My 165 Build - DIY LED, Cabinet, etc.

[justincgdick]

I wanted to show off some of my DIY projects as well as some skills of others that have personally lent a hand to my build. This is for a freshwater planted tank, but I'm stealing a lot of hardware, info, and help from this board, so I wanted to share.

These are unfinished panels that attached magnetically to the stand. The whole setup is designed to be a peninsula style tank but I'm putting it in the corner. I still need to have the panels painted with lacquer after I finish the prep work.

I made the panels slightly taller so that it will go from the floor to just above the silicone bead on the bottom pane.




This is my custom light hanger. I didn't want to have any of the viewing panes blocked by the hanger and I am unable to drill the ceiling of my rental so I got in touch with Grizz. Greg was able to help me brainstorm some ideas and do some testing. A week later I had the light stand in my possession.

The hanger is slightly under bent so it will level out when I have hung my light. I had to guestimate the weight and Greg bent it under the impression I would have the hang wire in a few feet from the ends of the light, but I had a brain fart and forgot. All in all, the hanger droops just under an inch from level at the far end. Not bad at all for guessing on the weight; and if I cared enough I could take the hanger down and pull out a touch of bend. Instead, if it bothers me I'll just take a 6" length of fishing line to a plant hanger on the ceiling. It only needs a finger push to come to level.



There's also a sleeve with set screws so I can raise or lower the hanger. Unless I cut it down it's about 7' minimum up to about 9' max height. Right now it's about 4" under my ceiling.



The tank was build by Jay at Waterbox Customs. He built it a few years ago and I bought it used. I broke it down and had Jay CNC a custom weir and some returns with an external overflow and rebuild it.

72"x24"x22" tall, 1/2" with euro. Three 1" drains for the Beananimal and it's drilled for a closed loop on the bottom. I'll have to cap a few holes from the old internal overflow.

The tank when I bought it.


Now