Pinchy Palace Journal

[scuttlecrusty22]

Your set up is so awesome!!! Congratulations on becoming addicted to little crabbies!

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[Scarletfire]

Added the corner protectors to both length of the tank. This serves to create a smoother surface for glass lid to slide layer, as opposed to glass on glass.

I settled for pools on same side. If I made one lengthwise, there's too much gap btletweeb the back of the pool and the back of the tank.

Just planning out the egg crate.. But because the

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[Scarletfire]

A few things about egg crate. Wear safety glasses. Your eyes will thank you. Luckily I wasn't blinded, but good thing I had a pair around.

Moving onto the good stuff: the egg crate design was to maximize crabby fun, ease of maintenance, and maximizing the space. So far, I did the basics of how I want the egg crate to wrap around the tank. I took MotorCrab's idea to cover most, leaving a tunnel to go into the water. Love that it adds walking space. I made the cover part removable so that water changes will be easier.

The crate on the side of tanks is zipped to the sideand the crate that holds the ladders can be easily flipped to the opposite side in the extremely unlikely circumstance that I need to remove the tank.

I left a 1.5" gap to the top because I'm still debating on what to do with the lid. I really want the lid to be 4 pieces to slide left/right. For it to slide... 3 pieces will be on the top of the glass, and the last piece needs to slide either below or sit above it. If it sits above, it complicates the sliding, and makes it difficult to move. If it sits below, I need to somehow make a sliding ledge that holds the weight of the glass piece. I've played with the idea of F moulding I used in my 50 gal, but there's nowhere to put it with the top black rim removes. If I use an Aquarium rimless glass lid clip, it'll hold the 4th piece in places, but at the cost of one unalidable piece. It can be removed, but cannot slide.

Side note:my 50gal suction cups have finally all failed. Never using them again. With egg crate, I can now just securely zip tie everything

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[Scarletfire]

Bought my lights today. Luckily the greenhouse carried one left, same model as my 50gal. For those who haven't come across my other thread, it's sunblaster T5HO full spectrum, spec'd for hydroponics for the future potential of growing plants.

Aaand, with the lights, I found the scratch on the outside of the tank from waving the scrapper around when resealing... Wasn't noticeable before, but it is a glaring mistake now.

In hindsight, installing the lights as one of the earlier steps would've helped a lot to see better as opposed to relying on the room light above and behind me.

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[Sillymel]

Your tank is looking great! Thank you for the updates.


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[aussieJJDude]

You may find to grow plants, the T5 may have to be lowered a bit... or get more units to increase PAR.


You may of already touch on this, but are you bracing the tank? I'd worry about the volume putting stress on the seams and glass if you're not...

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[Scarletfire]

You may find to grow plants, the T5 may have to be lowered a bit... or get more units to increase PAR.


You may of already touch on this, but are you bracing the tank? I'd worry about the volume putting stress on the seams and glass if you're not...

I'll lower the lights some more!

I've resealed the tank, but haven't braced the stand. I'm using metal tubular stand. Were you referring to bracing the seams of the glass tank or the metal seams of the stand?

Edit: it's not a true rimless as I just removed the top trim. The glass is 6mm thick, and I've left the bottom black trim as is.

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[aussieJJDude]

I've resealed the tank, but haven't braced the stand. I'm using metal tubular stand. Were you referring to bracing the seams of the glass tank or the metal seams of the stand?

Edit: it's not a true rimless as I just removed the top trim. The glass is 6mm thick, and I've left the bottom black trim as is.

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Yeah, I was referring to the top trim. While it does look tacky, it also helps provide a little structural integrity IMO, as 4ft of glass (at 6mm) can bow quiet a fair bit! Ive seen it happen to my prior unsupported 150g tank, and then after of couple of months the glass cracked.

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[Scarletfire]

Yeah, I was referring to the top trim. While it does look tacky, it also helps provide a little structural integrity IMO, as 4ft of glass (at 6mm) can bow quiet a fair bit! Ive seen it happen to my prior unsupported 150g tank, and then after of couple of months the glass cracked.

