57g Rimless Upgrade - Build Thread

[whodeewuhdee]

I've had a 38 gallon for almost 5 years and its time to upgrade. I was fed up with the size of the tank and the design of the stand. It was small enough to be easily moved from 3 different locations over the past 5 years but I am ready for a larger new tank design and a new stand/sump area design.

I went with a 57g rimless tank and will be building the stand myself. I would of course love to have 120g tank but I feel that an apartment is not the place for this tank size, especially since it will be moved within the next year and I do not have the time and financial bandwidth for that size of a tank.

With my current tank, I was sick of seeing the power supplies and cables on the ground behind my stand and wanted to incorporate an area in this new stand strictly for electrical organization. I will also be adding t-5's to my XR30w because I would like more growth and I miss the look that t-5's bring, these will be implemented into a custom built canopy hung from the ceiling over my tank.
Another important stand design is to have a ledge around the tank that is the perfect width to hold my beer.

I will post photos of the progress

 

[whodeewuhdee]

I used 2x3 lumber instead of the classic 2x4 to shed some weight. I used 3/4" ply wood for the paneling, this plywood has a veneer on it.

 

[whodeewuhdee]

I decided to organize all of my electronics and controllers around a drawer design in the stand. I would be mounting the controller displays on the front of the drawer and be able to slide out the drawer to access the power strips, power supplies, etc. All which will be neatly cable managed and organized.

 

[whodeewuhdee]

This is an idea of what the stand will look like with the drawer opened and closed.
Imagine opening the doors and seeing all the controllers mounted on the front panel of the drawer. I'll have two vortech controllers, my ato display and RKE head unit mounted.

 

[bwhit1406]

Good job so far! I really like the tank

Sent from my LG-D851 using Tapatalk

 

[fcmatt]

Tank is a deep blue I assume?

 

[Reeferman1019]

looking good

 

[whodeewuhdee]

Thanks guys, I'm stoked.

Tank is a deep blue I assume?

Yeah, It's a deep blue. I bet the 75 gallon versions of this tank are amazing. The overflow box is a little large for my liking but its all good, it extends 7" deep into the tank and the width of the tank is only 18". But it'll be nice to have some more walls to lean rock and stuff up against for when I aquascape.

 

[whodeewuhdee]

Update:

I sealed and painted the inside of the stand and I finished the plumbing. Now comes the cycle and while that's happening, Ill start cable management with all the power supplies and controllers. I still need to build the suspended light fixture canopy that will house my xr30w and T5's which I will be gutting from a 4xT5 fixture I used before I switched to radion. I also still need to make and install the doors.

 

[Safir]

Is that a dogface puffer?