85gal Tank Buildup

[Mr Burns]

hey all! "enough talk....it's smashing time!"

i'll be using this thread over the next few months to document the progress of this project, and i'll try to get pictures up as often as possible, but i don't have a good digital camera.

today marks day #1 of my stand/tank/canopy/lighting/reactor project.... most everything is DIY for this. i've been planning this for over two solid months, and not a day has gone by that i haven't reconsidered or modified some aspect. this is also the first time i have ever taken on a project of this magnitude, so wish me luck!

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i just got back from the B.O.R.G. with a bunch of 2x4s and a couple pounds of decking screws, so i'm all set to start building the frame of the stand. it will be 55"L x 32"H x 19"D and modelled after Thaiboxer's stand (somewhat of a mod of the GARF stand.) i'm still not sure how it's going to be skinned because the decision of whether to paint or stain or poly is still up in the air. style is everything, you know.

the plans and cutsheets were drawn up earlier this week. i have eight 2x4s (roughly $2.50ea i think) which will accomodate all of the pieces needed. i spent a good portion of last night trying out different configurations for each board so as to minimize the number of boards needed, thus eliminating as much wasted wood as possible.

once the frame is completed, i'll upload a picture of it, including prices and cut sheets.

 

[Mr Burns]

i finally picked up six bags of eco-complete today. considering the tank isn't even close to being completed it wasn't necessary to purchase now, but i got such a great deal on it that it was hard to pass up. the frame of the stand should be complete this saturday, so i'll try and get a picture or five up...

does anybody draw up aquascape plans and stick to them, or do you just put things in and start building as you go?

 

[loganj]

Sounds like a great deal! I did a similar buildup a while back, but didn't really include everything I should have. I'll definitely follow yours closely to see how things go. FWIW, I usually just start piling the rock in and moving it around until I get something I like the looks of. Stuff like this really helps the folks who are new to SW since they can see a step by step tank buildup. I'll be looking forward to seeing yours come together.

 

[Mr Burns]

this is FW, but hopefully some SW people can learn something about the construction, if nothing else.

 

[Mr Burns]

i know there are a few options, but in general what kind of glass do i need to buy? the plans call for a pane 53"x17.25" at a thickness of 3/8". does it need to be tempered glass? what is the cost of PPG Starphire glass compared to regular glass? at 3/8" thickness, would starphire even be worth considering? TIA

 

[Mr Burns]

any input on the glass??

 

[fishNCovice]

try this site for getting an idea on what materials cost for any given state http://www.get-a-quote.net/default.htm

it is a site for contractors to estimate costs

hope it helps

 

[fishNCovice]

try this site for getting an idea on what materials cost for any given state http://www.get-a-quote.net/default.htm

it is a site for contractors to estimate costs

hope it helps

 

[JProx]

if i could offer some advice and sorry if you know this already i didn't see any mention of this in your post.

thai and i started building our stands roughly the sametime (he started construction like week before me) but i suggest you plan for sealing the frame. after the frame is fully built, and you're satisified with how it turned out, either seal the wood with thompson's like thai did, or use polyurthane (that's what i choose, since i had a few quarts laying around). the actual skin of the stand should be sealed up too, but deffiently seal the frame, since that's doing all the work of supporting the tank and you don't want the boards to start rotting, or warping. i put 2 coats of polyurthane on my frame, (about 1/2 quart of polyurthane was used) and covered every square inch of the frame (wish i would have taken some pics... )

 

[Mr Burns]

thanks for the quote link. i'm still not sure what kind/type of glass i should be using. once i figure that out, i can budget that out and move on. is starphire worth the price at 3/8"? i don't know if it's all that necessary...

good advice jprox, thank you! i was planning on doing that this past week, but when i got to home depot, i realized i hadn't brought enough money to get the parts for my reactor, paint, and the sealer. so the sealer had to be left behind, but i'll pick it up this week for sure. are there any pros/cons to sealer and poly, or are they just about the same for this application?

http://www.officedepot.com/ddMain.do?level=FM&id=170731&location_info=SG_2_CT_816_FM_170731 <-- that's the desk that is in the room. so for the stand i was hoping to go with 1/4" oak with a cherry stain and charcoal trim to make the deco of the room. sound good?

 

[JProx]

well.. thai, me, and yaksplat had a little discussion about this when i was building mine. thai used thompson's since he had some left over, yaksplat (the master craftsman) choose to use tungston oil (i think that's what it's called, i will double check my post and thai's to make sure) and i choose poly since i had some left over in the garage, and becasue it doesn't need to be reapplied. i used to have a deck (at my old house) and about every 2yrs i had to re apply thompson's water seal, and really the deck was outside all yr long (3/4 of the yr it was rained and snowed on) and the stand will be around water indeffiently so at some point the water seal will need to be applied, or you could start having warping boards, and rot. i have no idea how long that will take, and that's probably the most extreme arguement, but it's why i choose poly over thompson's. and plus poly puts a nice shine on the wood, and completely protects it from almost everything. i am going to double check my digital cam to make sure i don't have pics of the stand after applying polyurthane.

you could always ask hd people their opinion, if you're still not sure which is better.

 

[JProx]

yaksplat (the master craftsman) choose to use tungston oil (i think that's what it's called, i will double check my post and thai's to make sure)

yaksplat used Formby's tung oil, i don't know where i got tungston from.
http://www.formbys.com/products/tung_oil_direct.cfm