jcustom 65 gal build

[john billelo]

hello. My first post and tank build on reef2reef. This will be a pretty slow build because of time and money. space requirements lead me to chose a 36"L x 18"W x 24" tall tank. Since I was limited to that size tank I started the search for a nice furniture.

 

[Crabs McJones]

hello. My first post and tank build on reef2reef. This will be a pretty slow build because of time and money. space requirements lead me to chose a 36"L x 18"W x 24" tall tank. Since I was limited to that size tank I started the search for a nice furniture.

Welcome to R2R!! Make sure to take lots of pictures, it's what we crave :)

 

[john billelo]

thank you.

 

[john billelo]

My searches pretty much went nowhere. I tried local aquariums, they offered R & J stands. there stapled together plywood wasn't for me, never mind spouse approval. I Tried aqua wood aquarium stands, no luck. Several phone calls and emails and they never got back to me. So I got to thinking maybe I will build my own. Two months of work and a lot of money, this is what I ended up with. Has 4 doors and a panel on left side to mount electronics.

 

[john billelo]

Most everything came from lowe's ( they love me) I used solid red oak boards and some 3/4 oak plywood for top and bottom. I have to thank my girl for most of the detail ideas, rope trim and molding, also the shelf on right door where her ideas. A few more pictures with doors off. I have added a center support for back which just screws in or out.

 

[john billelo]

It made it in house a few days ago.

 

[Denisk]

That is just one lovely stand!!! Great job! Can’t wait to see more.

 

[john billelo]

I started to look for a tank. Wanted low iron glass so first up was Deep blue 57 gal rimless. Nice tank but two things steered me away. Black plastic frame around bottom and only 20" high. Black frame was not going to cut it on my oak stand. Next was Aquamaxx, they have a 48 gal low iron glass tank. But the dimensions on it are 35.5 x 17.8 x17.8 The tank looks great but only 17.8 high, not tall enough and not in stock anywhere. I didn't want acrylic and I realized there's not a lot of low iron options. There's landen aquariums, same type of odd ball dimensions and not in stock. I started looking at more custom tanks. Well shipping freight jacks the price up $400. So I narrowed it down to two, SCA aquariums and Coast two coast. Why these two? sca makes nice tanks real cheap and shipping is included. I didn't read many bad reviews. Coast two coast had many good reviews and there only 1 1/2 hours away from me. NO SHIPPING. I've had emails with SCA and coast two coast, both where good at getting back to me and answering questions. Also I was not able to talk to SCA on the phone about the build. The SCA tanks are made in china and have a 10 week turn around. There's several other factors that are pushing towards Coast Two coast. Chris Walker from Coast two Coast called me and answered all my questions. He took his time and was very patient to explain things. The aquariums they build use American made PPG STARPHIRE glass. I also would be supporting American jobs and local economy. They cost more, but $400 freight I would pay for most custom aquariums goes into the tank not shipping. I'm sure there are other options.

 

[john billelo]

That is just one lovely stand!!! Great job! Can’t wait to see more.

thank you

 

[jsker]

My searches pretty much went nowhere. I tried local aquariums, they offered R & J stands. there stapled together plywood wasn't for me, never mind spouse approval. I Tried aqua wood aquarium stands, no luck. Several phone calls and emails and they never got back to me. So I got to thinking maybe I will build my own. Two months of work and a lot of money, this is what I ended up with. Has 4 doors and a panel on left side to mount electronics.

You are better off, nice job on the stand!!

 

[john billelo]

Thanks. Going to take little while to get tank. But once I do build will take off. Gives me time to get all other equipment. This is a start from scratch build.

 

[john billelo]

Any suggestions or comments about the tank or anything else are welcome

 

[john billelo]

Update

 

[xaflatoonx]

did you make the doors for the stand as well?
if so - can you please elaborate on the process a little?

 

[john billelo]

did you make the doors for the stand as well?
if so - can you please elaborate on the process a little?

Yes. Doors are the hardest part. Used router table and door making router bits.
​

 

[john billelo]

The tank is ordered! Coast to Coast is building me a 65 Gal 36"x 18"x 24" high. Starphire glass. Thanks to Pat Pawlowski and Chris Walker for sending photos of build.

 

[john billelo]

As you can see it has two return holes for 3/4 bulkheads. And there own built in skimmer box, or scupper box as they call it.

 

[FredsNJReef]

Excellent work on that stand! Really detailed.
Coast to Coast is not far from me here in NJ. I've only heard great things about them.
Can't wait to see your build come along!

 

[john billelo]

Ordered a Synergy reef TS-26 triton sump. Thanks to Vanessa Lowe for great customer service and for making the skimmer compartment a little bigger. It will be a few more weeks to get, and put this in it.

 

[john billelo]

Excellent work on that stand! Really detailed.
Coast to Coast is not far from me here in NJ. I've only heard great things about them.
Can't wait to see your build come along!

Thank you. That's one reason why I went with Coast to Coast. Great communications from Chris Walker. And there only about 1 1/2 hours from me.