A Stand and Canopy Done Wright

[jlanger]

^^^ Thanks jonwright. Nice last name... any relation?

I should sit down and add some of the newer updates that I have done recently; nothing major.
Hard to get anything done during hockey season.

Here's the latest FTS for a teaser.
Although, I rearranged some rocks and corals the day after this pic was taken.
And a handful of new frags have been added as well.

 

[jkcoon]

amazing craftsmanship... modeled after my favorite architect too... if he were still alive, I think he'd approve

 

[JoelA7]

Fantastic. Years ago when I still had a workshop I built a stand for my 150 using an old school steel stand that I put three coats of oil based black glossy on and then mounted gorgeous raised panel cherry cabinet doors ordered from a local shop. Finished the doors myself with 3 coats of marine spar varnish over a deep burgundy stain. Mounted with traditional hinges. It looked real good but NOTHING compared to this. Kudos Jason.

 

[salinero]

Your Aquarium Stand...

Your Aquarium Stand...

After searching for months we were about ready to give up on an aquarium stand for our DSA 140 PRO reef thank...and then we saw your stand!

absolutely beautiful.

Now the big question, are you for hire to build another one? We live in California in the Bay Area.


Thanks, SS

 

[salinero]

Hello Jason,

Thanks for the quick reply.

Here are some thoughts plus a few more questions.
The company I work for has a few locations in Wisconsin,
(Milwaukee, Marshfield, Green Bay, Tomahawk, and Marinette)
I would expect to pay a crating price to encapsulate the stand with a pallet like bottom for truck transportation; I could then have them set up a flatbed truck delivery to California.

This piece has fabulous detail. What would be a ballpark lead time to complete a build?

As far as any modifications, here are some dimensions in tank options as well as potential design requests.
Option 1:
DSA 135 Pro = 48 x 24 x 27 with your cabinet as is with roof mount, but a stand height @ 39” tall + ¾” granite piece height.

Option 2:
DSA 140 Pro = 60 x 20 x 27 with a canopy that rests on the tank, maybe 18” tall +39” tall for stand then ¾” for granite piece. I would be curious what the canopy ceiling option would be here too (dimension wise) as our ceiling has a beam and built in speaker that could come into play. Thus the on tank canopy option as this size tank appeals to me most.

Not sure how high your ceiling is but our tank goes in a room with 9’ ceilings.
So with 39” for stand + 1” for granite + 27” tank + 20”?? for hanging canopy leaves a 21” space between tank and canopy. Do you think that is too much space for reef lighting to project? (another reason for the canopy to rest on the tank in my situation.

I would be interested in your thoughts on these options and a proposal.

In the meantime, I will look into the logistics of moving the stand.

Thanks for your time,
You can always email me offline, so I don’t bore readers to tears with my questions @ salinero@sbcglobal.net

Regards,
Stephen

 

[rbarn]

Jason,

Obviously you know what you are doing and the stand is holding up fine, but ......

Isn't that a lot of weight for that design ? Basically all the load of the granite top, tank, rock and water is being carried by the 1x's that make up the corner legs. That would make a little nervous. Whats the load rating for that stand do you think ?


The corrals and fish are looking awesome too !

 

[jwpick42]

Awesome setup!

 

[jlanger]

Thanks guys.

Stephen... I'll be replying to your e-mail soon.

rbarn...
The stand is holding up exceptionally well.
To help ease your mind, I'll explain a couple of the factors into why I have no worries about this stand holding up.

First... the "granite top" is actually a laminate top built with a HD laminate. This is MUCH LIGHTER than using real granite.
Second... I'll use this photo to help show how the weight is being held up.

<a href="http://s32.photobucket.com/user/jason_langer/media/A%20Stand%20and%20Canopy%20Done%20Wright/PostDetail.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d4/jason_langer/A%20Stand%20and%20Canopy%20Done%20Wright/PostDetail.jpg" border="0" alt="Corner Detail photo PostDetail.jpg"/></a>

The corners are made up of six pieces of solid red oak (four in back) that extend from the false top all the way to the floor.
The two pieces that make up the inside corner (the stiles of the front face frame and side panel) are joined together with a dadoed joint, glued and screwed together.
The post is four pieces that are mitered, glued and nailed together and are then attached to the cabinet with glue and screws from the inside. The posts make contact (and glued) to the cabinet in three solid joints the entire length of the post.
The corners of the aquarium itself sit right on top of the inside joint of the front face frame and side panel.
So the weight of the tank is actually held up by quite a lot of wood at each corner.

