Oceanic 37gal cube; almost all DIY; many pictures

[bshumake]

I'm drooling over your woodshop...and our carpentry skill. The addition of the black trim really sets off the cherry veneer and gives the stand an almost deco/modern look. I rarely see that in nice cabinetry but it always gets "Ooh's" from those of us who appreciate grain, texture, and contrast. While everything you have done here so-far is exceptional... my favorite is the stand. Kudos!
P.S. Could I pimp you out for a nice side table?

 

[Bishop]

jamesonkh - thanks for the kind words; plenty of my DIY projects have been kindergarten'esc... if you had seen my previous tank, the equipment looked terrible but it worked! The livestock looked great.

bshumake - my carpentry skills are debatable; I learned a lot building that stand and I'm really happy with the look of it; originally I was planning on teak 2-ply veneer but it was 7x more expensive than cherry. Then I had the bright idea to cut the trim out of ebony... but again, incredibly expensive... so I settled with black lacquer.

Having the space and the proper tools to work on these sort of things really makes a big difference. It amazes me how well people are able to use dremel tools to accomplish their projects, I personally would be terrible at such things.

A nice side table? What sort?

 

[elephen]

Wow, quite the craftsman I must say.

 

[maxvan1]

couple Q's....

What program did you use to make the diagrams?

And what paint did you use on the rock?

 

[raddogz]

How did you apply the skin to the frame without screws to hold it in place to the frame?

 

[Bishop]

maxvan1: I used a program called SketchUp to make the computer diagrams. I painted the rock with a combination of portland cement and thin-set mixed with RIT dye.

raddogz: I skinned the frame with baltic birch with wood screws or deck screws, I don't remember. Then I sanded it down and veneered over the top of all of it with the cherry veneer.

 

[Reefvet]

I own 4 Oceanic tanks, including a 37, and they all have tempered glass bottoms.

You drilled tempered glass ?

 

[Bishop]

Aparently mine was not tempered? I didn't see a sticker and I never checked, I assumed it was not; it's not large enough to faciliate tempering; the glass is 3/8".

 

[Bishop]

I found the stand was getting a little warmer than I really wanted; being summer and not wanting to turn the A/C on yet, I added another fan.

I added a 4" fan at the top of the stand to exhaust warm air from inside.

The fan was one I had lying around and it's very strong and slightly loud; I think I may go and replace all of the fans in the stand with IceCap fans with temp. sensors at some point.

 

[alphaferret]

dude you rock- i di some diy this week end lets give you the best shot!

 

[alphaferret]

 

[alphaferret]

400 watt radium mh diy reflector

 

[speakeraddict]

Hey ferret! How much would charge for two of those without the socket?

speakeraddict

 

[Bishop]

alphaferret: nice job.. if you want to go the extra mile, stop by an auto-parts store and pick up some metal polish... you can get a mirror finish with a decent amount of elbow grease, or a dremel would work I suppose (never used one).

 

[rsteagall]

Have you tested power outage? Looks like all water would drain out back through the return!

 

[Bishop]

yep; the return isn't plumbed directly... it runs up through the center bulkhead in the external overflow box, then down the side and back up under the tank. That keeps it from back syphoning all the water from the tank.

 

[maxvan1]

bishop, you must have been one of the very first members right? registered 1999...

Bishop, what kinda tools do you use? (I know you probably use a ton, but what general ones, do you have a router?)

 

[Bishop]

maxvan1: I think I registered here within a few days of LarryM starting RC, maybe it was longer, originally it was an older style forum and I don't think I registered to use it right away.

As far as the tools go... what do you mean by what kind? Which brand or what style?

I have 2 routers one is an el'cheapo ryobi and the other is a 3hp Porter Cable.

For the project you see here, I used almost exclusively a large floor mounted table saw, a craftsman router from probably 1970, and a dewalt 18v drill.

Some of the plastics and the back top cover of the stand (the most recent picture) were done on a bridgeport mill.

 

[mattydub]

oh yeah...well I think it sucks! mooohhaaahaaa....

amazing work, such a shame people like you have all these skills and I can't live next door to you!

 

[Bishop]

hey at least you're honest!