You gotta check this out. (DIY Stand)

[mckaax]

Well after a year of buying tank parts and everything else I need, I finally broke down and did the real work of building a stand. My father and me did this over the weekend and let me just say man am I proud of our work. It is not done yet it needs to be cut for the doors and painted but, I just could not wait to show this puppy off. Only place I was not happy with was where the tank sits on the stand the gap was to big because of the miscalculations of the 3/4 inch plywood. My dad had a great idea of putting a piece of trim on it and now I like it even more. Tell me what you guys think
P.S. The medallion on the top is not permanent let me know if you think it needs to be bigger smaller or none at all.

 

[coraljunky]

Nice work. Cant wait to see it up and running. I've never been a fan of medallions, sorry.

 

[jkcrumb]

great looking setup!!!!!!!!! are u painting it white or staining it?????? I built my own stand and cabinet also and it was a great, rewarding feeling??? Is your setup 4' or 6' long????? congrats again!!!!!!!

 

[jkcrumb]

o yea........1 more idea...........u may want to spray paint the inside of the stand with black oil base now befor u install everything.......if you keep it raw its gonna suck up every mistake u ever make and could eventually start to stink a little..........just a thought..............semigloss latex would also be sufficient

 

[mckaax]

Its a 4 ft system. Also I am painting it black. We can't stain it due to the pre painted trim we used.

 

[mckaax]

I have a question for ya. In the hood I am going to nail a piece of plywood to the upper 2x4 frame. Do you think I should nail the plywood to the top or bottom of the upper 2x4 frame. Reason is It will change the distance between the water and the MH lights.

 

[jkcrumb]

Originally Posted by mckaax
I have a question for ya. In the hood I am going to nail a piece of plywood to the upper 2x4 frame. Do you think I should nail the plywood to the top or bottom of the upper 2x4 frame. Reason is It will change the distance between the water and the MH lights.
Are u using an ajustable handing system??? or mounting it on the plywood??? what type of lighting system are u using???? all in one or seperate components???

 

[mckaax]

I will be using a retro 175x2 MH and 4x65 PC. I planned on just mounting the reflector to the plywood.

 

[jkcrumb]

without seeing the inside of the setup its hard to say........my MH's are about 6-8" off the water line.........are u gonna be able to swing the piece of plywood up (hinges) so you'll have more working room for cleanouts and aquascaping.......if your lights are withing 5-8" off the water and the ply wood is anchored it may not give u enough workin room.........BUT if you install them 10-12" up you'll be loosing alot of benificial light.....I would try to figure out a way to make the lights adjustable.......it woud also help with light acclimation for new additions to u'r tank..........this is just my opinion

 

[mckaax]

I am not going to have a way to open the hood. I will have to remove it anytime I need to get in there.

 

[fishwish]

What a beautiful stand! I love the crown moulding. I am going to have to show my mom and see if it will inspire her to do one for me! Congratulations, I can't wait to see it filled.

 

[sharkbait9]

Originally Posted by mckaax
I am not going to have a way to open the hood. I will have to remove it anytime I need to get in there.

and that still wont keep you from burying your hands in the tank and playing around, nothing keeps us away from playing around inside our tanks.

Looks good good luck

 

[justkris9]

Originally Posted by mckaax
I am not going to have a way to open the hood. I will have to remove it anytime I need to get in there.

So you are going to have to remove the hood everytime you feed them?????
Looks great, it will look awesome painted.

 

[jkcrumb]

McKaxx................Did u figure out anything new with the canopy yet???? are u going to have to remove it when u want to feed the fish and clean up the tank????? IS the setup going against a wall or in the center of a room??? I'm just trying to brainstorm a little to see if u can make an alteration that will make your life alot easier.........Also, do you have the canopy vented or have fans in it????

 

[mckaax]

The stand will be against the wall. The canopy is vented and I have fans in both ends. I also have large holes in the top so I can feed threw the top. Just go the first coat of paint tonight, cant wait to see the finished product.

 

[jkcrumb]

Originally Posted by mckaax
The stand will be against the wall. The canopy is vented and I have fans in both ends. I also have large holes in the top so I can feed threw the top. Just go the first coat of paint tonight, cant wait to see the finished product.
!
awsome!!!!!!
cant wait to see it..........can u snap a shot with the first coat???? how did the doors turn out??

 

[mckaax]

Well here is the first coat. Not sure if I am going to put another coat on or not. The first coat covered real good. I didn't paint the inside of the doors yet. Do not ask me why, there is no answer

 

[wattsupdoc]

Great stand and canopy.

But you really are going to want to have a way into that thing for cleaning etc. My hands are my tanks all the time. I'd hate to have to remove the canopy to fetch a coral.

 

[mckaax]

Ok guys, I got my lights and everything mounted. Just was wondering if you think anything looks wrong. Also, I have those fans blowing in towards the MH bulbs. Is this bad? I hear they need to run at a certain temp.

 

[scsinet]

Your fans shouldn't cause a big issue unless they are really blowing a torrent of air on them. The temperature criticality of halides is surrounding the arc tube, which on single ended lamps is protected by the outer envelope. So in your case, you shouldn't have a problem.
I like to have my fans running at half voltage.. I'll either select a 6 or 9v power supply for the fans, or I'll connect 2 12v fans in series on a 12v supply. I've always found that I have more than enough cooling with even that. If you are worried about the fans causing problems, you may consider that.