The Final Build...

[customcolor]

After going through the whole business thing with coral...we have decided to shut it down. We just moved and are changing our ways of thinking. Family comes first salt water is a fun second!! We are doing this so that having saltwater stays fun and not full of frustration in trying to make a buck. Having fun is what this is all about....RIGHT??

So with that said...This is the FINAL BUILD! No upgrading to larger tanks...no down grading to smaller tanks...and no adding more tanks....this is it! All my knowledge and skills will go into this tank!

Back when we started into saltwater we had a 75galRR...every since we traded it for a 125 tank and stand...we have missed its size. Don't get me wrong...the 125 was awesome but still missed having a 4' tank.

AND SO IT BEGINS...

DRILL IT!!!!

A single 1.5" hole is drilled for the overflow off center so that i may unblock it easy if i need to.

Next i need to do the overflow...now here is where i will toss you for a loop...NO FOAM THIS TIME!? Thats right...no foam...decided to put my job to work...(just me behind the bosses back..lol). I run a small cnc at work about 1/2 of my shift...well i decided to improve on what hardly no one has thought of improving on before. Yep thats the overflow box it self. Granted there has ben few improvements but none like this.

Here is the front with the top brace (not the improvement) bottom and sides all attached together.

Now here is where the improvement is...most of us know how water works.....it likes to stick to what its flowing over but when there is a sharp change in direction going down it will let go and fall instead of flow over. When it falls it will crash and A. make noise & B. make bubbles. Well with us wanting almost no noise with this tank we needed to change that. (bubbles are always bad) So when i ran this i made the inside of the overflow area, coming from where the water will go, CURVED and SLOPED! That way the water can stick to the overflow as it goes down the inside of it so it will not splash.

Next i made a back plate to glue it to....but i had to attach the plate to the tank first or i would not have been able to put the 1.5" bulkhead through it. Silicone away and clamped it on with the bulk head so i could get a great water tight seal. Of course you know whats next....I attached the overflow box to the back plate..

PHASE 2..

Start building the stand.

Well i had a pile of tile that i reclaimed off the 125 stand we had. I wanted to reuse it BAD!!! so came up with something not seen by me before. First i needed to build the main part of it.

Now the color of the stand is also something i did long time ago with a fresh water stand i did. I used these 3 things...can you put it together on what and how i did it??

I didnt think so...LOL!!

Here is what you need to do. First put some naptha on a paper towel...not to much, dont want it running off it. Second spray some black spray paint on a small section of the wood about 2-3 feet long...count to 5 then start to wipe it off with the naptha towel...basically your thinning the spray paint down so it can soak into the wood like a stain. You may use less naptha for a darker effect or vice versa. After you do all your wood spread a thin layer of water based POLY over it.

Results as follows on pulper...

 

[jikm2187]

I really like the finish on your stand...

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

I can't wait to see what you put in this tank. I like the stand!

 

[customcolor]

i really like the finish on your stand...

i can't wait to see what you put in this tank. I like the stand!

thanks guys!!

 

[gar732]

Holy crap dude you read my mind! When I upgrade I wanted to do the same thing when I build a new stand. I even used a similar colored stain on my current stand that I was planning on using again. I was thinking of using a tan/natural colored stacked stone type tile, what are you going to use? I can't wait to see it finished.

 

[customcolor]

Holy crap dude you read my mind! When I upgrade I wanted to do the same thing when I build a new stand. I even used a similar colored stain on my current stand that I was planning on using again. I was thinking of using a tan/natural colored stacked stone type tile, what are you going to use? I can't wait to see it finished.

if you didnt see the pic very well....that is not stain...its black spray paint... ;)

ill be using Slate as the tiles with black grout...more pics coming up soon

 

[jikm2187]

I can't wait to see this stand finished. What plans are you using for your stand? If you don't mind sharing..

 

[customcolor]

I can't wait to see this stand finished. What plans are you using for your stand? If you don't mind sharing..

there really is no plans....just making a stand that i know that will work. i have built to many and i know on the normal tanks about how much wood i need for support. I still get a kick out of it when I see some one build a 40 breeder stand with 12 2x4's(3 per corner) as legs....i used just 3/4" ply for the sided on my last 40 breeder stand.

