Barely DIY, but INDY/resealing help still Required

[MaddMaxx]

Yeah, I taped it and let it sit for over a week, I guess I just didn't keep enough pressure on that seam while I was taping...

So, I got started on the brace anyway, I'm gonna see if that improves my sense of security...

Test fitting some of the pieces, I played around with cutting 45* corners, man thats a bi*ch to get right...

All glued up and clamped in place...

And the corner detail... Deck screws, exterior grade wood glue in the corners, and silicone between the brace and tank...

Not half bad if I do say so myself. After I cover the screws, sand off the corners and stain it, I think it'll look real sharp... It will also have 2 braces that run front-back, but I have to install my driftwood before they can go on...

 

[Midknightskie]

I don't think it will make much diffrence with all the pressure if the silicone gives a little then the wood has no chance. think about it this way if your tank is 3' tall then the water pressure on the glass panes are 125.5 psi using this formula P = l*g*h.
l = water density
g = gravitational acceleration
water density = 1000kg/m³
earth's gravitational acceleration = 9.81m/s²
H= height
make sure you convert to meters for this formula and then multiply by 0.014 to get psi.

 

[MaddMaxx]

I don't think it will make much diffrence with all the pressure if the silicone gives a little then the wood has no chance. think about it this way if your tank is 3' tall then the water pressure on the glass panes are 125.5 psi using this formula P = l*g*h.
l = water density
g = gravitational acceleration
water density = 1000kg/m³
earth's gravitational acceleration = 9.81m/s²
H= height
make sure you convert to meters for this formula and then multiply by 0.014 to get psi.

Interesting, but (without looking into it seriously) it seems that equation only gives the pressure exerted on the bottom pane (or the bottom seams), which using the formula you gave for a 2'(0.61m) tall tank: P=1000*9.81*0.61*0.014 = 84 psi (about the pressure exerted on the floor when I stand on my toes ). And this is the pressure at the bottom, where I have good silicone seams.

The brace was only designed to help keep the shape of the tank (there are 2 cross-pieces aren't in the pictures) and make me feel better about the top-corner that has some voids (but under significantly less pressure).

I have some more (picture) updates to come and very soon... setup pictures!

 

[Midknightskie]

PSI=per square inch; how many square inches of glass is there? Multiply that by 84. Your only thinking of one square inch of glass...

 

[MaddMaxx]

PSI=per square inch; how many square inches of glass is there? Multiply that by 84. Your only thinking of one square inch of glass...

I don't really know what you're getting at here. I never said I think its only going to weigh 84 lbs. I understand that pressure = force over area (hence, psi = pounds per square inch), and that I can get the total weight of water pushing on the bottom from that.

BUT, I don't see how the pressure, or total weight/force, on the bottom pane matters much concerning my top brace or questionable top seam, where both the pressure and the total weight (or outward force) are significantly less.

The tank was originally built as a rimless tank (structurally anyway), so the purpose of my brace is really just twofold: make me feel better about the voids in the top corner, and add strength by preventing the top from bowing out.

I believe that by simply retaining the shape of the tank, I will significantly increase the strength of the top corners. I remember someone at college did a test on climbing caribiners and found out that the "clip" portion added strength by holding the shape of the whole caribiner even when the "clip" itself was made of thinner or weaker material.

 

[bigbaddad]

those braces will hold up fine as long as there is something in the middle or a triangle in the corners i deal with alot of structral weight daily but i'm still learnig to spell and use the keyboard.

 

[MaddMaxx]

lol thanks! It actually has 2 cross pieces evenly spaced. I'm currently staining the whole brace, just don't have pics up yet.

 

[MaddMaxx]

So after a few weeks of working on the tank here and there, its finally sitting filled in the garage for a long-term leak test...

And how it got there....

So when I left off, I had a brace around the out side, with no cross pieces-

Which was good cause I had 2 large driftwood pieces that I wanted to put it first. I cut them off a large stump that I found at work. I laid the tank down flat and siliconed the wood in place-

While the tank was curing on its back for a week, I cut and pre-drilled the cross braces-

I righted the tank, glue/screwed the cross braces on and started to sand and stain-

I was hoping for more of a black "stain" that showed some of the wood grain through, but I'm still really happy with how the brace came out-

Next, I decided to take the advice I recieved on here and re-silicone the inside bead (note to self, next time take advice prior to affixing large pieces of driftwood in the way), so I cut, scraped, cleaned, taped and laid down a fresh, thick bead of silicone and smoothed it with a spoon. Worked wonders and really made the tank look better as a whole-

Since I wanted a black background I painted a couple of 1" thick foam pieces for the bottom, back and 1 side (due to the location the tank is going, you won't see that side). I figured the insulation wouldn't hurt the tank-heating bill-

I laid the tank on its face and used some "spray-mount" to stick down the back and side (the bottom, back and side will all be tied together for structural support)-

Then I set it up on a 2" piece of foam and started filling-

Now I'm gonna do 100% water changes every few days to get as much crud outta the wood before I bring it inside...

 

[bigbaddad]

looking good.

 

[MaddMaxx]

looking good.

Thanks!

I started working out the set-up in the house now. Here's where its going-

Its going to be the same height as the breakfast bar (you can see it on the left), which I'm really stoked about. I made a thread in Setup/Filtration to talk about the filtration and stocking...

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=307975