:lol: .... The room is a mess, and it's driving ME crazy, but no point putting the stuff away as I am constantly using it for misc. cuts/measurements/etc... :razz:

that's my theory on things too. Until there's water running in the tanks that I have strategically placed throughout this house, there's no point in putting ANYTHING away.

Had a few days off work this weekend and made some progress on the stand and refugium area.

I had attempted to cut out my refuge window with a jigsaw, unfortunately it wasn't capable of locking in the blade dead straight so I had to try and cut it free hand, and due to my shaky hands ended up having a very wavy cut.. :lol: Thank goodness I have a steadier hand with my camera.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...0187G/trim.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...187G/trim2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...187G/trim3.jpg

Not wanting to have such an ugly edge as the frame of my refuge, I decided to add some trim pieces around the window this afternoon. Certainly made a huge difference and I am definitely pleased with the outcome.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...187G/trim4.jpg

Aside from the framing I got my Aquacontroller Jr mounted, it will be sunk in to the stand skin to avoid getting bumped during maintenance or other unknown reasons. I also mounted the DC8 power bar above the the refuge well away from where the sump will be.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...0187G/acjr.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...20187G/dc8.jpg

You can see in the pictures I also drilled the drain bulkhead in my refuge which will return water to the sump. My Snapper return pump will be T'd off to feed the refuge with a 3/4" line, and 1.5" back to the display tank.

Refuge lighting is an Aquamedic Oceanlight 4x24W T5 unit and will be running 2 6500K midday bulbs, 1 Reef Blue and 1 Fiji Purple.

And a quick shot of the refuge window with lights on, right now it has 2 10K and 2 Fiji Purples. Still need to paint the background for the refuge tank so you won't be able to see into the sump area, I'm thinking a Cream White or Light blue, haven't decided yet.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...87G/refuge.jpg

:mrgreen:

I'm impressed:cheer2:

I lika alot.

Looking Good!

Shaky hands, Thats why god, I mean RONA made trim LMAO

man that trim is sharp! Gonna look incredible when everything is said and done

exactly thats my theory to hence why i keep my table saw in the kitchen and 30 sheets of drywall in the spare bedroom. you just never know haha. the stand is looking preety good. i like the veiwable fuge

well i spent 5 hrs reading your other build and i was impressed with your work.
this is gonna be a sweet lookig setup.

See.....I figured you would be able hide the wonky cut with the trim(welcome to the world of finishing carpentry....where hiding crappy framers and drywallers work is the name of the game).....Lookin good Josh.

Thanks. Me too..

Thanks!

Slowly coming together, just like planned.

Home Depot actually.. :wink: haha!

Thanks Randy.. My vision is coming together, even if it has been changed once or twice..

Haha!! Thanks..

5 Hours?!?! Wow, props to you, I don't think I'd spend 5 hours reading my own thread.. :lol:

Thanks.

Only difference is you fix OTHER peoples crappy work... I had to fix my own.. :mrgreen: I'm pretty impressed with myself because I really do suck at wood work, but the trim matches up pretty much perfect on every corner.. The doors will be another story.. :wink:

If it's any consolation, I suck at wood too. I prefer building with metal

Looking great! Cant wait to see this turn out!

Nice heavy stand too! :razz: haha. You dont even need those 4x4's in there. Tank definetly aint fallin over!

PS did you use wood glue in the seams? Wood glue makes stands so much stronger, and helps with tortional strength a bit. Just FYI - for anyone building a stand. (Or PL400 if you happen to have some around :P haha)

I'm still thinking of adding in 2x6's as center vertical supports for the middle of the 2x4's on edges... :razz: Gotta wait till the sump is in though.

Ooh that top piece is a 2x4... I thought it was a 2x6. Yeah a vertical under there absolutely... unless you double up on the 2x4's on edge - Cause you'd probably have a 1/8th inch flex or so in that middle easily without the verts.

Looking incredible Josh!:mrgreen:

I was gonna put 2x6s on the top (the bottom is framed with 2x6), but the piece of 2x6 lumber I picked up wasn't as straight as I thought, So I replaced them with 2x4 I had laying around that was Straight!

If it's any consolation I'm a 4th year renovation carpenter specializing in finishing (and tiles!), and my stand is no work of art, that's for sure. Maybe because I despise tank builds. I only start to like it when I get the water and rock in. :D

See, I am the opposite... I LOVE the build portion of it... :mrgreen: I love it sooo much I am considering shutting down and selling my 75G (exempt for 3 select items) so I can use the money to get this one rolling along a bit quicker.. :neutral:

Come finish mine then!! :p

nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooo!

