187 Funky Dimension Prbly Gonna Flood Floors Build

[asonitez]

Well good news is that last night I made my first cuts of the top and bottom rails today i.e. I'll be cutting the legs side and other support. I haven't screwed anything together yet just dry fitting everything

The funny thing was that I had to literally build all of my tools to support my building of the tank lmao. The saw horses alone took like 1 hr for both lmao.

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[asonitez]

Well started the assembly tonight and things were going well before I ran out of light.

2 things about the rocket engineer stand and about wood in general.


8' 2x6 are not really 8 feet. I had to trim off some and will need to trim off the bottom as well.


My measurements are as follows and I cut using a miter saw. The only thing I may not have accounted for was the width of the blade. I cut ON my lines instead of on the outside edge of them leading to what I think added up to be a fraction of an inch all around.

At first I was incredibly ****ed because I cut all my End pieces.

The saving grace is that my 2x6 will have multiple cross braces at the top. After test fitting them they pushed it out the top rails a little bit and I got my 30". After I add in my ply wood wrapping and my top piece I'll have more than enough width and support.

Also the tanks glass is very wide meaning that the full surface of the glass will be supported on braces and the wide section of the 2x6.

Due to the width of the 2x6 I may need to cut the back rail to clear my bulk head holes. I will add vertical supports at the cuts and horizontal support as well.

Y'all think I should recut the end pieces to make it 30". I want to say it's maybe 1/8" or less


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[asonitez]

Nope wood is cheap and I have extra

I recut the end pieces and got my 30"

I did this in the garage at like 10:30 lol. It would have seriously bothered the hell out of me. As I suspected cutting on the outside of the line worked wonders.

Good news is that the other pieces I cut can still work as cross braces for the sump!

I'm traveling for a few days so next update will be Monday. I should have the entire thing framed out and ready for some Kilz paint. Then the wrapping begins.

Update!!!
With all the stress of my build and stand issues the last few weeks I took some time to spend Father's Day with my dad. He's a carpenter but in jersey so he couldn't help me too much with my build. I did take the time to show him my plans and we tweaked a few things. We also murdered some porgies and sea bass in Massachusets.

Tonight I'll be back to the stand getting the rest of it framed out!

New update tonight





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[asonitez]

Update !!!!

Got a lot of progress done tonight. I traded back my harbor freight table saw for a nice kobalt one from lowes. It was on sale and seemed to be better quality than the harbor freight one plus it came with a rolling stand!!!

and I also bought a Krieg pocket jig for when I place the uprights under the tank. Here I am testing it out.

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[asonitez]

So some more updates tonight!

I cut the uprights and supports for the tank which will allow it to be centered on the 8 foot stand and have adequate support. I was able to finesse the template out of the SCA tank and was pleasantly surprised to see that it should fit without having to cut the uprights to clear the bulkheads. If it does I can notch the uprights and add a cross bar and 2 additional supports to take the weight off.

I was also thinking if I need the bottom middle brace at all. I wanted to put a piece of plywood there seal it and use the flex rubber stuff to water proof it. If my sump leaks or something leaks the bottom would contain the leak without getting on the floor.

I also picked up a plane to smooth and even the frame. I was able to remove the majority of "lips" from the frame to even it out which should enable me to skin it more efficiently.

I have decided on 4 doors. I

Traded in my harbor freight table saw and stand for this sexy one from lowes for the same price after discount.

Pocket hole jig working wonders

Update:

Sorry this has been slow going. I'm a new wood worker so I have to buy my tools as I go if I don't already have them lmao.

Tonight I was able to install my 1/2" floor and upright columns.

My thought process here is that my sump will sit INSiDE of the stand and directly on the floor of my stand. I am sealing and kilz the floor of the stand and using the rubberized flex seal item from lowes to make the bottom waterproof for the most part.

Also this allows me to have the maximum height of the stands interior to work with.

The rocket engineer plans if I'm not mistaken rely on weight being transferred to the bottom frame at the sides and along the length of the tank. Since my tank is going in the center of the stand I added vertical supports all 4 corners using 2x6. It should take the weight and then some.

(Please advise me if not lmao) tomorrow I cut my sides top and front.

I also build my table saw lmao.

Did a bit of gardening. This is today's harvest

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[asonitez]

Update been skinning this thing all day almost done !!

Just picked up some trim from lowes

Finally skinned OMFG this is a lot of work but I spent the day cutting and measuring and cutting some more and measuring and routering and planing.

Added more cross braces to the top of the stand

Trim ready to get mitered and installed

More tools lol harbor freight sales are awesome

Also the employees at my local lowes love me lmao. They have been following my build even hahah. They recommended some tools to me and the manager gave me a 30% discount on some stuff for being a loyal customer in the form of discounting some returned/open box stuff.


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[asonitez]

Update!

Last night I was able to get all the trim installed. I went with very simple trim.

