Lars' 150 Starphire Project

tankslave

New member
Ok, so I'm finally putting up a thread for all my pics so far. This past summer I moved from my college apartment, and so had to upgrade my system of course.

Taking some inspiration from Ken's tank, I decided to design my own stand, and have someone weld it together. It consists of six 2" x 1/4" square tubes for the vertical supports, and three 4" I-beams across the top. The bottom has a square frame out of 2"square beam.

After purchasing all the pre-cut pieces, I realized I forgot what I would do about the overflow pipe (DOH!!!). That was a $70 mistake, as I had to get four new beams to increase the depth of the stand to clear the drain bulkeads.

To avoid any possible rust issues, I decided to use aluminum (which poses its own welding issues):

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I also got it powder coated, just for looks. If anyone else decides to do their own stand, its a LOT cheaper to have one fabrication place do it from start to finish, instead of driving around with 100lbs of aluminum in the back of your truck... ;)

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I had our machinist at work cut out a section of the top plate for the overflow bulkeads before sending it to the welder/powder coater.

And yes, I used a 3/8" aluminum plate for the top. The stand is a bit over-engineered, but I live on the 4th floor, so the stand had better be bomb-proof. :)

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I placed a sheet of foam that is used under hardwood floors (about 3mm) to go under the tank to take care of any slight bumps/seams.

Now for the tank.

Got a 150 Starphire Lee-Mar from Eric at Fragfarmer.com in upland.

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Had to keep the tank in the shop at work till the stand got done.
 
Took three guys to get the tank up off the furniture dolly's (Thanks James for the help!, Steve, sorry about the finger... ;)

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For all the Starphire nay-sayers:

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The bracing is regular glass, front and sides are starphire.

Now for some water:

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The temporary home for my previous occupants of my old 40g:

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Now I dont know why pumps dont already come with these nifty rubber feet:

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That was a sweetwater pump I got used, but it was a but noisy, so I replaced it with an Amp Master 3600. (This is for the closed loop)

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Got an RS-80 for now, since I was so impressed with the CS-80 I got for the temp setup in the pallet bin.

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Now I got around to building some pillars:

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and that's about where I have it so far. Still havnt moved everyone over, but I figure that since i'm not in a hurry, I can spend some time to make some nice rockwork.
 
great stand!! that thing must have been expensive. i wish i would have known.....i could have saved you a buck or two......
 
Thanks! yea, after I did it all, I found a couple of people who could have done it for about 30% less than what it cost me in the end. Just for future reference, maybe pm me your biz info. Knowing someone in metal fabrication who you dont have to explain what a tank stand is to, is hard to find! :)
 
The gf keeps telling me she wants me to cover up all the "ugliness" but I have no idea what she's talking about... :D

I'll probably build a hood for it soon, but that's for more practical reasons. I'll actually be in need of a (compound) miter saw, if you know anyone who might let me borrow theirs.
 
very very very impressed man! i love your tank and stand! but did you not worry about the weight issue, seeing as you are living on the 4th floor!!!! i am worried right not about my 120cube and i live ont he second floor of my house and crapin in my pants lol... anyways post up some new pics bro!! its been a few days now! lol keep me posted man.
 
Lars, haven't you learned that when they complain about something, it's a free pass to buy the tools you need to do the job that "they" want done.

Time for a Miter saw, Router, Drills, etc............ :D
 
HAHAH, you know what's funny, my gf wanted a frame for this poster she bought, so of course, I needed a miter saw... :D yup, that was the excuse for it! (Now I get to start building the hood! :)

I'll get some new pics posted. I got a couple of "test" fish in there and a few softies to let me know how the water is.

Eric, thanks for comments! Yea, I was a little worried too. I filled it up gradually over about two weeks and checked that it didnt lean one way or another, but so far it hasnt budged, and its been running for a few months. (I just keep the bookshelves, etc on the other end of the place... ;)
 
thats a good idea.... your thread has made my scaredness go down a lil hahah, hope you continue to post pics :) later.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8876019#post8876019 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tankslave
The temporary home for my previous occupants of my old 40g:

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Where did you get your container?:D
 
Oh, and dont drill bulkeads on that bottom row like I did... The inside is partly rounded there making it hard to seal. :P
 
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