Rovster's Custom Reef Savvy build......FINALLY!!!

Sorry about the lack of updates, but I've been having trouble uploading photos. I think I've been having issues with my wifi, so the uploads get interrupted and I have to start over. I've given up a few times, but for now, I'll post what I have.

So the next chapter I want to share is the stand build. I decided to build my own stand in order to offset the cost of the custom tank, lets face it, Reef Savvy is not cheap. Plus, it gave me something fun and entertaining to do. My main inspiration for my stand design came from d2mini's custom cube. This has to be one of my all time favorite threads:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1757436&highlight=d2mini+cube

I liked the design for its simplicity and modern look. Granted, it doesn't match anything in my house, but it doesn't look too bad either. My wive axed the oversized lip, so I ended up just making it with a small trim piece.

I also learned a lot browsing the various build threads, and sort of did a hybrid technique between Rocket Engineers template, and just using the plywood box method. It seems that a plywood box is strong enough to comfortably hold up a tank this size, but I wasn't comfortable enough to do just that. I used an internal frame of 1X lumber to both add some extra reinforcement and security, and ease of assembly. I tried to avoid the 2X4 construction to save on space and weight. It seems those stands are such overkill.

Anyway, before undergoing that project, I decided to build my pimp daddy QT stand to sort of familiarize myself with working with wood, as I had little to no prior experience. That was my tester project to work out the kinks, and if you're interested it can be found here....

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2160913

Another thing to note, is that all this was constructed with basic tools I borrowed from my dad. I used a circular saw, a chop saw, and a router. I could have done it with out the router, but it wouldn't have turned out as nice.

So lets get to it......

I started with a plan. First step was to construct the inner frame. For this I used just 1X4 and 1X6 pine. Because I wanted no middle support for sump access, rocket engineer recommends 2X6 for the span I had, I decided to follow that rule. I used wood glue and a kreg jig for all the joinery.

Rough sketch and some numbers....


All my tools and ready to go.....


My make shift work station. Forgive the ghetto-ness, but that's what I'm all about. I had to get creative, but it worked out. The chop saw was a breeze for cutting all the lumber....
 
What is the old saying, "measure twice, cut once". Well, I tried to take my time and minimize the screw-ups. Fortunately, I only screwed up at the very beginning, so I was able to quickly recover. So I chopped all the wood for the inner frame....


Nice pile of straight wood....that doesn't sound right:facepalm:


Started laying down some pieces to see how they fit together. Took me forever to drill all the kreg holes!



I started assembling the frames. I used the nifty clamp that came with the kreg kit I bought. I can't say enough good things about the krek jig. Its awesome:bounce3:

Along the way, I was always checking for squareness, both before and after joining all the corners....


More ghetto work station creativity...
 
All 4 panels put together....


Now it was time to start joining them up!

I first clamped everything together to see how it fit, and to check progress. Also, at this point I had not received my tank, so I was giddy just to see how big it would be:p

If you have a keen eye, its not clamped properly in the pic. I fixed that, LOL!


All joints were glued and screwed, and clamped tightly. I took my time to make sure it was as perfect as could be. One thing to note, is that I did this with all the kreg holes facing the OUTSIDE. I did this because I was planning on gluing the 3/4' ply skin to it, thus hiding all the holes. That was my smarty pants idea:idea:

I used corner clamps to hold everything in place....





Frame coming together....
 
Inner frame finished...


I went ahead and decided to place the sump and skimmer, just to see if my measurements were OK. I slightly underestimated how huge the 40 BR sump would be....I'll post more on the sump build later...


I added some cross bracing. I probably should have added more on top. The bottom ones were to support the floor for the sump. I layed them flat for more vertical room inside the stand....


Next step was to cut the floor for the stand. I used a straight edge guide I bought at home depot for all my cuts, since I don't have or know anyone with a table saw. That would have made my job easier, but not totally necessary....




Fit like a glove....



No screws, just wood glue and assisted gravity, LOL!
 
Awesome build. Can't wait to see if fill in. PLEASE don't ruin the look of the tank by putting a top on it. Make your fish selection carefully and you won't have to worry about fish jumping out. I am over 1.5 years with my 105G rimless and no jumpers. All fish were selected for their compatibility. No conflicts = No jumpers.
 
