Brand New 8 gallon bio cube

[NY_Caveman]

I know Jack about this, but I do know the whole thing is going to look so sweet in white. I especially think of how the canopy will work with the mantle.

 

[Katrina71]

My woodworking will use dentil moulding instead of the more ornate as seen in the one above.

 

[NY_Caveman]

I just looked it up and I love it.

 

[Katrina71]

The corners are a pain to line up the little "teeth". I try to cut each side in half so it looks right. Spacing matters. That's a bit of a drawback. I'm going to have a little waste.

 

[Fin]

Can you guys help me with the structural design of this canopy? I'm not 100% on how to mount it to the wall. Also not totally sure how to construct it. @Fin it's the one you shared.

Sadly, as the grandson of carpenter, my woodworking skills are seriously lacking. The picture that I posted was from a member of our state forum and there were no others showing how it was built. I would imagine that it was screwed to wall studs with some serious lag screws.

If I were to try to tackle this, I think my goal would be to make it as lightweight as possible, while making it appear to be heavier duty than it is, but at the same time being structurally strong enough to handle being supported only by one end. I think I would build the inner structure out of 1”x2”s and skin it with some 1/4” plywood, except fir the end that will be mounted to the wall, I would probably use a piece of 3/4” plywood. That is just my thinking and I would likely suffer a failure or two along the way. I hope there are some better carpenters in the audience here. :)

 

[dantimdad]

OK, I will give a quick rundown as to how that is supposed to be constructed.

It's called a torsion box.

This allows it to be mounted to one side and not bow down under it's own weight or warp over time.

There is a few methods of doing this. I will cover a couple.

1... Steel or aluminum welded frame.
You use steel or aluminum box tubing to weld up a frame and have angled pieces going diagonally corner to corner in all three planes.
This will distribute the forces evenly all around and force the weight against the mounting surface
You will HAVE to mount it to studs in the wall. Drywall anchors of any variety will tear right out. (voice of experience on this one!)

2... A plywood torsion box
Ever seen the old aluminum ice cube trays? Well, you build half lap verticle plywood joints that resembles that to fill the inside of the canopy and wrap it.
This, again will distribute the forces evenly all around and force the weight against the mounting surface
Unlike the steel/aluminum, you can use enough anchors to not have to hit a stud, but it's much preferred to do so.

If you need more on this, I will provide links to these methods of construction.

No matter how strong you think you made the canopy, if you don't use a torsion assembly method, it WILL sag usually sooner than later.

Hope this starts you off right.

 

[dantimdad]

BTW, @Katrina71 if you want me to help, send me dimensions you want and I will construct the box and leave it for you to trim.

I am almost done with wedding stuff so I will be able get it done and bring it will us.

A torsion box is no joke to build if you have never seen one being done.

Now, if you want it done in steel, I bet I could talk Tim into welding it up and you would just skin it with thing plywood and trim it.

Your call.

 

[Katrina71]

@dantimdad I didn't hug you hard enough! This is the scariest part of my build.

 

[Scurvy]

Some snow pics from the house in Tahoe. We built a snow cave, lol.

Phenomenal!! Hopefully you didnt have to tunnel in when you got there!

 

[dantimdad]

@dantimdad I didn't hug you hard enough! This is the scariest part of my build.

:)

 

[Fin]

Or, to throw another option at you - the local reefer that I gave my old 140 to came up with this as his floating canopy option, using a couple of TV adjustable wall mounts. :-) It pulls straight out and left & right of the tank for great access ...

 

[Katrina71]

Or, to throw another option at you - the local reefer that I gave my old 140 to came up with this as his floating canopy option, using a couple of TV adjustable wall mounts. :) It pulls straight out and left & right of the tank for great access ...

That is freaking perfect!!!!!

 

[sfin52]

Sadly, as the grandson of carpenter, my woodworking skills are seriously lacking. The picture that I posted was from a member of our state forum and there were no others showing how it was built. I would imagine that it was screwed to wall studs with some serious lag screws.

If I were to try to tackle this, I think my goal would be to make it as lightweight as possible, while making it appear to be heavier duty than it is, but at the same time being structurally strong enough to handle being supported only by one end. I think I would build the inner structure out of 1”x2”s and skin it with some 1/4” plywood, except fir the end that will be mounted to the wall, I would probably use a piece of 3/4” plywood. That is just my thinking and I would likely suffer a failure or two along the way. I hope there are some better carpenters in the audience here. :)

Its supported in two sides not just one

 

[sfin52]

I was suppose to play bball at 0600. I slept in today had a headache. High ho high ho off to work I go. Slight headache but listening to Dr. Ravi on youtube this is going to be a good day. 8 1/2 hrs sleep. Haven't done that in months.

As a teenager I would go for weeks on 4-5 hrs of sleep and than one weekend I would sleep for like 24 hrs .

 

[dantimdad]

I love the idea of the TV mounts! I wish I would have done that!
I see a change of plan possibly coming for my canopy...

 

[dantimdad]

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=21951

Mine only weighs 13 pounds right now.

 

[sfin52]

Ive made it in the photo of the month voting. Please vote.

 

[That Crusso Kid]

Ive made it in the photo of the month voting. Please vote.

The goby one?

 

[sfin52]

The goby one?

Yes

 

[SashimiTurtle]

Andrew and I were going through tank stuff. He is so excited for the new build!

So is my girlfriend with the Reefer250. I told her since I have two tanks, she gets to pick out fish and coral and take care of it. With my supervision of course.