If I can figure out what to do with my Tang (not selling it, but I don't think he would be happy in a 30-40G tank for the next few months)... I'll be selling the 75..

They may not be happy, but will survive none the worse for wear.

I acctually have a Hippo, and a Sailfin in a 45g diamond tall tank, with some others.. I know they feel cramped, But it's only for a couple months and they are not stressed. Just cant swim as much as they like

I might consider that... or get a 30G (24x24x12) frag tank built and use that as a holding tank first, then frags later...

That doesnt make sense to me....spend ? getting a tank made and plumbed so you can make a few hundred selling the 75g??

When I say sell the 75, i mean pretty much everything... not just the tank...

I could run the frag tank without a sump to.. no need to spend on plumbing right now..

What do you think you would get for it? There have been two or three 90g systems sold recently for around the $500 mark. I would offer to babysit some stuff for ya but space for corals in my tank is limited and I doubt I would be able to get any fish out later.

Things have been a bit slow going with this build, but then again Rome wasn't built in a day.. (but probably still quicker than this tank will be, hahaha) :p

I got my light rack ordered last week and it should be ready for pick up later this week...

Here is a sketch up of how it will look..

http://www3.telus.net/lucas-mustangs...ight-frame.jpg

I gave myself 5 crossmembers to hang respective lighting from... as my choice in lighting is still sorta up in the air, but I do know what my choices will be... This rack should be able to support the following options:

3x 6x39W T5 Fixtures
2x 250W Lumenmax Elite DE's + 3x 2x39W T5 Fixtures for Supplement
3x 250W Lumenmax 3 DE's + 2x 2x39W T5 Fixtures for Supplemnt.

The unit will be constructed from 3/4" square tubular steel, painted black and sealed to prevent rust/corrosion.

Huge Thanks to Francis (Alberta-Newb) @ Trigger Coating for the light rack! Great Customer Service! :mrgreen:

I'll get some real pictures when it arrives this week!

Light rack is in!!

I had it built to 72" tall to accommodate MH reflectors, but after some serious thought (as I am a fan of MH), I'm pretty sure I will be going all T5 on this tank, with three 6x39W T5 Tek fixtures, which means I will end up taking a quickie saw to the legs and knocking it down 6-8" since the T5 units have a much lower profile, this will also give me more room above the rack to raise the lights out of the way for maintenance. ... (If I win the lotto, I'll switch that plan and go with three 8x39W ATI Powermodules... :lol: ) It will be installed on the opposite side of the stand..

Again a big thanks to Alberta-Newb for the light rack... It turned out better than I was expecting! :mrgreen:

I also got my 20G refuge tank painted a while back, but never got any pics of it... I went with an off white as a neutral color.

It's slowly coming along. :)

Pics!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...G/IMG_0329.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...G/IMG_0330.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...G/IMG_0331.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...G/IMG_0332.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...G/IMG_0333.jpg

Looking great! Keep up with the pictures :D Are you talking about your powder brown tang?

Thanks..

Yup, I was referring to the PBT... only tang I got... :wink:

Nice rack man.

I see bolts in the back...can you tilt the front up for greater access?

Never thought I'd hear being a man.... :lol:


Yup, it will be able to lift up out of the way.... myself and Francis are still both looking for some 4"/30lb gas lifts to keep the rack raised up... if I can't find any, I will have to add a locking peg-leg.

Princess Auto perhaps?

light rack is a neat design, only question I have is how is the pivioting part constructed? If I would have caught this thread befor you actualy had it made I would have recomended aluminum as if there is painted steel sliding on painted steel the pait will rub off and then you will get rust and eventualy you'll have to rip it down to clean it so it will work. If you can (or maybe you already have done this) get some thin teflon washers and put them anywhere there is paint to paint contact that moves.

Steve

mcmaster-carr has those gas springs. I was looking into them at one point. There isn't much they DON'T have actually.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#gas-springs/=2lc7yq

I've tried before, Mcmaster carr wouldnt ship to Canada. Maybe they've changed the policy? I would hope because there is alot of good stuff on there

Dan, I thinks Josh's light rack is powder coated...do you think that the "hinge" will "stand up" over time...given the fact that it will likely be used relatively little?

I tried to order from them a couple weeks ago, and ya they don't want to ship to Canada.