Cody's 2.5g AIO build

[cody6766]

Well, i got bored and decided to start another pico. My first reef tank was a 2.5g tank that I kept up for about 6mos, but it came down so I could focus more on my 33g reef.

So here's the run down:
This tank is an All in one tank, with a fuge and return on the side of the tank. I'll spare you the details since it's been done a lot. This is going on the kitchen counter and will need to be viewable from 2 sides. It'll be a peninsula tank, only counter sized. I'll keep mostly softies, some candycane, and maybe a few other LPS corals.
The tank will be lit by 2x 18w PC lights driven by ballasts scavenged from CFL bulbs, circulation by a mini-tom nano powerhead (may move up though), and I may toss in some moon lighting if I have room.

The stand is a simple base with a hood and rear area to hold extra wires and the like. I hope to have this set up so that the only wires leaving are a pair of plugs to drive the whole system. The ballasts, timer and everything else will be behind the tank in a little chamber of the 'stand.'


So, on to the pics...

These few are how the hood is coming together. You're looking at the attachment of the bottom pieces first, then the clamping of the whole thing to let the wood glue dry tightly w/o adding screw holes to the lid.

Next is the back half and the base. The tank will slide in a bit to hide the rear chambers and there is still room back there for the wires.

Here's a quick mock up of the finished project. It'll be stained dark, probably mahogony. I'll also be adding 1/4 round or vainer to hide the rough edges.

and a shitty shot of the back to show you the chambers

More to come!

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Looks like you are off to a great start! Check out capsfan's AIO 2.5 g if you get a chance.

 

[sunfishh]

Good luck with your 2.5. So far it looks great.

 

[rehype]

Looks really good cant wait to see it with water

 

[cody6766]

Me too! Tonight will be either staining or building a wall out of live rock and expandn foam like that 5.5g posted in the DIY forum. I can't wait for it to all fall together.

 

[Lightsluvr]

Lookin' good

Lookin' good

Lookin' good, Cody.

You have more patience than I do - I struggle with every small tank I own...

Keep the pictures coming...

LL

 

[cody6766]

Tonight was a night of mixed work. First I had to cut the 3/4" vainer to cover the unsightly plywood edges. I use the iron on stuff that Home Depot sells. It doesn't take stain as fast as normal wood, but it's cheap and easy to work with.

Next came filling screw holes and fixing my poor wood working skills with some wood filler. I only had 4 holes to fill, so it wasn't bad. I did have some gaps in the wood that needed to be addressed, however.

My wife was cool enough to let all of this happen in the bathroom because it was after dark. I have to publicly recognize that little bit since so many would be told "Hell No!"
A good bit of sanding then took place. to take down the imperfections and rough edges. I hit it with 60grit, then 220 grit. I used sanding sponges and they're wonderful for small projects.
Next came prepping the wood with Min-Wax pre-treatment and layng a few coats of their Red Oak finish. We wanted a darker finish, so I really let it set in. I'll be sealing it with poly tomorrow.
Our bathroom reeked of stain, but the vent fixed that. Laying down a trash bag on the work area kept it all the original colors too!

I also began my fake rock wall for the rear. I placed some LR on a bit of plastic and then sprayed expanding foam around it. I'll chip away at it and then coat it with broken rock to make it look like one big wall.

So, still to go:
Poly seal the stand
Hang the 2x 18w PC lighting and possibly moonlight LEDs (space permitting)
mount the lid to the stand with a hinge
Finish false backing
Wire the stand so that only a single plug leaves the back. I left room inside the stand for that task.
Fill her up and start adding critters. All the sand and rock will be dead or from existing tanks, so no worries about a cycle.

Here's a shot of the living room/kitchen pass-through, where the tank will go. I have it all mocked up so I can look at it for a day and decide if the stain is right before sealing it.

Oh, I forgot to mention...I left the base edges unfinished because they're going to be covered by quarter-round or something similar.

 

[Lightsluvr]

Show us your hands!

Show us your hands!

That finished out nicely...

A good match between the veneer and the other wood...

Does the hood just slide off?

LL

 

[cody6766]

That finished out nicely...

A good match between the veneer and the other wood...

Thanks! It did turn out to match the other wood well. I didn't plan that because I"ll be moving soon, but it works well while we're here! I just didn't want to go as dark as mahogany for this project.

As for the stain itself, I'll never use min-wax polyshades again. I've been using that type for the last few projects I've done and it's come out uneven because of the viscosity and overall 'stickyness' of the stuff. This was my first time using a real stain with a clean rag made getting an even coat SO much easier. I have some spray on poly that I'll be using after all the parts match in color. Right now the side is a little lighter than the canopy. It's exaggerated in the pics, but I can see it on the counter.

Does the hood just slide off?

