DIY Stand Remodel

[noteworthy]

Well I finished the stand. I just need to paint it. So I have pics of the canopy skeleton I just finished and the stand. The skeleton lateral parts are very thin... 1/2" but when it is skinned it will be fine. Most of the weight goes down on the 2x4 which is a little overkill but hey I had them lying around.

 

[Scooterman]

Nice work, going to look like a really nice stand once all painted! Someone was getting er done

 

[noteworthy]

Finished the canopy around 12:45 am

Just need to paint inside and outside of both.. then add my hardware (handles/knobs)

I'm kinda scared that it will be too tight to fit. Its exactly the same size opening around the lip as the trim of the tank. Maybe I'll get lucky! Funny thing is I know I added a half inch.. somewhere I lost it






I still have two full sheets of birch ply LOL - I might make something to go behind the tank to hide that space but I'm not sure. So total cost of stand/canopy without trim is about 70-120 whether you use regular ply or birch ply. Those trim pieces really can add up, but they do work to hide some imperfections and give you nice corners when using a miter saw.

 

[Lone Wolf]

Very nice. Is your tank glass? Are you going to set it on a sheet of foam?
I am in the process of building a stand and canopy for a 180 and 135. Trying to decide just what to do. Thanks.

 

[noteworthy]

Never thought about the foam part... I've never used foam.

The purpose would be to help level out the tank better? 1/4" or what size?
My tank is an Oceanic glass tank.

Well I also put my baffles in my sump and they look a little bad - silicone has a way of smearing everywhere!

Projects still to finish this week:
- Paint, Paint, Paint
- Building my overflow(s)
- Paint overflow(s)
- Wire a small area of outlets. I think I'll do GFCI on my heaters and my lights.
(All pumps on Regular Socket.)

I have a very large surge protector and thought about running these outlets off that one protector. It will clean up a lot of wiring and help avoid the 'power strip or extention' laying on the floor.

Suppose to move everything this weekend. Probably Saturday night or Sunday morning to the new stand.

 

[Scooterman]

Instead of using styro foam type materials use the closed cell material like for sleeping on when camping, they are about 1/2" thick, will compress better.

 

[noteworthy]

Sounds good. I might look into that... walmart, home depot might have that eh?

You guys ever heard of using hydraulic struts to hold a canopy lid up? I found one post but really no info on it.. just a small picture of wetwebmedia that I cant really understand. I know you can pick some up and autozone. I just havent made the trip to see the sizes.

 

[Scooterman]

You can go to the camping section at Wal-mart or any place like that, look for the sleeping mats, mine was plenty wide enough to set the tank on, like $9 for it!

Struts are a cool Idea, seen a few that work well, should be easy to install!

 

[Lone Wolf]

Thanks for the input. I know that you always use a foam under an acrylic tank, but have noticed people using it under glass as well. I think it is a good idea since it will level everything out. Walmart is a great idea.

Scooterman - I would GFCI everything that can touch water or even accidently touch water. If you have a ground probe in your tank or sump, you really need it desperately. Your life may depend on it. I have the power to all my tanks going through a GFCI. Sometimes it is a pain, because just unplugging a pump can trigger it, but it is worth knowing that it works and will kick off the electricity if anything goes wrong. The new 180 gal I am setting up will have everything going through a GFCI. I want to take no chances. You know you can use one GFCI and wire your other plugs in sequence so that the one GFCI unit will protect all of the plugs? Good luck!

 

[noteworthy]

Kinda off subject but something else Im doing

Sump - Messy.. I know... Plus the plexi is probably too thin.. I did double up 1/2 of the main baffle.

DIY Overflows started and finished tonight.

That was a lot of parts...






Something random from my weekend vacation!

 

[burban94]

Could you do a write-up on your diy overflows and how they work, they look very interesting.

 

[noteworthy]

Sure.. I stole the idea from another link.. DIY PVC overflow on 3reef I believe.

They didn't have a surface skimmer is the only difference.

Basically to keep suction between the pipe you need to construct three U shapes. Two for the bottom one for the top. The bottom two.. inside and outside the tank keep the suction when power is lost or flow stops. the top is merely needed to get over the tank wall.

I made three pipes that were 16" tall. One to go down in the tank... one to go outside the tank and one for the vent pipe off the T.

for the surface skimmer I used 4" pvc with a few adapters to get it to 1.25 on the bottom. Put an 11 1/2" tall 1.25" diameter standpipe inside the surface skimmer and a 2" pipe about 4 inches down over that 1.25" diameter pipe for a durso. The T needs to be right above the outer U shape elbows to drain efficiently.

Something I used on the top U shapes that go over the tank wall are air check valves.

BAD IDEA! I just found out they lose suction afer a few minutes and make the overflow fail unless you have a luft pump attached. I am going to seal up those holes and run airline up the overflow into the pipe to prime and leave it there. That is the only problem I've had.

They seem to work very well and failsafe as long as you dont use those check valves AND your pvc glue keeps the airseal between the pipe.

More links:
http://www.3reef.com/forums/i-made/nice-cheap-diy-overflow-29396.html original thread I found it on...

http://www.3reef.com/forums/i-made/diy-pvc-overflow-cant-keep-up-36405-2.html

Oh the surface skimmer I just used my table saw and cut down it every 1/3 to 1/2"

 

[noteworthy]

More Pics - still need to do a few more things but pretty much finished...


Drain Holes were too high after everything set and filled so I had to drill more. The top ones will drain before the tank overflows but it made me uncomfortable with them that high because it almost started covering the center brace on top.

 

[noteworthy]

More




Bought the Xenia today at the LFS for $20 first thing I've had coral/polyp wise since I lost my mushrooms around the time I moved the tank to our new home.

 

[dhnguyen]

man it all looked sweet until I saw the Remora skimmer in your sump. Somewhat an anti-climax to an otherwise awesome build thread

 

[noteworthy]

The remora is just what I have until I build my 5 gallon water jug skimmer! Actually my nylon screw stripped out and will not go in so I have to plug that hole somehow. Its something to skim until I get my new skimmer working in about a month. w00t!

 

[dhnguyen]

Now you're talking Ok back to our regular scheduled program

 

[Scooterman]

Nice work, tank & stand look great! Congrats!

 

[noteworthy]

Thanks guys. I appreciate how you guys stick around and comment/help. Over 600 times people have read this thread. Overflows on the inside are a little sloppy looking but they are functional and you can only see below the water level. I am VERY happy to be rid of the toms aqualuft pump. I just grabbed an airline coupler and put both airlines on the coupler. Haven't lost prime in the 2 1/2 days running. One of those days I had no water flowing from the sump.

It's looking like I can't afford the MH for lighting. All these other projects are splitting the funds quite a bit. I do know for sure I'm going to get a new pump for the 5 gallon water jug skimmer and a closed loop pump. My two Rio HF20's have had me very disappointed with the rattling/noise and locking up occasionally. I was thinking a dart pump for the closed loop.

As far as lighting I only have two 110w bulbs in the canopy. 220w over a 125 gallon tank isn't really that good. Do I really need to add VHO? PC? What do you guys recommend?

 

[dhnguyen]

Have you thought about having a couple stream style pumps in there instead of a closed loop?

The stream pumps would move alot of water and be much more efficient than a closed loop IMO.