Hey Tony....I'm glad it's holding out. With internal overflows there isn't any pressure, it's equalized as long as the overflow box is fairly full (that's my theory at least)...I'm just glad it hasn't exploded and there's no lawsuit against me :)

WOw great thread there Dez, long time no see on the boards great to have you back again... so what type of tank is it going to be again SPS or mixed

Tony, I think newsprint doesn't leave any cloth residue if you're using a rag. My parents always asked me to clean the windows with windex and newspaper, that way it didn't leave streaks. Try it sometime!

Hey Mike,

I'm thinking sps tank, but my wife wants more of a mixed. I'm still doing my research on mixed. Either way, I'm going to be really careful of what I put it cause there'll be no upgrading in this house :).

There is now a little bit more progress on the tank. I ran into some "minor" problems though, I'll explain in a bit. I started building the stand today.

Here is the rough plan of what I was going to build:
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...g?t=1238732278

However, as I started to build the bottom frame, screwing the last long length my robertson #2 drill bit slipped out of the screw and hit my thumb. I thought it was just a cut, then I looked at it, and it had gone through the nail and out the other side. Here's what it looked like (sorry for the fuzzy cell phone camera picture):

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...g?t=1238732665

I wanted to just bandage it up and continue, but my wife is much wiser than I so she made me go to the medi-centre. Doctor took an x-ray and found a bit of bone damage. I had to have a tetnis shot. Here is an xray shot, you can see a tiny bit of chip on the upper right:

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...g?t=1238732865

Since there was bone damage, I had to get some antibiotics. They look like Halloween candy. 4 times a day on an empty stomach....argh.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...g?t=1238732976

Well....after all that, at least there is a bit of progress on the stand. Here's what I have so far.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...g?t=1238733029

The good news is that I got all the lumber for my stand for free. I asked one of the builders that I work with if I could look look through their framing garbage pile :) Hopefully there will be a bit more progress in the next few days while my thumb heals. Thanks for looking.

God I love this hobby!

this is one hardcore build so far! i've never seen a build accompanied by x-rays before!

LOL no kidding. Ouchies Dez, hope your thumb heals quick. Enjoy the Hallowe'en candies.

There is now a little bit more progress on this build. I never realized how important the opposable thumb was until today. I basically put on an oversized mitten to keep my bandaged thumb clean and made another attempt to build my tank stand. My children were very helpful in handing me individual screws and glue. Here is the start:

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...g?t=1238818835

Here's a shot with the verticals and top frame glued and screwed in. It gives you an idea of the size.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...g?t=1238819358

I was quite pleased with the measurements. I got the stand completely flush with the wall and everything is perfectly level.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...g?t=1238818934

The stand was a lot more sturdy than I thought. I almost didn't need those 45 degree top braces. Eventually the stand will be screwed in to the wall. I will paint the stand later with some sort of marine paint and will screw on a sheet of plywood accross the stand and cover the top of the wall as well.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...g?t=1238819019

Thanks for looking. Hopefully my thumb heals fast and I can get more progress on this build. I'm held up on bulkheads now....J & L is out of stock and I'm trying to track down a used oceans motions, I might have to break down and buy one new. I also need a pump to run the closed loop, I'm thinking of a Sequence Dart. I have yet to plan my fish room in the basement. I have to plan it out and figure out what I want to do with the sump, frag tank etc......

Dez like always you do a great job man.... well done so far