Since I've started a thread on stands...

[Marsfrogie]

Here's my stand buildup. I've already posted some of the details in my original post, but I think I'll start a post about mine specifically. This stand is built completely out of red oak. All of the trim and moldings, etc. are being made in shop. One of the critical features of this stand is that there is NO CENTER BRACE. You can remove the sump and work on everything underneath as you please. This is for a 55 gallon tank. The canopy will house my new 250watt HQI lights (2) when they come in. We have decided on golden pecan stain by minwax and semi-gloss magnalac. More pics soon~!

 

[Marsfrogie]

This is what the stand is replacing.

 

[Marsfrogie]

New progress pics.

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[Michael Mota]

Wow I like the stand! some good craftsmanship there. Did you use gloss polyurethane for the finish?

 

[Marsfrogie]

No polyurethane. Magnalac semi-gloss laquer.

 

[Michael Mota]

Thanks for the info

 

[cyslyde]

that is beautiful

 

[Marsfrogie]

thanks for the comment cyslyde.

 

[generalee]

That stand looks very nice, love the color. It doesn't look like you built an internal frame, is it going to be strong enough? The backside, does it have any horizontal support?
I am building my stand and probably went overkill with an internal frame and then oak to cover it up. I'm also going with oak doors with a stain glass insert, just figuring out what the design of the glass is going to be. Should look nice backlit from the sump lighting.

Keep up the good work! Are you going to build a canopy.

 

[Marsfrogie]

Generalee, The backside privides the majority of I guess you would call it torsional support. You can't actually see it, but there is essentially a frame within a frame and a double thick top. We are working on the canopy now. We have actually been thinking about putting in some sort of brace on the front panel after the fact. It's probably not necessary since the entire stand would essentially have to crack before it would move, but it just looks kinda scary.

 

[Marsfrogie]

Here are some more progress pics. I stayed up until 2AM last night moving the tank over to the new stand. Was relatively uneventful. We still haven't built the new canopy yet. When we do it will probably be two hinged square inlay panels. Not in all that big if a hurry anyway because I'm still waiting on some 250watt HQI's from hellolights. Been over 3 months now. The black lip will be covered up with some trim that will be secured down to the top. This will look good, but will also prevent the tank from ever moving.

It's also important to note that this stand is taller than the previous one. I think it looks much better this way. You are more or less staring straight into the tank most of the time instead of down at it. It's at the upper limit of what I can reach over but still very manageable.

 

[Marsfrogie]

My chaeto isn't very happy. Any ideas?

 

[generalee]

Looks very nice again. Are you going to add any hardware to the doors?

I noticed that the doors don't have a sealing surface. To prevent that light from spilling out you can add a strip of black rubber to one door that overlaps slightly on the other and the light gap will be gone.

 

[Marsfrogie]

No hardware, I think it would detract from the overall look. The doors have pull indentions on the back side to open them. I have thought about using some sort of gasket material to seal off the light. Probably a felt strip. If you have a source for something you've already used I'd like to know.

 

[jim63dt]

I think you could add a piece of wood(the same as the stand) stain it and screw it to on of the doors backside so that it would overlap a bit. Thats what i would do

 

[PL-Reef]

its nice to see someone else build a stand without the use of 2x4s. looks very nice. i did the same on my 75g stand. also no center brace.
good job!

 

[dfcjr]

Nice job!! Are you going to have a trim piece to cover the plastic tank frame?

 

[Marsfrogie]

I haven't decided yet. I'm thinking about just leaving it black. I think it kinda looks good that way. Also, I'm worried about water sitting behind the trim and messing up the wood. If I do put trim there it's probably not going to be permanent.

 

[Marsfrogie]

Now that I think about it. I probably need to go ahead and do that. It seems to jump out at me more in pictures than it does in person. I guess I kinda already got used to it. Would probably look more finished.

 

[Marsfrogie]

Well, here are some more updates on the canopy. Everything seems to have went well for the most part so I'll just post some pictures. Right now I'm having some slight issues with the metal halides. I'm not sure that i'm happy with the coverage yet and I'm not getting much of a shimmer effect on the water. Also, I only ran the halides for about 3 hours yesterday so I'm not sure if I have adequate ventilation yet. The halides are hinged and chained to the canopy. The ballasts are on the back of the canopy over the top of a slightly recessed panel so that they have ventilation on all sides. Very nice.