Hey guys.. I'm in the process of upgrading from my Fluval Evo 13.5 to the 57g RR Edge. I have the tank on order and I'm currently in the process of building my own stand. More details to come later!!
I started to build the stand but didn't take into account how much space the 2x4's would take up inside the stand so now I either have to redo the footprint of the stand to my liking or keep it the way it is. Originally it was going to be 50x20x36 but now I'm thinking I want it to be 50x24x36. Can anyone recommend a good sump? I've been browsing the web but I'm still up in the air. This is a rough sketch of what I wanted it to look like I wanted an area for the sump and then a separate area for electronics
I have the same sized tank and use a 20 gallon long with baffles with adjustable baffles from eBay. I'm in the process of cycling the tank now.
Little update here... finally finished the frame of my stand last night. My plan is to have the sump on the right side of the stand and then the section on the left is going to open up from the side for my electronics. I'll be looking into skinning the tank and making it look pretty come Monday or Tuesday. I was running short on lumber so I still need to add a couple pieces to the left side. The tank sits 36x18x20 so the left side is going to be open for a little work station.
Ran into a little issue today, well it may not be an issue but I don't like it. I went out and got some maple finished plywood cut to the sizes I measured. I did the inside of the stand with 1/4" plywood no problem. My issue is the top of the stand. The stands measures 50" L x 27" deep. I had a piece of 3/4" maple plywood to those specs. Only to find out that maybe the backside of my stand is twisted a smidge? When I lay the board on top and line it up perfectly with the front 2 corners, it's off on the back left and right side. See pics. 1. How do I go about fixing this? 2. Am I making it a bigger deal then it really is? I'm a perfectionist when it comes to stuff like this so it's really bothering me lol any advice would be greatly appreciated!!
Update. I did a little more work on the stand in the past couple days. Skinned the sides, put a panel inside the stand to separate the sections, cut out the doorways and added magnets for the doors. Decided to go with magnets bc I'd rather be able to remove the doors completely rather than have them swing open. Something new, we'll see. As for the spot on the left(no doorway) I'm gonna make a false cabinet with molding and a handle just so it's more pleasing to the eye. I also fixed the previous issue with the top board. I just shaved the side that was hanging off. All better now. As for the other side, I have wood filler I'm gonna put in there to bring it together. I have to wait til I'm done with the top board in order to do that however. Here are some pics. I picked up the tank today as well. Had it up on the stand so I can figure out where I have to cut for the plumbing. I'm already loving this tank
Haven't done too much more in the past few days. I added the final skin to the backside on the left. I went around and put wood filler on all the exposed nails and I'll sand em down another day. I have to buy some kind of tarp bc I don't wanna make a mess when it comes time to paint. Now it's time to make the doors, add trim and make it look pretty before the painting begins. Still undecided on a color. Can anyone recommend a good color and more importantly, a paint that acts as a 2 in 1 for the polyurethane and paint?? Here are some more pics! A pic of the tank! And I was also able to find a good deal on the Apex DoS with dosing containers. I'm eventually going to purchase the 2016 apex controller. Also waiting on an mp40wqd in the mail that I found a good deal on as well.
Ran into another problem today. I went out to get more 3/4" plywood to make my doors today bc I figured using 1/4" would be too thin for what I wanted to do. My intentions were to have these doors hung up by magnets so they can be completely removed, however my problem is between the magnets I bought and the weight of the door, it won't work together. Does anyone know of or has used an industrial magnet that would be strong enough to hold these doors up?
CMS Magnetics 112 lb Holding Power Neodymium Cup Magnet with No.10 Sized Countersunk Hole, 0.32" Thick x 1.57" Diameter- the Matching Strikers and Stainless Screws are Included https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008H40WWW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_xpGNzbK786VN3 Does anyone know if these would work? Or do you think they're overkill??