Gabe's piece of the ocean

[gar732]

This is the most recent pic of the tank. Still a way to go.

So, these would be the before pics and below I'll be working on the after.

 

[gar732]

Its a 55gal that was given to me by a friend. I refinished the stand and made the canopy. I have 8 24" T5s that I retrofit into the canopy (4 10k and 4 actinics). For filtration I have a aqua c remora pro, a fluval 404 with bio media removed, about 2" of live sand and over 100lbs of live rock.

For fish I have a hippo tang, ocellarus clown (over six yrs old), purple psuedochromis, six line wrasse, and a banggi cardinal.

Corals, I have various acans, a micromussa, various favia, frog spawn, green leather, long polyp leather, shrooms, and varoius zoas and palys. I'm sure I'm missing something.

My first reef tank crashed few yrs ago because of a heater issue (more specifically, my three yr old neice turning up said heater) and I've just recently gotten back into reef keeping. I plan on upgrading to a larger tank and a frag tank with a shared sump but not sure when. I think I want to stick with T5s, just better T5s.

Opinions and suggestions would be greatly appreciated, and thanks to everyone as I've been lurking around her for a while.

 

[gar732]

some more pics

 

[gar732]

 

[gar732]

Small upgrade

Ok, so I'm tired of the 55gal. I want to go bigger, however because of space constraints and budget I cant go to much bigger right now so I'm going with a 75gal. Because of the same space constraints and budget I can't go with a sump right now either. Everything tank related has to go under the tank witch leaves no room in the stand for a sump.

So here's the plan:
I'm going to be building a stand and canopy for the tank witch I'll document in the this thread. I'll be using the same equiptment thats in the 55 right now with the addition of 2 48" T5s. When I do the aquascaping I want to build two island of live rock on either side of the tank. I know I'm not gaining much but I like the footprint of the 75 and hopefully it will give me some more room on the sand bed for acans and chalices.

Any input or suggestions would be greatly apreciated

 

[Dylan]

You could go with a 90 gallon which is a bit taller, or a 120 if you have the room for 6 inches more depth.

 

[gar732]

I already have the 75. I thought about the 90 but figured the extra hight wouldn't help my lights any. The 120 would have been nice too but then my costs wuld have gone up quite a bit, I figured I'll wait till I have more space before I do a tank that size. That way I can set it up how I would like.

 

[gar732]

So this is the beginings of my stand. I hope to have it done by the weekend. As you can see Its framed in 2x4s. The skin will be select pine and plywood with a few different moldings. I'm trying to make it look like a piece of furniture. It will be stained the same color as the 55gal stand. This is the biggest woodworking project I've taken on so far so lets see what happens.

 

[gar732]

Ok, just thought I'd share so updates with this thing. It hasen't gone as fast as I hoped it would but I'm making some progress. Between work, a new puppy and normal day to day stuff I haven't had as much time as I would like to work on this thing.

The frame has been done for some time, although I did add some more bracing but still leaving out the center support. I've read that this design should support the weight of a 90gal with no center support. Though I don't have an updated pic of frame right now.

Ok, now for some pics.
Her is the side panel. Its made of 1x4s with a slot cut out of the center of the edge and 1/4" ply in the center. It was all glued and screwed together.

Next I screwed some 1x6 boards to the top and bottom of the panels to make them the proper hight and so that they will match the front.

The front is made up of 1x6 borads all around and the verticle moldings on each side. 1x4s were used as to anchor the moldings.

 

[gar732]

I've got some more pics. Here is the front with the moldins in place. They're not nailed and glued yet because the nails I had for my nail gun were to long so I've got to pick up some shorter ones. I used three diff types of molding. I used a diff molding at the top because I didn't want a larger molding that would stick out too far from the tank.

Here are a couple close-ups of the top and the bottom.

 

[gar732]

Well, thats all I've got so far. Tomorrow I should have all the moldings nailed down and the skins screwed and glued to the frame. Then it stain and poly. I want to paint the inside in a waterproof epoxy paint that I've seen people use, just not sure who makes it or where to get it.

I'll post more pics of everything as I get it done. In the meantime, any comments would be great.

 

[serpent]

The stand is looking great. I feel your pain on the 55 gallon. I wish I would have gotten a 75, but a free tank is a free tank.

 

[gar732]

Yeah, I hear you, free is kinda hard to pass up. lol. I'm looking forward to the the extra room in the sandbed and I'm thinking about pulling out some LR too. I just can't wait to get it done. I have no garage so my living room is my workshop. The wife has is ready for it to be done too.

 

[serpent]

I am in the same boat right now too, except it is in our home office. There are tools, tubes, and water everywhere. She can't wait till its done. I guess I need to do something good for her in the near future.

 

[gar732]

Yeah, V-day and our anniversary are this month so I'll pay for it for sure. lol

 

[gar732]

Alrite, I've got the sides and all the trim on and I pluged all the holes with wood filler. I just need to sand and attach the skin to the frame then it ready for stain. I still need to figure out what to use to paint the inside with if anyone has any ideas, let me know.

Well, Here's a pic. I'll get some better pics tomorow. Let me know what you think.

 

[gar732]

Its all together. I still have to make the doors but the stand is done minus the sanding and staining which I might or might not do tonight depending on how lazy I feel. The doors I might put off till the tank is switched over so that I can get this place looking a bit less like a workshop and more like living space again. I think that will make the wife happy anyway. Well, here are some pics of the semi-finished product. Coments are always welcome.

 

[fenderguy1]

Very nice stand!

 

[gar732]

Thanks fenderguy!

Here are a couple of pics with some color on the stand. The flash makes the stain look uneven but it is. I've actually already setup the tank but I want to get all the corals situated before I post pics.

 

[spsfreak]

Stand looks good, cant wait to see everything changed over.