Innovative Marine EXT 75 build, like you’ve never seen before!

Sandman12

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Well, this will be my first official tank build thread.

The tank will be an IM 75 EXT with a custom stand which will house a custom built frag tank and a trigger systems triton 26 v2!
Everything down below will be on a roll out aluminum tray for working in the frag tank and easier access to the sump, this feature is something I’ve never seen before and has taken me a lot of research to come up with! Lots of customizing and tight tolerances with the stand.

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Here is the stand and layout. The stand is build out of 3/4” birch plywood. The right end is a 4” deep electronics cabinet. The glass tank under the frag tank is just to prop the frag tank up and that will eventually be a storage drawer. The frag tank was built by John at advanced acrylics, really nice quality and price point!

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The tray will be 3/16” aluminum with 2” x 1/4” stiffner’s welded in. The angle aluminum will be screwed in to the left side of the stand to keep the tray from falling down when pulled out. 1/2” starboard will be screwed on the bottom side of the angle aluminum and top of the tray to allow the tray to pull out easier.
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My solution for the pull out tray was to drill 20-1” holes in the floor of the stand and use stainless steel drop in transfer ball bearings. The tray will rest on top of these bearings and be able to pull out over them.

That’s it for now. Ask away if you have any questions and I am always up for constructive
 

NotFishyFishGuy

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Wow looks cool, I’ll definitely be following along the journey :)
Is there enough space for the lighting for the frag tank? I know that usually the lights can’t be placed directly on top
 
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Sandman12

Sandman12

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Wow looks cool, I’ll definitely be following along the journey :)
Is there enough space for the lighting for the frag tank? I know that usually the lights can’t be placed directly on top

Thanks for the reply! I have 12” of space from the top of the frag tank to the underside of the top. I’ll more than likely be using AI primes which require around 8.5” above the tank so I should be good and still have space above for the cooling fan to vent.
 
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Sandman12

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Things continue to move along slowly. Saturday morning I will be going to my friends aluminum shop to fabricate the bottom pull out tray. I also ordered another 20 transfer ball bearings just to be sure the tray pulls out smoothly, I estimate it will have 500lbs on it with both the frag tank and sump full of water plus what ever I keep in the storage drawer.

Another new and exciting thing is my stand top! I was originally going to just use southern pine 2x8’s glued together and stained. Turns out my neighbor has a mill and live edge wood! He made me a deal I couldn’t refuse on some eucalyptus so my top will now be live edge eucalyptus probably coated in epoxy! I am super excited to see how this top turns out, the wood is heavy as hell!

Pics of the 3 raw slabs below. We have to wait at least another couple weeks to get the moisture content down from 14-16% to 6% or so. To accomplish this I have put it inside my house to let the AC pull out the moisture. Anyone ever work with eucalyptus?
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Sandman12

Sandman12

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Another update, I was able to make it to my friends aluminum shop and fabricate the custom pull out tray with shelf to support the frag tank.
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Next step is to install the angle iron that will go on top of and on the sides of the tray to counter the cantilever effect as you pull the tray out. With out them the tray would just fall down and out!
 
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Sandman12

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I now have the right side angle iron mounted and was able to do a little testing. When I pull the tray out all the way it actually flex’s down to the ground as opposed to staying rigid like I had hoped it would do. I have a couple plans to counter this I am just considering which way I will go but in general I will have temporary pieces that I can place under the tray to support it as I slide it out.
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Sandman12

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Making some great progress on the pull out tray that will hold my trigger triton sump and advanced acrylics frag tank! Unfortunately the video demonstration won’t load .
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Dvanlier05

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Super impressive. Makes my DIY stand look like s#!t. Ya that's a lot of weight to hold and was thinking about flexing issue as soon as I read it. Not sure what ur solution was but my 2 cents. Instead of sliding ok n a sheet of aluminum, build a 1" frame and skin it with the aluminum. You may loose some height in the sump but should be strong enough to support the weight when pulled out. Will be following along as that's an genious idea.
Very impressive wood.
 

45ZoaGarden

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+1 a tube frame would hold the weight much better. You will probably have a few hundred pounds on that tray. You’re going to need a pretty hefty frame
Super impressive. Makes my DIY stand look like s#!t. Ya that's a lot of weight to hold and was thinking about flexing issue as soon as I read it. Not sure what ur solution was but my 2 cents. Instead of sliding ok n a sheet of aluminum, build a 1" frame and skin it with the aluminum. You may loose some height in the sump but should be strong enough to support the weight when pulled out. Will be following along as that's an genious idea.
Very impressive wood.
 
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Sandman12

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+1 a tube frame would hold the weight much better. You will probably have a few hundred pounds on that tray. You’re going to need a pretty hefty frame


Super impressive. Makes my DIY stand look like s#!t. Ya that's a lot of weight to hold and was thinking about flexing issue as soon as I read it. Not sure what ur solution was but my 2 cents. Instead of sliding ok n a sheet of aluminum, build a 1" frame and skin it with the aluminum. You may loose some height in the sump but should be strong enough to support the weight when pulled out. Will be following along as that's an genious idea.
Very impressive wood.

You guys are correct, the tray flexed at only half extension. I couldn’t Sacrifice any more on my internal height, I need that dimension for the lights over my frag tank. So my solution was to cut the middle bottom floor which I pull out first to support the tray. Once the middle support is pulled out then I pull out the aluminum tray. I really wish I could figure out how to post the video...

One thing I don’t like is how hard it is to pull out the middle tray support with only 90lbs on it. My total working load will be around 450lbs (25g frag tank, 15g sump, 100lbs miscellaneous) so I assume it will be 5 times as hard to pull out fully loaded. That being said I am afraid I may not be able to pull it out at all. I currently have starboard runners between the stand tray support and the floor to reduce friction by its not good enough. I am probably going to buy some more transfer ball bearings to take their place and help reduce friction. Next step is to fully load it and see how it really is.

Thanks for following and offering constructive criticism!
 

45ZoaGarden

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Why not build a cart like construction below the tank? So the stand will have no floor, it would be a cart containing your sump and frag tank. Open the door and roll everything out.
You guys are correct, the tray flexed at only half extension. I couldn’t Sacrifice any more on my internal height, I need that dimension for the lights over my frag tank. So my solution was to cut the middle bottom floor which I pull out first to support the tray. Once the middle support is pulled out then I pull out the aluminum tray. I really wish I could figure out how to post the video...

One thing I don’t like is how hard it is to pull out the middle tray support with only 90lbs on it. My total working load will be around 450lbs (25g frag tank, 15g sump, 100lbs miscellaneous) so I assume it will be 5 times as hard to pull out fully loaded. That being said I am afraid I may not be able to pull it out at all. I currently have starboard runners between the stand tray support and the floor to reduce friction by its not good enough. I am probably going to buy some more transfer ball bearings to take their place and help reduce friction. Next step is to fully load it and see how it really is.

Thanks for following and offering constructive criticism!
 
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Sandman12

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Why not build a cart like construction below the tank? So the stand will have no floor, it would be a cart containing your sump and frag tank. Open the door and roll everything out.
Any caster and build for that I found was too tall. This set up is only 9/16” tall off the stand floor.
 
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Sandman12

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That is what I look at first. We use those heavy duty slides on our fire engines at work. They were too expensive and not stainless steel.
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

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