Jeff's 150 Build - The Salt Box

[CastAway]

Bought a small LED lamp for the work surface, and bought the rest of the tile and cut it....

 

[CastAway]

Began cutting the sound board inserts, which will be glued to the inside of the exterior panels (skin). Still deciding on the final skin for the panels, either laminate glued to MDX, or stained wood. Wood is so common though.

 

[revhtree]

That looks great!

 

[fremont roger]

Man looks good , that looks like a lot of work

 

[CastAway]

This is gonna be good! I'll be following along man, nice build!

Thank you ScottyMcReefer.

That looks great!

Thanks Rev. Given the builds you must see, and reefers you must know, I appreciate that.

Man looks good , that looks like a lot of work

Thanks Roger. It feels like a lot of work, never ending, depressing really. I cannot wait until I can quit thinking so much about building and more about water chemistry and life forms!

 

[chefb_5]

LOL don't we all at times! It will all happen with patience right lol.

 

[Stpatrick]

tagging along

 

[CastAway]

Wow. A little sticker shock. I called a local cabinetry shop and asked for an estimate on the six laminated panels I need to skin the stand. It's over 450 total! HAVE to come up with another alternative, a DIY for sure.

 

[CastAway]

After some time researching on Youtube, I see that one can use adhesive iron on edge banding with plywood, or, prelaminated pressboard. Off to shop...

 

[Jawbreaker]

very nice biuld.

 

[EricB]

Jeff, this is a great build man. You've given me some ideas for the 150DD build I will (hopefully) start at the end of the summer. Mainly, the metal stand and magnetic panels. I love that idea! I've probably seen it before, but didn't give it much thought until now. Probably a stupid question, but I have no experience w/ construction or working with fabricators; what would I google to find someone that does that kind of work? What kind of metal is it?

Keep up the good work dude. I wish I'd have given more forethought into my 125 gallon.

 

[mrbh22]

Just read through all 7 pages. Everything looks good to me. As far as the filter socks why not use unions on the drop downs? Or use slip fit without glue and pull the drop downs when changing filter socks

 

[CastAway]

...what would I google to find someone that does that kind of work? What kind of metal is it?

Thanks Eric. I work for an engineering firm, and we sub out some light fabrication to a local Steel shop. They do tank fabrication, equipment skids, and so on. My stand is made from 2" square tube steel, 3/16" thick. I probably could have went with the 1/8" thick material, but other fabricators and hobbyist seemed to favor 3/16". Suffice to say, it's way more than what is actually required. I think it may truly be indestructible. I would suggest you Google local "steel fabricators" or "tank fabricators". Or, find some local non-residential contractor that might give you a reference to a steel shop. The shop you're looking for is probably just a phone call away. If I had it to do all over again, I might have saved myself the task of cleaning off mill scale, degreasing, priming sanding and many coats of spray paint, and just had Linex spray it with bed liner. The magnet idea came from this Aussie fellow on YouTube. You can find him by searching on "steel aquarium stand", or some form thereof. Best of luck, and thanks again.

 

[CastAway]

very nice biuld.

Thanks Jawbreaker.

As far as the filter socks why not use unions on the drop downs? Or use slip fit without glue and pull the drop downs when changing filter socks

Thanks mrbh22. That’s what I have now, just slip fittings that are not glued, easily removable. I think I will go with the more flexible spa-flex type hose in the end. I’m just not prioritizing at this point. Thanks for taking the time to look through the thread. I recently went through all the pages myself. It’s come a long way. I’m glad I started the thread, it’s a story book.

 

[CastAway]

Sound board inserts cut. Still some fitting to be done. Decided on Melamine board and edge banding for the skin panels. Sound board will be fastened to the inside of the skin. The Melamine seems to be the cheapest path for the look I want.

 

[GoReef165]

Beautifully designed and crafted tank. I haven't read every post here but when I see all the work that was put into this build and see that empty tiled space to the right (as nice as it is) I might have had a larger tank made. But that's just me and I'm sure you have your reasons. Great job on this build and thanks for sharing.

 

[CastAway]

My stomach cranked a little when I read that GoReef. LOL. In general, if I had it to do all over again, I'd go half the size, or smaller. It's just been too much money, and too much in terms of weight, time, everything. I may have been wrong in my thinking that the cost to size ratio is not linear. Maybe I'm just tired of not having water and nothing living. Maybe I'm too anal or meticulous. Now if you're just talking about two more feet of tank to occupy the full length of the stand, well, long term the area is for a frag tank. That tile shown in the shot above is just laying there, cut to size, not glued. The tile will be mounted on a piece of backer board, and the whole work surface will be completely removable such that I can easily plumb and run a shallow frag tank in that space. My pumps are just below, and there's plenty of space to route the supply and return, and just add a few more gallons to the entire system. I'd love to hang that Orphek Nilus fixture over the frag tank, and get a couple Atlantiks for the main display one day. None of that until I actually own a piece of coral and see it grow. :neutral:

 

[CastAway]

Tonight I dug through some attic space in search of a collection of shells and coral I have. Several trips to Mexico in my youth have resulted in a few pounds worth. I have always hoped to litter a reef tank with some of them one day, and am excited to have finally found them. Anyway, is there any problem or concern with doing that? Should they be washed, and if so how?

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

I don't think they should cause any issues.

 

[TJ's Reef]

I 'm always excited to see this thread up top and secretly hoping to see a tank full of water..... but darn it.... not today :boink:
Hang in there Jeff, it will be one day and will be worth the wait and all the effort you've put forth. It took me over a year after I bought the 125g tank to finally have SW flowing inside. For the last three months of wait in addition to the 'Old 75g' also had all my collected Hawaiian Fish in a 50g QT sitting on my wife's kitchen counter.... with daily REQUESTS to hurry up....lol

Cheers, Todd