I posted these pix on my build thread but also wanted a separate thread for this because.... it was alot of work and I wanna show off!!! J/K
Anyway I bought this Cabinet thing from a ReStore Habitat for Humanity store. It's a great place too.
It cost me $125 but it is VERY sturdy and had all the storage I will need. This took me almost 3 months to finish because of life
This is how it started out:
Had to sand everything down and get rid of the thick varnish on it
When I took off the top, discovered that this was a "revamped" hotel cabinet piece. if you look on the side edge, it looks like someone just took a circular saw and tried to play "jason" with it. A good thing was that the other side of the top was a hard plastic surface to YEA built in waterproofing!!!
decided to paint it a sea blue and teal, just like those colors
bought a ADJ power station and made a dedicated space for it in the cabinet
and it fits perfectly!!
put the top back on and more painting.
I wanted to do an epoxy poured top but...budget! so spray paint it is.
wanted to put in all the electric stuffs in the cabinet but wanted to have easy access to it. so, built in a slider wall.
FINALLY done. time for the big move. I also re-scaped the tank with a new Carib-sea live rock and get corals in a safer place. A lot of them have outgrown their original home location. Yes I know the torch fell over, dang conch snail. I got him back up fast.
out with the old.... cleaned the sand and glass. (after this pic was taken)
and in with the new!
from here I reconnected and installed all the electrics, ran all the stuff for the ATO.....then discovered I somehow killed the ATO pump AFTER it was wired in DOH!! Saltwateraquarium.com for the save! Wish I was able to get the wire management better but its loads better then it was.
everything is connected and everyone is in there new home spot. hope they like it.
Heres a better shot of the cabinet. I ditched the old bucket and got this container from the LFS Fintastic aquariums.
I am still working on getting the doser setup for all-for -reef but the tank is not ready for that yet. giving it a week or so for everyone to settle in and the params to stabilize. Also have my water change pump setup so changes should go alot faster now. Kinda sucks that I cant use my slide out yet. the cords on my Current USA lights and main pump are too short. Getting Extensions soon.
I am still waiting on the handles I ordered as they are on backorder. they are shell-shaped so that should look awesome!
After all is done, this is the result. looks pretty good I think. these pics are about 2 days later as I wanted everyone to be settled and not all closed up.
A
Had to run the UV for a little bit too. had a small bacteria bloom show up the next day. I have a green killing machine UV and it cleared it up fast. So that is the build and it is mostly done. I still need to make a floating shelf above the tank to attach my lights. I bought some 15" ReefBright XHO's to supplement my Current USA Orbit Marines, which BTW have been my main lights since I started this last year. All the corals have grown and thrived with these lights and I love the whole integration setup with their LOOP Bluetooth controller. I also use 2 of their wave pumps and their main DC pump and they all have been great with no problems and work perfectly with the LOOP controller.
I will have the lights a bit higher so needed the extra PAR and UV from the XHO's. I will post those pix when I finish it.
Had to make the last pic reppin R2R. I hope you all like this and please, it you have any suggestions or see something that may not be right, Please let me know. I would really appreciate it.
Anyway I bought this Cabinet thing from a ReStore Habitat for Humanity store. It's a great place too.
It cost me $125 but it is VERY sturdy and had all the storage I will need. This took me almost 3 months to finish because of life
This is how it started out:
When I took off the top, discovered that this was a "revamped" hotel cabinet piece. if you look on the side edge, it looks like someone just took a circular saw and tried to play "jason" with it. A good thing was that the other side of the top was a hard plastic surface to YEA built in waterproofing!!!
bought a ADJ power station and made a dedicated space for it in the cabinet
and it fits perfectly!!
put the top back on and more painting.
I wanted to do an epoxy poured top but...budget! so spray paint it is.
wanted to put in all the electric stuffs in the cabinet but wanted to have easy access to it. so, built in a slider wall.
FINALLY done. time for the big move. I also re-scaped the tank with a new Carib-sea live rock and get corals in a safer place. A lot of them have outgrown their original home location. Yes I know the torch fell over, dang conch snail. I got him back up fast.
out with the old.... cleaned the sand and glass. (after this pic was taken)
and in with the new!
from here I reconnected and installed all the electrics, ran all the stuff for the ATO.....then discovered I somehow killed the ATO pump AFTER it was wired in DOH!! Saltwateraquarium.com for the save! Wish I was able to get the wire management better but its loads better then it was.
everything is connected and everyone is in there new home spot. hope they like it.
Heres a better shot of the cabinet. I ditched the old bucket and got this container from the LFS Fintastic aquariums.
I am still working on getting the doser setup for all-for -reef but the tank is not ready for that yet. giving it a week or so for everyone to settle in and the params to stabilize. Also have my water change pump setup so changes should go alot faster now. Kinda sucks that I cant use my slide out yet. the cords on my Current USA lights and main pump are too short. Getting Extensions soon.
I am still waiting on the handles I ordered as they are on backorder. they are shell-shaped so that should look awesome!
After all is done, this is the result. looks pretty good I think. these pics are about 2 days later as I wanted everyone to be settled and not all closed up.
A
Had to run the UV for a little bit too. had a small bacteria bloom show up the next day. I have a green killing machine UV and it cleared it up fast. So that is the build and it is mostly done. I still need to make a floating shelf above the tank to attach my lights. I bought some 15" ReefBright XHO's to supplement my Current USA Orbit Marines, which BTW have been my main lights since I started this last year. All the corals have grown and thrived with these lights and I love the whole integration setup with their LOOP Bluetooth controller. I also use 2 of their wave pumps and their main DC pump and they all have been great with no problems and work perfectly with the LOOP controller.
I will have the lights a bit higher so needed the extra PAR and UV from the XHO's. I will post those pix when I finish it.
Had to make the last pic reppin R2R. I hope you all like this and please, it you have any suggestions or see something that may not be right, Please let me know. I would really appreciate it.