My Saltwater Headboard

benj420

benj420

Member
The custom headboard tank I made for my bed about 3 years ago. The picture was taken last month. It is about 60 gallons, total system volume (40 display + 20 sump). There are a few things that I would do differently, but 99% of it came out according to plan. Not bad for my first attempt at making a tank if I do say so myself...
 
devildog01

devildog01

Member
Originally Posted by Benj420
The custom headboard tank I made for my bed about 3 years ago. The picture was taken last month. It is about 60 gallons, total system volume (40 display + 20 sump). There are a few things that I would do differently, but 99% of it came out according to plan. Not bad for my first attempt at making a tank if I do say so myself...
U better hope that tank doesnt leak, otherwise people might think you drank all that water!
JK. VERY IMPRESSIVE!! Have you bonked your head on it yet? How about specs and fish and stuff-more information on it?
 
benj420

benj420

Member
Originally Posted by DevilDog01
Have you bonked your head on it yet? How about specs and fish and stuff-more information on it?
Hahaha, no I haven't bonked my head on it yet in 3 years, but my girlfriend..... that's another story....
I assured her it was made out of acrylic for HER safety.
Current livestock:
Gold stripe maroon clown
Yellow tang
Spotted mandarin
Rose bubble tip anemone
3 huge pieces of bright green sinularia
a few misc SPS
3 clams, 1 derasa, 1 gigas, 1 crocea
2 shrimp, 1 peppermint, 1 skunk cleaner
tons of bright green star polyps
assorted zoos
1 mushroom leather
lots of xenia
assorted snails, hermits
I will be adding some mythrax crabs when I make my next livestock order.
Has had in the past:
powder blue tang (died)
copperband butterfly (moved)
a few more SPS that were either moved or didn't make it
Seaclone skimmer (don't recommend)
I'm sure there are a few more I'm forgetting.
Hardware:
72" long x 15" tall x 9" front-to-back out of 3/8" Spartech Cell Cast Acrylic
Red oak surround w/ 2x4 skeleton frame
4 x 72" VHO & 2-Icecap 420 (2x10,000k & 2xActinic)
Magdrive 7 return pump
2 medium sized powerheads
DIY skimmer w/ Magdrive 5
20 gallon high "stock" glass tank as sump from LFS
That's all I can think of right now.
I had an aiptasia problem at one point, but the copperband butterfly and peppermint shrimp took care of it. I am currently having a problem with some bubble algae and lots of red flatworms. I am getting the mythrax crabs for the bubble algae and am not sure what to do about the flatworms yet.
Here are some more pictures from various times over the three years:




 
benj420

benj420

Member
Originally Posted by fedukeford
lol.. nice.. u wanna build me a tank.. lol jk
My standard answer: "Sure, but you probably can't afford me"
 
joker_ca

joker_ca

Active Member
that looks very cool, but me and my girl would proably stress out all the fish from the rocking
 
benj420

benj420

Member
Originally Posted by MASHAWNA
Wow. neat tank hey how much would you charge to build me one?
Well, like I said, I am expensive, but if you are truly interested, something very close to what is pictured, including main tank, wood surround and base, plumbing, pumps, lights, timers and sump tank, not including sand, rock, livestock, skimmer, or delivery, you would be looking at a ball park price of $2,500.00. If you or anyone else is still interested after the sticker shock, you can leave your email address and I will get back to you.
 
benguck

benguck

Member
That is pretty much the coolest tank I've ever seen. When I'm done with school I may seriously give you a call to work something out
 
benj420

benj420

Member
Originally Posted by zman1
So how noisy is it while you're trying to sleep?
Not bad at all. It kind of sounds like a babbling brook. Some people pay lots of money to get a device that will mimic the same sound for a peaceful sleeping environment. Starting from the first night I didn't have any problem sleeping through it and I'm not a particularly heavy sleeper. It could be much quiter if I had designed the overflows better, but it was the first time I had made them and I didn't have the benefit of hindsight. If I were to make another one, I would make external overflows and that would allow me the room to use a silencer pipe (also called durso, I think). It would also give me more room inside the tank and make the overflows easier to clean.
 
J

jcrim

Guest
Great tank... but the first thing that comes to mind is that it probably would be at risk during certain bedroom activities.

I hope you have comfortable couches, chairs, tables, floors, etc. You get the point!
 
J

jdragunas

Guest
LMAO!!!
And OMG, that's the coolest friggin thing i've ever seen!!! I was wondering how to fit my 300g shark tank in my bedroom, and you just answered it!!!
Did you buy the tank and build the stand/headboard around it? How do you access the tank? Does the "canopy/lid/top" just flip up? How do you access the filter? Underneath the bed? From the side?
Hmmmm... i'm soooo going to do that!!!!!!
 
benj420

benj420

Member
Originally Posted by jdragunas
Did you buy the tank and build the stand/headboard around it? How do you access the tank? Does the "canopy/lid/top" just flip up? How do you access the filter? Underneath the bed? From the side?
The canopy lid flips up and then there are three acrylic lids that flip up from there. Accessing the skimmer is another thing. My bed is a waterbed, so it doesn't lend itself to sliding out of the way when you want to maintain the sump, so getting to it is a tricky proposition of reacing in through the end of the stand. That is something that I would change on the next one for sure. I am in the process of deciding how I want to fix it for the current setup, but haven't gotten around to doing it yet as it is just inconvenient, not impossible.
I do all of the construction for the tank, surround, and stand myself. I don't know if I can post a link to the outside here, but I will try. It shows some pictures along the way during construction and that may answer a lot of the questions (and may prompt some more).
http://webpages.charter.net/benj420/...rdproject.html
 
J

jdragunas

Guest
that's amazing!!! And you're allow to post other links, as long as it's not for a competitor's website...
 
cda fish

cda fish

Member
have brought husband into bedroom..wooohoo just to take a look at your pic..very nice husband is now looking at our headbord and asking me how much would that cost..
 
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