500 Gallon Peacock Bass Aquarium

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
If anyone followed or took a look at my previous build, I built a stand out of strut channel and then tapped a stand skin onto it. For this revision I am planning to reduce the stand height to 30" and make a "wrap around" skin that will not be attached to the stand, but simply slide into place. See Figure below.

The two sides (33" tall x 30" wide) will be ripped from 3/4" red oak plywood, while the front face will consist of 1x6's for the horizontal runs, and 1x4's for the vertical runs. The front face will be connected using pocket screws. The front to the side will just be just regular wood screws and glue. Along the top edge I will attach 3/4" quarter round miter cut at the corners. Possibly additional quarter round along the bottom. I will also be ordering custom oak cabinet doors, with hidden hinges, once I have the canopy design finished

I believe this wrap around design will make maintenance easier as I will have full access to the stand when removed. Moreover, this will make it a lot easier to stain or seal the wood at a later date.

I would appreciate comments if anyone has done something similar and if anyone sees any possible issues.

stand-cover.jpg
 
Do you have a recommendation on the type of polishing pad to use with the orbital buffer? Is Novus 1 redundant after 2000 grit? I've already got the novus 2 & 3 and am about to do the same thing on my little 37g. tank looks great btw
 
dvo;4891050; said:
Do you have a recommendation on the type of polishing pad to use with the orbital buffer? Is Novus 1 redundant after 2000 grit? I've already got the novus 2 & 3 and am about to do the same thing on my little 37g. tank looks great btw
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When I do it by hand I just use a clean white tshirt, I'll have to look at what pads are available. Novus 1 just cleans and shines the plastic, it doesn't remove any scratches. After 2000 grit you will notice the biggest difference after using #2, but you should still use #3 directly after the 2000 grit.
 
Been busy the past couple of days with preparing the baby's room, but I did have a chance to get a sander, buffer and order some fine sand paper.

For anyone interested in polishing an acrylic aquarium, I'll post details so that if the end product looks good you'll know how it can be done.

Picked up a Ryobi 5" random orbital sander and 6" orbital buffer from Home Depot. Ordered sanding discs from McMaster-Carr ranging from 320 grit for a couple of deep scratches, then 600, 1000, 1500 and 2000 grit papers. Will be doing sanding and polishing in the corners by hand. I plan to start sanding this weekend as I still have a bit of interior tank cleaning prep to do first.
 
jtalley;4894325; said:
Been busy the past couple of days with preparing the baby's room, but I did have a chance to get a sander, buffer and order some fine sand paper.

For anyone interested in polishing an acrylic aquarium, I'll post details so that if the end product looks good you'll know how it can be done.

Picked up a Ryobi 5" random orbital sander and 6" orbital buffer from Home Depot. Ordered sanding discs from McMaster-Carr ranging from 320 grit for a couple of deep scratches, then 600, 1000, 1500 and 2000 grit papers. Will be doing sanding and polishing in the corners by hand. I plan to start sanding this weekend as I still have a bit of interior tank cleaning prep to do first.
Click to expand...

Ok, from a man who buffed big scratches out of a 600, heres the deal. Be careful with the 320. After you go throught the sanding progression from coarse to 2000 to remove the scratches I would use an auto buffer with a very wet sponge bonnet and polish. I used Novus buffing products and they work great. Number 3 to start and then number 2. Keep it wet. After trying a bunch of things this worked best. I would buff the whole tank first inside and out because sanding the whole thing I found was not necessary. Also take your time buffing because I blew 25 hours doing it over weeks to get it right. Great project, cant wait to see some bass.
 
jtalley;4888662; said:
If anyone followed or took a look at my previous build, I built a stand out of strut channel and then tapped a stand skin onto it. For this revision I am planning to reduce the stand height to 30" and make a "wrap around" skin that will not be attached to the stand, but simply slide into place. See Figure below.

The two sides (33" tall x 30" wide) will be ripped from 3/4" red oak plywood, while the front face will consist of 1x6's for the horizontal runs, and 1x4's for the vertical runs. The front face will be connected using pocket screws. The front to the side will just be just regular wood screws and glue. Along the top edge I will attach 3/4" quarter round miter cut at the corners. Possibly additional quarter round along the bottom. I will also be ordering custom oak cabinet doors, with hidden hinges, once I have the canopy design finished

I believe this wrap around design will make maintenance easier as I will have full access to the stand when removed. Moreover, this will make it a lot easier to stain or seal the wood at a later date.

I would appreciate comments if anyone has done something similar and if anyone sees any possible issues.
Click to expand...

I Like the idea. I built a concrete block stand and the only thought I had is to leave the faux stand in 3 pieces, so the instead of doors in the front the whole front can be removed for gaining access to the filter etc.
 
bridgefisher;4894930; said:
Ok, from a man who buffed big scratches out of a 600, heres the deal. Be careful with the 320. After you go throught the sanding progression from coarse to 2000 to remove the scratches I would use an auto buffer with a very wet sponge bonnet and polish. I used Novus buffing products and they work great. Number 3 to start and then number 2. Keep it wet. After trying a bunch of things this worked best. I would buff the whole tank first inside and out because sanding the whole thing I found was not necessary. Also take your time buffing because I blew 25 hours doing it over weeks to get it right. Great project, cant wait to see some bass.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the comment, I have polished a lot of acrylic before by hand, so I'm not new to this. :D The 320 grit is a backup, I intend to first try 600 in the deep scratch areas, and 1000 everywhere else if I can.

I actually did try to hand buff a region that had a variety of depth of scratches, with #3, going to finish it out with #2. But from my previous experience I think the scratches that are all over are too deep to just polish alone. I'm glad you mentioned this though, and I agree you have to take your time at each step or you will have go back repeat something.
 
Huge and Beautiful!....I have no words
 
I wasn't able to get any sanding done yesterday due to an 8 hour power outage because of high winds. I'm hoping to make progress today.
 
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