Huma's 6ft Frag Tank Build

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huma-huma

huma-huma

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
May 7, 2011
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Hopewell Pa
I have an old 72" dual overflow 125 collecting dust in my basement. as i was discussing my possible options with a friend, he brought up the idea of turning it into a frag tank, however theres a neat spin to it. he thinks i should cut it in half...horizontally.... to be honest, i LOVE the idea of a shallow 6ft frag tank and i have about 75% of the equipment needed to do it. so as long as i can get the tank unburied and into some open space, im goin to start working on it this weekend. havent really thought about how im going to deal with the dual overflows but that will come in time i guess. i will be using a dremel with a diamond-tipped cutting wheel on it. any suggestions or comments are welcome. ill upload intial pics here in about 2 hours or so.
 
to sniper, being as to how the tanks prob only going to be 6-8" tall, i figure it wont need any bracing at all, maybe a glass center brace just as a precaution. id really like to just sand down the cut edges and round them off. then again it wont have to be perfect looking considering its staying in the basement. who knows. at this point the particulars are in the discussion phase lol
 
Isn't a 125 gallon 21" deep? I don't know if I'd call that shallow lol. But it sounds like fun!
 
I've done this with an acrylic tank before but never attempted a glass tank. I would make it more than 6" though. You are going to want room for eggcrate or something to put frags on plus, some corals will grow a bit taller. Also, you'll want a little space at the top of the tank or water will spill over when you put your hand in. 12" would be better IMO.

I think what would be better is to take the tank apart and cut the glass traditionally (scoring it with a glass cutter) piece by piece. This will make perfect cuts. Then you can glue them back together with nice, fresh, silicone.
 
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guess I should have clarified a bit in talking about the depth. it will prob end up somewhere near the 12" range, I was thinking 6-8" of water depth but as you said mr x, im gonna need to install some form of frag plug holders, so that will add a few inches.i really don't know which route to go in terms of cutting it. on one hand, I have access to a proper power cutter that could simply make the cut while its still together. but on the other, if I tear it down and score each piece, itll look more professional afterwards.
 
I mean I don't think its meant to cut completely through, just score it enough to snap the glass. im just really scared to take it entirely apart. I feel like I should build some form of a wooden support frame so that when I put it back together it will si right.
 
Doesn't it have the plastic trim around the bottom? Cut the silicone away and remove the sides without damaging that, then clean that up real good and slide the cut pieces back in after you load it up with fresh silicone. You are leaving the bottom piece seated. Don't forget to save the cuts so you can make a center brace.
 
going to start unburying the 125 tonight when i get home. couldnt find my camera the other day to take a photo. im thinking (or atleast hoping) that by effectively cutting the tank in half horizontally, it will remove alot of the water weight on the tank itself, so i should be able to leave it rimless without too many issues. i will add a center euro brace just for a bit of extra comfort, but i want it to not have any dead spots in terms of lighting. i forgot to mention that the main reason im attempting this is because i really want my dt 125 to be strictly that..a display tank. also with a 6' shallow frag tank, ill have enough room that once up and running, it should help to pay for my rediculous obsession that is the sw world. this frag tank is going to be in the basement and out of the way, so it wont be a burden on the eyes in terms of taking up the limited living space we have left lol
 
Also following!! I have a 125 gallon acryllic tank that was used as a sump for a 250 that I could do this with in future :)
 
thank you for followin tmar!! there is a small possibility that i may ruin the entire tank but idc. this tank has been sitting in the basement empty for alomst 3 years. Trying to secure the dremel for this weekend. just need to figure out how to build some form of a guide that will help me in scoring this glass
 
Very interesting idea. I'd like to see how this turns out. I'm hoping to get a frag tank set up in the near future. Rather scatter propagated corals in the hobby rather than taking them out of our natural reefs!
 
thats a 6 footer greg?? looks insanely large lol. and oscar thats another great point!! why pull corals out of living reefs when i can prpogate them myself
 
only thing that sucks is that its not a center overflow design. if it was id just split line-lock and aim 1 jet nozzle in each direction. but i think that im going to cut out 1 overflow, build a small acrylic drain box to go over the holes, then use the other end for the return nozzles.or something similar. i will be tossin in prob 3-4 fish just to keep things going in there. ive always wanted bw clowns and some naked clowns. so who knows, maybe ill toss them in.
 
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