This was a major accomplishment and I can't believe I'm so close to being finished.
Tonight I was able to triple kilz the interior of the stand. Arguably this was the hardest to get every crack, crevice and hole filled. The wood ate up the first coat and the second coat didn't give me the coverage I wanted either. I ended up with 3 light coats that really sealed the deal.

I put 2 light coats on the exterior of the stand as well. This coat will be lightly sanded with 220 grit sandpaper before I put on the exterior paint. I still have not figured out doors yet. Doors won't stop me from getting the tank up and running though.

 

[asonitez]

First coat is on!!!

Tank should be on the stand this weekend !!!!!!

I also ordered my doors they not arriving until next week though.

 

[asonitez]

What a busy Monday!
My doors arrived unexpectedly

The tank made it into the stand after me and the guys moved the stand inside.

Then the doors got mounted up

But it was back to the garage to fabricate the center doorstop because the 3rd door from the door manufacturer wouldn't fit!! I plan to engrave and do a really nice raised emblem of the family crest.

Then it was off to my remote controlled waterproof led lighting

I have infinite and DIY colors as well. Very bright and easy to see what I'm doing inside. Tomorrow I'll be painting the doors and maybe test fit some plumbing.

 

[asonitez]

Massive update almost time for water!

So I have been having terrible luck with some aspects of this tank. Let's start with drains!


The SC Aquariums come drilled with 3 1" holes. This is great but traditional overflow plumbing won't work. It comes packaged with a. 1" Durso and a 1" return that gets reduced to 1/2" at the top.

We all know 1" Durso sucks because the tricks won't work with it to make it quiet 1 1/4" is needed.

So I built 2 and found out that they won't fit for shiet in the overflow. The eurobrace makes things very difficult to get my bear arms inside.

I went with the herbie! 2 cracked bulkheads later and it's plumbed.

During this plumbing and during a blackout my friends and I were able to fix the pad under the tank and give me some peace of mind that an edge of the pad won't buckle and destroy my house.

That blackout also taught me that charlotte
Has frequent blackouts and they typically last a few hours. During that blackout I started pricing out a generator for the house and although that's a next year project I was able to pickup 2 used ecotech battery backups.

They arrived like this!

They were packed well and it's no fault of the shipper usps sucks hard. These were obviously heavy and obviously thrown.

I worked it out with the seller and got to work since one battery was ratttling inside which meant possibly plates were broken or the battery was internally damaged I decided to replace both batteries and keep the other 2 as backups. I got out my hammer, grinder and Sandee and got to work salvaging the cases.

New batteries

All done

Prime day hit and I used points and the discount to grab one of these to run my apex and monitor the tank

 

[asonitez]

Remember those cracked bulkheads? Well a quick overflow water test revealed that 2 more cracked and you guessed it. I had to disassemble the overflow replace the 2 bulkheads and re assemble.

Since I was up there I decided might as well hang the light.

My ceiling drywall is 5/8" thick which meant handing my light from the drywall using the anchors was needed since of course not a single stud lined up with my tank.

Hung the lights and tested for deflection and saw none. I'll install the bulbs later on but right now it's time to get my stuff plugged in.

Got my herbie installed. Waiting on a gate valve. Light is up and I've been playing with settings. This light is amazing!!!!

So much wiring cleanup! Waiting for my cable organizers.

Almost there!!! Will def be full by tonight. And I can turn on the pumps and test out my herbie. Or spend the evening ****ed off because it didn't work at which point I'll make 2 Durso's and say fcukit

 

[asonitez]

Update time:


So I swear I have not been idle lol.

So I was able to get the tank full of RODI and salt

3 40lb bags of caribsea ocean direct later and I have a completely cloudy mess

So I figured I would put my skimmer in and crank that summabish up. Remember my sump area?

Not good. My skimmer could not fit due to the elbow!!! Earlier in my build thread I found out the 200sss was unavailable for weeks from my retailer and instead got the 250sss. Well it's to big.

85lb braided Fishing line later and I was able to cut out the first baffle.

Look ma it fits!!!

Finally set this bad boy up.

Threw a bunch of this in

About ready for rock I say !

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[asonitez]

The gifts keeps on giving:

So this one time I legit spent like 100 dollars on a cleaning magnet. I know right dumb. Just grab a magfloat and keep it moving amirite? Lol

Today I opened my box of goodness and pulled out ye' olde' magnet - goin on a few years old now and naturally it has a lump.

So being the good little reefer that I am I figure maintenance!! And pulled off the Velcro to replace it


Da FUQ?!!?!?

Oh right I forgot EVERY SiNGLe thing must challenge me for this project cuz why not fuq me right lol.

So I shot off an email to the manufacturer algaefree and after apologizing for the wet side failure he will be sending me a nEw replacement wetside for free and that my fellow Reefers is why I spent 100 bucks on a f*!&@:!& magnet.

My back hurts a lot. It took us 4 hours lots of wet floors lots of buckets and 3 tubes of epoxy.