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That sounds expensive. Thanks for the heads up!

I'll look into eurobracing and see how much extra glass I'll need to get.

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[Scarletfire]

Turns out the glass is 9mm,not 6mm. Hah. To do an eurobrace to prevent bowing, I'm estimating this to be $40. I guess I should plan out the lid and order it at the same time.

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[Scarletfire]

Glass lid calculations below as well. 4 pieces of glass represents two hinged glass lids. I couldn't figure out how to make it slide without a place to put a track. If I do the eurobrace inside the tank, I feel it wouldn't be straight/level enough to my liking. The hinged lid will cover the r tire tiop, also hidi g the eurobraces hopefully. Hinges are acrylic from ebay. I'll take a photo when it arrives.

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[Scarletfire]

If you're tuning in now, and wondering what this is...

I was completely ready to fill the tank in with sand, when aussie brought up a super important point that if I de-rim (remove the top black trim), I need to brace the aquarium so the glass walls don't rip from the seam.

SO

Instead of removing everything inside, I sealed the insides from a bag cut in half, with tape around the top to prevent anything from going in. In preparation for a silicone adhesive for the glass, I'll be finally using the Permatex RTV silicone for added strength. In the mean time,I did a thorough silicone removal of the top edge (scrape, emery cloth, acetone, repeat) , and taped the sides and inside to prevent silicone run off.

I'll be buying the glass this Sat and borrowing 4 4ft clamps. With this limit, I'll only be able to put on one pane at a time.

All this just to get 2" of viewing space... We'll see if this is worth after!

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[Scarletfire]

OK, so the reason I havent updated on a while is because I got super frustrated and a lot happened in the past few weeks.

1. I got 2 new kitties! Just introduced them to the crab room and they're now exploring everything.

2. I got engaged! I now have a proud fiancee who will be marrying into 2 kitties and a lot of crabbies.

3. I messed up on the crab tank on several points. Please learn from my mistakes.

Mistake #1
Always Always check the dimensions on anything you order. This is my lid. A piece of glass that covers the entire tank. 4 of them. The other 3 are still in the car. I asked for this dimension divided into 4 pieces, but it was 4 pieces of this dimension made. My fault. I guess if it ever breaks I'll have backup.

Mistake #2
I did not check what maximum length of clams I can use. I have 1x 3 ft clamp and 5x 4 ft clamps that I borrowed to do the eurobracing. The photo is a 3ft clamp,too long for the ceiling. Textbooks it is.

All in all, on the positive note, I could get the adhesive sealant I wanted.

Next post will hopefully be successful bracing.


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[Scarletfire]

My most lovable kitty decided to use eco fiber as cat litter. How expensive. I didn't even think to cover it when I introduced them to the crab room.

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[Moe2076]

OK, so the reason I havent updated on a while is because I got super frustrated and a lot happened in the past few weeks.

1. I got 2 new kitties! Just introduced them to the crab room and they're now exploring everything.

2. I got engaged! I now have a proud fiancee who will be marrying into 2 kitties and a lot of crabbies.

3. I messed up on the crab tank on several points. Please learn from my mistakes.

Mistake #1
Always Always check the dimensions on anything you order. This is my lid. A piece of glass that covers the entire tank. 4 of them. The other 3 are still in the car. I asked for this dimension divided into 4 pieces, but it was 4 pieces of this dimension made. My fault. I guess if it ever breaks I'll have backup.

Mistake #2
I did not check what maximum length of clams I can use. I have 1x 3 ft clamp and 5x 4 ft clamps that I borrowed to do the eurobracing. The photo is a 3ft clamp,too long for the ceiling. Textbooks it is.

All in all, on the positive note, I could get the adhesive sealant I wanted.

Next post will hopefully be successful bracing.


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Congratulations! Thanks for all your posts and pics complete with the ever useful "dont make the same mistake I did" section! I so look forward to seeing it as you progress and I love reading about things I should avoid, as I am building/upgrading right along side you.

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