass was free with a little phoning around. The guy that sold it to me assured me I would not need to do so either. The tank was used for years as a reef setup and it held up well so I was confident when I picked it up of the strength. I have to figure out how to support the bottom glass though. Its inset 3/4" and I cant find any foam that is 3/4"
Ideas?

Kyle
 
OscarMaster;3922277; said:
I runa rena xp4 on my 150 anf its amazing, iv had it setup on my 150 for about 2 weeks, and im really surprised it does so well and the flow is way underrated , i have a 13"jag, a 12"Oscar , 8"RBP,8"Venustus, 7.5"REDDEVIL, and 2 plecs and my tank is currently only running the XP4, until i build my sump or mod my fluval 404


Nice mix of fish. I have a 5" red devil but havent had any luck keeping him with another fish. Every time I try, it last a few minutes and the other fish is likely to die soon so I remove him
Im probably going with 2 XP3s or a sump at this point. I was going to run a canister until I had money for a sump but I think Im going straight to the sump and not mess around..

Kyle
 
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