A Stand and Canopy Done Wright

jfill2143 said:
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!
Click to expand...

Thanks.
There is another stand like mine out there. Over the summer I built a stand and a full-sized canopy for a couple in California. But I'll let them post their pictures.

And I have plans to scale this design down for a Fluval M60 that I won in a local club giveaway.
 
Amazing build. Tank stand and canopy. Just read through its entirety. If I had the tools and just a shred of your skills I would try something of this magnitude. Thank you for sharing. Once I can gather all the needed tools I will be building a stand for my future build (90 gallon). But I can honestly say it will not be nearly as beautiful as yours. Thank you for the inspiration.
-Brennon
 
Thanks guys.

And thanks for pulling this thread out from the depths.
I was just looking back at the last couple of updates and, man, those pics are old!

Not much has changed to the build itself.
The system has pretty much been running on auto-pilot since this spring. I have changed from dosing kalkwasser to dosing two-part; as my alkalinity was having trouble keeping up. I do have new dosing pumps that I will be installing soon to dose a cocktail of supplements.

The biggest change is that I will be tearing the whole system down this Friday!

We are having new carpet installed in the entire basement and the tank needs to be moved out.
I have set up a temporary system to house the livestock for about one week. I have been preparing myself for this for about a month, so I hope everything goes smooth and I do not suffer any casualties.
This will give me the opportunity to upgrade a few pieces of equipment and clean out the sand bed of the larger crushed shells and coral.
This will also allow me to remove my RBTA as it has taken a liking to sting many of my SPS corals. The clownfish pair have aggressively defended the anemone when I have tried to get it to move , but they will do just fine without having it back in the tank when it gets set back up.

Speaking of livestock"¦ A lot has changed since February/March.
I lost the jawfish after about two months. I'm thinking that my system was too busy and "aggressive" and the fish couldn't adapt to the faster pace of the other fish. The fish was just not confident enough to venture out to eat and slowly wasted away.

The XL multiple montipora colony grew to an incredible size and shape.
It was roughly 24" long by 16" wide by 9" deep.
This was one of the last photos taken of the colony back in May.

<a href="http://s32.photobucket.com/user/jason_langer/media/120gal%20Reef/MontiporaColony-052314-full.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d4/jason_langer/120gal%20Reef/MontiporaColony-052314-full.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo MontiporaColony-052314-full.jpg"/></a>

So big, that I decided to sell the entire colony.
Amazingly, the entire colony was only attached to a small 3inch piece of rubble and was easily removed. After the colony was removed, my reef looked like it was hit by a storm and half the tank was now empty and barren.
I added a few new pieces of live rock to fill in the void and began to collect more SPS frags.

Here's just a few pics that show what the reef has looked like over the summer.

This was the FTS from April.
<a href="http://s32.photobucket.com/user/jason_langer/media/120gal%20Reef/jlanger-1.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d4/jason_langer/120gal%20Reef/jlanger-1.jpg" border="0" alt="FTS - 041214 - TCMAS House Meeting photo jlanger-1.jpg"/></a>

The Reef Slope from the top/down.
<a href="http://s32.photobucket.com/user/jason_langer/media/120gal%20Reef/ReefSlope-topview-052314.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d4/jason_langer/120gal%20Reef/ReefSlope-topview-052314.jpg" border="0" alt="Reef Slope - Top View - 052314 photo ReefSlope-topview-052314.jpg"/></a>

A view from the right end of the tank from August.
<a href="http://s32.photobucket.com/user/jason_langer/media/120gal%20Reef/RightEndView-080114.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d4/jason_langer/120gal%20Reef/RightEndView-080114.jpg" border="0" alt="View from Right End - 080114 photo RightEndView-080114.jpg"/></a>

The lower right corner with my brain collection and ricordea garden.
<a href="http://s32.photobucket.com/user/jason_langer/media/120gal%20Reef/091214-BrainsandRics.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d4/jason_langer/120gal%20Reef/091214-BrainsandRics.jpg" border="0" alt="Rics and Brains photo 091214-BrainsandRics.jpg"/></a>

And I cannot forget about this guy.
<a href="http://s32.photobucket.com/user/jason_langer/media/120gal%20Reef/Anthias-male-080714.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d4/jason_langer/120gal%20Reef/Anthias-male-080714.jpg" border="0" alt="Lyretail Anthias - Male photo Anthias-male-080714.jpg"/></a>

I did add a couple of new fish.

My male Ruby Red Dragonet.
I have tried adding multiple females, but I have haven't had any luck as they eventually disappear.
The male does his "dance" every night, so I know he's looking for some partners.
<a href="http://s32.photobucket.com/user/jason_langer/media/120gal%20Reef/f94e7383-6d00-4567-88ea-57a9e4fe3f7d.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d4/jason_langer/120gal%20Reef/f94e7383-6d00-4567-88ea-57a9e4fe3f7d.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo f94e7383-6d00-4567-88ea-57a9e4fe3f7d.jpg"/></a>

And I just added this one; a fish from my wish list, a scribbled rabbitfish.
<a href="http://s32.photobucket.com/user/jason_langer/media/120gal%20Reef/ScribbledRabbitfish-OCT2014.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d4/jason_langer/120gal%20Reef/ScribbledRabbitfish-OCT2014.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo ScribbledRabbitfish-OCT2014.jpg"/></a>

So"¦
This is where the reef system sits today.
Where it sits by the end of the week will be in another room in another tank.

