I am getting excited about reefing again

Thanks Nate, just give me the corals I'll color it up and you can take it back :D

Neonfish, it took a couple of years but the tank grew even more couple of years latter to the point of having no more space for the fish and the large clams so I had to give away the clam to my friend.
 
finally finish putting on the stains for the new hood. The acrylic finish goes on next.

hood.jpg
 
Tom sorry I missed your post. The canopy looks fantastic, really professional looking nice job.How many coats to get the color so even? BTW satin polyurethane is what I use on my cabs or conversion varnish with a small amount of the catalyst so the finish isn't so brittle but still super tough. Keep us updated. Thanks again for the frags, the bazooka Joe is doing fine and the Darth Maul is actually growing down the cut sides already. Grant
 
No problem Grant, I am using the water base dye stain from home depot, I had to do 3 coat of stains without wiping off to get it dark and even like that. I put on the first coat of acrylic urethane earlier, I'll do another coat tomorrow and then sand or steel wool before adding the third coat.

I am debating about painting the light rack inside the hood glossy blue to get a nice hue from the reflection.

Glad to hear the frags are doing well, cutting them using Ken's method works awesome, I got 100% survival so far.
 
Second coat went on today, third coat tomorrow and it is done :D I wish I can do good finish work like you Grant, but I am not a professional. It will look good but will not be perfect like I had hope. Still have to paint the light rack and then probably spend half a day redoing the wiring for the VHO and T5 and cooling fans.
 
Maybe I'm missing something Tom but that canopy looks pretty darn good to me and I like the idea of the piano hinges on the doors so you don't have a huge door swing , I was thinking about that when for my final version. btw is that open backed or closed, if open what are you going to do about light "spillage".
 
It is semi open Grant, the top part of the light rack will have gaps in between the luminarc so I am going to cover those gaps with mirrored plexi glass facing down into the tank. I still will have some lights shining through little holes and such but those will be minimal.

The piano door fold and swing all the way out of the way so I can have full access to the tank, also I have side doors for the two ends of the hood too so those will be additional access points.
 
The hood finish is done! finally, I spent a lot of time wet sanding the finish be careful not to sand off the stains so it was a little intricate but I am happy with the way the finish is looking after the final coat. This week I'll have to disassemble the old hood and install the new hood on top of the tank. It is going to be sweet looking. I'll make sure to have pictures when it is done.

Grant, I noticed in your earlier post that you used some additive (catalyst) to increase durability in your finish, is there anything that I can add to Acrylic finish to make it stronger? I am using water base. Is Catalyst the same as acetone?
 
No, It's a product called conversion varnish, Has UV blockers and is tougher than the polys,not acetone. I think it is Toulene which as you know is nasty stuff
 
My mistake the catalyst is Zilene but still a nasty substance. You are really pu
tting out some effort on the hood Tom and I can't wait to see it in person. :beer:
 
That's good to know Grant, thanks for the info. I moved the hood to the fish room so it is ready for the wiring, fans and reflectors, as soon as I install it on the tank I'll take picture to show you. The hood is going to have reflector every where to make the lighting more efficient. Currently, I am using 2 72" VHOs, and 1 row of T5s, plus 250 watt Radiums, the new light rack might use 1 72" VHO, 1 row of T5s all sharing the same icecap 660 ballast plus the Radiums to save energy.

Once the hood is done I'll start working on putting the finish on the new shell for the stand. The new shell is going to slide right on the outside of the current stand and screwed from the inside. After that the garage will be cleared, their will be enough room for a pool table ? :D :D
 
Thats exactly what I did on my stand, framed it heavy and wrapped it in the cherry pieces and the inside in prefinished maple ply if you need help putting it all together give a shout..
 
If there's ever room in the garage, either you're inbetween projects, or you don't have enough stuff! :lmao:

Any chance the Zilene is Xylene?

BTW, very nice cabinets, both of you. Shining examples of what one can do, compared with say, my light rack.

I'm still sporting the very crafty (ghetto?) DIY look. Rough cut wood adds character. ;) What can be more natural looking than untreated doug fir?! Add a touch of industrial feel with some chain. If I get motivated, maybe I'll polyurethane the raw wood I have bolted to and hanging the ceiling above my tank. Maybe not.
 
I stand corrected " Oh Wise One" Xylene, Ya see I can't even spell. The ghetto look suits especially with those Rasta snail and bearded fish of yours. Plus we all know how you love the whips and chains. :lolspin:
 
Ken, Talking about Gheto whip and chains, I also notice a couple of bird swings and cages at your place so ....... :D

Grant, I think we both need to be more careful about having fragging parties at Ken.
 
I think Ken does the ghetto thing on purpose because he knows how amazing his corals are and doesn't want some "pretty" packaging to distract from the main attraction the kool animals in BOTH of his tanks. The chains and such do give one pause thou. :worried:
 
Tom you are good, that looks great,Now we need to fill that beast with corals and some real nice fish to keep it interesting maybe a trigger, dottyback and a nice damsel or two ;)
 
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