Looking cool Wes. I give bonus points for building in useable storage into you stand design! But I take away point for the back ally lighting setup haahaa...jk! I had to run fans as well, too freaking hot under there without them.

Get a tank and some water in that badboy!

Sorry... all of us can't afford waterproof end caps and nice little wire holders ahah

Yeah I guess I should have took a little more time cutting the reflector... and I guess I could have made the wiring a little neater... oops... but it's hard when you know that besides 1 little picture you're never really going to see it... and the few times I lift it up to feed and such I don't think the reflectors jagged edge will be my focus and I'm pretty sure it still reflects the light just as good :D. Plus it's hard when the fiance is hovering and asking why you love your fish tank more than her ahahah kidding... she's good about.

I also cut the fan switch to short so I was kinda limited in where I could put it. How many volts you running through your fans?? At 12 volts it was just WAY to loud for me. at 5.5ish I can barely hear it and I'm sure I wont hear it at all once I get the pump going. Are you overdriving you T5s??

I tried to make the stand as usable as possible... I always see peoples nice fish tanks circled by a cluttered mess of food, additives etc. so I want all that crap hidden so I figured the more cupboards the better. And I want super super easy access to the sump so that I'll actually do water changes and change the filter floss etc.

Here's a bit of an idea of what it should look like with the tank in:

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m...sman/stand.jpg

Now all I want to do is go home and re-cut the reflectors edge and wire things a little cleaner ahah

What a beautiful idea for a stand.

Ok..... so I finally got my tank from my good buddy over at Engineered Aquariums... took him a little longer than usual but I'm assuming it's because he is scared of the game I'm going to bring now that I have the tank to fill up ahah or maybe because I'm no longer in Saskatoon to hover over his shoulder and offer the assistance of my mad skills... but seriously a big Thank you... and YES I owe you a nice big lunch next time I'm in town ;)

Now for some pictures:

Standard 10 gallon

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...s/DSC_1495.jpg

Cut cut
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...s/DSC_1496.jpg

Overflow
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...s/DSC_1543.jpg

Finally at my Place w some outputs and the return inlet
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m...n/IMG_1266.jpg

It's soon to be next door neighbor the SUMP
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m...n/IMG_1268.jpg

In the Stand... with some Sand
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m...n/IMG_1269.jpg

Top View
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m...n/IMG_1271.jpg

This is the point at which you can see my little screw up... I had meant to leave the hood overhanging the tank a little more than it is.... so now the front half of the tank does not get lit very well... I think I'll try to lower and angle the lights at a later date... and hopefully that will sort things out

Top View w/ Sump
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m...n/IMG_1272.jpg

I finished plumbing things in today and now have water in but never got a chance to snap some shots... so those will come later

WOW! looking good...your sump sure is nice!

Thanks... yeah Steve's pretty good with scraps ahah.. I'm just glad it's super easy access

looking good buddy! But is it good enough? :razz:

Looks beautiful. Love the stand and built in look.

Thanks... I'm happy with it so far... I just need to get my rock work figured out now

So I got some rocks in the tank... only about 4.5lbs in the display but I don't think I'll add anymore cause I kinda like it with lots of open space... I'll try and post some pictures tomorrow

I switched the light bulbs around and the tank seems to be a lot better lit now with the actinic in front... I still might try to lower the light a little later but for now I'm happy

As the stand sinks into the carpet the left had side is just lifting off the ground a touch.. it's not at a risk of tipping over but the floor is already slightly off level so this just adds to the sloped water level inside the tank... so I think I'll have to put a piece of foam or something under the tank portion of the stand to level things out because even if I put the salt and everything in the left lower cupboard it's not enough weight to sink that side into the carpet to level things out

Thankfully the tank is super quite and seems to run at about 82 with the fans off and 80 or less with them on

Told you :mrgreen:

Well... I still had to strategically place some filter floss in the overflow and I have to run the sump water level really high so I don't have to hear the water trickle over the 2nd baffle... which makes me wonder if I should add one more baffle so that the pump chamber is separate?? Because with the water level so high cheato could float into the return chamber and clog the pump. Maybe I'll just put some egg crate between the refuge and the pump return?

