Aquarium Bar build
 

Well, I'm at it again. Since I haven't had any luck finding the tank I want within my budget I'm going to work with my existing 60 gallon cube. It's dimensions are 25x25x22". I've decided that I'm going to build a stand for it that doubles as a bar for my downstairs family room. For the past half a year it's been hidden away in my laundry room so that my kids can't get at it easily. Now I've had enough, and its time to bring it out into the open. Here's a shot of where it is right now.

http://www.canreef.com/photopost/dat...m/IMGP3463.JPG

step 1
 

First I had to rip up the carpet in the area where the bar will go. The carpet is pretty ugly so I'm glad to be rid of at least some of it. I painted the concrete floor just for looks, until I can afford to lay down hardwood in the entire house. I figure it will be better for the splashes that happen from time to time.
http://www.canreef.com/photopost/dat...m/IMGP3603.JPG

step 2
 

Here is the first part of the framing that will eventually become the bar.
http://www.canreef.com/photopost/dat...m/IMGP3602.JPG

I see you already have the washroom set up :) ;)

Cheers,
Vic

reply
 

Haha, TIME!!!! It only took 3 minutes before someone commented on the potty. Don't worry, I'll move it before I move the tank. Like I said, concrete is better for the splashes.:lol:

So what are the plans for how the bar / stand are going to look?

Tagging along. Building an in-wall tank behind a bar is my dream for when I buy a house... somewhere in the near future I hope. In the meantime I'm getting by with my 'meth lab' reef sprawled out around the basement. lol

I thought it was just standard to have a toilet in ones fish room? (lower right corner)

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...eyedo/eqip.jpg

I dont think i could use the toilet there, i would be too disrtracted with tinckering with all the stuff in my fish room!

reply
 

I only have an idea about how I want it to look in the end. It miight end up part contemperary, part disco, part old English, part..... I do want to tile the bar top, and have some sort of raised paneling on the sides. Thats all I really know at this point. I was debating an in wall tank originally, but the tank is too small to justify it IMO. Plus, if I went in wall, I'd have to deal with re-doing the laundry room. Which is littered with the previous home owners shelving and other contructs. It really would be too much work.

Incidentally the nearest real toilet to the tank is through the laundry room, where I have fish magazines for reading material. Not quite as good as having a toilet right there, haha!

Nobody's saying you can't still tinker while you're on there!

step 3
 

Just finished framing the canopy. Framers don't laugh, I'm' not a pro. I did manage to get it to within 95% plum and level. It's pretty sturdy too, more than enough to house my luminarc reflector and dual t-5 lights.
http://www.canreef.com/photopost/dat...m/IMGP3604.JPG

wow that is it for pictures come on DANNY

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What? What do you mean? I can't tell if you are being sarcastic.:mrgreen:

:mrgreen: there

So.....hows the build coming? any progress or new pictures?

reply
 

I ran out of screws the other day and company has been here, so nothing new to report. The next steps will be skinning it, then resisting the urge to move the tank right away.:biggrin:

looking good!! you might motivate me to build a stand... working on a tree house for the kids currently :)

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I might have had this done a while ago if it wasn't for things that I was doing for the kids. :wink:

Not much to add. I just added the shelves for the refugium and sump, and gave them a preliminary coat of paint.



http://www.canreef.com/photopost/dat...m/IMGP3610.JPG

step 4
 

Just finished the first phase of skinning the bar. I now have to remove all of the panels so that I can seal and paint them. I also have to re-level the whole thing a bit since the kids have adopted the bar as their new jungle gym.:mad:

Once I've re-installed the panels I'll have a bunch of taping and mudding to do. Booooo!

http://www.canreef.com/photopost/dat...m/IMGP3614.JPG

http://www.canreef.com/photopost/dat...m/IMGP3615.JPG

Taping and mudding? your using drywall mud?
on MDF you might be better off to use bondo....others my disagree with me but thats what I've always used (then tape isn't necessary)

reply
 

Bondo? What about for the outside corner beads? My goal was to try to make the bar blend into and resemble the walls around it, that's why all of the extra work. Man I hate this part.:lol:

