54 Corner with lots of DIY

tundra1000

New member
I have been hanging out on this site for darn near four years and I am finally building my first sw tank. The plans have changed a few times and we have moved a few times which have kept us from getting a tank going. It was decided that my old freshwater 54 would be the right tank because there is still a possibility of another move. The 54 setup will not be too painful to move. The eventual plan is a larger setup- 120 minimum and this 54 will become a seahorse tank.

I had posted some of this in another thread but decided it warranted its own build thread. I have quite a few DIY projects in the future but this will bring us up to date.

The beginnings of the stand:
DSC07494.jpg

DSC07492.jpg

DSC07491.jpg

DSC07495.jpg


The hood:
DSC07501.jpg

DSC07500.jpg

DSC07497.jpg

DSC07496.jpg
 
Last edited:
A truly rounded stand

A truly rounded stand

The stand and hood are skinned with a bendable 3/8" plywood and trimmed with flexible trim from trimster.com.

DSCF0679.jpg

DSCF0672.jpg

DSCF0668.jpg

DSCF0667.jpg

DSCF0666.jpg

DSCF0665.jpg
 
Almost up to date...

Almost up to date...

So this last post brings us up to date. I have been able to get the hood and stand completely painted. The door still needs a little work, hopefully it will be on tomorrow. Today was a good day though because the tank graduated from the garage to the living room:spin1::spin1:

DSCF0691.jpg

DSCF0762.jpg


Painted the back of the tank:
DSCF0766.jpg

DSCF0768.jpg


And the plumbing that will be exposed behind the tank:
DSCF0767.jpg


And finally, its new resting place...
DSCF0769.jpg


Followed up by the unfortunate side effects of a non-reef ready tank... It doesn't stick away from the wall as bad as I thought it would so I will take what I can get.
DSCF0770.jpg


Well that's up to date. The next big item will be the DIY LED setup with Arduino controller.

Thanks for looking. Questions, comments, suggestions are absolutely welcome.

-Matt
 
LED Lighting

LED Lighting

Just in case I didn't post enough pics for one evening, here are a few more.

This is the layout I believe I am going to use for my Leds. It uses heatsinkusa.com's new 10" heat sink @ 24" long. It allows for decent coverage of the corner while not being overly complex.

LED_Setup.jpg


These are two other ideas I had but the more complicated heat sink configuration just did not seem worth the trouble.

LED_Setup_Radial.jpg

LED_SetupStraightRadial.jpg


I was also contemplating throwing a few reds in. All will be dimmable using Mean Well ELN-60-48P drivers with an arduino controller.

Thoughts?
 
Tank is now "Reef Ready"!

Tank is now "Reef Ready"!

I got a few small things done this weekend, the overflow being the main project. Unfortunately I started without a plan and just kept going until it was done so I don't have too many pics of the construction. I will say that it was my first time forming and gluing acrylic. I will definitely be looking for more acrylic projects to practice on but I think the overflow turned out pretty decent for my first shot.


Gluing up the face to the bottom.
DSCF0788.jpg

DSCF0787.jpg


In the tank...
DSCF0790.jpg

DSCF0789.jpg


I did get an extra piece to make a removable cover for the overflow:
DSCF0793.jpg


One last small update. I picked up a 5gl tank for an ATO container. There literally isn't a 1/4 inch to spare.
DSCF0792.jpg


On that note... pending questions or comments?? Post some more when more is done...

-Matt
 
I know some other are thinkin it, but I gota ask... Why a blue stand and canopy? I think the bright paint takes away from the detail of the kick *** job you did! That's is much harder than building a reg stand. I would want to show it of with a nice stain job!
 
If I may ask, why blue? It's a very interesting color, not one I've seen on a fishtank stand/canopy before.
 
Nice job. I have to ask you about the door. It looks like 3/4" plywood maybe birch? But how did you get the plywood to bend to the radius you wanted.
 
Excellent wood work.

Why blue - my guess is that it is built Ford Tough ;) Years ago Ford painted their engines blue. Doge orange, etc. Maybe the OP owns a mustang. Just a guess. Regardless of the color it looks really nice.
 
Oh - forgot to add while I'm not the crafter / OP who built the stand you can actually use steam to bend wood or depending on the size of the wood you can use weight to get a bend / curve. Or...the outside wood he used to skin is thin enough that it doesn't matter. Either way I've seen some pretty cool stuff done from my brother in law while he built his deck.

The old ship U.S.S. Constitution has some rather interesting pieces of information how they built some of the items out of wood. Probably totally off topic, sorry.
 
Back
Top