DIY 90 Gallon Reef Ready Acrylic Tank

[Spartanman22]

Last week my dad calls me and tells me he got 3 4'×4' sheets of 1/2" acrylic. So naturally my first thought is upgrade! I currently have the deep blue series 2 stand (48"×24") with an 18" cube and 18"×18"×8" frag tank. So this upgrade is designed to fit my current stand.

The tank sits in my living room and both my fiance and I hate having an external overflow and having to see the plumbing come out the back. On this tank I will be doing and internal overflow to avoid this. The final dimensions will be 48"×24"×20" euro braced. All rough cuts were made with a table saw using a 200 tooth steel blade. The edges were then prepped using a router and a flush trim bit.

I will be updating this thread as I go along. All the pieces are cut and prepped. Assembly will begin this week using weldon #4.

 

[trackfast]

Very nice so far. Can't wait to see the final product. And congrats on your engagement !

 

[Spartanman22]

Thanks! Weddings coming up in about 6 weeks then once that's behind us I can finish collecting the remaining pieces of equipment for the upgrade.

I'm hoping to get some assembly done this week. It's being built at my parents house since all the tools are there. So I'll have to find time during the week to make it home

 

[IHaveCrabs]

Along for the ride on this one!

 

[Spartanman22]

Ok so I've been giving some thought to the drain and return. I was thinking of two 1" drains (one drain and one emegency) and a 3/4" return. Will these hole sizes work well? I have a DC6000 return pump but may be upgrading to a RD3. I will be drilling through the bottom pane to prevent having any plumbing visible. The overflow will be in the back left corner and will be made out of black 1/4" acrylic.

Also, would a single opening 3" eurobrace suffice or should I consider a eurobrace with a center brace resulting in two openings?

 

[Spartanman22]

Made some progress today. Still need to put the top and bottom on, cut out the eurobrace, router all the edges and bevel the edges, and finish it all off with a flame polish

 

[Spartanman22]

I'm hoping to get home tomorrow and get this thing finished! Anyone know what size I should be making the eurobrace? I was thinking 3" all the way around with two openings

 

[r33fswagg3r]

I'm hoping to get home tomorrow and get this thing finished! Anyone know what size I should be making the eurobrace? I was thinking 3" all the way around with two openings

3" is plenty. Plan in advance, do you know what powerheads you are putting in the tank, if it's anything with a cord you could make a nice routed cutout in the brace to have the cords go through. If you are doing a screentop you could router tabs into the eurobrace to hold a screentop flush with the eurobrace.

 

[Spartanman22]

I will be using vortechs so no cords inside the tank and I already thought of the screen tab idea. I will definitely be doing that to keep the screen flush with the top. Gotta keep all those fish where they belong!

 

[Spartanman22]

But you're routering in for the brace is an even better idea!

 

[Ryandragon]

update ?