woot.woot my 1st tank woot woot

sciknen

sciknen

Member
Well here it is.
. Ive been annoying you for the past 6 months with dumb questions and my "special" opinions.
Now you get to give me crap about my horrible craftsmanship.
(give me a break I'm 20 and never did anything like this before)
Its a 55gal
will have
DIY stand
DIY sump,refuge
DIY canopy
Ive been working on it for about a month taking it slow
will have some pics up in an hr or so i need to upload about 24 on photobucket

Equip to be bought..
-octopus nw 150
-2 koralia 3's
-eshopps overflow
LIGHTING-
probably 2 150w MH
and some actinic of some kind(not sure t5 or pc) I'm confused on this

I love opinions
 
sciknen

sciknen

Member
Aight here some are i have a lot, but I dont wana post em all at once because then you wont keep chekcin back in on my tank diary so here are some.
1st step
painting the back of the tank


all the wood cut...thats my qt stand too

bulding the stand


all done

Well my house is really really old like 150yrs. This means none of the floors are even. Well i think i saw it on someone elses thread, but i forget who.thank you. i went to a pool table store and bought some of the leveler things on the legs. i put the tank on it and its holding very strong

next set of pics will be my messy DIY sump
i call it
WHEN SILICONE ATTACKS
 
scsinet

scsinet

Active Member
A couple things...
First, you may consider placing a 2x4 against each leg between the horizontal top and bottom rails. Cut it so it fits nice and snug (to where you have to tap it in with a hammer).
Those will take the weight of the tank. The stand, as currently built, puts the weight of the tank on the screws/nails (not good). Simple improvement.
The leveling feet... have you checked the weight capacity? For a 55g they will probably be fine (maybe 200lbs/each at the most), but if you haven't checked you may want to. The other consideration you probably should think about is that these leveling feet concentrate the entire weight of the tank on 4 very small points... again, with a 55g this may not be an issue, but it's worth considering.
Nice job so far..
 
sciknen

sciknen

Member
well with the weight of the tank..the corner of the tank are pretty much resting on the 4x4 not the 2x4..
the leveling feet should hold up the weight..i think the box said 200lbs a piece..and the tank should only weigh about 500ish soooo i hope it holds or i will just tank em off and try to shim it which would be amazingly hard to do with our floor....well me n my dad sat on it...me 6'3 280 (offensive lineman imma big guy) my dad 5'11 250
so i guess it will take the weight lol
def wouldnt work on a bigger tank tho
 
sciknen

sciknen

Member
well heres my
DIY sump
attack of the silicone
very messy stuff


also this is the stain/wax once i get the red oak for the stand and canopy
what you think of it
 
sciknen

sciknen

Member
Believe me on the stand my dad gave me alot of help...he makes and designs light bulbs for osram....aka free mh.... but he used to do alot of carpentry.So im just going and learning,but im doing alot of work sump is all me
but yea 1st time..Ive never even had a fw tank..Ive only had lizards and now i have a ball python..but she hasnt eaten in 8 months(dont worry i guess its normal) because its mating season. only no one to mate with..i hate when that happens lol
 
scsinet

scsinet

Active Member
Nothing that complicated. If the wood fits nice and snug, just put a couple screws in it to keep it in place. It's bearing a vertical load, so there won't be anything wanting to act in a way to pull it apart... the weight of the tank will make it want to stay in place so no exotic or heavy duty bracing is needed.
 
sciknen

sciknen

Member
well the sump is water tight its all working good.....
im thinkin about gettin 40lbs fji and 25lbs tonga of marco dry rock
what you think
 
sciknen

sciknen

Member
anyone know of any cheap(inexpensive) reflectors...they need to fit in a 14in wide canopy... im doing MH 2 150w.....
i dont need lumenarc or whatever..just something simple that will work
also..what should i paint the inside of the canopy with(what kind of paint)?
 
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