Signature 600

[McPikie]

So, having decided to venture back into the world of marine tanks, I picked up an Aquanano 40. But before I had even got everything sorted, I was tagged in a post on facebook for a TMC Signature 600 being given away...... literally.

2017-04-03_07-50-14 by Phil Cookson, on Flickr

AntST uses this forum, and I can't thank him enough for his generous offer. I darted up to his and picked up the tank, sump, return pump and pipework. Unfortunately, the stand literally fell apart as we tried to move it Hysterical

After driving home with the windows down, I set about cleaning it all up

2017-04-03_07-50-34 by Phil Cookson, on Flickr
2017-04-03_07-50-25 by Phil Cookson, on Flickr
2017-04-03_07-50-54 by Phil Cookson, on Flickr

There is a line of staining where the water level was, along with a couple of fine scratches near the bottom where the sand was removed in haste, but the tank was free, so I cannot complain. I've ordered a cerium oxide kit, so hopefully get to that this weekend.

I've cut the padding for the bottom of the display and sump. This is something my mate gave me and was used for under generators

2017-04-03_07-51-30 by Phil Cookson, on Flickr
2017-04-03_07-51-24 by Phil Cookson, on Flickr

Noel is currently making me a 900 wide cabinet to fill the alcove, and I am going to sink the tank in by 75mm or so, mainly to hide the sand line.

In the meantime, I have picked up around 25kg of rock, which is overkill, but means I can make a nice scape and have some left over in case I need it.

2017-04-03_07-51-39 by Phil Cookson, on Flickr
2017-04-09_04-47-43 by Phil Cookson, on Flickr

Let it all cure in RO for a couple of weeks

2017-04-03_07-51-45 by Phil Cookson, on Flickr

Then had it all drying out over the weekend

2017-04-09_04-47-24 by Phil Cookson, on Flickr

Time to do some dry scaping and get some ideas

Scape 1
2017-04-09_04-47-50 by Phil Cookson, on Flickr
2017-04-09_04-47-56 by Phil Cookson, on Flickr

Scape 2
2017-04-09_04-48-09 by Phil Cookson, on Flickr
2017-04-09_04-48-03 by Phil Cookson, on Flickr

Scape 3
2017-04-10_11-15-52 by Phil Cookson, on Flickr
2017-04-10_11-15-46 by Phil Cookson, on Flickr

I like scape 3, lots of room for coral, lots of caves etc. I might try to make a sort of bridge to go across the back from left to right. Going to wait until the cabinet is finished then move it all over and milliput it into place.

 

[Phil077]

Looks Nice mate. and all for free. win win Big Thumbs Up

 

[CEECH]

Scape 3 looks really nice lots of space for coral placement. Nice score on the free tank did not take long for an upgrade lol

 

[MartynIT]

Not bad that fella.

 

[McPikie]

Not bad that fella.

Cheers.

I'm hopefully picking my stand up this weekend, then going to crack on and cement that scape in place. I am also hoping to be ******* about making an LED/T5 hybrid

 

[merser]

Go on phil!!!


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[McPikie]

Well, had a go of polishing the marks out of the glass this weekend. Didn't make much of a difference, so sod it, cant be bothered trying it again.

Stand should be finished this week so I can get that stained in ebony and sealed.

Made some progress in that I painted the back glass with satin black

2017-04-30_01-52-30 by Phil Cookson, on Flickr
2017-04-30_01-52-36 by Phil Cookson, on Flickr
2017-04-30_01-52-47 by Phil Cookson, on Flickr
2017-05-02_10-21-52 by Phil Cookson, on Flickr

Also picked up an IT2080 Pro-Reef with a fault for not a lot of money

2017-04-24_10-10-03 by Phil Cookson, on Flickr
2017-04-24_10-10-13 by Phil Cookson, on Flickr

Seems to only have moonlights on. If I set it to cloudy/sunny etc, it flashes all bulbs on, then straight back off again and back to moons. It's either the drivers or the front panel. I need to send it back to Mark really to test, but on looking at it over my tank, it's just that bit too big, so think it would be wasted.

2017-04-24_10-10-21 by Phil Cookson, on Flickr

MP10 arrived

2017-04-13_10-33-23 by Phil Cookson, on Flickr

 

[warby]

polishing the glass takes ages and if you can feel it with your nail it's too deep to polish out.
why not see about getting the 2080 fixed if it's not a lot cost wise get it done sell it and buy the 2060?

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[McPikie]

Cabinet build, massive thanks to Noel

2017-05-05_08-45-15 by Phil Cookson, on Flickr
2017-05-05_08-45-21 by Phil Cookson, on Flickr

 

[chippypah]

Coming along nicely there.

 

[merser]

Awesome!!


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[McPikie]

Going to pick up some ebony wood stain this weekend and get cracking with it. Might even pick some fancy handles for the doors.

 

[merser]

Going to pick up some ebony wood stain this weekend and get cracking with it. Might even pick some fancy handles for the doors.

Nip back to the 80s pal. They'll have some stain in [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji24]


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[McPikie]

Nip back to the 80s pal. They'll have some stain in [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji24]


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I want it satin, so stain is the best option

 

[warby]

looks good. don't forget to varnish it. I gave mine 2 coats of stain then 3 coats of satin yacht varnish. 18months later still looks good as new even the inside.

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[CEECH]

looking good coming along nicely

 

[McPikie]

Picked up an IT2060 with the blue channel blown from Noel

Seems on testing that only one bulb was blown right out, which took the whole string out. However, as some of them were darkened off, those were swapped out too for LEDs from the 2080 I had which was faulty.

Bish, bash bosh

Now it's up and running, I want to swap it to pro-reef spec

 

[merser]

You look well finishing that off pal

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[McPikie]

LOL. Bite me

 

[McPikie]

Cabinet varnished inside

It utterly stinks too, so not sure I can be arsed to do the outside.

Pulled apart and tested the spare 2080pro-reef board.

I've labelled them all so I can easy pick off the ones I want to when I make changes to the 2060 to suit what I want.

Need to get my drain and return sorted this weekend and actually try to get the tank wet.