180 build from scratch!
- Thread starter michika
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WinnipegDragon
Canuckian
Looks great so far. I'm watching this one with much interest 
michika
red headed step child
We've purchased all the timers for our control box, and Kevin has started writing them all up. We've also drawn out their placement on a sheet of plywood. I'll try and get some photos up tonight.
The glass for the eurobrace is ready, and we are heading over there to pick that up tonight. Once the eurobracing is on we are planning to let the tank sit for a week to fully cure before we do a water test. After the water test Kevin (not I!!!) will be drilling the tank, remember I wanted to drill the holes first then assemble the tank.
I'll post up pictures of my drawn out plans as well tonight as I found them.
The glass for the eurobrace is ready, and we are heading over there to pick that up tonight. Once the eurobracing is on we are planning to let the tank sit for a week to fully cure before we do a water test. After the water test Kevin (not I!!!) will be drilling the tank, remember I wanted to drill the holes first then assemble the tank.
I'll post up pictures of my drawn out plans as well tonight as I found them.
fareforce
Premium Member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12242268#post12242268 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by michika
Tentatively finished stand, minus the framing for the lighting. You are looking at it from the right end.
What are you going to use for lateral support to keep the stand from twisting front to back, or side to side?
fareforce
Premium Member
I know I always over engineer things, but I just want to caution you that the way you have the 2x6's will help with lateral support, but will not stop it once you add that much weight on it. For lateral support you could add a solid sheet of ply-wood, then cut out the opening leaving a 3 or 4 inch "euro brace" kind of thing. This will keep it from moving. If you want to see what I am talking about, check out my build thread http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=12282074#post12282074
Dont get worried or anything, I am sure your stand will be fine, but if it was me, I would add some sort of support.
michika
red headed step child
I don't understand what you mean. I'm not builder, I'm the buyer, planner, and screw-up fixer here. I do however know that there is going to be plywood on both the bottom and the top of the stand. The photos shown are not of the finished product, just a basic skeleton.
Can you clarify what you mean?
Can you clarify what you mean?
fareforce
Premium Member
Also one other thing. Do you have a center brace running from the top to bottom frame? If not you might add them, or beef up the top fram to keep it from flexing under the weight. 2x6's are fairly light duty. A good example is if you are building a deck that have a live load of 60#'s, and a dead load of 30#'s per square foot (much lighter load then a fish tank) you can use 2x6 joists if you run a pier block every 4 feet, with a span of 3 or 4 feet between the joist.
fareforce
Premium Member
First, I posted the link to page #2.. go to page one.. lol..
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1361381&perpage=25&pagenumber=1
Here is a pic of a frame (like what you have):
The lateral support is coming from the solid piece of ply-wood on the front of the tank:
Imagine this. You can take a deck of playing cards and build a square with them, and they will stand, but easily be blown over. Next, you could run a small piece of wood in the corners and glue them. This will make them stronger, but they still can move from side to side when enough pressure is put on them. (this is where your stand is at). The next thing you could do is to take a card and glue it to the 2 openings of the square (front and back). Now it can hold a lot more weight (this is adding lateral support). I hope I am making some since. It is hard to exmplain with typing it out. Much easier to explain in person with props (cards). lol
Just keep in mind you will be adding a 180 gallon tank on this. The estimated weight when full of rock, water, corals, power heads, lights etc will be somewhere around 2100 lbs. (the weight of a car).
fuschia_red
In Memoriam
That is most impressive! Great job!
michika
red headed step child
We are STILL waiting on the eurobracing and the teleposts. Going on Monday to discuss our glass order with our glass cutter, and we've put in an order for teleposts once they come into stock.
The tank now has a plywood top, and we've purchased the foam padding to place under the tank. I do have photos of this, however our camera lens was damaged last weekend, and I've had to source out an alternate method of getting photos.
Provided we get the glass tomorrow this weekend should include a lot of progress, eurobracing, final silicone, water test, drilling the tank. The canopy should be finished shortly as well. We've had to change our original plans, as we felt that using 2x4s & 2x2s was too heavy. We are going with 2x2s for the whole canopy now.
The tank now has a plywood top, and we've purchased the foam padding to place under the tank. I do have photos of this, however our camera lens was damaged last weekend, and I've had to source out an alternate method of getting photos.
Provided we get the glass tomorrow this weekend should include a lot of progress, eurobracing, final silicone, water test, drilling the tank. The canopy should be finished shortly as well. We've had to change our original plans, as we felt that using 2x4s & 2x2s was too heavy. We are going with 2x2s for the whole canopy now.
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