The tanks too cloudy to show you pics of the final scape but there in some more clarity and hoping for the best.

Skimmer went crazy of course considering it's not broken in yet and temperamental...

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[asonitez]

Alright you scurvy reef pirates I got a pic of the scape

My inspiration is Chingchai

My thought process was to go slightly less than 3/4's to the height of the tank.

I'll be using 4 MP40's with random flow .

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[asonitez]

So last night after a ru day doing rock and other tank stuff it was like midnight when I started doing the manifold.

Wife came in found me taking a nap on the job. In reality I had lay down on the floor to stretch out my back after crouching under the stand routing wires and closed my eyes. I eventually drifted off a bit lmao.

(That hose was the wrong size btw)

Woke up finished the job and my wife forced me to come to bed.

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[asonitez]

Update:

I have been busy the last few days!

First up I took a trip to GREENSBORO,NC to checkout Daves shop and see a few of his custom fixtures in action. I will definitely be ordering 1 or 2 for my new frag tanks soon. It is a absolutely gorgeous facility.

While there we decided to checkout the science center while Dave worked on a secret upgrade to my light fixture!

Some very cool stuff there and only 12.50 to get in!! Easily an entire family day there and well worth the trip! After a few hours we decided to check out a new fish store in the area Reef Architect run by Earnest and his family.

We must have spend about 2 hours in there checking out his livestock and dry goods. In the end I walked out with 7 corals (Softies and LPS) and a quarantine tank!

Continued:

After the Greensboro adventure and picking up a quarantine tank my wife and I discussed a lot of my failures as a reefer and what caused them.

We considered that at any point we would have thousands of dollars in equipment, thousands in fish and corals, and yet take risks with those investments by not quarantine fish.

We realized that the reason we didn't was because we didn't have space for the tank, or the tank was on the floor where it was hard to work on or see in, or too small, and all these excuses that over time cost me hundreds of dollars in fish and frustration.

This time we decided to do it right.

Using my new tank stand building skills I whipped this up and painted it in about 2 hours.

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[asonitez]

Moved it in and setup the quarantine. I've been thinking of whether or not to black out the sides of the quarantine but I might want to or use the tank for some other purpose so I opted not to.

For filtration I got a biowheel filter and I'm gonna grab some dr tims and marine pure media

Update time:

So I had an eventful "vacation" and now that it's officially over I'm glad that I took it.

Over the last week I have been working on the tank daily!

Fist up I took care of my wiring

Then I turned my attention to the quarantine tank.

I mixed my salt water and also got some bioballs in my sump for when I dump in dr tims

I also painted the doors for the display

Current stocking list is
2 snowflake clowns
1 red fairy wrasse
10 hermit crabs

Corals so far have been loving the light from the leds.


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[asonitez]

Update Time!

The Fish arrived

So did the worst 40 bucks I ever spent. Decorations for the quarantine tank. These things are so small

Everything arrived ok except the geometric Pygmy hawk fish. He survived acclimation but I think it's going to die. He did NOT look well in the. bag and frankly I thought he was dead.

I saw movement so I added him to the quarantine tank.

I ended up doing 4/5 hours of drip acclimation at 3 speeds.

Things to note:

The water the fish came in was cool to the touch. The cool packs worked.

They came in very small amounts of water.

The salinity in the bags were between 1.018 to 1.020. All the fish were the right size. (I was told the fish would be 1.025) so what I did while dripping the fish I refilled the lost quarantine tank water with fresh saltwater at much lower salinity. Ending salinity in the tank was 1.023 and I changed roughly 15 gallons.

All of the fish showed signs of stress but no diseases are present. I will start prazipro in a few days once everything is eating. I have not fed them yet and probably won't today.

Just a Quick Little update. So far the fish are doing fine. I made a little video after I made a few small changes to the quarantine tank.

 

[Trio91]

Tank was supposed to get here April 25th - Apparently there was some miscommunication and SCA thought I wanted a modern stand instead of the classic stand and refused delivery by the cabinet maker. After no shipping details and no stand details I contacted SCA and told them that we did in fact decide to go with the white oak furniture grade custom stand with 3 doors etc etc. I was told that It would be shipped Monday May 1st with delivery window to be Friday/Saturday. Well its obviously Wednesday and no shipping details or anything. Finally got in contact with the company and was told that there were some issues with the stand internally and that my stuff would be shipped Friday May 5th. Supposedly with an expected delivery date of Friday May 12th .

Well I'm going to be out of town May 13th-18th. If an attempt is made It will be refused I guess because not a single friggin person will be home. So. Curbside free Tank and Stand -_-;;

I finally got some pictures of the boxed finished products. I give you THE TANK and Sump. It looks beautiful. Now if it can only get to me before I freakin leave!

Starphire 80ish Gal Sump!

it looks so nice...n "sharp"

 

[asonitez]

It is very pretty


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