DivingTheWorld's Custom Leemar 80g Rimless Reef

[DivingTheWorld]

Just curious, what type of paint did you use to paint the bottom of your stand? I'm planning to caulk all the corners with rain rated caulk and paint the inside white like you did. I'm looking for something that would offer the best resistance to water.

 

[DivingTheWorld]

Ok, some updated stand pics...

I got the structure complete and sanded. Today I plan to caulk all the interior seams, then tomorrow or Sunday will be a coat of Primer. Then next week I'll give the interior a coat of Boat Deck paint.

Sump arrived yesterday. Sweet!!

 

[greengeco82]

Sorry, I didnt see your last question until now. I used an outdoor latex based paint. Bought it a Lowe's. I didnt do any research on the paint, but felt being for outdoor use, and being latex, should hold up to water spills. Pretty sure you cant go wrong with boat paint. Looks good.

 

[Dapg8gt]

I've read to avoid outdoor paints as it has mold inhibitors in it that can end up bad.. Never experienced it just read it researching what to use on mine fwiw..

 

[DivingTheWorld]

@ greengeco82 - How do you post your pictures so huge? When I post mine, they turn out like little crappy thumbnails you need to click on...

Edit...never mind, I see you used Photobucket.

 

[DivingTheWorld]

Ok, got delayed on the caulking, but finished it up today. Turned out really nice. I'll probably let it dry a couple days before I do my first primer coat.

 

[DivingTheWorld]

Two coats of Primer complete. I'll be moving to boat paint tonight.

 

[DivingTheWorld]

Ok, Boat Paint is complete. I did two coats of the interior and back, then a third coat in the "pan" or the bottom interior which would hold water if I have a leak. This stuff is frickin awesome. It's like I have a coating of glass on everything, super smooth and super white. If anyone in the Bay Area is interested in a quart, shoot me a PM. I bought two quarts and only ended up using about half a quart. It goes further than I thought it would. Next step, skinning!

 

[DivingTheWorld]

So here's a list of the parts/supplies I've obtained so far for this build...

Apex Full with Lab Grade PH Probe, Vortech Wireless Module, Leak Detection Module and Solid Surface Leak Detection Probe (for inside the stand)

Trigger Systems RUBY30S Sump

2 Vortech MP40wES

Netgear Wireless Gaming Adapter - for making APEX wireless

BRS 4 Stage Plus RO/DI

175g Red Sea Coral Pro Salt

Pipes, Unions, Gate Valves, Elbows, Ts, etc., all Sch 80

40lb BRS Pukani Dry Rock (I'll be supplementing with LR from my current 29g)

3 BRS Dosers and BRS 2-Part Dosing Package

Reefbreeders Photon32 LED Controllable Light

Still to come (not yet obtained) ...

Tank - on order, but ran into some glitches. I hope LeeMar can correct those before my deadline (I gave them 8 weeks!!)

Return Pump - Reef Octopus Diablo DC-5500

Skimmer - current up in the air, but between either the Reef Octopus XP1000SSS or the Reef Octopus POV-DC1.

 

[DivingTheWorld]

Initial skinning is complete using 0.75" solid clear Alder. Door openings are perfectly square so tomorrow I'll be ordering some doors.

 

[greengeco82]

That boat paint looks awesome. If my tank wasnt in my house, then I would do it too.

 

[DivingTheWorld]

Here's an updated pic of the stand. All the skinning is complete. I still need to add some trim, then fill and sand, stain, etc. It's starting to look like a stand though!

 

[DivingTheWorld]

Well, tank is finally on it's way home. I had to send it back a couple times to LeeMar for errors, but thankfully I had a little extra time in SoCal to make that happen. I think everything's correct now though and I should get it tomorrow evening!

 

[DivingTheWorld]

Tank has finally arrived! It looks good, everything has been corrected and it's now built according to what was ordered. Now I just need to finish the stand!

 

[Maximus]

Looking good! What was wrong with it before?

 

[SWBeginer]

divingtheworld, where in san ramon are you located? I too am in San Ramon and I just got my new Leemar tank on Sunday. 96 x 26 x22. It came out extremely nice and I cant wait to get it up and running

how come i didn't realize there are so many reefers in San Ramon before?!

I am also in San Ramon. Let me know if any of you need some 'labor'

 

[DivingTheWorld]

Looking good! What was wrong with it before?

They first built it with clear silicone instead of black. So they had to take it completely apart and re-build it with black. That was before I picked it up. When I picked it up I noticed a couple scratches and my overflow return bulkheads were too big. So they buffed the scratches out and replaced the overflow with a correctly drilled one. Now I'm crossing my fingers that when I fill it up, there will be no leaks...but I'm sure it will be fine. I'm very happy with the finished tank, I just wish it would have been done right the first time.

 

[DivingTheWorld]

Still to come (not yet obtained) ...

Tank - on order, but ran into some glitches. I hope LeeMar can correct those before my deadline (I gave them 8 weeks!!)

Return Pump - Reef Octopus Diablo DC-5500

Skimmer - current up in the air, but between either the Reef Octopus XP1000SSS or the Reef Octopus POV-DC1.

Ok, I've picked up the tank, skimmer and RO Diablo DC-5500 return and I'm working on final stand finishing. For the skimmer I ended up going with the RO POV-DC1.

 

[DivingTheWorld]

Well, one of the harder things to decide on this stand was the trim. I've chosen that now and started trimming and sanding. Here's an update with the front trim complete:

 

[DivingTheWorld]

With a three day weekend I was hoping to get more done... I decided to paint the back of the stand doors with boat paint as well as the top of the stand. I also cut the drain/return access through the top of the stand. It's amazing how long it takes to build a stand! Hopefully I get this tank set up this year...