To help with any racking, braces were added inside at the top. And the false top was glued and screwed to the cabinet along each end.

I've mentioned glue quite often and this is for a reason.
Glue is the strongest bond when joining wood pieces. The wood itself will crack before the glued joint would break.

As far as how much weight it will hold... a lot more than what is on there.
In my opinion, the stands that are built using 2x material are overbuilt, but there's nothing wrong with doing it that way.
Each person knows what they are comfortable with as far as building experience and peace of mind. I've been building cabinets for over 15 years and I know what works for me.
If the stand holds up the aquarium, then it works.
Just take a look at the commercially built stands and see how little material that is used in those.

Thanks for asking your questions. I hope I have answered them and eased your concerns.

 

[tunicata]

Wow that workmanship is beautiful

 

[jlanger]

Now's a good time for a quick photo update of what's going on inside the tank.

Some top-down pics; from left side to right.
<a href="http://s32.photobucket.com/user/jason_langer/media/120gal%20Reef/LeftIsland-011814.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d4/jason_langer/120gal%20Reef/LeftIsland-011814.jpg" border="0" alt="Left Island - Top View photo LeftIsland-011814.jpg"/></a>

<a href="http://s32.photobucket.com/user/jason_langer/media/120gal%20Reef/CenterView-011814-1.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d4/jason_langer/120gal%20Reef/CenterView-011814-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Center - Top View photo CenterView-011814-1.jpg"/></a>

<a href="http://s32.photobucket.com/user/jason_langer/media/120gal%20Reef/RightIsland-011814.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d4/jason_langer/120gal%20Reef/RightIsland-011814.jpg" border="0" alt="Right Island - Top View photo RightIsland-011814.jpg"/></a>

The top rock in the last photo tipped and busted out quite a big section of the red montipora; which is growing back quickly.
And I'm impatiently waiting to fill that rock with new frags and colonies after this month.

This is a nice shot of what I call my "SPS Slope" as many of the frags were attached to the vertical plane of the rock.
<a href="http://s32.photobucket.com/user/jason_langer/media/120gal%20Reef/SPSBluff.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d4/jason_langer/120gal%20Reef/SPSBluff.jpg" border="0" alt="SPS Bluff - 020514 photo SPSBluff.jpg"/></a>

This collection of coral colors really pop when the lights begin to ramp down for the night.
The blue LEDs make the corals look almost three dimensional in black space.

 

[zeebies]

Love this thread - I keep coming back to it! Thanks for all the detail you've provided.

Not sure if I missed the description earlier on, but are the painted pieces of the door panels glued up oak? Are they 1/4 thick? Just wondering about the pieces with the rubbed bronze color.

Thanks a lot.

 

[rbarn]

yep, pics of the corner helped a lot. You basically made a boxed 2x4 from the 1x's. Very nice. and yeah 2x4's are way overkill, if I remember right a single 2x4 is rated for 2,000lbs of compression load. I made mine out of 2X6's, lol

again, really nice tank

 

[jlanger]

Love this thread - I keep coming back to it! Thanks for all the detail you've provided.

Not sure if I missed the description earlier on, but are the painted pieces of the door panels glued up oak? Are they 1/4 thick? Just wondering about the pieces with the rubbed bronze color.

Thanks a lot.

Thanks for coming back.

The painted panels are indeed glued up solid oak panels.
They were planed down to a thickness of 3/8".

yep, pics of the corner helped a lot. You basically made a boxed 2x4 from the 1x's. Very nice. and yeah 2x4's are way overkill, if I remember right a single 2x4 is rated for 2,000lbs of compression load. I made mine out of 2X6's, lol

again, really nice tank

I wished I had taken a better photo of how the posts and cabinet came together when I did the build.
I knew that it was a design element I wanted to make sure was explained and visible to the readers.

