Haha. Good idea... then people in both hobbies would think I'm nuts.

- Chad

"then" ? as in "not now"? :p

HA. Good point Tony !

Lookin good chad, can't wait to see water in it!

Thanks Andy! I am just waiting on a little warmer weather so that I can do the painting. I am going with flat black krylon fusion for the plastic and flat black on the stand. The cans say 15degrees is the minimum but I thnk that I will chance it if we get a day in the 5-10degree range... guess I waited too long to get started.

Cheers

- Chad

Black eggcrate anyone?
 

Well, I took advantage of the brief warming to do some painting. I put one coat on the stand and one coat on the egg crate sides. Here is a comparison shot:



http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...19/painted.jpg



I couldn't be happier with the results. Not only is it cheaper to buy the white stuff and paint it, it definitely feels stronger and 'less brittle' than the regular black eggcrate. The krylon fusion paint seems to act like a flexible coat of armor.

- Chad

Couple stand shots
 

Here are some shots of the completed stand and sides. I still haven't painted the wood pieces so it doesn't look 100%. I thought it would be easiest just to buy a pint of paint and a roller, rather than using spraypaint on it.



http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...919/stand1.jpg





Side:

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...919/stand2.jpg





Front:

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...919/stand3.jpg





I came across some aluminum channel that would be perfect for the the eggcrate to sit in - still trying to decide what to use on the top to lock it down...
What do you think?



- Chad

Looking very sharp,Chad.How do you remove the egg crate for access ?
................Dave

Dave,
That is the challenge right now. I have envisioned the bottom of each side sitting in a channel and then some sore of tab or rail fastened to the stand at the top. I thought I could have screws or something that poked out from the rail that I could attach a strip of acrylic or metal to on the outside of the screen. You know the turn latch fastener on some womens handbags...
Oh man, this is tough to explain...
I would baisically like to have some way of fastening a strip to the outside of the top of the screen that connects to a strip on the inside of the screen, the two strips functioning like the solid channel that holds the bottom in place. Even if one of the sides was accessable like that and the other three sides were 'semi-permanently' secured - I could drill holes in the underside of the stand top tube and thread little black zip ties through to the top screen. That way, if I ever did want to take all the sides off, I could just clip the innexpensive zip ties and pull them off. Sorry if this doesn' tmake any sense...

- Chad

Actually, this just came to me but I could use aluminum channel on the top and the bottom of the screens. The bottom channel would be screwed to the wooden base. The top channel would not be attached to anything but I would use a dremmel to carve a three notches in it, each one like what you see on a barrel bolt lock. These notches would match up to three screws attached to the underside of the top rail of the stand.

Eg:

http://images.orgill.com/200x200/7837826.JPG


I would set the bottom of the screen in the bottom channel, then set the top channel on the top of the screen and swing the screen into place, matching op the notches to the screws. Once in place, I would just push the channel to the side and that would lock it in place on the screws. To take the screen off, just push the channel the other direction and swing it off the screws and out of the frame, and lift it out of the bottom channel.

Does that make sense?

- Chad

Is black eggcrate brittle? I wish I had known that before I asked a place to order some in for me. OTOH, they're dragging their feet bringing in it, been like 10 days now, no money's exchanged hands so maybe I'll just not bother nagging them anymore and just spray some white eggcrate black like you've done (supposed to be for my overflows).

Hey Chad,

That stand is looking 100% better than it was sitting in my kitchen.
Can't wait to see the final product.

Finally got my new 75 gal tank up and running, totals 110 gal with fuge and sump. But I will save that for a seperate thread. For those interested it will be an experiment in Zeovite. Seeing if it can get my browned out acro to color up again.

Found a mag 5, if you still looking for a pump.

Paul

Tony,
Sorry, I didn't mean to slag black eggcrate. It is no more brittle than the white stuff. However, for my application I am using it to keep my kids from tossing barbie dolls into the sump. With the paint it feels a lot stronger than it did before I painted it. For a regular application like yours though, strength doesn't really matter. Also, I didn't factor in the cost of my time spraying it - so you saved a lot of hassle that way.

- Chad

Paul,
Thanks. I think that this satnd is gonna be perfect for my needs. I am very much interested in the mag5. It amazes me the stuff you are able to come up with - PM sent. Also, drop a line when you do start that thread, that is one sharp looking setup you've got.

- Chad

ps - who did you deal with a Gold to have your stand built?

Thanks Chad,

The tanks build up thread will start this weekend.

As for the stands - I just talk to Dennis and he takes care of all.

Ya sorry, I meant to ask 'who do you talk to to have a tank built'? Must of had stands on the mind. I'm assuming that Dennis is still the guy?

- Chad

Could use magnets to hold the eggcrate. They could be glued into the eggcrate with epoxy or Weldon 40. I think Busy Bee Tools has the small magnets for a good price. Just an idea.