How goes the painting? Getting any closer to getting your tank moved over?

step 5
 

I've managed to finally find time to finish mudding, taping and putting a coat of primer on everything. What does everyone think of the color? It's only primer so if the wife doesn't agree with it I can easily change it.

http://www.canreef.com/photopost/dat...m/IMGP3617.JPG

http://www.canreef.com/photopost/dat...m/IMGP3616.JPG

Go with it. It's a great colour.

Wow, this is great looking... If I ever move, I want to do something like you are doing. Look forward to seeing more pic's

wow....lookin great man, when do you figure you will have the tank all moved over there?

On a side note, you said you were interested in a toad stool frag...how big of one did you want?

reply
 

Thanks everyone. I have a lot of respect for the tradesman who do stuff like this every day. Mudding and taping truley is an art form.:lol: The actual tank move will likely not happen for a couple of weeks yet, I need to acquire all of the plumbing parts still.

Chris, small is better right now due to the space issue in the tank. If you can hold off until I move the tank I will have pobably (accidentally) made more room in case you have a larger frag. I was eyeing them when I was feeding your fish. I think they're cool, and a good potential host for a clown fish.

mudding and taping an ART FORM!!!! I would say so, I did the work in my server room for the data center for my company. You woulda howled.... I would start on one end with the tape, work my way across, while doing so when finishing the strip, the start would already be falling off.

NEVER AGAIN!!!! leave that to the pro's

Again great job!

Looks great so far Danny.
Really looking forward to the finished product.

step 6
 

Work is coming along every day now. I've finished painting the area, as well as finished the mouldings around the top of the bar. I tiled the bar top but have run into my first real issue. All of the grout cracked, and I'm not sure why? I used a tube of grout and it was just enough to get the job done. I see now that the grout has shrunk a bit, so I'm wondering if I can add more grout? I don't want to do that until I find out what I did that made it crack though. Any thoughts?

http://www.canreef.com/photopost/dat...m/IMGP3660.JPG

step 7
 

I ran a line from where the RODI top up will enter the sump, along the under side of the base boards to the laundry room where the unit is set up. I'll need to buy about 30-40 feet of line to make it all the back though.
http://www.canreef.com/photopost/dat...m/IMGP3661.JPG

http://www.canreef.com/photopost/dat...m/IMGP3662.JPG

Sweet I've been waiting for updates. Great Idea how far is the run from the tank to the RO/DI?

This will be unique and stylin' when complete. Looking forward to seeing a tank on that stand.

What type of grout did you use? What material did you adhere the tile to? Can you get a close up of the grout joints?

reply
 

Thanks everyone. It appears to be turning out pretty good if I do say so myself. I've done a lot of reno's since I moved in here last winter, and each time I acquire new knowledge and skills. My wife is pleased with how it looks and thats all that matters.:wink:

Pazil; The grout I used is called Karacaulk, made by Mapei. It comes in a caulking tube and says that it is sanded acrylic caulk. Here's a pic of the cracks.

http://www.canreef.com/photopost/dat...m/IMGP3663.JPG

That's a sweet looking bar! Great work so far. Can't wait to see the tank on there. :mrgreen:

Mapei makes a great product... I typically use the the caulking for inside corners when tiling and where the tiles meet another material (ie. tile backsplash to counter top). You should also be able to pick up the sanded grout from the same supplier. I would use that for the grount lines rather than the caulk. Also what material did you use under the tile?

wow....looking awesome there man, can't wait to see it all moved over and set up.

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Pazil; should I have not used sanded caulk? I thought it was grout. Will I be able to grout over this since it has shrunk so much or should I be removing the caulk first?

I'm loving the color, it is looking good! According to my fiance (he's a contractor) you should take out the caulking between the tiles and replace it with regular grout, then seal.