First time build - figuring it out as I go.

[potatowned]

I've had a 20 gallon reef tank for about 4 years now, after many years of freshwater tanks. The 20 gallon is our master bedroom and it's done pretty well as a low-maintenance, sump-less tank.

I bought a 60 gallon reef-ready tank off of my local forum (socalireefs.com shoutout!) in 2014, with plans of building a stand, building a sump and getting it up and running as soon as possible. Well, it turns out as soon as possible was about 3+ years later. The tank, the stand I started building, and some other equipment I started accumulating has been sitting in my garage the past few years collecting dust. My wife and I are about to start a remodel on our home, so I decided now would be the best time to finally get this build going. I have a general idea of what I want to do, but nothing set in stone, so I'm going to be asking lots of questions and looking for advice from more experienced reefers!

Without further ado, here are some pictures.

This the start of the stand build. I bought the straightest 2x4s I could find and put them through a planer and jointer. I think I just wanted to use every tool possible in my friend's shop.

So at the time, I wanted to go for a clean, minimalist stand. I was planning on staining and doing a poly on the plywood, so I wanted to minimize the joints as much as possible.

Fast forward three years, and here's the stand and tank after I dusted it off.

The joints aren't perfect and after some thinking, I decided to go ahead and add some trim. Here's what I got through this past weekend.

 

[potatowned]

I caulked the moldings and sealed the interior with bathtub caulk. In retrospect, I should have skinned the interior because there were so many little crevices and nooks I had to hit with caulk. I ended up doing a pretty messy job. I then primered everything except the very back of the stand that would be against the wall. This is where I am now.

I think I am happy with the single coat of primer, just need to decide on paint next. I'll probably use a semi-gloss white interior paint for the exterior of the stand, but I'm undecided on what to do for the interior. Any advice? I read some people using appliance paint.

I'll also need to decide what to do as far as a tank goes. I would really prefer the rimless look, but rimless tanks are so expensive. If I can't find a good deal locally, I'll probably just use the one I have and then it's a matter of deciding what kind of overflow I want to run.

That's all for now! Thanks for reading!