Bkndsdl's 180 build!

[Bkndsdl]

I've been doing this reef thing for a few years. It all started with a trip to my boss' house to check out his 300 gallon tank. I bought the 29 gallon FOWLR setup he wanted $100 for, and like many of us was hooked. I progressed from there to a 65, then to a 90, and now I've gone off the deep end with an AGA 180, 6'x2'x2', dual megaflows. I purchased the tank used, but it's never had water in it. It came with a 90g acrylic sump (48x18x24h), a stand, a partially completed calcium reactor, and two 55g drums.

The stand is 42" tall; way too tall for what I wanted. So I decided to build a new one at 38" high. I've got it framed and skinned, along with the canopy. I plan on making my own doors, and instead of hinging the doors I want to hang them magnetically, so I don't have to worry about hinge alignment. I want to make the canopy doors in this fashion as well.

As far as plumbing - I want to make water changes and water topoff easy. I plan on incorporating a water change tank with a capacity of around 50 gallons. I also plan on a topoff tank that will hold about 15 gallons or so. I plan on two side cabinets that will fit on each side of the stand and canopy but will not be attached permanently. The topoff and water change tanks will be in the lower half of these two, and the electronics, switches, and all the test equipment and other related stuff in the upper halves. Here's a picture of what I've drawn up sofar. I've taken some design ideas from cprowler (sorry, can't find the link) and redEDGE2k1.

Here's a diagram of what I've got in mind for the plumbing setup; the water change tank will have an internal pump with external valves. When I want to do a water change, I valve the wct (water change tank) out of the system by opening valve 4, and closing valve 7. I'll then attach hoses to the unions at valve 9 and 12. To pump the water out of the wct, I'll close valves 10 and 12 and open valve 9 and 11. I'll turn on the pump and pump the water out through valve 9. I'll then close valves 9 and 11, open 10 and 12, and suck new water from a container back into the wct. I'll then close valve 4 and open valve 7, putting the wct back in the system without changing the level in the tank. What do you think?

 

[Bkndsdl]

Here's a couple construction pics.

First off, my ugly mug and my new posession. Notice the height.

In construction. We're building this at my lil bro's house; he's got an awesome workshop setup. That's my two boys standing next to their Uncle. They get into this hobby just as much as I do!

 

[rkelman]

Looking good so far. (The tank not you)

 

[Endy0430]

cool workshop.....cant wait to see your progress...

 

[Bkndsdl]

Thanks, guys! More to come shortly.

I also plan on incorporating a chiller.......but not a standard chiller. I designed one that will use a fan that blows over water coming from one of the dursos. I can't wait to do some trials!

 

[Bkndsdl]

Progress......

Progress......

500 posts!!!! Woohoo!!!

Made some progress today. I got the canopy built, all except the top. I plan on it being hinged, and I didn't have that part worked out yet. I also got the hole cut in the stand and put the sump in for some trial fitting; looks good.

I also made a mock door. I am pretty pleased with the results! This test door is made from pine, but I'm still up in the air about whether or not to use pine or oak for the finished product. Here it is....keep in mind it's a test piece. And, this is the first time attempting anything like this......

Here's the joint detail; it's called a stile and rail. I know it's crooked, I did that to give a better idea of how it goes together.

I plan on using no hinges; I will hang the doors in place with magnets and some type of a guide, more than likely out of wood so it won't rust.

 

[Bkndsdl]

Belated Update

Belated Update

Well, been really busy with work. I've been working on it bit by bit when I was able to. Just spent the last 3-1/2 weeks trying to deliver one of our boats; Coast Guard can be real picky at times.

Here's a pic of the canopy. This thing's huge!

First thing I needed to do was to cut out the hole in the stand so I could get the center brace made. I want a solid back on the stand, so the only way to get the sump in was to make a removable center brace. It's basically a 2x4 with a 3/4" plywood face. Here's the stand cut out, and the brace is leaning against the back of the stand.

Next up was to router the trim. I could have bought trim already cut, but I have been wanting to try to make my own for a while. I used pine for the trim. Here I am making the trim pieces; note the ghetto dust-collection device; a Lowe's bag taped to the router table and my shop-vac. Hey, whatever works!

Here's a shot with the trim pieces laid out; notice the center brace in place.

I have had a couple of design changes on the layout of the trim, and finally decided on one; I'll try to get some pics of that soon.

Next, was to build the doors. I thought about ordering them online, but have decided to go ahead and build some simple doors myself. I used red oak to make the frame, and used a luan panel for the center. This is a closeup of the fit of the door frame:

And here's a shot of the door glued together:

Pretty proud of that!

I've been able to build the canopy doors and seal and paint the interior of the canopy and stand; don't have any pics as of yet, but soon. Hopefully I'll be able to finish paint the exterior this week/weekend.

 

[porthios]

you're stoked! the woodworking looks great. watch those fingers

 

[Bkndsdl]

Porthios, thanks. Fingers are a priority!

Well, I was able to get a bit more done this week. Here's the stand and canopy, both sealed and painted on the inside with oil base paint.

Note the holes in the stand; I covered those vent holes with these aluminum soffit vents I found at Lowe's. They're sitting on the sealed and painted (backside) canopy doors.

Here are the stand doors, backside sealed and painted.

