And It Begins... 55 Gallon Calfo/Bean

Well it's now official, I've taken the leap, pulled the pin, lit the match... You get the jest right?

Inspired by Petco's $1 per gallon sale, I picked up a 55 gallon tank, inspected it closely (lifehack for tempered glass detection: Laptop on a blank white screen and a pair of polarized sunglasses works GREAT) and began ordering a few of the items needed to get this baby ready to rock out a custom overflow. Here's what I've used & done so far.

Kicked it off with a friend of mine who constructed a kickin' stand for me! I have to do a bit of finish work, but it's looking pretty good.

I decided to go with 1 inch and a 3/4 return for this build, so I ordered a 1 1/2 inch and 1 3/4 inch diamond holesaw & the bulkheads 1 inch (3) and 3/4 inch (1) for the overflow.

Will be painting the back black with a bit of Krylon Fusion Black and finishing the stand up this weekend (fingers crossed!)

Finished drilling today and had a few little issues with the first and last hole, but overall a better experience than I expected and far cheaper than the cost of taking it to the local glass shop here.

I hope to get the glass for the Calfo soon and I'll begin picking up the plumbing soon as well. I'm a pretty patient cat and I'll be doing bits and pieces as my wallet and job allow me to.

Want to send a shout out to ReefSparky and his incredibly detailed http://www.3reef.com/forums/i-made/reef-sparkys-18-x-18-x-18-nano-build-95329.html that inspired me.

Information on the Bean may be found here: BeanAnimal's Bar and Grill - Silent and Fail-Safe Overflow System

 

looks good!!! congrats!!

 

looks good so far; now just gotta fill it up!

 

Good start, I had the same problem with holes. Learned later best way is to make a template out of wood for each hole size, clamp it to the glass with a solid piece of wood behind to prevent the glass from splintering.

 

^^^^^ THIS is a great piece of information that I will truly take to heart next time. I was scared to death to drill this tank, and luckily did so without any major errors, but this suggestion would have put my mind at great ease.

I've added a few updated pictures, spray painted the back of the tank (Navy Blue, Krylon Fusion) and stained/finished the stand. Since the paint needs 7 days to become "chip proof" I'm beginning on my glass measurements for the caflo and the sump (see the 30 gallon behind the painted 55? That's next on the agenda). And I hope to start on some of the plumbing this week.

The glass itself will be coming from an "insider" who can get the glass for me for... Free! So that part will have to wait until after President's Day to be completed.

 

Thanks! I'm pretty excited about all of this, hopefully I can get a chunk of it done soon. Work is getting ready to ramp up quite a bit, I'm hoping I can stay just a bit out in front and have an evening here or there to keep plugging away at it.

 

Thanks!

No kidding, I've still got a ways to go on this, but once it's finished the satisfaction of filling this puppy up and watching it cycle is going to be great!

 

coming along great..looking good...

 

Thanks! The real issue will be the plumbing. I've always joked at home that there are two types of repairs I avoid like the plague.... Plumbing and electrical, given prior experience in our old home (one resulted in a serious frying and loss of a fingernail, the other in a small indoor pond, neither of which made the wife happy), I'm keeping my fingers crossed and knocking on every bit of wood I see.

 

Nice start. The stand looks great. Did you build it yourself?