Here's some pictures to better explain what I mean... hopefully??

Noise Problem... not probelm as below ahah
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m...wesman/low.jpg

Current Situation... with new problem
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m...esman/high.jpg

Possible Egg Crate Solution??
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m...n/eggcrate.jpg

Yeah I figured you might have to with the overflow, the water level had to be as low as possible to reduce the first sump chamber, which is still a little too high.

Is the sump level? If the sump is level the water flows against the baffle but if the right side is sagging the water will separate. The eggcrate will work if you want to run a higher water level. You could also hang filter floss on that baffle, the water will have to go down through the floss to get into the second chamber. Don't run the sump too high that you can't turn the pump off.

It would have been better if that second last baffle was taller but that's what you get for working with scraps :razz:

No big deal... I'll just add some egg crate where I showed it in the diagram

ahah good thing you reminded me about the water level... I almost forgot that it needs to be down enough so the sump wont overflow... I marked where the level should be maximum tonight

You doing anything for water top off? Or just doing it manually? I forget do you have lid?

I'm topping off manually to keep things simple, I might have to rig something up later down the road when I'm gone for over a week. I did make a lid but it's not all glass, it's a glass frame with mesh in the center. This way it cuts back a little on evaporation, keeps livestock from escaping and still allows heat exchange so the tank doesn't over heat from the lights.

So how much you topping off per day??

about 2 cups a day, but I usually just put in a liter or two a week.

So tonight I'll be trying to get the fuge light mounted to the lid of the right compartment.

and adding egg crate... and I still need to find something to put under the one side of the stand to level things off... I was going to use the pink foam but its $20 a piece

Use cardboard...its free. You shouldnt be able to see it either.:biggrin:

I think you should get 4 screw-in stump legs, similar to what you would find under a common couch and similar to left leg shown below. But a lower profile so you won't see them.

http://www.swivel-chair-parts.com/Ca.../CouchLegs.gif

This could also allow for adjustment, a couple washers should do the trick. It might be easier using foam or cardboard but I don't it will work as well, using legs will also make it more stable.

Yeah I'll have to find something??? Like a box that I can flatten and use... or some kind of small leg??

Maybe something like this

http://rona.ca/img/product/full/2002198.jpg

If you have a stud in the wall right behind the very right of the stand you could possibly use a couple "L" brackets to support it where you need. You also wouldnt be able to see them since the stand sits so low.

Yeah the stand is just a bit off level... just enough to bug me, so I'll prob just put something small under the one side

Yeap, but you can get ones exactly the same except they screw in and have leveling adjustment, HD sells them.

Yeah but the problem now is that I need something simple if I'm gonna be able to do it with the full tank and sump on there

Here is the light I got for my fuge... but I ripped it apart and made it smaller

http://wal-mart.ca/cms-portal/cmscon...&imageid=40885

Basically just using the head and the base... $10.00 :D

Where did you get the light?

Just drain the tank and sump, don't be stupid and try and install legs with it full. It'll only take an hour tops.

If you go with screw in legs, get some T-Nuts .. drill a hole, hammer/glue them in.

http://www.woodpeck.com/media/main_tnut.jpg

Wal-mart

http://wal-mart.ca/wps-portal/storel...categoryId=919

But I love being stupid

Nice! I might just have to go with adjustable legs. Can I get those at HD too?? Prob hey... or Rona... checking.....

Did I mention I got a lid today?? :D

No......what you using?

Just went to Big Als and bought a glass lid with a hinge... the only sucky part is that the back 1/3 of it is plastic so you can cut out for all your cords and such... and I don't have anything to cut out for... except... possibly on the right hand side where the inputs come in, so hopefully it'll fit length wise??

Why are you running a lid at all? Plan on keeping jumpers?

Wes likes jumpers :lol:

Probably just to cut back on evaporation. Wes is that plastic part blocking your light? Why not just replace one of the pieces of glass with a larger piece so you don't need the plastic?