Putting together my "future" 75 AGA RR (progress)

[JerseyWendy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9375836#post9375836 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Travis L. Stevens
Looks great. Make sure that you leave a large enough area in the back for easy plumbing, and wide enough door to make adding a sump or refugium easy.

Also, you might want to show your hubby that hammering is easier with the metal end and not the handle Just kidding. Looking great so far.

:rollface: :rollface: ROFLOL

I'll tell him, Travis.

And thank you. I actually made the cut-out in the rear 3" bigger all around yesterday, so we'd have more room to play with the wires, plumbing and other things.

We're doing pop-off/pop-on doors on both sides, and that is where I'll be getting the sump in and/or out. When I was looking for that pop-on/pop-off mechanism the other day at Lowe's, I had no idea what that it's called, and tried to explain to an associate what I was looking for. I got the "deer and the headlight" look, but nobody knew what I needed. Luckily my explaining paid off at Home Depot. The guy knew immediately what I needed, but I still don't know what it's called. :eek2:

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Wendy

 

[hmello@bermexin]

Just subscribing. Looking good so far.

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

Pop Off doors are GREAT! Just some simple magnet mechanisms, and you can completely remove the door. It makes life so much easier.

 

[carlos_fb]

Project is looking great! keep those pictures coming. Best of luck!

 

[JerseyWendy]

Here are a few more pictures.

Yesterday we got as far as cutting all 4 doors to size, and applying the molding to 2 of them.

This is how the doors looked prior to molding:

With the molding in place, held up against where it'll eventually be fastened:

And this morning we carried the stand into the garage for final sanding and fine-tuning:

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Wendy

 

[demon16v]

Looks great Wendy! You are really flying to get this done.

Jon

 

[first-chevalier]

Hey Wendy,
Just to allay any fears, I shot your thread to an engineering friend of mine and asked his opinion about the load you plan to put on the stand and the design. He said that with the 3/4 inch ply on the back and other mods you made the stand is in excellent shape to bear the load of a 75g aquarium filled with water. Just thought I'd add that bit for piece of mind and to put any further discussion of stand worthyness to rest. Looking great.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Thank you, Jon. I had to take advantage this weekend because I had my husband helping me, and yes, I can't wait to see the finished result either.

first-chevalier, thanks for asking an engineer. That truly puts my mind at rest, and perhaps I can avoid having the entire family get up on the stand once it's done to test its strength.

So the stand is basically finished now. Here is a picture of it in the garage, after all molding was added and during periods of sanding it.

Here's a close-up of part of the molding:

And here is a picture of the back side of the doors, sporting the first coat of stain.

Almost done for today. The only thing left to do is put the second coat of stain on tonight, after I use some steel wool first. Tomorrow evening we'll be bringing the stand in, so that I can start staining it on Tuesday.

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Wendy

 

[NeveSSL]

Nice! Can't wait to see this cabinet finished.

Brandon

 

[first-chevalier]

That is gonna be a gorgeous cabinet Wendy. Koudos to you and the hubby. Nice job.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Just a very tiny update.

All doors are now finished, other than having to add hardware, but despite my best efforts to keep dust and (dog) hair out, I battled with some bristles from the paint brush.

This morning I first pre-treated the wood of the cabinet, and then applied the first coat of stain.

Tomorrow morning I'll go over it with steel wool and apply the second coat.

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Wendy

 

[JerseyWendy]

The stand is finally finished.

Here are a few pictures:

---
Wendy

 

[MCWarhammer]

looks awesome!! keep up the good work

 

[JerseyWendy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9451421#post9451421 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MCWarhammer
looks awesome!! keep up the good work

Thank you so much, Bill.

This morning I worked on modifying my overflow. This is how it looked when I was getting started:

When completed:

I'd like to say "THANK YOU" to Merv because I copied this idea from him.

And then I cleaned up the tank:

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Wendy

 

[first-chevalier]

Looking really good Wendy. I can't wait to see that thing full of water, sand, and rock.

 

[firefish44]

I'm curious about the overflow modification. Is that just to get more water volume out of the tank? how did you do it? I'm also building almost a duplicate set up to this, a 75g with a 30gal "home-modified" sump.

 

[drummereef]

Wow, you cleaned that tank up nice! Let's get that bad boy plumbed.

 

[Alphabet]

Off to a flying start, looks good!!

 

[magdelan]

Wow!! I'll be tagging along to see your progress...looks great!!!

 

[JerseyWendy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9461879#post9461879 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by firefish44
I'm curious about the overflow modification. Is that just to get more water volume out of the tank? how did you do it? I'm also building almost a duplicate set up to this, a 75g with a 30gal "home-modified" sump.

Here is a link to Merv's thread:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=535632&perpage=25&pagenumber=2

He explains in depth how he modified his overflow. (It's on page 2 & 3, I believe.)

Yes, I modified the slots so that more water will travel into the overflow box. The slots were just much too tight, IMHO. I am planning on building a Durso pipe, and hope it won't be too tight of a fit.

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Thank you all very much. The plumbing should be next, yes. Shudder! That's the part I'm probably dreading the most because I've never plumbed a thing in my life. :eek2: I have one bulkhead coming this week, and another is on backorder and should be here around the 20th of this month.

In the meantime I've started on the canopy. (Had to stay busy yesterday)

I already purchased the TekLight, 6 X T5 (no bulbs yet though), and I had to come up with a way to incorporate the light into the hood. Since my entire setup will be rather tall - around 74-76" - I decided to leave the entire top wide open, as well as the back for sufficient ventilation and air flow. In case anyone wonders why I didn't go with the retro fit kits instead, it's because I got one heck of a deal on this brand new light.


Here are 2 pictures:
Front

Back

I'll have access to the tank by attaching a piano hinge to the front panel (which you can see in the first picture leaned up against the tank)

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Wendy