five.five-six's 180 SPS build, in the grand scheme of things, it is still a nano

[five.five-six]

well at 3:00 this afternoon we started with this maple stock and some maple plywood

we did not use screws or nails in any of the main connections, here I am at the dato machine preparing for glue and dowels

gluing the dowels in place

the face-frame setting up

next we worked on the structure of the stand. I decided to have a "dry" section under the stand, it will house the chiller, ballast, ACII, aquasurf and other electronics and will be fan cooled so we built 2 sections

attaching the face-frame to the boxes

gluing in more support, the structural portion is all 3/4" maple plywood

attaching the solid maple sides

here it is almost done, if you look closely you can see the bisket to hole the vertical brace in place

here is the bezel that hides the black tank molding and 3/8 steel cable for earthquake bracing setting up

I rounded the the bezel (no sharp corners for running kids) and used the router on it again, all we need now is to order the doors and complete the canopy, then stain

 

[nahtanoj]

very nice looking, thanks for the build thread, keep us updated.

 

[five.five-six]

very nice looking, thanks for the build thread, keep us updated.

thanks Jon, I am having fun with it I am a little concerned that I do not have enough support for the 2000+ pounds of the tank and it's contents. my buddy the cabinet maker, thinks I am nuts with all the little extra supports and wood glue that I am putting in all the corners, I keep explaining to him that it is going to weigh as much as his truck and if it flexes much more than 3/8" it will leak soon

My son and I picked up my new Visio 180 gallon tank the day before yesterday. they did a very nice job on it. the silicone bead looks great and the mitered and polished corners I am very happy with the tank and the transaction with ATA went well, I ended up paying $105 more than the eBay advertised price because I added the polished corners and bulkhead hole.

I have 1 3" hole in the center 1" off the back. the plan is to just have a gray PVC pipe stand up in the back and I will cut a strainer into it but I am trying to avoid giving up real estate to a overflow box

while I was at ATA I noticed some nice big shelf rocks, normally I try to buy stuff on the cheep but I liked these pieces so I just got them. the bigger one measures 20" across and the smallest is about 16"

the stand and canopy the stain and finish should be done well in time for my planned transfer from the 100 gallon date of 4/6

 

[SteveOhh]

Nice Mark..................wonder if your buddy wants to build another stand..............Just got a nice frag tank for shows & swaps & would love to have a furniture grade stand under it.......Love the looks of that fireplace mantle in the pic w/ you at the dado.....Choice stuff!!!!!!

Give me a hollar if you need help on transfer day...

 

[five.five-six]

steve,
actually he does side work all the time, I did not know him at the time but he would have done my kitchen for less than i paid stupid home depot, who actually did a very nice job... but they are not custom cabinets. if you are free the first Sunday in April, I think I am going to have a long freaking day and will need all the help and buckets I can get

 

[five.five-six]

one little thing and I am off to work today. I installed 3/16" steel cable along the upper and lower rim of the aquarium this morning. I just laid a small bead of silicone and used some tape to hold it in place while it sets up. the tricky part was figuring out exactly where to put the slight kink in the cable with pliers so it turned the corners nicely.

on installation day, I will terminate these cables with loops then I have 4 X 3/8 eye-lags that I will sink into the wall studs, then I will connect the eye-lags to the cable loops with threaded quick links. I estimate the load baring capability of this system at 2400 pounds, though that kind of force may rip the wall right out of the building

 

[riverreefer]

pm sent

 

[philv]

you know when using power tools you should always where eye protection

 

[DaveMorris]

I like the stand. So many people think that their stand needs to be built out of 4x4's and 2x8 lumber. Wood is considerably stronger than people think. It looks great and I am sure it will look even better with the stain on it.

 

[newnanoboy]

nice work so far mark... i like how you have safety in mind. i'm sure it's gonna look great when you're done.

 

[five.five-six]

nice work so far mark... i like how you have safety in mind. i'm sure it's gonna look great when you're done.

thanks, that is one of the things i like about a 24 x 24 tank, it is more stable and i designed the stand to be only 30" high which is as low as I could go and get a decent skimmer under it. we are just waiting with bated breath for my wife to pick the stain and door style

 

[Jay]

what exactly is the cable for?:hmmmm:

 

[five.five-six]

what exactly is the cable for?:hmmmm:

to connect the tank to the wall studs so no one steels the tank


















or if there is a big earthquake, to give me a second or two more to get my 2 year old away from the tank before it flies across the room

 

[SteveOhh]

If I wanna steal your tank, I've got a set of 24" bolt cutters that'll cut thru that wimpy cable................ :rofl:

Thanks for the hookup to your buddy, the cabinet guy. Gonna figure out exactly what I want & give him a hollar....

 

[EyeReef]

looking good!
I wish I had an ounce of carpenter skills

 

[five.five-six]

looking good!
I wish I had an ounce of carpenter skills

yea me too, but who needs it if you have help, it is not all that hard, with the right tools, and a few tricks and some one with a LOT of experiance there holding your hand... ok, I am totaly lost with this stuff


we finished the doors and canopy Friday, I just got the photos uploaded from my phone. so, sorry about the poor quality.


when I arrived, Jeff had already built the doors and the glue was setting up

once the glue set, I had to putty the holes router the edge detail and sand the doors smooth

more sanding

then we cut the edge molding from standard wood stock

I missed a few photos, but here is the unfinished product, it is being stained professionally right now

canopy

and the stand

 

[nahtanoj]

really great stuff. keep it coming. my build threads are short, lol.

 

[five.five-six]

really great stuff. keep it coming. my build threads are short, lol.

mine are long drawn out and painful.. right now I am looking for a bulkhead to fit in a 3" hole, I have one being shiped priority and I hope it fits as MD and my LFS nor the local industrial plumbing supply have anything that works

 

[Acrylic_world]

wow! I must say you've got the gift of carpenter skill. Don't mind me asking what wood are you using? I must guess Maple or Oak, right? here is the stand I build for my shop, kinda look like yours.

 

[five.five-six]

wow yours is outstanding, i wanted to finish it clear but wifey wanted a slight tint. oak is very nice but the heavy aggressive grain is not my style, so we went maple as yours looks.

nice carvings, did you cut those or buy them?