Right now it's just sitting there, waiting to get knocked off by a bird or careless roommate. Tonight it'll have a hinge screwed to the top so it will raise up. Only the front part will move. The back half will be stationary. I can still reach back there or slide the tank forward if I need to though.

I did screw up and forget to measure the PC bulbs' length. They won't fit in the canopy with their bases. I'm going to have to mount the bases in the back part of the hood and just have the bulbs hang past into the canopy from there. The only real problem this poses is tank access. I'll have to pull the bulbs to really get into the tanks, but it's not the end of the world.

Time to go out and work on that background. I'll try to have pics tonight too!

 

[Lytehouse]

That's really cool.

I love nano's. Great woodwork.

 

[obzezzed350]

Looks great!

 

[cody6766]

Thanks for the complements, especially on the wood work! I've always considered myself a mediocre wood worker. You might think so if you saw the little details that were wrong they're small, but they're there.

So here's the background update and pics.

Here it is with the LR I used and the foam

Maybe an aquascape similar to this?

Here's the crushed rock. If you do it, leave very few big pieces like you see here. Near powder works best. I used a lot of both on mine and kind of regret it, but it'll look fine when covered in zoas and the like.

The background

Tonight will be spent re-staining one side (it's a little light) and probably hanging the lights and running wires.

 

[cody6766]

Tonight's update came a little earlier than I thought it would.

I re-stained some parts of the stand and it's now darker and the pieces are closer to an exact match.

I also got the lights hung in the rear portion of the canopy. I would have put them in the hood, but I neglected to think ahead and measure the bulb length. Just as luck would have it, the inside of the canopy was exactly the same length as an 18w PC bulb. Due to that little screw up, the light bases were mounted at the very front of the rear portion of the stand.

These are the ballasts I'm using, salvaged from a pair of 19w CFL bulbs. You just pull apart the bases (careful, the bulbs will likely break and pop a little!) and unwind the little wires going to each post on the sides. Save the white and black power pig-tails as it will save you solder work.

The posts are labeled 1-4 and these are your bulb leads. Solder new wires to each post (multi-strand phone wire works beautifully!) and run these to your bulb base. When you put them in their little sockets, make sure they go in numerical order. I don't think it matters which side you start from, they just need to stay in order. If it does matter, I got lucky twice in a row because I didn't think it through beyond 1, 2, 3, 4.

Here's proof they work

I have to wait till tomorrow to seal the stand and hood with poly sealant. I'll also put a bit of reflector material behind the PC bulbs and do the final wiring behind the tank.

I plan to have only one wire leaving the back of the stand, keeping the light timer, power wires and ballasts completely concealed. I also still haven't written off moon lights since I have a pair from my biocube that came out to make way for my DIY 70w MH job.

 

[zoadude]

Great project. The moon lights would be a nice touch. I don't know about you but I keep most of the lights out at night time and a nano lit by moon lights would rock when I stumble into the kitchen for a drink of water in the middle of the night.

 

[cody6766]

Well, I'd have fuge lights on too, but that's about it. I have a 33g in the living room with a 24hr fuge light and a 14g BC in the kitchen (it can be seen in some pics above) with a 24hr fuge light too. The pico would look cool where it is though!

 

[Lytehouse]

water?

I really like the back wall.

 

[cody6766]

it's all wet and sandy right now! I filled her up last night after working on the wiring at work during the day.

I'll have pics with my next post, promise!

 

[Lightsluvr]

ZZZzzzzz....

ZZZzzzzz....

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15662516#post15662516 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cody6766
it's all wet and sandy right now! I filled her up last night after working on the wiring at work during the day.

I'll have pics with my next post, promise!

It's been almost two hours!

LL

 

[cody6766]

It's been a little longer than 2 hours now. I was kept away at work, damn the luck! Oh well, lifeguarding for double pay isn't bad, especially when I only sat on stand 20mins out of an 8hr day...all for $21/hr. Thank you Uncle Sam.

here are the pics of the background and the quick aquascape.

This is looking into the kitchen from the living room

and the other side

I did have one little (kinda big actually) problem with this build. I apparently mixed my fiberglass resin a little cool (not enough hardener) and it didn't cure all the way. There was a slight odor when I filled it up, but that has been normal for all fiberglass projects I've done in the past. The smell usually goes away after a few days. In this case it didn't.
I pulled the background and left it out back to dry, did a 100% water change and left it to run. I lost a couple of snails and bristle worms, but not all of them.
Tomorrow I'll put another resin coat, but this time mixed a little hot. I'll have to break up more rock, but that gives me an excuse to break out the hammer again.

 

[Lytehouse]

RIP

RIP

That looks great, actually roomy for a 2.5.

Congrats

Wow, sorry you lost the bristle worms, bummer