That's not a bad idea Kari. I could use the magnets to ensure that the sides don't fall off, and spankings to ensure the kids don't pull them off (jokes).
That would simplify things for a cleaner design....

- Chad

Rare Earth Magnets are strong, use the channel on the bottom, then two pairs of magnets per panel, your kids could probably climb them without pulling them off. Need to use STRONG glue to keep the Magnets in place. Each Magnet is about the size of a Nickel, but thicker. I've got some that I'm gonna make glass mount Frag plugs out of.

I'm liking this idea more and more. Where did you get your magnets?

Fish I bought rare earth magnets at Lee Valley. I was afraid to walk past the counters on the way out, thinking I'd be covered in metal stuff......:lol:

I think they might be just the ticket, thanks!

- Chad

Yeah, they're STRONG. I have a 3/4" one on each of my hood doors to hold them up.

Just be sure you dont accidently lump them all together, or else you'll be HOOPED when you try to separate them :P

Well, based on you folks' experience, I stopped by Lee Valley today and picked up 10 rare earth magnets. I just went with the 1/2" diameter and even then I am worried they might be too strong! :)
I am just using some gorilla glue to attach them to the top of the eggcrate screens. It says that I should clamp them when glueing, and I didn't, so I guess we will see how it goes....

- Chad

How much are these magnets?

Because I bought 10, they were $0.86 each. The larger sizes are more. They look like a stack of watch batteries stuck together.

I stopped by Gold aquariums today and met with Albert. He is doing up a quote for me but here is a quick sketch that I did in mspaint. Please use your imagination, it should turn out better than this... oh man, I hope it turns out better than this :o .
Also excuse my stocking list. All I could afford was three, uh, m&m's?





http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e91/honda919/tank.jpg





- Chad

Whoops
 

I just realized, should this thread be in "Tank Journal" instead of here in Reef?

Any mods able to help me out with that?

Shows you how observant I can be .. :redface:

Anyhow no worries, I'll move it. :)

Are you sure M&M's are reef safe? LOL hey that's awesome you got a drawing period. I can't draw ANYthing in MSPaint... :)

As a general rule, m&m's are reefsafe; however, larger specimins have been known to cause trouble as they grow :)
Thanks for moving the thread.

- Chad

Aha ..............
 

I think I have it, I was a little confused because it looked at first as though the frame was made of angle iron ( used to make a lot of those when I was an apprentice engineer :) :), when I see on closer inspection it is square section. Thanks for the explanation .
Those earth magnets are really something !
........................Dave

There are not supposed to melt in your hands so I think reef safe.

LOL


For anyone who was wondering, the magnets were a huge success! I am still going to put a track on the bottom of the stand so that the screens can't be pushed in or out too easily, but the magnets are more than enough to hold them in place.

- Chad

Position.........
 

Glad the magnets were successful :)
One of the guys mentioned a possible noise problem with the open style.
Is the tank going to be in a sensitive area of the house ? ( e.g. near the T.V. )
I suppose ,if that proves to be the case you ,could cover the inside of the eggcrate enough to baffle the noise and still keep generally the same look .
.......................Dave

The tank is going to be in the (undeveloped) basement so noise isn't going to be a problem at all. I think that the fans on my two pumps, and my skimmer, will be the only source of noise... thanks to my overflow design. I know that once you get caught up in the Quest for the Silent Pump, it can be extremely frustrating; I've never really had that mindset (I still have my share of obsessions though). The way I see it, I will be maintaining a single drop of ocean, in a foreign environment, thousands of miles from where it belongs. For me, the hum of the life support systems is just a nice reminder of what it takes to do that.
I'm glad you think the stand turned out, I think it will even look a bit better when I paint the wood (and maybe another coat on the frame).

Cheers,

- Chad

noise...........
 

I understand your philosophy and , if I may say , it was very well put. I have a stream at the back of my house ( a small river presently!) which makes a noise that I find natural and enjoyable which, if it was made by tyre noise from a highway, would be an irritant...............
What is the next step? Have you finalised tank size?
......................Dave

Dave,
I'd love to have a stream/pond in my backyard... maybe when my kids are a little older.
I think that everything with the tank is finalized, just waiting to hear back from the good folks at Gold Aquariums. My three previous tanks were built by Bow Valley and I have to say that I am impressed with how good Albert has been to work with - I'm optomistic that the build quality will be very good too.

- Chad

Here we go...
 

Well the tank has been paid for and the building has begun. This is the nerve wracking part of the process because it is completely out of my control for a while. I'll keep you updated.

- Chad

Good luck !!

Here is a photo of the magnets I am using:



http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9.../061126003.jpg




And I also put an outline of screws around the base to stop the screens from being pushed inwards:



http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9.../061126002.jpg





Today would have been a great day to paint the wood, but it was so cold that I didn't want to leave the house!


- Chad