 

[Steelerfan747]

Very nice. In. glad you decided to do another tank. I'm sure out will be beautiful and bring you and your family much joy. Enjoy it in great health

 

[cdrewferd]

Great idea on the stand paint. Would have never thought about that. Looks like an easier way to get an ebony stain going. Where's the updates? lol

 

[Reef Breeders]

Looks like it will be a sweet build!

 

[revsgirl]

Looks great!! Lookin' forward to following along!!

 

[skinz78]

Looking sweet, I'm excited for the updates:)

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[customcolor]

Where's the updates? lol

lol...



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[customcolor]

Stand part 2

Like i said earlier ...i have a bunch of tile i reclaimed off the 125 stand and i wanted to use it. Well here is where im using it. Being on a side of the stand gave me a slite challenge..but with using liquid nail instead of mortar adhesive there was no real issue. Just needed to keep the spacing...for that i used paper towel folded 6 times in half to make my spacing...again using what i had available :P

After 24 hours i added the corner trim (spray stained the same)

Well as you can tell (kinda) that i am now doing all this in the house (now the new house) Reason for that is because this stand is now at least 50lbs heavier! LOL!! During this next part i put down some 3mil plastic i had so the wife wouldnt kill me if i made a mess of my self. I needed to fill in all those gaps between the tile. Black mortar was the perfect fit. I used a whole 10lbs of mortar powder! Every last bit if it! CRAP now i need more for the canopy (when i get there)

Well im not going to show you the mess but i will show you the result.

Back to the tank...

Now again i am doing this in the house to finish it...want the back dark....IN COMES THE AUTOMOTIVE TINT!! I used 2.5 limo black for this. Another reason for using the tint is so that the back will not get scratched easy at all. I have used spray paint before. It just scraped off to darn easy.

BEFORE

AFTER

ALL TOGETHER IN THE CORNER (minus stand door...for now)

 

[skinz78]

Very nice! I can't wait to see it wet!

 

[bbandu]

That is a very nice stand you have created. I like the way you used the black spray paint somewhat as a stain for the wood. The slate tile with the black mortar works very well with the wood color. I cant wait to see what the final product looks like.

 

[cdrewferd]

That stand looks great. Good job. Can't see what the rest turns out like.

 

[customcolor]

SUMP!!

Off to filtration..first off i finally am putting to good use of this free 55gal tank!! You may think...."what not using it as a display?" yep...your right...when i got this 55 3 years ago it was desdend to become a sump...to many scratches and i just dont like 55's as displays any more. It took me a little bit to get 3 years of dust off and to clean up the gravel out of it but its ready!!

i only put in 2 baffles to save space (sorry no pic as of now) Even though there is only 2 baffles i have good faith in not having micro bubbles in my display. Also since there is only one section blocked off (skimmer area) the rest of the tank will be full of live rock. Now your asking why no fuge? Well ill tell ya...I have ben running a bio pellets set up for over a year now with no issues! The pellets have ben doing a great job in keeping my phosphates to .05 and nitrates at 0 that i see no need for a fuge. No algea issues of any kind neither. i only run about 1.5" of media in a Next Reef reactor with a mag5 putting flow to it...dont fix what isnt broken i say!!

Started the pluming and here is why ill have more then enough room to get to the sump with having one door and a 4' sump and stand......well behind this tank there is a closet!! Small that it may be...it fits the sump in it great plus a few other things too!!!!

I built a stand for the sump to get it off the ground and to help with head loss and bubbles from the dropping water. Now in order to get the water to and from the sump i needed to drill some holes in the wall (much easier to fix then holes in the floor!!) I used 45s and spa flex to help getting smoother flow. The 45 you see just behind the tank is to let air in to the drain...dont worry it will be caped with a hole in it to keep it quiet.

sump in place off the ground and boy...talk about almost no head loss!! Maybe 2' of head!!!??!! 1.5" drain the whole way and 1" returns the whole way....

Like i said...its a little closet!!!

Up next is the water!!!!!!!!!!

 

[skinz78]

Very nice! I did the same thing with my sump off the floor. Mine is a bit lower though as my overflows drain out the bottom.

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