ilyad
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This post is reserved for future FTS shots
Home Office Lagoon
- Thread starter ilyad
- Start date
ilyad
New member
This is technically a rebuild of my home office aquarium, but it turned out to be a full replacement of almost all of the parts. Originally, I had 25 gallon 18x18x18 cube on a wooden stand. However, I found that the stand felt crammed and made it difficult to do maintenance and upkeep, so I purchased a larger 24x24 stand. However, after looking at the smaller tank sitting on the large stand, I figured it would be a waste of space sitting a much smaller tank on that stand, so a larger tank was ordered!
ilyad
New member
In order to give me the most flexibility and modularity, I opted to get an aluminum extrusion stand for the aquarium, and after researching the vendor, I settled on AluFab. They arent the cheapest available, but their customer service and responsiveness to all of my questions made it a no brainer for me to choose them.
After working with their rep and finalizing the stand design, here is the large amount of parts that needed to be put together.
The start of the build
(you can see the old aquarium and stand in the back)
The sides have magnetic door panels while the front will have a hinged magnetic door.
After working with their rep and finalizing the stand design, here is the large amount of parts that needed to be put together.
The start of the build
(you can see the old aquarium and stand in the back)
The sides have magnetic door panels while the front will have a hinged magnetic door.
ilyad
New member
I already have another main display tank in my living room that is super high-tech with controller and all sorts of automated parts. For this one, I decided to go a bit more simple. That being said, I did want to have a power strips that would allow me to turn on and off individual components.
While the stand is made out of 15 series aluminum, I used smaller 10 series parts to make vertical mounting locations for the power strips
And I opted to have two strips installed that would allow me plenty of space to upgrade in the future.
Here is the finished look at the Power Station
Next step was to mount it to the stand
While the stand is made out of 15 series aluminum, I used smaller 10 series parts to make vertical mounting locations for the power strips
And I opted to have two strips installed that would allow me plenty of space to upgrade in the future.
Here is the finished look at the Power Station
Next step was to mount it to the stand
ilyad
New member
looks great! I think the stand will be strong enough
LOL... I think I can probably put 5 tanks on there and it would be able to hold it!
ilyad
New member
Now that the power station was added, it was time to add the shelf
On the sides of the shelf, I added more plastic pieces where all the little controllers and read outs will be stuck to. I used some spare plastic sheet I had and bracketed it in.
And the finished product
Also, the hinged door was attached.
On the sides of the shelf, I added more plastic pieces where all the little controllers and read outs will be stuck to. I used some spare plastic sheet I had and bracketed it in.
And the finished product
Also, the hinged door was attached.
ilyad
New member
While setting up the stand, I added a cross piece in the back to which the light mount (made out of aluminum) will mount to later.
And here are some mock ups of the light mount.
And here are some mock ups of the light mount.
ilyad
New member
In addition to the stand, the aquarium arrived last week. It is a rimless 24x24x16 (roughly 40 gallons) made from 1/2 glass. Viewing panels are low iron and back is painted black and drilled for an external overflow and one return. Because I was going with a larger footprint than my previous 18 cube, I still wanted to keep the total water volume relatively small and therefore went for a more shallow height. With a plan of mostly Softie/LPS, I think 16 deep is more than enough.
Aquarium was purchased locally from my buddy Elliot at Golden State Corals
Aquarium was purchased locally from my buddy Elliot at Golden State Corals
ilyad
New member
Did one small step towards the build this weekend.... I squared the top of the stand better, and added a padded foam pad to the top.
Started with the top panel of the stand and attached one edge of the foam
Slowly worked my way along until it was all glued on
Using a brand new blade, I trimmed off the excess pieces
How it looks on the stand
Current layers
Started with the top panel of the stand and attached one edge of the foam
Slowly worked my way along until it was all glued on
Using a brand new blade, I trimmed off the excess pieces
How it looks on the stand
Current layers
Thanks for sharing this built. Can’t wait until it’s fully set up and running.
ilyad
New member
Thats great to hear! Glad its doing well.
ilyad
New member
Thank you! I really need to get working on the build, hoping to make a bit more progress that I can update with soon.