 

[zeebies]

What are your thoughts on rift-sawn vs quarter-sawn vs flat-sawn wood when making your door panels/inserts? Specifically, I'm wondering about warpage, twisting and cupping.

I'm planning to use flat-sawn cherry for my door panels. I was going to glue them up and plane to 3/8". Do you think these will be stable? Or is ply a better option?

Thanks jlanger.

 

[Mrramsey]

Jlanger- I too am a finish carpenter of 20+ years and also a FLW fan. You've done a fantastic job on this and have truly captured the FLW essence. Thank you for sharing your efforts!

 

[pfcreed]

If you ever start a you tube channel I would subscribe.

 

[jlanger]

Thanks guys.
It's been a very busy couple of months so I haven't been around too much.
But now that hockey season is over, I have some time to get some things back on track.

@zeebies...
So sorry for not answering your question as you have probably already begun work on your build.
Gluing up door panels for smaller doors on a stand really do not pose any issues with which cut you decide to use.
Off course a plywood panel would be more stable, but often times the veneer of cherry plywood lacks much of the character of solid wood.

@pfcreed...
Thanks, but I don't think I could ever find the time for creating a YouTube channel.
If you would like to know more about my system, just keep asking questions and I'll try to respond or update in a more timely manner.

 

[garias]

Great work beutifull stand

 

[jlanger]

Here's what has happened with my system since my last update.

In mid-February I experienced some of the worst feelings a reefkeeper could have.
On night during routine checking/feeding/maintenance, I decided to fix a loose module on my Vertex LED fixture. As I was removing the fixture from my canopy, I bumped the fixture with the canopy and the fixture fell into my tank.
A long, long story made short... The fixture was a complete loss.
I felt utterly defeated!
I made a call-out to friends on my Facebook page looking for some leads on new lights or something to help me out until I could get new lights. A local friend/club member had just exchanged out his old Radions for the new model and offered them to me to use for the time being. THANK YOU!! With help from EcoTech's customer support, I was back on track after only 36 hours.
So now I have two EcoTech Radion XR30w Pro LED fixtures over my tank. I added the Wide Angle Lenses to help spread the light coverage. I am happy with how the Radions are working out with my system. Some corals are even exhibiting better colors under the new LEDs. I have ordered the ReefLink Wireless Controller so I can "play" with the lights from my iPad.

As far as any damage to the reef itself, it sustained very minor damage considering the size and weight of the Vertex fixture falling in.
One rock was completely dislodged from the aquascape, but minimal damage was sustained by any of the corals.
Thankfully, the SPS slope was unaffected. That really would've bummed me out as all of the frags are going together nicely.

At the beginning of the month, I added two new fish to the reef.
I wanted a Midas Blenny. My son wanted a Blue Dot Jawfish. So we ended up with both.
Both of these fish have great personalities and are really fun to watch.
The jawfish wasn't cooperating with me as far as where I wanted it to make a burrow. So after a couple of weeks, I built a small cave out of some dry rubble rock I had on hand. (Sorry, no pics.) I buried the cave in the sand bed, and within minutes the jawfish entered the cave and has made it it's home.

Here's the jawfish hanging out of his burrow.
<a href="http://s32.photobucket.com/user/jason_langer/media/120gal%20Reef/BlueDotJawfish.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d4/jason_langer/120gal%20Reef/BlueDotJawfish.jpg" border="0" alt="Blue Dot Jawfish photo BlueDotJawfish.jpg"/></a>

And the new Midas Blenny in its favorite perch.
<a href="http://s32.photobucket.com/user/jason_langer/media/120gal%20Reef/MidasBlenny-IdahoGrape.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d4/jason_langer/120gal%20Reef/MidasBlenny-IdahoGrape.jpg" border="0" alt="Midas Blenny in Idaho Grape Montipora photo MidasBlenny-IdahoGrape.jpg"/></a>

 

[jfill2143]

Great Design. Well Built. You should CNC and use a Cam System to make the Cabinet an RTA Cabinet. I think you could sell your concepts to others on here and since most people on here are not as skilled as you it would make them very happy to have a very similar completed product that they semi-build themselves

Keep it up!