Last edited:
treetopflyn said:
Awesome build. Can't wait to see if fill in. PLEASE don't ruin the look of the tank by putting a top on it. Make your fish selection carefully and you won't have to worry about fish jumping out. I am over 1.5 years with my 105G rimless and no jumpers. All fish were selected for their compatibility. No conflicts = No jumpers.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Yeah, the tank looks so good as it is now, I will hate putting a top on it. That said, the top is not so much for keeping things in the tank, but more to keep things out of the tank. With a 1 and 3 year old running around, the possibilities are endless. Already pulled a plastic ball out of there. Fortunately, my son got over throwing his hotwheels in there:hammer:

I think the only fish I'm considering that are jumpers are some wrasses. Was thinking of a flame or 2. I don't have a top on my 30 gallon, and only loss was a purple chromis, and they were always fighting, so it was only a matter of time I guess. We'll see.
 
rovster said:
Thanks. Yeah, the tank looks so good as it is now, I will hate putting a top on it. That said, the top is not so much for keeping things in the tank, but more to keep things out of the tank. With a 1 and 3 year old running around, the possibilities are endless. Already pulled a plastic ball out of there. Fortunately, my son got over throwing his hotwheels in there:hammer:
Click to expand...

Got ya. Ours is at the bottom of our stairs. I am fearful as hell the kids will drop something in the tank but not enough to put a top on it. So far only a dirty sock :-)
 
Lets continue with the onslaught of pics. Hopefully its not too much. I always enjoy threads with lots of pics, so here it my attempt.

So I painted the interior of the stand with Kills prime and paint. Seems its a popular choice. Only thing I noticed is that it retains a tacky feel. I always thought it was because the coats were too thick. I did like 2-3 coats.



Close up of the side. All these holes were covered with the "skin".


The reason I did the frame like I did, was because I decided to use the frame as a template for gluing in the skin. The Skin is 3/4" birch ply from home depot. I figured the skin itself is enough to support the tank, the frame was just added security, and made for a nice build.

So I glued down the side and used some brad nails to secure, although probably not needed....


Then I used a router with a flush bit to cut it to size. So easy a caveman can do it.


Gluing the front. Using whatever I had in the garage for weight, including sand and salt:crazy1:



A pic of the router and how it works....



Before gluing the top, I laid everything out so I could start planning out the plumbing and placment of components....





I ended up with a better solution for the electronics. More on that later...

Moving along....
 
Here I fabricated a makeshift guide to route out the pass through for the overflow...



Stand "box" complete....


Here I was placing some tester pieces for the trim to start to get an idea on how I was going to lay anything out, and also to appreciate how things were coming together....



With "door"...
 
Next step was to assemble all the trim and build the trim pieces. I didnt want to have any exposed plywood edges or use any edge banding, so I got ballsy and went for a miter joint. I used an edge guide and set my circular saw at 45 degrees and cut the angled edge first. After that it was easy, I just had to trim the pieces to the desired width....







Assembling the trim pieces ahead of time, rather than try to make everything fit the stand....



Checking "proportions" before gluing.....




 
If you noticed the iron in the last pics, it was for this. I used edgebanding to hide the plywood edges. I used this on the doors, and trim pieces all the way around. Was easy to work with. You just iron it on, and trim the excess with a blade, and sand.






Another "proportions" shot before gluing in the trim....


I used a block of wood as a spacer when gluing so that everything looked even.



Coming together...


Not perfect, but not horrible...:hammer:

 
Lol, stand is done. These are old pics. Just getting around to posting now.

Eddie, I wanted a complete system, from nice coral to nice wood:p
 
Lets Continue.

The only mistake I made with the stand was as follows. Being that I've never built one of these, I did not leave myself enough room to mount my doors. This is what I had to deal with.


In order to correct the problem, I cut a strip of wood to add some room and somewhere to attach the hinges to....


Not yet attached but you get the idea....


To answer the previous question, I decided to stain the stand to be in the ballpark of the TV console it was going to be next to. I chose the Miniwax stain and used a pre-stain conditioner. I found this to be a HUGE must for staining, at least the wood I was working with. I did not use the conditioner on the inside of the doors, and they look like crapola:wildone:

Here is a test plate I did. I had some "Jacobean" stain left over from my QT build, and the other one is "red mahogany".

 
Before staining I went ahead and mortised the doors for the hinges. I bought a kit at home depot.


Conditioning the wood....


Stain was easy to apply. Basically lop it on, let it sit for a few minutes, and wipe it away with a rag. The longer you let it sit, the more it penetrates, the darker and richer the color. You can use the rag to blend everything nice....





 




For sealing, I went with a few coats of polyurethane with some light sanding between coats...


The sealer really brings out the richness of the stain...



Stand in situ:love1:


More on the doors to follow.......
 
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