A Reefaholic's 1000+ Gallon Mixed Reef System Build
- Thread starter Dustin1300
- Start date
Our little girl is about to turn 2 and it is more than worth all the lost sleep!
kmooresf
New member
I think you will be really happy to have the access. I also think you will be happy with the height. I have mine on a 40" tall stand. It looks freaking awesome, and you can stand straight up while checking it out. HOWEVER........I really have a hard time getting into the top of the tank having to be on a 3 step stool and not much head clearance as it is in a basement with lower than normal ceilings. I am so jealous of your fish room as well. NICE!
Newbie Aquarist
Reefing is my middle name
drummereef
Team RC
Congrats on the news about the little one!! That's awesome Dustin. :thumbsup: Construction is looking good too. 
Dustin1300
Reefaholic
Many good points and appreciate all the constructive criticism as I want to do this right the first time Also thanks for all the congrats on the little one. Nice thing about the wife being preggo is she's always wanting to stay chill at home since she's not been feeling well so she's encouraging me to work on tank!
I've been looking around for front access ideas and believe I'm going to do something similar to mx36 where I'll use piano hinges. Seems one of the other issues I'll have to address is lifting the canopy and propping it but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Idea I have is to use hydraulic lifts from automobile hatches but don't like the idea of oil seals possibly wearing out and leaking around tank! Any ideas are greatly appreciated.
Basic concept I plan to follow is as follows:
Hinged at top:
Simpler solution than I thought but have not had a lot of cabinetry experience (none!) but with time and patience can figure anything out
Now I've just got to figure out a design I'm happy with and check out options on trim/panel so I can go ahead and cut out the wall and wrap up the framing, insulation, and putting plastic in place. Enough research/work for the night, time to hit the sack!
Also thanks for all the congrats on the little one. Nice thing about the wife being preggo is she's always wanting to stay chill at home since she's not been feeling well so she's encouraging me to work on tank!I've been looking around for front access ideas and believe I'm going to do something similar to mx36 where I'll use piano hinges. Seems one of the other issues I'll have to address is lifting the canopy and propping it but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Idea I have is to use hydraulic lifts from automobile hatches but don't like the idea of oil seals possibly wearing out and leaking around tank! Any ideas are greatly appreciated.
Basic concept I plan to follow is as follows:
Hinged at top:
Simpler solution than I thought but have not had a lot of cabinetry experience (none!) but with time and patience can figure anything out
Now I've just got to figure out a design I'm happy with and check out options on trim/panel so I can go ahead and cut out the wall and wrap up the framing, insulation, and putting plastic in place. Enough research/work for the night, time to hit the sack!
Dustin1300
Reefaholic
Agreed. Only problem Chris mentioned was the hinges to prop it so I'll be doing some investigations as to what seems like an affordable/reliable solution.
This is what was recommended that he's looked into and no oil in the cylinders around a reef tank is a plus!
http://www.reidsupply.com/products/bearings-power-transmission/gas-springs-shock-absorber-accessories/gas-springs/?gclid=CJrRp9_7lrMCFZGiPAodAXcAqw
This is what was recommended that he's looked into and no oil in the cylinders around a reef tank is a plus!
http://www.reidsupply.com/products/bearings-power-transmission/gas-springs-shock-absorber-accessories/gas-springs/?gclid=CJrRp9_7lrMCFZGiPAodAXcAqw
SPotter
Active member
Many good points and appreciate all the constructive criticism as I want to do this right the first time
You better take advantage of this while you can!!!! As she becomes more "preggo" you will see a definite shift in attitude. I can remember a time when I had a bag of frozen french fries thrown at me because I wanted to open a window.
I was going to send you a link to another guys thread who did the same exact thing with the access panel. I will try to take pictures of the struts that were used on my canopy door. They lock at two different positions and to release the lock you lift the door up and then lower. I had been looking at boat hatch struts but the cabinet maker found these instead.
Newbie Aquarist
Reefing is my middle name
And not to mention the weird cravings like peanut butter and mysis shrimp or better yet, ice cream and cyclopeze.:lol2::lol2::lol2: Not that weird but you get the picture.
Dustin1300
Reefaholic
I've been warned! I'm afraid sooner than later I'm going to have a new project on my list (nursery) but I'm ready to put some time and effort into making that really nice for the baby to come once we know sex! :bounce3:
Let me know when you find those struts. I'm going to try to draw up the cabinet design in Google Sketchup tonight after I take a look at Lowes tonight to see what kind of options I have. I plan on painting it white and have been looking at lots of fireplace designs to get ideas. Around the bottom and sides it will be rather straight forward with casing like this.
Corners like this.
Backer board on top with crown molding/"mantle" at top and more of the casing along the side. If I draw it later it would make much more sense.
Dustin1300
Reefaholic
I think I might be cleaning up after that combination!
Dustin1300
Reefaholic
Thanks. Just to clarify the above is an inspiration on mounting and not mine!
Dustin1300
Reefaholic
Got a head start on the sketchup model on my lunch hour. Getting pretty quick with working with that program This was actually the first time I had drawn up the DT so did not quite make it to the cabinetry designing.
This was actually the first time I had drawn up the DT so did not quite make it to the cabinetry designing.
Dustin1300
Reefaholic
Not yet had time to draw up the design of the cabinetry but got a call from electrician friend that's had some other crazy things going on his life and was why I had put that off in the build. Now that I've felt like bothering him again about doing this we went out and picked up a lot a 100 amp panel, 20 amp circuits, GFI outlets, and wiring. Still have to pick up the service wiring since Lowes did not have what we needed but hopefully sub-panel is in place in the next couple of weeks!
Duh! lOl i've been secretly lurking your build thread for the past couple months.. I'm the one that called you out on R2R for not showing us what a gem build you have going on!
Dustin1300
Reefaholic
I'm going to make it over. Maybe once I have cabinets and tank in place I'll do it I could use multiple opinions and that's an easy way to do so as I've already done that on some parts of the build between three forums! Glad to have you lurking....:thumbsup:
I could use multiple opinions and that's an easy way to do so as I've already done that on some parts of the build between three forums! Glad to have you lurking....:thumbsup:
Newbie Aquarist
Reefing is my middle name
Man that's a lot of wire that has to be ran. It looks like an all day job.