But I really do hope that once it is all put back together, it will look just as nice. Maybe even better!
 
Hey all.
A lot of things have happened since my last update.

The tank was torn down and relocated during the time our carpet was being replaced.
The 120gal worth of livestock was placed into a temporary 75gal tank and the rest of the live rock was placed into a 45gal tank. The 75gal was packed!



The fish all seemed fine; they ate right away and were very active in the new tank.
I did end up losing some nice pieces of coral due to fish/crabs/snails bumping pieces around and the corals waged war on each other.
I was able to isolate the RBTA and remove it from my system. The anemone was stinging too many of my nicer corals and had to be rehomed.

Two weeks later, I spent the weekend putting everything back together. That was an adventure!
Trying to re-create the aquascaping was somewhat of a challenge. The left side was very easy; as the rocks were epoxied together to form the basic structure and the upper rocks fell into place. The right side was a complete overhaul. Since I no longer had the huge montipora colonies, I was able to create a new island. I designed it with a large cave in place for the fish to have a haven when "threatened".

The left side.


The right side.


I also collected many of the LPS corals and placed them into the center chasm. The flow through here is very random but not as turbulent as the fore reef.
This is where the pair of clownfish have taken up residence; using the ORA Red Goniopora and the duncan colonies.



And speaking of the clownfish...
Back in March, I commented on how fat my female clownfish was getting. She has always been "healthy", but she appeared to be getting bigger. In a matter of a day or two, she laid her first clutch of eggs. I have had the pair of clownfish since 2009 and they have always displayed signs of making a nest and keeping their area clean, but never showed signs of laying any eggs. Maybe the new aquascape and coral placement made them feel like the time was right.
It was pretty amazing to watch the care and effort of the parents of their eggs. The male never left the eggs (even to eat); constantly cleaning and aerating the eggs. The female stood guard and kept the other fish a good distance away.

As she's laying the first clutch.


Cleaning the eggs.


The first clutch of eggs hatched after 14 days, and I missed it, but she laid her second clutch the very next day. I monitored this clutch much more closely and I was able to witness the eggs hatching after another 14 day cycle.

I did manage to catch two of the larva and watch them for a couple of hours.
Another incredible life lesson that your kids can learn from this hobby!

One of the larva swimming above a dime!


The clownfish have not spawned since the second clutch.
All of the other fish are doing fine.
Many of the corals have stabilized since the moves. Some of them are growing at break-neck speeds, while others are just doing okay.
For now, things have settled down and I'm fine with that. Summer time!
 
Here's a collection of recent photos of the fish from my system.

The Vermiculated Leopard Wrasse.


The "lonely" male Ruby Red Dragonet.


The "queen" of my reef; the female Lamarck's Angelfish.


One of my favorite fish; the Scribbled Rabbitfish.


The Midas Blenny swimming around and wanting food.


And the real "Clean Up Crew".
These four fish keep my display completely devoid of nuisance algae. Hurray!!!
 
I'm so glad you updated this thread, or else I would have missed it. This is the best stand/canopy woodworking I have ever seen. I have built almost all of my stands, not necessarily done by the seat of my pants, but only a vague plan of action.

Very inspiring work, and very detailed. You can just tell the level of attention you spent on this build.

I'm glad I was able to read through the whole thing. Subscribed for your monthly update ;)
 
jlanger said:
Thanks guys.

And thanks for pulling this thread out from the depths.
I was just looking back at the last couple of updates and, man, those pics are old!

Not much has changed to the build itself.
The system has pretty much been running on auto-pilot since this spring. I have changed from dosing kalkwasser to dosing two-part; as my alkalinity was having trouble keeping up. I do have new dosing pumps that I will be installing soon to dose a cocktail of supplements.

The biggest change is that I will be tearing the whole system down this Friday!

We are having new carpet installed in the entire basement and the tank needs to be moved out.
I have set up a temporary system to house the livestock for about one week. I have been preparing myself for this for about a month, so I hope everything goes smooth and I do not suffer any casualties.
This will give me the opportunity to upgrade a few pieces of equipment and clean out the sand bed of the larger crushed shells and coral.
This will also allow me to remove my RBTA as it has taken a liking to sting many of my SPS corals. The clownfish pair have aggressively defended the anemone when I have tried to get it to move , but they will do just fine without having it back in the tank when it gets set back up.

Speaking of livestock"¦ A lot has changed since February/March.
I lost the jawfish after about two months. I'm thinking that my system was too busy and "aggressive" and the fish couldn't adapt to the faster pace of the other fish. The fish was just not confident enough to venture out to eat and slowly wasted away.

