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Brandie's 210 Upgrade

denzil said:
Me too! It's going to be a pretty amazing tank. It's making me want a bigger tank, haha.
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You need a real tank! The 40B will be a nice size though. I really like my 30 gallon, which has similar dimensions to the 40 breeder.

I can't wait to see all Brandie's fish in that huge tank!
 
FeliciaLynn said:
Yeah, I'm really glad you guys didn't just go ahead and put water in the 210. I tried that with my 30 gallon (much easier to test than a 210) and those hard water etched spots definitely stilled showed. The 210 is looking good! Glad Denzil got more of the polishing done. I can't wait to see it on the stand with some water in it!
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Oh gawsh, I can't wait!! And most definitely, I am so glad that we waited... what a miserable mistake it would have been if we just jumped the gun and assumed it would disappear with water in the tank... I'd be SOL, that's for sure! Haha. Eeek.

Yeah he did get lots more done. Can't wait until we see it all clean and polished up! Then it will be time to throw it up on the stand, by a bucket of salt, and mix the water! LoL. Gotta get my old skimmer out of the 90 so I'll have a skimmer for the 210. Every I think of the "List o' Stuff To Do" for this tank, I get so disheartened... even more so when all these interviews are turning up nothing = / Oh well, I know I'll get there eventually!! :)

Onward ho!!!
 
Hey guys, when your RBTA looks like this, what does it mean?
 

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Denzil going through and marking with perm pen where he needs to go over the glass more with polish. :)
 

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So, I've been iffy on whether or not to redo the silicone on the 210 ever since we got it. The bottom silicone looks great, but the sides have had me continuously debating with myself on whether or not we should redo it. I mean, it's easier now than if it really needs it down the line, and before the animals use it right? But then it really didn't look all THAT bad....

However, ever since Denzil started to polish the tank, the unfortunate side effect is that the silicone was going to get banged up a bit, and the polish has the potential of further drying out the silicone... That made up my mind, he's going to finish polishing it, then we will re-silicone it. It will suck, because so much for a "water in" date by July right? But really, for my peace of mind, I feel like it really needs to be done. Besides, tank silicone, I was told has a life of 10 years, if the tank has been treated gently. Well, it sat empty for a year or so, (outside or in, I'm not entirely sure) then it was used for about 3 years, then sat empty for an undetermined amount of time. So really, my silicone is 5 years into its "10 year" life, and with the polishing abuse, I feel like the life's been shorted even further. I plan on this being "the tank" until we set up our BIG tank, so this big boy will be up and running for a long while. Instead of having problems down the line, we are going to bite the bullet and do it now. We won't remove the silicone in between the panes (too risky, IMO) but we will be doing what's in the tank and exposed to the water. Good thing we practiced on my smaller 25 gallon earlier this year. ;) Denzil's really good at re-siliconing (of course :D) so hopefully it won't set us back too much time. Worst part about re-doing the silicone on this beast is the clean up part-- once you get all the old stuff out, it's pretty smooth sailing from there. But getting the old stuff out will be a chore... :eek:
 
I do not envy you at all. I just finished up doing all the silicone work on my new tank, and let me tell you, re-siliconing that little 30 gallon took a lot of time. Ripping out the told silicone and cleaning it all up was definitely the hard part, like you said. I don't even want to think how long that is going to take in your huge tank. I think its smart that you're re-doing it though. My new tank had sent empty for quite a while and the tank itself is like 8 years old, plus then the polishing abuse, so it definitely needed new silicone. I'm all done with your silicone tools that I borrowed, so I need to get those back to you guys so you can use them on your tank. When are you planning to start? I could pop them in an envelope and mail them to you, which may be the easiest and quickest way to get them back to you.
 