Here's a closeup of the notches at the top. They are for 'opening' the doors........ although they have no hinges.

And here's a closeup of the reason they have no hinges.

These doors will literally rest on these tabs which will rest on the inside of the stand openings. The doors will be held in place with door magnets. I came up with the no hinge idea because of my current 90. The stand has two large doors, and the tank is in the dining room. When I have to get into the 90's stand, I have to move the dining room table chairs to have enough room to open them fully. This way, I only need enough room to pop them off. The canopy doors are done the same; got tired of the canopy doors hitting me in the head.

 

[Bkndsdl]

Here's a shot, from the backside, of the guide for the center stand brace. Once the sump is in, I put the center brace in the stand and push it up against this guide, so it goes back in the same place every time. There's one on the top as well.

I got the overflow out of the sump, and got the rough spots sanded out. I still have to plug the holes in the bottom of the sump; The sump was originally a 90 display.

And here's a shot of the sump and calcium reactor in the stand, and the skimmer in the sump. I'm hoping I've got plenty of room to handle any overflow issues.

I have a free weekend, so I plan on getting a lot done. I'll post as I can!

 

[Bkndsdl]

Got some more done today.

Here's the doors, one hung:

....and here's how it's hung:

These are standard door closure magnets. There are four for each door. Here's a closeup:

Here's the roller catches that are on each side, for added support:

 

[Bkndsdl]

....played with some color, just to see. Our living room is painted neutral ground, and the trim is dover cliff white. I wanted to incorporate both colors. Here's a sample of what I'm thinking. I want the main color to be the neutral ground and the trim in the dover cliff.

And last but not least, I've finished the stand trim! Woohoo!

Hopefully, I'll be able to get the trim on the canopy this week, and everything painted. Then it's on to plumbing!

 

[Mr. Brooks]

Off to a great start! I'll be keeping track, keep us posted!

 

[rsmall175]

nice progress

 

[Bkndsdl]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13311701#post13311701 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by thechad21
Off to a great start! I'll be keeping track, keep us posted!

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13315632#post13315632 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rsmall175
nice progress

Thanks, guys!

 

[Bkndsdl]

Progress!

Progress!

Now for some updates:

PAINTING'S DONE!

Here are a few pics.

Here are the canopy doors painted.

Here's the tank on the stand, and the canopy on the tank, without the doors mounted. I couldn't take a full on shot because of the spot it's in right now, but you get the idea.

Here's a closer shot of the stand and doors. You can just barely see the hand-grab notches in the tops of the doors. The starfish on the stand aren't painted yet; I'm going to let my two boys paint those. One will be blue and one will be red.

I also managed to get the sump laid out and the baffles installed. The area on the left is the fuge, the center area is the return, and the area on the right is the skimmer and tank return area. I will put a sock holder in that area as well. I also need to install the temp probe, ph monitor probe, and ATO tubing brackets.

Hopefully I can start on the plumbing tomorrow, and I'll make sure and get a pic of the stand and canopy with the doors in place.

Thanks for looking!

 

[Bkndsdl]

I was able to get some stuff done yesterday.

Here's the stand with doors attached.

Here's a shot of the canopy with the doors on. These are held on by magnets and roller clips, just like the stand doors.

I wanted to lay out the plumbing without gluing anything permanently to the tank; I still have to move this thing out of my brother's shop and to my house, so I want to make it as easy as possible. Therefore I haven't glued any plumbing to the bulkheads. I did want to test it first, so I made all the plumbing runs, glued them together, then just pushed the plumbing into the bulkhead fittings. The 2x4's serve just to hold the piping in the bulkheads; I didn't want the weight of the water in the piping to pull the piping out of the bulkhead. Worked just fine, with no leaks!

Note the blue tape; I wanted to make sure I had enough overflow protection. The bottom line is where the water level is with the pump running, and the top line is what ran back to the tank with the pump shut off. I'm pretty pleased with only about 5" of overflow. Peace of mind!

I had a scare and a second later some more peace of mind....we filled the tank without the center brace in the stand! Yikes! I installed the brace; it went right in. I was scared it wouldn't go in with all the weight above it, but it never flexed. That's a 5' hole in the stand......makes me feel better about the integrity of the stand's design. I know it's probably overbuilt, but anything for peace of mind.

Next up: install the valves, get the plumbing to the sump placed so I can hang the sock holder, lay out the probe holder, lay out the ATO tank and floats, get the skimmer placed and the height right, and get the light fixture done........whew!

 

[Bkndsdl]

Just for kicks, here's the 90 that I'm upgrading from.

 

[Mr. Brooks]

Nice progress, how tall is your canopy?

 

[Bkndsdl]

This is what it's all about.

Shot with all doors on.

Here's a height reference shot; I'm 5'-6".

And here's a shot of how I'll have to access the canopy. My little brother made the stool out of scrap material.

I was able to get the plumbing in the overflows painted black, and got the sump routing done. I had to route the sump top flange so I could place the skimmer and return piping. I mounted the sock hanger as well. Couldn't totally finish because Lowe's was out of 1" spaflex. I still need to get one 3/4" bulkhead fitting to drill the sump for the side cabinet plumbing. I've decided that since I have enough room to place the top-off water tank under the stand, I'll only be building one side cabinet.