The XL multiple montipora colony grew to an incredible size and shape.
It was roughly 24" long by 16" wide by 9" deep.
This was one of the last photos taken of the colony back in May.

<a href="http://s32.photobucket.com/user/jason_langer/media/120gal%20Reef/MontiporaColony-052314-full.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d4/jason_langer/120gal%20Reef/MontiporaColony-052314-full.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo MontiporaColony-052314-full.jpg"/></a>

So big, that I decided to sell the entire colony.
Amazingly, the entire colony was only attached to a small 3inch piece of rubble and was easily removed. After the colony was removed, my reef looked like it was hit by a storm and half the tank was now empty and barren.
I added a few new pieces of live rock to fill in the void and began to collect more SPS frags.

Here's just a few pics that show what the reef has looked like over the summer.

This was the FTS from April.
<a href="http://s32.photobucket.com/user/jason_langer/media/120gal%20Reef/jlanger-1.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d4/jason_langer/120gal%20Reef/jlanger-1.jpg" border="0" alt="FTS - 041214 - TCMAS House Meeting photo jlanger-1.jpg"/></a>

The Reef Slope from the top/down.
<a href="http://s32.photobucket.com/user/jason_langer/media/120gal%20Reef/ReefSlope-topview-052314.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d4/jason_langer/120gal%20Reef/ReefSlope-topview-052314.jpg" border="0" alt="Reef Slope - Top View - 052314 photo ReefSlope-topview-052314.jpg"/></a>

A view from the right end of the tank from August.
<a href="http://s32.photobucket.com/user/jason_langer/media/120gal%20Reef/RightEndView-080114.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d4/jason_langer/120gal%20Reef/RightEndView-080114.jpg" border="0" alt="View from Right End - 080114 photo RightEndView-080114.jpg"/></a>

The lower right corner with my brain collection and ricordea garden.
<a href="http://s32.photobucket.com/user/jason_langer/media/120gal%20Reef/091214-BrainsandRics.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d4/jason_langer/120gal%20Reef/091214-BrainsandRics.jpg" border="0" alt="Rics and Brains photo 091214-BrainsandRics.jpg"/></a>

And I cannot forget about this guy.
<a href="http://s32.photobucket.com/user/jason_langer/media/120gal%20Reef/Anthias-male-080714.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d4/jason_langer/120gal%20Reef/Anthias-male-080714.jpg" border="0" alt="Lyretail Anthias - Male photo Anthias-male-080714.jpg"/></a>

I did add a couple of new fish.

My male Ruby Red Dragonet.
I have tried adding multiple females, but I have haven't had any luck as they eventually disappear.
The male does his "dance" every night, so I know he's looking for some partners.
<a href="http://s32.photobucket.com/user/jason_langer/media/120gal%20Reef/f94e7383-6d00-4567-88ea-57a9e4fe3f7d.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d4/jason_langer/120gal%20Reef/f94e7383-6d00-4567-88ea-57a9e4fe3f7d.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo f94e7383-6d00-4567-88ea-57a9e4fe3f7d.jpg"/></a>

And I just added this one; a fish from my wish list, a scribbled rabbitfish.
<a href="http://s32.photobucket.com/user/jason_langer/media/120gal%20Reef/ScribbledRabbitfish-OCT2014.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d4/jason_langer/120gal%20Reef/ScribbledRabbitfish-OCT2014.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo ScribbledRabbitfish-OCT2014.jpg"/></a>

So"¦
This is where the reef system sits today.
Where it sits by the end of the week will be in another room in another tank.

But I really do hope that once it is all put back together, it will look just as nice. Maybe even better!
Click to expand...
 
Awesome tank and livestock collection. I am confused though. How can you keep Angelfish, Rabbitfish, and others that are said to be not reef-safe in the same tank with corals. I've been reading and every literature and website state that those fish will eat corals.
 
intyme said:
I like your sump design, how do you? Is it working great for you still?
Click to expand...

The sump is still working great.
I haven't really been using the frag section for frags as much as I used to (since I don't have as much montipora), but it is nice to have a place to move corals to when needed.
I have been tempted to use the that area for macro algae, but I haven't gone down that route yet. I have added dosing pumps to the system, so it is much more cluttered on top of the sump so maintain algae might be cumbersome.
 
jlanger said:
When I began this process i figured out just how many lineal feet of the molding I was going to need for the stand and canopy and I doubled that number. I knew I was going to have more projects that I would want these pieces for.



-JASON
Click to expand...

LOL, the rest of us make double, because we will waste half of it trying to get good joints. I am always impressed by finish/fine furniture carpenters. The way you can get such perfect miters. I'm sure it is a combination of years of practice and top end equipment.
 
First off. Beautiful reef and you did an amazing job! I can only hope mine will be that nice. But I ran across your sump design and am very seriously considering basing my sump off of it since I don't have room for another frag tank. Do you have any tips or changes you would make? Did you ever have any algae problems with the extra lighting?
 
Thanks for all of the recent compliments and comments.
I haven't made an update for quite a while, so here's a video from this week.
Enjoy.

 
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