FeliciaLynn said:
I do not envy you at all. I just finished up doing all the silicone work on my new tank, and let me tell you, re-siliconing that little 30 gallon took a lot of time. Ripping out the told silicone and cleaning it all up was definitely the hard part, like you said. I don't even want to think how long that is going to take in your huge tank. I think its smart that you're re-doing it though. My new tank had sent empty for quite a while and the tank itself is like 8 years old, plus then the polishing abuse, so it definitely needed new silicone. I'm all done with your silicone tools that I borrowed, so I need to get those back to you guys so you can use them on your tank. When are you planning to start? I could pop them in an envelope and mail them to you, which may be the easiest and quickest way to get them back to you.
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Just replied to your PM :)

Ugh, I'm not looking forward to it at all. Getting the silicone out of the 25 was a pita and that was small enough for me to carry to the bathtub! I'm not sure what I'll do to get all the little pieces out of the 210, but I'm sure Denzil and I will come up with something. I just can't not do it now though. There won't be any other time that we can redo the silicone, and because of my "I stress out about everything" personality, I can just see this as being a huge weight on my shoulders in the long run. Let's not even talk about what would need to happen if we had to re-silicone this big boy after the fish need it for a home... <-- STRESS CITY :eek:

Hrmmm... as for your other post in your H.e thread, where is this guy who sells these jawfish? I may be interested in a mated pair as well. I've always wanted a pair... but haven't revisited that thought until I realized that I have recently chopped down my fish list even further, but I don't think that a pair of jaw fish would tip the bioload overly much. After seeing that Achilles at Erin's I've cut out most of the new fish... I'll be getting another female melanurus, a copperband butterfly, and a red head solon fairy wrasse, but that's it. Hrmm. Let me think on this a little bit more, but if it's OK with you, will you PM me the name of the online retailer please? :)
 
Yeah, its going to be a TON of work on that big tank, but way less work than if it starts leaking after its already up and running. You guys will figure it out! You can probably just scrape out the silicone and then wipe up the little pieces with a damp paper towel. That's what I did with my 30 gallon. That way doesn't require the bath tub.

I bet you could get away with 2 jawfish. They're tiny compared to your other fish. I sent you the info in a pm but just in case anyone else cares, its KP Aquatics that I plan to order them from. I've had multiple great experiences with ordering from them and I highly recommend them. I'm going to be getting a couple fish, sponges, and gorgonians for the new tank from them.
 
Dang, scraping all that old silicone off will be a huge job.
I have heard that strong cleaning-vinegar will help soften it a bit.
I have also heard some people use a wooden or even aluminum dowel in a drill. Bit scary though.

Concern though : Do you have a big table and tools to clamp and hold all that heavy glass when you re-glue it?
It will fall apart once you get all the silicon off, and you have to put it together correctly, align it right,
keep the bottom flat, and so on. Not super hard, but something to think about.
 
rygh said:
Dang, scraping all that old silicone off will be a huge job.
I have heard that strong cleaning-vinegar will help soften it a bit.
I have also heard some people use a wooden or even aluminum dowel in a drill. Bit scary though.

Concern though : Do you have a big table and tools to clamp and hold all that heavy glass when you re-glue it?
It will fall apart once you get all the silicon off, and you have to put it together correctly, align it right,
keep the bottom flat, and so on. Not super hard, but something to think about.
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Interesting about the drill bit, thanks!! We'll have to look into it.

We actually aren't taking the silicone out that holds the glass in place, ie the silicone inbetween the panes. We are just taking out the water proofing silicone, or the stuff you see in the corners. We talked extensively about it with Matt F. At Aqua Exotic and he told us that unless we were replacing a broken pane, there's really no need to replace that silicone since it isn't really exposed.

And yes, it will suck, big time haha. But I think it's a smart move, and my peace of mind will appreciate being left at peace... Lol
 
So in between life, applying for jobs, interviews and working interviews, I put some time in to the 210 yesterday evening. I finally got most of the work on the sump done, only thing left is to sand and level the cut pieces of pipe for the "trays" that the sump rock will fit on. :) I'll post up pics!
 
Here is the sump after a friend helped us cut out the top for easier access. I was going to leave it as is, but I realized that it would be a hassle to do maintenance on with such a small area of access. We cut it out, and I got a file and smoothed it all down so it didn't cut up arms, hands or fingers. :)
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